"God is having a family reunion and I'm helping." This is one of the several signs that are up around where the missionaries congregate. I like the idea that we are here doing work to help with what will be a great reunion.
We had another great week working on the Tongan project. One thing that we have learned is to take things as they come. We spent a day working on the format that we had decided on just to come in the next day and find that our supervisor had felt that some changes needed to be made. We had to agree that the changes made the postings much better for people who will be using them so we spent another day changing and fixing the 90 records we had done the day before. Under other circumstances we might have been frustrated, but it feels so different when you are doing work for the Lord. We want to be sure that what we do, the offering we make, is the best it can be. It actually felt good to go back and improve what we had done the day before.
The weather has been so glorious! We have only had two rainy days since we have been here. People keep commenting to us about how warm it is, but we are loving this wonderful weather, cooling off at night and beautiful sunny skies during the day. We have seen the wind pick up on a couple of days and it has been interesting to watching the clouds move quickly across the valley. It has also made for some spectacular sunsets. We love walking around Temple Square and seeing and smelling the flowers. Early in the morning we have been watching the crews put the Christmas lights up. It takes a long time to put that many tiny lights on these big trees. The crews we see in the big trees are at least 4 people on lifts. It takes a couple of weeks to complete one tree because I think they only work early in the morning and not when the Square gets busy. I am sad that we will lose the wonderful foliage and flowers, but I am looking forward to the lights for the holiday.
Last night the crowds of women were here to attend the Relief Society General Meeting. I went to watch the meeting with my mother at her condo and as I was driving out of our parking lot I had a slight taste of what it will be like next weekend for General Conference. What traffic! Both before and after! I had no idea that there are buses of people coming. Who rents the buses? One of our missionaries told us of walking down Main Street toward the conference center in the same direction as the crowd of women and hearing two men who were obviously not LDS comment about all the women here in SLC. His friend said, "Yeah and they're all good looking too!" That was in contrast to another missionary's experience at the exit desk last year during the Priesthood session. After watching all the men in suits walking toward the Conference Center a woman came up to her and asked, "Do you let women into your church?" But, the meeting was wonderful as always and there was much to think about.
There is so much to be grateful for these days. I watch the sun set and I am so grateful that we are lucky enough to be here in this place and have this view and have plenty of room. I feel blessed to have a washer and dryer in our apartment. I feel so blessed that we have such a short walk to work. I am grateful I can walk!
Today in our Sacrament Meeting a Sister missionary spoke about her first mission which was to Mississippi. She arrived just before Katrina hit. She described the devastation of the people but recalls the many people who came to help from many parts of the country. Church members were called the chain saw gangs. They went wherever there was a need. People lived in the church buildings as long as they needed to. One woman who had 12 feet of water in her house was telling Sister MacDonald about how blessed she felt because hers was the only house on her street that still had a roof. Perspective is everything, isn't it?
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Week of September 13 - 18, 2010
I want to share a fun little experience I had while working on the Visitations of London project a little bit this past week. I was working on a page with the name of Skinner. Daniel Skinner was born about 1651, he went to Cambridge and graduated when he was about 19 years old in 1670. He traveled to Barbados in 1681 and was in France in 1682. He was living in 1684-5. Then I came to this interesting entry....."amannensis to John Milton". Now, I recognized the name of John Milton, probably most of you do too, but I had no idea what the word "amannensis" meant so i looked it up and then it made sense. It is a word for "scribe". Can you imagine how interesting it would have been to be a scribe to John Milton? He may have been the one who wrote down Paradise Lost as Milton was dictating it to him???? There is also a mention that Daniel Skinner's relative, Mary, is a friend of Samuel Pepys. If you have not heard of Samuel Pepys Diary, you should look it up on the internet. He kept a daily diary for some period of months that has become quite famous over the years. So that gives you a little glimpse into the interesting folks we "meet" on paper as we do the London project. Most of our time now is on the Tongan project which I mentioned last week. We are very excited about that one too but I have no stories to tell because it is all in Tongan!
Last Monday the Elijah Choir performed for a Devotional on Tuesday. Marlin K.Jensen was the keynote speaker. He is a member of the Seventy and the Church Historian. We sang "Come Unto Christ" a wonderful Sally DeFord piece. The words are very tender to me and about half way through the performance I started thinking more about the words than the music and I lost it. I couldn't finish and just stood and held the music while I mouthed the words with tears rolling down my face. wouldn't you know I didn't have any tissues with me and the song was the first thing on the program!! Oh well. I do love her music. She seems to put music to words that express my feelings in many ways.
Elder Jensen's talk was wonderful. He spoke about staying close to the Holy Ghost so we can know "things as they really are" taking the title of the Neal Maxwell book as his theme. He cautioned us to live in such a way as to never run the risk of offending the Spirit. He cautioned us to prepare ourselves to go to the other side. He semi-jokingly made the comment that the reason so many of the people who are involved in genealogy are older is because we realize we are getting close to leaving this life and we don't want family members we meet on the other side to be disappointed with our lack of interest in them. It was a sobering thought for me. I am grateful I am here and working on my family work now.
