Final Days of "Splinter"

President Savoldi, a counselor in the Mission Presidency, coined the "splinter" phrase. I think it is so appropriate. We have had a mixture of winter and spring weather and it still feels pretty cold most mornings and evenings. Yesterday we woke to snow on the ground and there were flurries most of the morning. I drove south to have breakfast with my friends, Shari Fullmer and Carol Clark, and found more snow the further south I went. At 7200 south there was at least 8 inches of snow covering the ground. I felt like it was winter again. Before going to breakfast I walked The Square and took some pictures of the poor tulips. Because there wasn't as much snow in town they didn't fair too badly.





Today is May Day!The sun is shining and the beds are looking glorious! Here are some of them:

The Family History Museum bed.


The Rose bed in the afternoon sun.


Bed looking toward South Temple.



Bed looking toward North Temple and the Conference Center.



Aren't the rose bushes looking good?! I am so excited to see these roses develop. These roses were blooming into December last year and I can't wait to welcome them back!

This week began with our Monday Mission Devotional celebrating the Savior the day after Easter. It was a beautiful musical program and then President Simmons spoke to us. He read from the scriptures and, using Pres. Monson's April 2010 Conference talk, taught us about our Savior. I was filled with emotion as he recited the scriptures, including the Aramaic words of Christ from the cross, "Eli, Eli,lama sabachthani?" President Simmons concluded by saying, "May we have the wisdom to see, hear, believe and act on what we know from the life of the Savior." It was difficult to sing after that. The choir concluded the devotional singing "Love One Another" and the Deaf Zone (and others who are learning to sign) stood up and signed the hymn. It was very touching.

I have tried to make it to the signing class for over a month, but this week I made it for the first time and I am excited to continue learning this language. It is not easy but I found in just the first class that the signs make such good sense and so it is easier to remember them when you understand where the sign came from. I hope that I will be able to continue with the class.

We also enjoyed the Annual Family History Department Devotional on Wednesday this week. Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve, Richard J. Maines and Kent F. Richard of Seventy and Jay Verkler who is the Director of the Fam. History Dept. sat at a round table on the stage of the little theater in the Conference Center and answered questions and then Elder Scott closed the meeting by speaking to us from the pulpit. It was remarkable. Combining the business of Family History with the calling of serving the dead requires a lot of honesty and integrity along with much prayer and guidance by the Spirit. So much is happening in the field of genealogy it is so interesting to watch. Ed and I heard on the radio in the car on Friday that Ancestry.com reported earnings that were way up which caught the attention of Wall Street and a comment, "Apparently the Family History business is booming!" Yup! It is!

Last Tuesday was the last of the three bread making classes I have been attending with my niece, Miriam, and my mom. Mom has been ill for two of the three but Miriam and I have had great fun in the classes and we made mom's share of the bread and took it too her after each class she missed. Tuesday we learned how to make Focaccia Bread, Pita Bread and Pizza Dough. We had so much fun learned how to hand toss pizza dough! What a riot! We enjoyed eating the pizza afterward and I took most of the breads to work the following day and it was gobbled up. I don't have the time or space to make the breads while on my mission, but I will look forward to doing more of it when I return home. I did let my sourdough starter die which was sad, but at least I know how to make it again!

I am sitting here looking out across the valley with mostly blue sky and looking forward to walking across The Square to church. I love being here. I have noticed that the birds come to The Square and sing loudly there now that spring is here. Even yesterday at 6:30AM with snow on the ground the birds were singing inside the walls of The Square. I couldn't hear them as much outside the walls, but that may be due to traffic and other sounds that the walls actually help to mute, but it was delightful to hear them calling. I enjoy it so much. I feel each day that it is such a blessing to be serving the Lord here with my husband, making a contribution and enjoying such beauty and talking with our children about their progress in life.....what more could I want?

Oh.....maybe welcoming our grandson! ^_^
We can add that one in the next couple of weeks, then all will be perfect!

We went to another fireside tonight where Brother and Sister Klopfer told us "The Rest of the Story" about how Brother Klopfer learned to play the organ in East Germany before they escaped. It was an interesting fireside because they both told about the process of having their hymn, "Home Can Be A Heaven On Earth" put into the 1985 Edition of the Hymnal. Brother Klopfer is now the senior ranking member on the Church Music Committee so he also taught us some doctrine about music in the Church. It was interesting to hear that the Music Committee is still in the process of translating the hymns into the primary languages from around the world and it will be 2-3 years before that project is completed. At the conclusion of the fireside I waited until most everyone had left the chapel and went to Brother Klopfer and told him I was so disappointed because I really was hoping to hear him play the JSMB chapel organ and really show us what it can do. He looked at me and started to smile a bit, then he went to the organ and began to play "Come, Come Ye Saints". He looked over at me and gave me a look like, "Is that what you wanted?" So I said, "No, lets hear what this organ can do!". He smiled a little broader and opened up the organ and it was glorious. It is really the baby of the organs on The Square, with the Assembly Hall next, then the Conference Center organ and the Tabernacle organ being the biggest. What a pleasure to hear.

At least every other week there is a fireside of some kind for us to attend. Almost every weekend there is a concert to attend on The Square and there is usually a group of missionaries getting together to go. We are so busy with all these good things that sometimes I am happy to get to work on Monday mornings! (Just kidding!)

So, another week ahead of us. The forecast for the week is sunny with very little chance of precipitation so we are probably out of "splinter" and into Spring. This area of the country will have to be watchful for flooding with the snow that has come to the mountains, but floods are not as dreadful as the tornadoes that have saddened so many communities recently. We are prepared and shall not fear but will look forward in faith to another wonderful week serving the Lord.

I have posted a few more pictures which I hope you will enjoy.

He Is Risen!

What a glorious day! I love Easter Sunday. I love having a week to remember such an event. Christ was willing to take upon him all of my sins, my imperfections. Every mean or careless word I have spoken, every thought that was not appropriate. He also willingly suffered all my pain and sorrow, my anguish and grief. As someone said, Christ is not a casual or silent observer in our lives because he knows, understands and feels everything we go through.

This week I have read and reread these words from Melvin J. Ballard:
"God heard the cry of His Son in that moment of great grief and agony, in the garden when the pores of His body opened and drops of blood stood upon Him, and He cried out: 'Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me.'"

"I ask you, what father and mother could stand by and listen to the cry of their children in distress, in this world, and not render assistance?...

"I think I can see our dear Father behind the veil looking upon these dying struggles until even He could not endure it any longer; and, like the mother who bids farewell to her dying child and has to be taken out of the room so as not to look upon the last struggles, so He bowed His head and hid in some part of His universe, His great heart almost breaking for the love He had for His son. Oh, in that moment when He might have saved His Son, I thank and praise him that He did not fail us, for He had not only the love of His Son in mind, but He also had love for us." (Melvin J. Ballard, Crusader for Righteousness, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966, pp. 136-37.)



This painting by Carl Bloch called "Gethsemane" depicts Bloch's interpretation of the scriptures telling us that the Father sent an angel to comfort the Savior during the act of Atonement while in the Garden of Gethsemane. I have been able to view this altar piece three times now and each time I feel more and more grateful that Father did not leave Jesus alone. Likewise I know that we are not left alone when it is our time to go through sorrow or challenges of any kind. He would not ever leave us comfortless. He loves us.

I have felt His comfort and I have felt His love. I have felt His power and I have felt His displeasure with some of my choices but then I have also felt the sweetness of repentance and His forgiveness. How blessed I am.....how blessed we are! Without His atonement and resurrection we would surely be lost. But He does live! And because He lives I can be with my family forever.

Yes! Spring is Here!

Sunday, April 17, 2011
Another day of spiritual feasting and feeling blessed knowing who I am and that I am loved. Aren't we lucky to have a wonderful earthly experience surrounded by so much beauty to enjoy while we work and serve,laugh and love, cry and forgive ourselves and each other. We learn so much each day to help us grow into better people.

I am so happy to be able to finally share photos of the beautiful flowers that have popped up now on The Square. Each day more and more come up, open and show us their colors. Isn't it great what Heavenly Father did to make our surroundings so beautiful. I know there are many others places around the earth that have come to life. I am happy to be able to share this little part.


The red buds are leafing out today but I wanted to share a little of what we had last week. The little pink blossoms are blowing around on the ground today. It is a cool effect too.









The bed looking north is so pretty now.











This is the bed looking toward the south entrance.






This is the bed by the Family History Library, but I won't be seeing it too much during the week as we have moved to the JSMB. When we go for our personal research time it will be fun to watch the change....and on Sunday's, of course.