I had my last day of physical therapy on Thursday. I appreciate all that Oryslava has done for me. I do feel much, much better and I am improving each day. Now comes the tough part.....being responsible for my own health!
The sun is beginning to set today so the blinding light is coming through the window to the west in our living room. I love this time of day.
Before I leave this blog, and just so you won't think that everything as a missionary is rosy, I thought I would record the one thing that is the most difficult for me as a missionary. I never thought about it much before, but I am having a hard time with one mission rule. I have not followed this rule for years and I must confess that I am struggling with it each day. I'm not quite sure what to do about it. I have tried to comply. I sit every morning and ponder about it. I have talked with my husband about it. I hesitate to talk to anyone else because I don't want to appear to be weak. I have never struggled over anything so much in my life. But I am obedient and will continue to comply with the direction from the my leaders. But I have to say...I just don't like having to wear pantyhose!
Last Monday the Elijah Choir performed for a Devotional on Tuesday. Marlin K.Jensen was the keynote speaker. He is a member of the Seventy and the Church Historian. We sang "Come Unto Christ" a wonderful Sally DeFord piece. The words are very tender to me and about half way through the performance I started thinking more about the words than the music and I lost it. I couldn't finish and just stood and held the music while I mouthed the words with tears rolling down my face. wouldn't you know I didn't have any tissues with me and the song was the first thing on the program!! Oh well. I do love her music. She seems to put music to words that express my feelings in many ways.
Elder Jensen's talk was wonderful. He spoke about staying close to the Holy Ghost so we can know "things as they really are" taking the title of the Neal Maxwell book as his theme. He cautioned us to live in such a way as to never run the risk of offending the Spirit. He cautioned us to prepare ourselves to go to the other side. He semi-jokingly made the comment that the reason so many of the people who are involved in genealogy are older is because we realize we are getting close to leaving this life and we don't want family members we meet on the other side to be disappointed with our lack of interest in them. It was a sobering thought for me. I am grateful I am here and working on my family work now.
I had my last day of physical therapy on Thursday. I appreciate all that Oryslava has done for me. I do feel much, much better and I am improving each day. Now comes the tough part.....being responsible for my own health!
The sun is beginning to set today so the blinding light is coming through the window to the west in our living room. I love this time of day.
Before I leave this blog, and just so you won't think that everything as a missionary is rosy, I thought I would record the one thing that is the most difficult for me as a missionary. I never thought about it much before, but I am having a hard time with one mission rule. I have not followed this rule for years and I must confess that I am struggling with it each day. I'm not quite sure what to do about it. I have tried to comply. I sit every morning and ponder about it. I have talked with my husband about it. I hesitate to talk to anyone else because I don't want to appear to be weak. I have never struggled over anything so much in my life. But I am obedient and will continue to comply with the direction from the my leaders. But I have to say...I just don't like having to wear pantyhose!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
A New Project
An exciting new project came to us this week, the Tongan Oral Genealogies Project. We have now been given the assignment to prepare theses oral genealogies for publication on the Community Trees on Family Search. There are 487 transcripts so far that have been digitized. We clean them up and then change them into pdf files so they can be matched with the MP3 file of the actual oral recording, given a proper description and then get them up online It is tedious, but thrilling. We are trying to get the first 80 done within a month. Because the work is tedious we are breaking it up with a continuation of the Visitations of London project we began working on. There is still much to be done with that, so when we need a break from the Tongan cropping and filing we will continue with that.
We have had a fun week together. Well, fun may not be the way to describe our Monday night. Ed cut his finger slicing a piece off a summer sausage he had bought. It was 9:30pm at night and it was deep. He could still move his finger joint so we didn't think it was bad enough to go to the emergency room, but it did bleed a lot. He even got blood on some of the old family group sheets my mom had given me to research! I made a late night run to Walgreens for some Neosporin and proper band aids. One of the things that was fun about the week happened the next day as a result of going to the nurse for her to look at it.
The nurse is right by the training area on the 3rd floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Bldg. After seeing the nurse we stood in the hallway and spoke with Elder Kucher who is the Training Zone Leader and a fascinating man. During the course of our conversation he mentioned that there was a Thai couple in training that day who were going back to Thailand for a mission. Now, I knew that there was a missionary and his wife, both whom I had known in Thailand who were heading out in Nov. but we hadn't seen each other yet so I asked if it would be alright if we interrupted their training to say hello. He said sure and led us right to them. I had not seen them for 34 years. He was a missionary at the same time I was there on a mission. I taught her the gospel while I was there and she joined the Church. I didn't know until a few weeks ago that they had married each other. So when I came around the corner and told her who I was (obviously she didn't recognize me since I have put on so much weight no one from my past would recognize me)she just lost it. We both hugged and hugged and held hands and distrupted the entire training area. When people learned that I had been one of the missionaries who helped her join the church they all thought that was pretty cool. Well, actually it was....!
Her husband, Mani, was in the next row and he was wondering what was happening. He was also surprised when he learned it was me. It was just a great moment. I had forgotten, but she told me that before I left Thailand I had told Mani that he should marry her and take her to the temple. He has never forgotten that. I'm so glad for them both. They are a great couple and will be great missionaries in Thailand. Their family and friends their will be so happy to have them return.