Our week has been full because of our move. We are completely moved and most of our missionaries are settled in and working away. The Historical Families Reconstitution Zone is no longer. We have been added into the Data Quality Zone but they decided to give us all a new name so we are now HISTORICAL RECONSTITUTION AND DATA ANALYSIS (HRDA). Ed is no longer a Zone Leader but it was made clear that he would basically be an assistant zone leader although he hasn't been officially asked to do that. Our new ZL is Elder Waddoups who is from Preston, Idaho. He is a wonderful man. I like him more and more each day. Our zone meets each morning in the JSMB Chapel for our prayer meeting and Elder Waddoups does a "This Day in the History of the Church" moment in addition to someone giving a spiritual thought. I love learning the little historical information he gives to us.

About a month ago my mother asked if I would like to take a bread making class with her. It is a two hour class from 6-8pm on Tuesdays at the House of Bread and goes for 3 weeks. It started this week and because Tuesday was our huge moving day we were still working at 5pm and I had forgotten about the class but Ed reminded me and I dashed to pick up my mother and my niece, Miriam and get to the class. I was so tired but once we began it was quite fun. The wheat and white bread was delicious and I enjoyed the tips and recipes and the final product that we all got to go home with. I had forgotten how much I used to enjoy kneading dough. I returned home called a couple of missionary couples to come over and enjoy a piece of warm bread before bed. It was a delightful diversion from the move with delicious results. Now I know how to better use my food storage wheat!

Missionaries in this mission get 4 hours per week of personal research time for their own family genealogy. We have Friday afternoon. One day a month we take 8 hours for a "Temple and Research Day". The idea is that we would work on our own family and prepare family names to take to the temple. Ed is finding so much information on his family, but my family is so long in the Church that most of the work has been done for my 4-5 generations. What I am finding, however, is that some of the work has been done incorrectly so I am enjoying the task of finding sources so I can correct the problems that exist. As I do this I find information about my ancestors that bring them closer to me.

One such ancestor of mine is my great grandmother Mary Jane Baum. She was a young girl born in Provo, Utah in 1854. She was hired by William Wright (born 1831 in England)to help his wife, Jemina Dand, who was ailing from childbirth of their 8th child. Jemina died, and in 1871 William married Mary Jane. At the time she was only 4 years older than the oldest of William's children. She took care of them all and subsequently had 15 children of her own with William, the 14th being my grandmother. She was an amazing woman. I am so proud to be part of her family. It makes my little daily challenges seem so petty and gives me a strong example to look up to.

Yesterday (Sat. Apr 16) was a baby shower for Autumn given by one of her ward friends in Provo. It was so fun to be there and see these young women make Autumn feel so loved. Most of them already have children of their own and they are so excited for her. They were very cute giving her advice and commenting on the gifts she received as she opened them...."Oh you really will need that!" "You never have too many of those..." "This was a life saver for me..." I didn't say anything but enjoyed every moment. We are so excited for our first grand child to arrive. We did wonder on our way to the shower with some of the food if it was a statement about this baby boy to come that we were asked to prepare deviled eggs and not angel food cake??? Only a few weeks to go...



Today (Sunday) I sang in my mother's ward. She wanted me to sing "His Hands". It is such a beautiful song and I enjoyed singing about the Savior's life and His Atonement and Resurrection at the beginning of this holy week. I am so grateful for His Atonement and the promises it brings to us all. I feel so weak at times with my many mistakes, my pride and my ingratitude. I may not have any gross sins but I have so much to improve in my daily walk and talk. I love that I can participate in the blessed Atonement and become better each day. I have such a desire to live each moment so that I can feel the guidance of the Spirit in all I do.

I love the story told by Elder Rasband about being assigned to go with President Eyring to make missionary assignments. He tells of being in the room with the large computers to display the photo of the missionary (or couple) and another screen showing their detailed information including what their priesthood leaders said about them. Another screen shows the missions of the Church and their needs. He tells that Pres. Eyring greets each missionary as their picture comes up just as though they were in the room. He would study everything about the missionary and then look at the missions and then make the assignment. After some time a new missionary came up and Pres. Eyring turned to Elder Rasband and asked him where he thought this missionary should be sent. Elder Rasband answered that he didn't know and had no idea how he would know. Pres. Eyring answered by saying, "Pay attention".
This happened a second time with Elder Rasband giving the same response and Pres. Eyring saying, "Pay closer attention". Sometime later another missionary picture came up and Elder Rasband was immediately filled with a strong feeling that this missionary should be sent to Japan. He didn't know if Pres. Eyring would ask him about this one, but he did and Elder Rasband replied this time with the answer of "Japan". Elder Eyring responded with, "Oh good! Let's look at Japan!" When they looked at the missions in Japan Elder Rasband had another distinct impression as to which mission, Japan Sapporo Mission. Although Pres. Eyring didn't ask Elder Rasband that missionary was assigned to the Japan Sapporo Mission.

I love this story because I learned that if I pay attention and focus on listening to the Spirit I can be guided to do the things that my Father in Heaven wants me to do. I know we were called here for a reason. I pray each day that I will pay attention well enough so that I will know what that reason is and do it well.

Snow, Snow, when are you stalling?????

Sunday, April 10, 2011
Yes.....snow and more snow filled the week. It was weird that one of our missionaries wasn't able to come last week because she couldn't get out of her driveway.....In April??? I have worried about the flowering trees at such a tender stage. I hope that all will be well with them. The redbuds on The Square are gorgeous. Lots of people are starting to say they are tired of the snow, but I am not yet to that point. I know that it will be warm soon enough. I also am grateful to be here when I know it is beginning to warm up in Houston. Our employee called us on Friday afternoon when she was on her way home just to let us know that she had heard on the radio that it was 89 degrees in Houston. It was 34 and snowing in Salt Lake City. Yep....I'm okay with that!

We had a fun week. It began last Monday with a program that I was asked to provide for one of our Branch activities. My wonderful family came to my rescue and we provided 40 min of entertainment to a willing, fun crowd. They loved participating with us and singing some primary songs, particularly "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree". We passed out bubble wrap and everyone had a great time twisting the wrap to make the sound of popping corn, actually it was so loud it sounded more like firecrackers but it was so fun we had to do the song twice. It was a great evening thanks to my great family.

I have had an interesting and full week. Three things have stood out.
First: We lost a wonderful missionary Sister this week. Naomi Jergensen was out to dinner with a family member. She came out of the restaurant, sat down in the car and suffered a massive heart attack but it was like she just went to sleep. She worked in the training zone, sang in the Elijah choir, directed the Elijah choir on at least two different occasions. She was 80 years old and had the most beautiful clear soprano voice. She was very helpful to me when I first arrived and had my two weeks of training and also when I was asked to be a trainer. I'm sure she is so happy to be together again with her sweetheart who died 15 years ago. She has missed him a lot but dedicated herself to serving and has done so much good. I'm sure it was a sweet reunion for them and all those people for whom she did genealogy work. We will miss her association and her beautiful voice. Her funeral was a wonderful celebration by her children - all six of them spoke as well as her Bishop and good friend, L. Tom Perry. The Elijah Choir sang and it was a wonderful celebration.

Second: We had a great meeting on Wednesday with Osei Bonsu and Paul Adjei from Ghana. They are so excited about the work we are doing with the Oral Genealogies that they have been collecting. They were very receptive to some of the changes that we suggested for their field workers and clerks that will make our job much easier and hence get the orals up online much faster and in better condition.
Along with the Ghana people we had a Church employee from South Africa at the meeting also because he wants to see what the process is, etc. He was very impressed with the process that is working in Ghana and how we have standardized it so it will work anywhere in the world. He is very excited to get started on it there but realizes that it will take some time to get things going there. He wanted to know when Ed and I are finished with our mission here and if we were planning on another mission. When we answered he told us to let him know when we were ready to put in our papers, that he had a place for us! Ha! I would love to go back to South Africa!

Third: I appreciate all the prayers on my behalf over the last couple of weeks. I have had some strange pain that the doctors were sure was gall bladder but every test/scan/picture, etc. has reported that all my organs are fine so no one seems to know yet what the pain is. But because of prayers I believe that the pain has subsided a lot and it very tolerable now so.....as long as I know that everything inside seems to be working properly I will just carry on! I am hoping no more tests will be ordered. I am on a first name basis with the cute girl in the radiology department at the hospital who registers the outpatients. After my third visit last week I told her it was nothing personal but I hoped never to see her again. She laughed and said she heard that a lot. I did not like the nuclear test I went through. It was way to close to an MRI tube and I had to lie still for an hour. I just kept singing hymns in my head and repeating the words "steadfast and immovable, steadfast and immovable....". And this after it took them half an hour, two nurses and three tries to get a line in my veins. Oh well, we are all just doing the best we can, aren't we? I see the doctor again on Monday and we will move ahead from there. Again, thank you for your prayers.