That was Tuesday. We returned to our zone and worked for a little while and Kathy Black came from Ogden to do some genealogy so we got to go to lunch together. Then I had physical therapy and felt great afterward. We met my mom and niece for dinner at Paradise Cafe that evening.
What a great day!!!
Wednesday we were shown what we needed to do for the Tongan project and so we got started on that. Thursday I went to dinner with a friend to have Thai food and then went shopping for a black blazer.
Saturday was also a great day. We both exercised and then had a list of errands to run. We started at 11:00am by meeting my friend who manages the mens department at the Nordstrom Rack in Sandy. She had told me she had some great suits on sale so we ended up getting Ed 3 suits. He was hesitant at first, but he seemed to get into it. Each time he came out of the dressing room with another suit on he would say, "So you really want me to get this one too, huh?" This statement would always be said with a little smile on his face that meant, "I've really decided I like these suits, but I want you to coax me a little." It was great fun and we did get some good quality suits that look great on him. He came here with only 3 suits which he has to wear every day. Two of them are 10-12 years old and are in need of some repair so he really needed some more.
Our other errands including dropping things off at family members homes. It was good to see them. I have been here for a month and haven't even seen them yet, so even though it was brief, it was good say hello. We also stopped at my mom's house and delivered my dad's wheelchair back to her. I had thought about it for a couple of days because it was nice to know we still had the chair in case I needed it, but it was time to not have it around. I need to be on my own now. I am so blessed.
Ashley and Aubree took care of a somewhat major problem at our house this week too. We are so happy they are there and very proud of them. Our neighbor had emailed us that we had a dead tree in our backyard. Ashley made calls to many of our friends and was given the name of someone who could come and look at them and give a price. He told them that there were two trees in the back that were dead and another large pine that had pine beetles in it but wasn't dead yet. There was also a sickly tree in the front that should come down. So they came down on Saturday. I am so sad to lose my beloved trees. I'm afraid I left a Woodlands and I'm going to come back to some more like the Panhandle. I am very grateful that our girls were there to handle the problem. Thanks to all of you who may have helped them out.
A scripture was used in prayer meeting this week that I have always loved and I thought about it as I was evaluating my recovery this week and whether or not to return the chair to my mom:
Alma 26: 11-12
But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and i will rejoice in my God.
Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.
I feel so blessed. My health is returning quickly and I will be able to do the work I have been called to do because of His tender mercies toward me. I love my Savior and I love this work.
We have had a fun week together. Well, fun may not be the way to describe our Monday night. Ed cut his finger slicing a piece off a summer sausage he had bought. It was 9:30pm at night and it was deep. He could still move his finger joint so we didn't think it was bad enough to go to the emergency room, but it did bleed a lot. He even got blood on some of the old family group sheets my mom had given me to research! I made a late night run to Walgreens for some Neosporin and proper band aids. One of the things that was fun about the week happened the next day as a result of going to the nurse for her to look at it.
The nurse is right by the training area on the 3rd floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Bldg. After seeing the nurse we stood in the hallway and spoke with Elder Kucher who is the Training Zone Leader and a fascinating man. During the course of our conversation he mentioned that there was a Thai couple in training that day who were going back to Thailand for a mission. Now, I knew that there was a missionary and his wife, both whom I had known in Thailand who were heading out in Nov. but we hadn't seen each other yet so I asked if it would be alright if we interrupted their training to say hello. He said sure and led us right to them. I had not seen them for 34 years. He was a missionary at the same time I was there on a mission. I taught her the gospel while I was there and she joined the Church. I didn't know until a few weeks ago that they had married each other. So when I came around the corner and told her who I was (obviously she didn't recognize me since I have put on so much weight no one from my past would recognize me)she just lost it. We both hugged and hugged and held hands and distrupted the entire training area. When people learned that I had been one of the missionaries who helped her join the church they all thought that was pretty cool. Well, actually it was....!
Her husband, Mani, was in the next row and he was wondering what was happening. He was also surprised when he learned it was me. It was just a great moment. I had forgotten, but she told me that before I left Thailand I had told Mani that he should marry her and take her to the temple. He has never forgotten that. I'm so glad for them both. They are a great couple and will be great missionaries in Thailand. Their family and friends their will be so happy to have them return.
That was Tuesday. We returned to our zone and worked for a little while and Kathy Black came from Ogden to do some genealogy so we got to go to lunch together. Then I had physical therapy and felt great afterward. We met my mom and niece for dinner at Paradise Cafe that evening.
What a great day!!!
Wednesday we were shown what we needed to do for the Tongan project and so we got started on that. Thursday I went to dinner with a friend to have Thai food and then went shopping for a black blazer.
Saturday was also a great day. We both exercised and then had a list of errands to run. We started at 11:00am by meeting my friend who manages the mens department at the Nordstrom Rack in Sandy. She had told me she had some great suits on sale so we ended up getting Ed 3 suits. He was hesitant at first, but he seemed to get into it. Each time he came out of the dressing room with another suit on he would say, "So you really want me to get this one too, huh?" This statement would always be said with a little smile on his face that meant, "I've really decided I like these suits, but I want you to coax me a little." It was great fun and we did get some good quality suits that look great on him. He came here with only 3 suits which he has to wear every day. Two of them are 10-12 years old and are in need of some repair so he really needed some more.