Cute Sister Mapu's book was completed on Thursday afternoon at 2:45pm. She was so cute. We high fived each other over and over again. She cried, I cried, everyone cheered and we all laughed. Now she will take a week or two and go through the entire book from start to finish and note any corrections she finds so we can get it in the final stage and to the printer. She is so excited. I have absolutely loved getting to know this humble, sweet, Tongan woman and the faith that has held her up in her life.

The zone is getting packed up and ready to move. This is a big deal for us. Zones don't usually move around much so we are unique. Ed organized it very well so we will move a row of people each day, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and then everyone will be set up and we will take a few days to clean out the old place and it will be done! I am very excited to be over in the JSMB to work since we start out there three days a week at choir! It will be especially nice to have windows! I will, however, miss our friends in the British Zone.

I do enjoy walking The Square, but I'm sure I will still be able to do that. I enjoy being able to walk into the Tabernacle with groups practicing. Last week I sat for a while and listened to a choir and orchestra practicing a special Easter program that was written by someone in Arizona. The vocalists were very good. People are able to walk in and out the back doors when rehearsals are going on. Just one more of the many cool things about being in this place.

Below are the latest picture of the flower beds on The Square.









Change is everywhere and I love being a part of it. I love learning more each day about how our Father In Heaven and our Savior are in the detail of moving forward their work through us. I know that there are little miracles each day, blessings that help us do what we are here to do and sometimes we miss them. I am trying to become more aware of those miracles in my life so I can enjoy those moments. This is such a happy time of life for us. I love being here with Ed and doing this work.
I know it is His work and I am humbled that we get to be here.

"Moving" Along

There has been so much happening. First the update on flower beds on "The Square". Although yesterday was a beautiful, picture perfect day (70 degrees) for the 1st of the 2 day General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I wasn't fast enough with the photos. Last night we felt the temperature drop, the rain came and by morning there was a couple of inches of snow everywhere. This is what the beds looked like this morning....

The roses are really trying to start some growth but the snow keeps coming...


The flowers coming up in the bed next to the roses.....











This is the bed I see when facing the north (toward the conference center)

















And this is the bed facing south from the same spot










The warning signs were out again today, heeded by all the conference visitors















We have been waiting for word that our zone move has been approved and it finally came last week so we will be begin getting our missionaries ready to move from the Family History Library to new office space in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. We hope to have the move completed within 2-3 weeks. It will be very nice to be in a space with windows although I will miss being in the Family History Library. We have become quite close with some of the other missionaries on the British Floor and I will definitely miss the devotionals. We will join another zone and may actually collapse the Historical Families Reconstitution Zone altogether. We will see. First of all we need to get moved and that will not be a small thing.

I have been working with one of our cute Tongan sisters who is putting together her personal life story. Her name is Pianola Mapu. The more I do with her on her book the more I am amazed at this sweet woman. I know that she is special to Heavenly Father. She is an incredible person who has had many manifestations in her life of the great love Heavenly Father and Jesus have for her. She and her husband had a traveling show called "Sounds of Polynesia". They worked all over the country performing and raising their family. Her husband died about 30 years ago and her only son, who was a football star in Altoona, Iowa, was killed one year later. He was killed in a car accident after a championship game by one of his teammates who was drunk. She has amazing faith and hope and it has been such a pleasure for me to help a little with this wonderful project. I feel it a privilege to spend a little time with her and hear her stories. We will finish her book this week. She will not be moving with us to our new office and I will miss her.

Over the past two weeks we have enjoyed listening to two wonderful speakers at special firesides. The first was Brother Klopfer who spoke about his escape from East Germany with his mother and sister when he was young. I will write about that in more detail another day. The second was last week where we were able to listen to the story of Michael Kennedy. He is the first of the direct descendants of Joseph Smith to receive the priesthood. It is so interesting to learn about what happened to Joseph's family after the saints left Nauvoo and Emma, but Brother Kennedy's story is very interesting and inspiring all alone. Once again we learn that there are no coincidences and that the Lord is in the detail of our lives.

Autumn and Derrick came up from Provo for conference. It is so fun to see her body change with the growth of our first grandchild. She is feeling well and it is always great to be with them. We feel so blessed to have been called close by so we get to see our first grandchild soon after he arrives.