Our other errands including dropping things off at family members homes. It was good to see them. I have been here for a month and haven't even seen them yet, so even though it was brief, it was good say hello. We also stopped at my mom's house and delivered my dad's wheelchair back to her. I had thought about it for a couple of days because it was nice to know we still had the chair in case I needed it, but it was time to not have it around. I need to be on my own now. I am so blessed.
Ashley and Aubree took care of a somewhat major problem at our house this week too. We are so happy they are there and very proud of them. Our neighbor had emailed us that we had a dead tree in our backyard. Ashley made calls to many of our friends and was given the name of someone who could come and look at them and give a price. He told them that there were two trees in the back that were dead and another large pine that had pine beetles in it but wasn't dead yet. There was also a sickly tree in the front that should come down. So they came down on Saturday. I am so sad to lose my beloved trees. I'm afraid I left a Woodlands and I'm going to come back to some more like the Panhandle. I am very grateful that our girls were there to handle the problem. Thanks to all of you who may have helped them out.
A scripture was used in prayer meeting this week that I have always loved and I thought about it as I was evaluating my recovery this week and whether or not to return the chair to my mom:
Alma 26: 11-12
But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and i will rejoice in my God.
Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.
I feel so blessed. My health is returning quickly and I will be able to do the work I have been called to do because of His tender mercies toward me. I love my Savior and I love this work.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
One month gone already
We are no longer the "new" missionaries. Another group arrived and had their orientation last Friday. Ed met a couple from Australia who were moving into our building yesterday. It is funny to be the one answering some questions now.
The big news this week is to report that Ed has been called to be the Assistant Zone Leader for our Zone. He was actually asked the first day we were in our Zone but it wasn't announced until last Tuesday. What that really means is this.....our current Zone Leaders are leaving the end of October and they want to be sure Ed knows all he needs to know before they leave. They have been here 3 years and were Zone Leaders from their 2nd week. I have a lot of faith in my cute husband, but there is a lot of information to know. I also realize, although no one has said anything to me directly, that I am his companion and whenever they refer to the Zone Leader it is in the plural. Sister Cook does a lot of things for the Zone. I think that they are very much aware of my physical condition and are waiting to talk to me until they know that I am recovered. President and Sister Boye have been very interested on my progression.
To that end, I have been wheelchair free for a week now. It feels very good to walk, even though I can't walk very far yet without finding a place to stop and sit for a moment. I am very grateful that I live close to everything. I can make it from our apartment to the Library. I can make it to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building by going through Temple Square where I can sit on a planter box one time and make it the rest of the way. I am so grateful to have legs and that I have been blessed to have this problem heal as quickly as it has. The funny thing is that I am working so hard to heal myself and be able to walk so I can do my job better, which consists of sitting at a computer all day long! Regardless, I am very grateful and pleased.
We had a visit from Clyde and Kathy Black his weekend. We love seeing our friends and catching up on the news from home, although most of their news was hearing about the fire in their home which we were very sad to hear about. but we appreciated their visit.
Today in Relief Society the new sister missionaries were asked to give a 2 min. introduction about themselves and bear a brief testimony. There were some very specific things that we were asked to share: Name; were we were from; info about our family; something unique about ourself; our testimony. What would you have said was unique about you? (You can respond in the comment section at the bottom of the blog.) I asked Ed to help me and he came up with a good one. So hear is what I said:
The big news this week is to report that Ed has been called to be the Assistant Zone Leader for our Zone. He was actually asked the first day we were in our Zone but it wasn't announced until last Tuesday. What that really means is this.....our current Zone Leaders are leaving the end of October and they want to be sure Ed knows all he needs to know before they leave. They have been here 3 years and were Zone Leaders from their 2nd week. I have a lot of faith in my cute husband, but there is a lot of information to know. I also realize, although no one has said anything to me directly, that I am his companion and whenever they refer to the Zone Leader it is in the plural. Sister Cook does a lot of things for the Zone. I think that they are very much aware of my physical condition and are waiting to talk to me until they know that I am recovered. President and Sister Boye have been very interested on my progression.
To that end, I have been wheelchair free for a week now. It feels very good to walk, even though I can't walk very far yet without finding a place to stop and sit for a moment. I am very grateful that I live close to everything. I can make it from our apartment to the Library. I can make it to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building by going through Temple Square where I can sit on a planter box one time and make it the rest of the way. I am so grateful to have legs and that I have been blessed to have this problem heal as quickly as it has. The funny thing is that I am working so hard to heal myself and be able to walk so I can do my job better, which consists of sitting at a computer all day long! Regardless, I am very grateful and pleased.
We had a visit from Clyde and Kathy Black his weekend. We love seeing our friends and catching up on the news from home, although most of their news was hearing about the fire in their home which we were very sad to hear about. but we appreciated their visit.