We had a funny experience last week that I just have to share. At some point in his life Ed developed a reflex to let out a loud and frightening yell when he is startled with something. It is very loud and when heard it sounds like he is hurt to the point of death. Last Tuesday we were leaving the apartment building with a little cart of food for a zone luncheon and Ed was pulling the cart behind him. He does not do real well with gauging space and as we came around the corner from the elevators into the little lobby where the offices and the front door are he didn't clear the corner and one of the wheels of the cart caught it and the cart stopped short while Ed kept walking. Ed felt the handle leave his hand at the same time he felt and heard the crash of the wheel and dropping the handle it crashed quickly to the ground with the dishes and food clattering away. But all the clatter of the dishes, etc was dimmed by the loud, scary death yell that came out of Ed's mouth. I have never gotten used to that sound, nor am I likely to, but I have heard it before so I turned around to see that Ed had everything under control. Unfortunately, the woman in front of me had never heard the Ed death yell sound before and she was so startled by it she let out a little scream herself.

Now all of this happened within less than 5 seconds but I wasn't prepared for the next thing that happened. Rushing out of the social room came the apartment manager and 4 other staff members who were having a meeting and heard the death yell and subsequent scream from the other lady. The look on their faces was priceless! I'm not sure what they expected to see when they came around the corner, but these 5 adults were ready to call 911. I don't know how Ed could ever stop death yell because it is such a conditioned response, but he may find that one day he is responsible for someone having a heart attack! ^_^

It is late and I need to get to bed. I can tell it is late because I usually am in bed when the trains go through and I have heard the train whistles. It's not really a whistle anymore, more like a horn. I used to think it was just one tone, but I have since learned from my sister that it is a tri-chord....three tones that sound as one. I like to listen from the bed and feel all comfy and cozy as I fall asleep dreaming of trains. Did you know I love trains?

Well, now you do.

Flowers, Fire Alarm and Famous Irishmen

The rose bed hasn't changed much.





















Going into the Family History Library each day we see more color.












More color at the Church History Museum also.















Facing North is looking good.














So is facing South.....also, more people are coming out now with the weather warming up.




Last week had some exciting events.

First of all, the fire alarm in our building went off on Tuesday at about 10:30pm.
Now you have to understand that this building is an apartment building with mostly retired people, some missionaries, but others are just retired. We go out into the hallway and there are at least three 80+ people in their pjs who just say, "I can't go down the stairs!" Some of the residents never even opened their doors.....they probably couldn't hear the alarm. Ed is getting all excited because I had to put on clothes and shoes...I had been in bed talking with my mom on the phone. Then we are in the hall and looking at these women who can't go down stairs and Ed says, "I'll go down the stairs and see what I can find out." So he disappears down the stairs and I'm in the hall with three women who can't move very well here on the 8th floor (the top) of the building. It was such a hilarious moment.

In a few minutes the elevator doors open up and here comes one of the men from our floor with a big grin on his face and he tells us that it was his son who accidentally hooked the fire alarm with a hanger while carrying clothes down to his car. (His son was moving into his own apartment). In a few seconds the alarm was shut off by the fire department and the women went back into their apartments. It was several minutes before Ed arrives back on the floor via the elevator. He had no idea what had happened but he knew there was no fire. Just a lot of confused people in the hallways of the building in their pajamas. I told him what had happened and we laughed and laughed.

The second thing that happened last week was an interview with a Mission Presidency member. This interview happens with all missionaries when they are 4 months away from their release date. Ours was July 29th so we had our interview last Thursday and I have to say it was very weird. I can't believe that we have been here that long! We have extended our mission by 3 months so our new release date is the end of November. Can't believe the time has been going by so fast. I have waaaay to much to do still to be thinking about leaving!

The third thing that happened was our first hike into the mountains. It was Saturday morning and we were free until about 2pm so I talked Ed into walking up into the canyon right here by us that begins at Memory Park. We hiked through the park and up into the watershed area maintained by the county. I kept wanting to go deeper and deeper into the canyon and explore. It will be so beautiful in the spring and summer to go up there. Right now there is still some snow at the higher elevations. I am looking forward to hiking there again. By the time we turned around and headed home we realized that we had been walking for about 3 hours. We clocked it later and found I had walked a little over 7 miles. My feet were very sore. I thought my legs would be very sore today, but they aren't. I am good today so.....I am very happy about that.

I have a fun story to share from St. Patrick's Day last week. It was given in one of our devotionals:

Nine Famous Irishmen
In the Young Irish Disorders in Ireland in 1848, the following nine men were captured, tried and convicted of treason against Her Majesty, the Queen, and were sentenced to death: John Mitchell, Morris Lyene, Pat Donahue, Thomas McGhee, Charles Duffy, Thomas Meagher, Richard O'Gorman, Terence McManus, and Michael Ireland.
Before passing sentence, the judge asked if there was anything that anyone wished to say. Meagher, speaking for all, said,"My lord, this is our first offense, but not our last. If you will be easy with us this once, we promise, on our word as gentlemen, to try to do better next time. And next time sure we won't be fools enough to get caught."
Thereupon the indignant judge sentenced them all to be hanged by the neck until dead and drawn and quartered. Passionate protest from all over the world forced Queen Victoria to commute the sentence to transportation for life to far, wild Australia.
In 1874, word reached the astounded Queen Victoria that Sir Charles Duffy who had been elected Prime Minister of Australia was the same Charles Duffy who had been transported 25 years before. On the Queen's demand, the records of the rest of the transported men were revealed and this is what was uncovered:
Thomas Francis Meagher, Governor of Montana;
Terrence McManus, Brigadier General, United States Army;
Patrick Donahue, Brigadier General, United States Army;
Richard O'Gorman, Governor General of Newfoundland;
Morris Lyene, Attorney General of Australia, in which office Michael Ireland succeeded him;
Thomas Darcy McGhee, Member of Parliament, Montreal, Minister of Agriculture and President of Council Dominion of Canada;
John Mitchell, prominent New York politician. This man was the father of John Purroy Mitchell, Mayor of New York, at the outbreak of World War I.


You can draw your own conclusions about this story, but I quite liked it!

Miracles All Around

Over the winter I had wondered why the flower beds on east side of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB) (between the JSMB and the old Church Admin Bldg.) were covered with white fabric sheeting and the beds on Temple Square were not. Rarely do we use those east doors because we work in the Family History Library west of Temple Square and there really isn't any reason to go there. But each Sunday,the JSMB is closed to the public and it is only the east doors that are opened for members to attend Church meetings so we do go in and out. Today I think I have solved the mystery of the white sheeting. (This is just me thinking and I have not verified any of this with anyone who might know so please be careful with what I say)

As we left the building today after our meetings I was in a spiritually beautiful place, happy with the world. I was looking forward to taking the 2nd set of photos of the developing beds on Temple Square. Coming through the doors into the light we all were oohing and awwing about the colorful pansies and crocus in the beds. The sheets had been removed sometime in the last two weeks (we didn't go that way last week because of conference) and there were flowers already!! (As you can see from my photos, there are not that many flowers in the T Square beds. See below. In fact, we had a snow storm last Tuesday which I have also shared some pictures of because all the beds were covered in a heavy spring snow. Wonderful for snowballs and snowmen and yes, we threw them at each other...the balls, not the snowmen ^_^).

So I wondered again, why would these beds be covered and not the others? Well, here is what I think.

By covering the beds the ground would be warmer when the sun came out. By having warmer beds the seeds would mature faster and the plants would come through the soil faster. When they come through the soil they blossom faster. Why do I think those beds needed to blossom faster? Well, it is just a guess, but maybe, just maybe, the wonderfully skilled master gardeners of the grounds wanted those beds to be beautiful as quickly as possible because when President Monson looks out his office window this is what he will see and they wanted him to see spring as soon as they could arrange it! What do you think? Does that sound feasible to you? I think it is wonderful what they do on the grounds here. Everything is so well planned.

I was so excited last week to share the growth of the beds on my blog thinking that spring had finally come. But what a surprise Monday afternoon brought! We walked home from the Library (one block) and by the time we got up to our apartment (8 floor elevator ride) it was beginning to snow.


Ed ran out for a couple of things but within 10 minutes the snowflakes were so large they were floating in the wind.

I took a picture of him walking back across the parking lot to the building. We thought that because it had been so warm the snow wouldn't stick, but boy were we wrong! By Tuesday morning it did not look like spring was just around the corner, it looked like it was miles miles away. I laughed at how positive I had been about spring, so I made my way onto T Square before going to work to get pictures at the places I had taken them on Sunday. Snow was covering everything!



I'm afraid I was in the way of the guys clearing the walks but they were kind. Anyone who walks on the Square after a snow with the sun shining knows there is one hazard to watch out for besides the slick walkways. You can't walk under the eaves of the Tabernacle because the warming roof causes the snow to slide right off and you will get hit with falling snow. I had to get by Door 11 to get one picture so I watched and waited for the right moment, being careful not to move too fast(falling is against mission rules). I tried to make it under the eaves but alas.....I got dumped on!