Today in Relief Society the new sister missionaries were asked to give a 2 min. introduction about themselves and bear a brief testimony. There were some very specific things that we were asked to share: Name; were we were from; info about our family; something unique about ourself; our testimony. What would you have said was unique about you? (You can respond in the comment section at the bottom of the blog.) I asked Ed to help me and he came up with a good one. So hear is what I said:
I grew up in Portland, Oregon and loved going to the coast. I decided during my lifetime I would like to at least put my feet in every ocean in the world. Pacific and Atlantic were easy. I served a mission in Thailand in 1974 and I did put just my feet in the Indian Ocean. A few years ago my mother took all of her children on a trip to Alaska, a favorite spot of our recently deceased father and we went to “The Top of the World” in Barrow and put our feet in the Arctic Ocean….actually it was more like wading in puddles on the arctic ice, but it was in fact the ocean.
In 2000 another designated ocean was added, the Southern Ocean. I was happy that a business trip to South Africa allowed me to tag along for a month and I was able to put my feet in the southern ocean in Durban and Capetown...
Did you know that about me? One of the things I have loved about the many meetings in our mission is the focus on learning about each other and coming to love our fellow missionaries. There is a real camaraderie here but for me it is so interesting to learn about the lives of these wonderful people. One may who we heard in the 3 min personal history we are all supposed to be prepared to give in the Monday morning devotionals, told us that he was an architect and that one of the projects he had designed was the underground parking for the JSMB which included what is now the beautiful garden area between the old Church Administration Building on South Temple and the JSMB, formerly the Hotel Utah. He planned those gardens! There are people here who are authors, musicians, professors, world renowned chemists, teachers, school board members, career military, accountants, stay at home moms, secretaries, nurses, lots and lots of a wide variety of skills and experience. Some of our sweet single sisters are recently widows. One told us that since her husband was called on his mission she decided she would fill one too.
We had an interesting discussion with one of the other couples in our zone who are from Britan, Elder and Sister Brewis. He is a Medeival scholar and we often depend on him to clear up some of the questions we have in our work. Names of places have changed so much over the years. ( For instance, I learned this week that Yorkshire was called Ebor, short for Eboracum which was the Roman name for the place when they occupied it.) Anyway, the discussion was about Labor Day which brought up the question...would you celebrate July 4th? (Yes......it was Ed who asked the question....what a silly question to ask Brits!) We had been talking with Sister Brewis but upon hearing this Elder Brewis swung around in his chair and quite emphatically, but with his ever present smile, told us they did not celebrate the 4th! We then found out a bit about the British view of those who came over to American to begin with. The conversation drew to a close, however, when we all agreed that in a historical gospel perspective it was pretty clear that the Lord was in charge of all of that anyway, not the Kings of England.
Being here is a special blessing for me. I miss our home, our girls, our comforts, but we really have everything we need here and we are seeing blessings each day. I love going to church meetings in the gorgeous chapel in the JSMB. I love going to the Family History Library each day. I love seeing the sun set out our window each evening. I love smelling the flowers when we go by them on Temple Square. It is a great place for us and we are being blessed each day. I hope that you feel His Love in your life too.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Finally in the Zone
Another beautiful Sabbath to reflect on our past week. We have finished up with all the training outside our zone and actually got to spend 2 full days in the "Historical Families Reconstitution Zone".
Before I go any farther I want to clear up a possible misconception about this zone. It is not highly secret or clandestine in any way. We just happen to be in a secured room because that is where they put the project. Also, it is not a place for patrons to use until we get projects completed and then they are posted on the internet for everyone to use to research their lines. So, don't feel like I am breaking confidences if I tell any stories about what we are doing. It is not confidential, just very detailed. In fact, one of the projects was completed last Thursday and they were all so happy. They have been working on this project since 2003. So we may never get to see a project all the way through. I do want to tell you that the work is very exciting. Both days of it!
My days have been broken up a bit because I started Physical Therapy last week. I am walking a lot more now and the last couple of days have not even need to push the wheelchair in front of me to sit down. My new therapist is Oryslava from Ukraine. She was a luger with the Ukraine luge team who came to the Olympics in 2002 and decided to stay. Now, I have had therapy from 3 other therapists and have only had one bruise. Oryslava however bruised my right thigh the first day (Tues) so badly that she was surprised. So the 2nd day(Wed) she said she would leave my IT band alone and work on strengthening exercises for me. She had me doing so much that I actually became nauseated and had leave before they could ice me. I remained nauseated for the rest of the day and all day Thursday I was so sore and nauseated and even Friday morning every time I tried to walk or exert myself. Friday when I arrived at PT before they got me started on anything I said I needed to talk with her. When she learned what had happened she was very apologetic and said, "Most people when they come here will say " No, I can't do that..., etc. " but you tried everything I gave you and you have a positive attitude and were willing so I thought you could handle all this. You have to tell me to stop if it is too much!" I looked at her and said, " Stop, it's too much!" We had a good laugh. She promised to not beat me up so much but we still had a good workout.
I must admit that I am a little sad to be healing so quickly. I have enjoyed having Ed push me around everywhere and we both have enjoyed the handicapped parking. Most of all I have enjoyed the fact that Ed has prepared all the meals and served them to me. He, on the other hand, though he will miss the handicapped parking (not really) will enjoy the fact that I will be able to cook all the meals again. hahaha He will be very relieved that he will not have to haul the wheelchair in and out of the trunk of the car for me.