Fortunately the snow was still fresh enough that it wasn't ice so it didn't hurt, but it was still wet. Oh well. I took a picture of my personal pile of snow.

By Tuesday evening the sun was again melting the snow and by Wednesday it was gone except for the big mounds built by the snowplows on the streets. So today I took the pictures of the same spots.



A few flowers have come up and it is nice to see the color, but the most exciting thing is the promise of more!

We had another busy week. Tuesday we had a pizza party given by the department head as a "Thank You" for the extra effort put in by the many who helped us get a record number of Africa genealogies up by the deadline. It was a great team effort so that was nice. One of our missionaries had to have heart surgery for 5 bypasses so we visited him. He has a handicapped wife so we were concerned about her too but all has gone well and he will be home tomorrow.

Wednesday Ed and I went to the temple after work and did more family names. I LOVE doing that!

Thursday a couple who is about to go home to Nauvoo, Ill. gave a presentation on the building of the Nauvoo Temple. Brother Shurtz represented the Peoria Stake on the Nauvoo Temple Committee so he took pictures of the construction of the temple and he and Sister Shurtz shared some of their experiences from their journaling. I think they would be okay with me sharing this little anecdote. During the Temple Dedication Services the General Authorities who were there stayed inside the temple between sessions and food was brought in to them and rooms prepared for them to rest. (Otherwise they would have been mobbed outside.) Brother and Sister Shurtz were staying in town but had no access to a kitchen and she was supposed to be helping with providing cookies. She called her daughter and asked her to make a bunch of cookies which she did and they were sent up with the other food. In a little while the empty tray was brought down and there was a little handwritten note that said, "Could we please have some more of the chocolate chip cookies?" It was signed President and Sister Hinckley.

Isn't that a cute story? (I think I want that recipe!)

Friday I went to work early so I could take extra time for lunch and met some friends from the past for a long lunch. Ed and I went to dinner with a missionary couple that evening. Saturday I met my mother, my brother and my niece at the Family History Library and we spent a couple of hours working to find sources on our own family and then Ed and I ended the day playing games in our apartment with some other missionary couples.

It was another great week for me.

President Simmons (our mission president) prepared an article for the monthly electronic Mission Newspaper and in it he told about a talk given by Elder Howard W. Cheney to his zone on August 24,2010. The following is a part of what the President told us from Elder Cheney's talk:

“When someone asks me what I enjoy the most about my mission experience my answer is that every day I am blessed to do things I cannot do. Each day we serve, if we are observant and sensitive, we may witness miracles that take place in the Lord’s marvelous work of redemption. It would take many hours to discuss just a few of them, however I would like to briefly mention some of those I have been privileged to witness.”
“They range from the miracle involved in stupor of thought forcing us to back up to an error that we have inadvertently made so we may correct it before we move forward, to the miracle of reading languages that we cannot read, and writing that is
illegible, yet we are blessed to read it as the need arises. Another significant miracle we see is the Lord providing very special people with very specialized skills at the precise moment when they are needed. The volunteer who just happened to arrive when we were in the process of millions of very old and difficult Spanish records for the temples. Brother and Sister Endrek came to this country where their daughter was a citizen because Brother Endrek’s kidneys were failing. He had dialysis three times a week. He learned from his daughter who learned from a missionary having dental work done in her office that we needed help with Spanish. A most coincidental process? Or a miracle? I was amazed the first Saturday that Brother Endrek came to work with me at his ability to read the mid-1600 Spain Spanish records. He spoke no English and I asked his daughter and wife how he could read this so fluently. They indicated that he was a retired professor of languages at the Cordova University in Argentina. He told me that the records were not in Spanish but an ancient pre-Spanish language. He read fluently what the rest of us could not begin to read, not only was the language difficult but the quality of the records was very poor. He helped us process roughly four million names of this very difficult Spanish for the temples. It took about a year and during the entire time he was receiving kidney dialysis and yet continuing to serve each day. When the work was completed he was released from this life and taken to be with so many whom he had served.”

It is true that miracles are everywhere. If we are wise and sensitive enough to spiritual things, we will see them all around us. I believe Joseph Smith's promise: "If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates." If we live up to our privileges....what miracles may be found all around us!

In case you didn't know......I love being here.