Ed and I have joined a SLCounty Parks gym facility up by the U and went up on Saturday. I did a little walking on the lap track (2 laps) above one of the skating rinks at the facility. There are two pools, one indoor and one outdoor, two skating rinks and a good sized weight room and a room with lots of bikes, etc. It is a nice facility and quite inexpensive. It will be good for us.
My mother has been giving me lots of the records she has had for our family. I think this is one of the reasons we have been called here. There is a lot of work to be done on my mother's side of the family. I have recently found that my great grandfather had quite a bit of land holdings in Houston, Texas area so I am anxious to look into that.
The Elijah choirs (missionary choirs) will be putting on a concert here at Temple Square sometime in December. When I find out the dates I will post them so if any of you come this way for the holidays maybe you would like to hear us sing some holiday favorites. You would think that practicing at 6:24am would not get a great sound, but we are sounding quite nice. Of course the mix changes every week with people coming and going into the mission, but we have some fun. Our director, Elder Brague, was the band director at Utah State and he is very humorous. He knows how to get us to wake up that early and how to get us to sing without having to lower the key because it is soooooo early!!!
Today Ed and I went to hear Kyle Schmieg give his return talk from his mission. He is surely a wonderful young man. He does not remember us at all, but it was so fun to see him and remember his young years in The Woodlands and see how he has grown. It was great.
I hope everyone has a lovely and safe week.
Before I go any farther I want to clear up a possible misconception about this zone. It is not highly secret or clandestine in any way. We just happen to be in a secured room because that is where they put the project. Also, it is not a place for patrons to use until we get projects completed and then they are posted on the internet for everyone to use to research their lines. So, don't feel like I am breaking confidences if I tell any stories about what we are doing. It is not confidential, just very detailed. In fact, one of the projects was completed last Thursday and they were all so happy. They have been working on this project since 2003. So we may never get to see a project all the way through. I do want to tell you that the work is very exciting. Both days of it!
My days have been broken up a bit because I started Physical Therapy last week. I am walking a lot more now and the last couple of days have not even need to push the wheelchair in front of me to sit down. My new therapist is Oryslava from Ukraine. She was a luger with the Ukraine luge team who came to the Olympics in 2002 and decided to stay. Now, I have had therapy from 3 other therapists and have only had one bruise. Oryslava however bruised my right thigh the first day (Tues) so badly that she was surprised. So the 2nd day(Wed) she said she would leave my IT band alone and work on strengthening exercises for me. She had me doing so much that I actually became nauseated and had leave before they could ice me. I remained nauseated for the rest of the day and all day Thursday I was so sore and nauseated and even Friday morning every time I tried to walk or exert myself. Friday when I arrived at PT before they got me started on anything I said I needed to talk with her. When she learned what had happened she was very apologetic and said, "Most people when they come here will say " No, I can't do that..., etc. " but you tried everything I gave you and you have a positive attitude and were willing so I thought you could handle all this. You have to tell me to stop if it is too much!" I looked at her and said, " Stop, it's too much!" We had a good laugh. She promised to not beat me up so much but we still had a good workout.
I must admit that I am a little sad to be healing so quickly. I have enjoyed having Ed push me around everywhere and we both have enjoyed the handicapped parking. Most of all I have enjoyed the fact that Ed has prepared all the meals and served them to me. He, on the other hand, though he will miss the handicapped parking (not really) will enjoy the fact that I will be able to cook all the meals again. hahaha He will be very relieved that he will not have to haul the wheelchair in and out of the trunk of the car for me.
Ed and I have joined a SLCounty Parks gym facility up by the U and went up on Saturday. I did a little walking on the lap track (2 laps) above one of the skating rinks at the facility. There are two pools, one indoor and one outdoor, two skating rinks and a good sized weight room and a room with lots of bikes, etc. It is a nice facility and quite inexpensive. It will be good for us.
My mother has been giving me lots of the records she has had for our family. I think this is one of the reasons we have been called here. There is a lot of work to be done on my mother's side of the family. I have recently found that my great grandfather had quite a bit of land holdings in Houston, Texas area so I am anxious to look into that.
The Elijah choirs (missionary choirs) will be putting on a concert here at Temple Square sometime in December. When I find out the dates I will post them so if any of you come this way for the holidays maybe you would like to hear us sing some holiday favorites. You would think that practicing at 6:24am would not get a great sound, but we are sounding quite nice. Of course the mix changes every week with people coming and going into the mission, but we have some fun. Our director, Elder Brague, was the band director at Utah State and he is very humorous. He knows how to get us to wake up that early and how to get us to sing without having to lower the key because it is soooooo early!!!
Today Ed and I went to hear Kyle Schmieg give his return talk from his mission. He is surely a wonderful young man. He does not remember us at all, but it was so fun to see him and remember his young years in The Woodlands and see how he has grown. It was great.
I hope everyone has a lovely and safe week.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Our Assignment
Last Friday all the missionaries in our group and our trainers were all very excited for us to receive our assignments. First we had our daily devotional, then we had about 30 min. of final one on one training in the Training Zone and then we went downstairs and were treated to fresh homemade bread and jam that our trainers made for us. After that we went into the chapel (in the JSMB) for what is called the "Go Forth" meeting. We all sat with our trainers, who were just as anxious as we were. Ed and I had to laugh at the opening song, "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go"! The Presidency did tell us that it was chosen by design.
We had a talk by one of the Councilors in the Mission Presidency and then the Mission President stood up and spoke. He told us that many of us would be receiving our assignments and not have any idea what we would be doing. With 22 zones in this mission and what little we have learned we can certainly understand that. Coming to this mission is definitely not a guarantee that you will be in the Library helping patrons find their ancestors. There is so much that is being done. I had no idea. So, after preping is all with that comment, her proceeded to call out our names and giving the zone name and introducing the Zone Leader. When our names were called he said, "Ed and Nora Moulder to the Historical Families Reconstitution Zone" . I looked at my trainer and said, "What is that?!" She told me a little and then at the end of the meeting we met our Zone Leaders, Elder and Sister Cook. I had met Sister Cook in the choirs already. She is very excited that I will be in her zone. Her husband was very nice and knew that we would have lots of questions so he tried to explain as simply as he could what we would be doing. This is all I have so far: We will be handling old records that have become available to the Church from places mostly in Europe before 1500 and making them ready to be available to the public. This zone used to be called the Medieval Zone, but it has expanded a lot so they changed the name. I know there are some missionaries there who are working exclusively on records from the Pacific Islands, natives who know the language.
Sorry, but until we get trained this week, I really have no idea what we will be doing. I do know that we are housed in a secured (locked) room in the basement of the Family History Library. We do not work with patrons. I don't think patrons are allowed in the room because you have to have clearance to enter although there is a doorbell, so I don't know what that means. I do know that we have a lot of flexibility in our zone and that the number of missionaries where we are is very small. Next week I will be able to give a lot more details I think. All missionaries had to sign consent documents that we will not disclosure any sacred or personal information outside our zones. I don't think that is ours. Mostly that is about personal diaries of the prophets and general authorities that are in the Church History Library or the Headquarters Zone where very personal information is handled. I think I will at least be able to tell you what I am working on that will be going public! Anyway, more next week.
We only had a few minutes with the Zone Leaders and then the missionaries, trainers and some of the Presidency walked over to the 11:00 Endowment Session at the SL Temple. Since my mom is an ordinance worker at the temple on Friday she arranged to be on that session and she was able to help me with my wheelchair. I told her I thought I could walk, but it probably was a good thing that I had the chair rather than doing all the standing and going up stairs in this temple. However, I did have a little scare in the wheelchair which I won't go into but needless to say I am getting out of that chair as quickly as possible!!!
Along that note, Ed and I joined the County Park sports facility up by the U of U campus. It is very nice and I was able to get on a recumbent cross trainer and work out for the first time in a long time. It felt very good and I am doing very well today. I have my first physical therapy session here on Tuesday so I am very hopeful that I will be walking normally before long. Ed hasn't had to align my legs for almost a week now and I can tell with the decrease of pain that the hips are in better alignment. I am being very diligent with my home exercises twice a day.
The weather here has been beautiful for us with Ed pushing me around from our apt to the JSMB each day. The Library is even closer, but returning from Church today we started to get sprinkled on before we got home. Ed tried to break into a run for the last block, but the wheelchair just isn't built for that and I was so nervous......it felt like the wheels were going to fall off they were shaking so hard. To him it felt like I was applying the breaks and he kept saying, "don't do that!" I didn't know what "that" was because I was afraid of another face planting and at high speeds! Finally I communicated to him that he couldn't go that fast and he realized it was the chair telling him to stop, not me. We didn't get too wet and the storm held off until we were safely in our apartment. I just need to get well enough to walk on my own!!
I appreciate your comments and emails and appreciate your support. We feel so grateful that we are able to be here. I had no idea it would be this amazing. I hope everyone has an opportunity to do this.
We had a talk by one of the Councilors in the Mission Presidency and then the Mission President stood up and spoke. He told us that many of us would be receiving our assignments and not have any idea what we would be doing. With 22 zones in this mission and what little we have learned we can certainly understand that. Coming to this mission is definitely not a guarantee that you will be in the Library helping patrons find their ancestors. There is so much that is being done. I had no idea. So, after preping is all with that comment, her proceeded to call out our names and giving the zone name and introducing the Zone Leader. When our names were called he said, "Ed and Nora Moulder to the Historical Families Reconstitution Zone" . I looked at my trainer and said, "What is that?!" She told me a little and then at the end of the meeting we met our Zone Leaders, Elder and Sister Cook. I had met Sister Cook in the choirs already. She is very excited that I will be in her zone. Her husband was very nice and knew that we would have lots of questions so he tried to explain as simply as he could what we would be doing. This is all I have so far: We will be handling old records that have become available to the Church from places mostly in Europe before 1500 and making them ready to be available to the public. This zone used to be called the Medieval Zone, but it has expanded a lot so they changed the name. I know there are some missionaries there who are working exclusively on records from the Pacific Islands, natives who know the language.
Sorry, but until we get trained this week, I really have no idea what we will be doing. I do know that we are housed in a secured (locked) room in the basement of the Family History Library. We do not work with patrons. I don't think patrons are allowed in the room because you have to have clearance to enter although there is a doorbell, so I don't know what that means. I do know that we have a lot of flexibility in our zone and that the number of missionaries where we are is very small. Next week I will be able to give a lot more details I think. All missionaries had to sign consent documents that we will not disclosure any sacred or personal information outside our zones. I don't think that is ours. Mostly that is about personal diaries of the prophets and general authorities that are in the Church History Library or the Headquarters Zone where very personal information is handled. I think I will at least be able to tell you what I am working on that will be going public! Anyway, more next week.
We only had a few minutes with the Zone Leaders and then the missionaries, trainers and some of the Presidency walked over to the 11:00 Endowment Session at the SL Temple. Since my mom is an ordinance worker at the temple on Friday she arranged to be on that session and she was able to help me with my wheelchair. I told her I thought I could walk, but it probably was a good thing that I had the chair rather than doing all the standing and going up stairs in this temple. However, I did have a little scare in the wheelchair which I won't go into but needless to say I am getting out of that chair as quickly as possible!!!
Along that note, Ed and I joined the County Park sports facility up by the U of U campus. It is very nice and I was able to get on a recumbent cross trainer and work out for the first time in a long time. It felt very good and I am doing very well today. I have my first physical therapy session here on Tuesday so I am very hopeful that I will be walking normally before long. Ed hasn't had to align my legs for almost a week now and I can tell with the decrease of pain that the hips are in better alignment. I am being very diligent with my home exercises twice a day.
The weather here has been beautiful for us with Ed pushing me around from our apt to the JSMB each day. The Library is even closer, but returning from Church today we started to get sprinkled on before we got home. Ed tried to break into a run for the last block, but the wheelchair just isn't built for that and I was so nervous......it felt like the wheels were going to fall off they were shaking so hard. To him it felt like I was applying the breaks and he kept saying, "don't do that!" I didn't know what "that" was because I was afraid of another face planting and at high speeds! Finally I communicated to him that he couldn't go that fast and he realized it was the chair telling him to stop, not me. We didn't get too wet and the storm held off until we were safely in our apartment. I just need to get well enough to walk on my own!!
I appreciate your comments and emails and appreciate your support. We feel so grateful that we are able to be here. I had no idea it would be this amazing. I hope everyone has an opportunity to do this.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Our Mission Begins
Sunday, August 15, 2010
We have completed our first week as official missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It has been a full week. I surprised myself on Friday afternoon when we came back to our apartment about 3:30PM and I was so tired I fell asleep! It was the middle of the afternoon and I was struggling to keep my eyes opened. Ed went out and walked again. He will be very happy when we get our assignment next week so we can set up an exercise schedule.
We began our mission on Friday, Aug 6th with a yummy luncheon in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB). I was so excited to receive our name tags here. I feel so official! We met all the members of the Mission Presidency and their wives. We were seated at a "Texas Table". One of the Presidency are Elder and Sister Boye who are from San Antonio. Another missionary couple, Elder and Sister Wheeler are from Shilling, Texas by Amarillo. There is a Sister Missionary who is from College Station. We felt very proud that Texas was well represented in our group of 20 missionaries.
We also met our Branch President and his wife (who is the RS Pres.). They told us that the branch operates a little differently from other branches in that the missionaries do not receive callings per se, but the President will invite individuals (or you could volunteer) to teach a specific lesson or to play the piano/organ for a month, etc. Every couple will serve together as companions for home teaching. It was very fun to attend out first Sunday meetings and hear the congregation singing. Wow! There were a few people who had family visiting, but there were only 4-5 children in the entire congregation. It was very quite during the sacrament. Nice.
After the luncheon on Friday we had multiple pictures taken. I did not enjoy this part very much. Then we went back to the training room on the 3rd floor of the JSMB and met our trainers. Each of us is assigned and individual trainer. Ed and were assigned to a cute couple who are serving as missionaries from South Jordan, Utah. They drive in each day and attend their home ward. Sister Rogers is very sweet and Brother Rogers is a computer guy, perfect for Ed. We didn't do much in the way of training on our first Friday, but it was good to get started.
We were given the weekend to get our affairs in order and rest up for an intense week. We were very happy for this. We went shopping that evening and basically got everything we needed.
On Saturday we celebrated Autumn's birthday. She wanted to go to Tucano's for lunch. It is a Brazian restaurant we had never been to but she loves it. I think Ashley had introduced her to it. Fortunately it was close by our apartment. We invited my mother to join us and then we all went to our apartment so they could see it. We then played games and ate the fruit pizza I made for her since she doesn't like cake. It will be fun to be close to Autumn/Derrick and my mom and other family members while we are here.
Monday morning begins with a devotional meeting at 7:30AM. From there we go for instruction from the Presidency or for training at our computers. We have an hour for lunch. We have been shown around so we know how to get to the cafeteria in the Church Office Building (COB) where there is a wide variety of food available at very reasonable prices. We also have enjoyed having a cup of soup from the Nauvoo Cafe in the lobby of the JSMB. It is much easier on Ed because he has to wheel me everywhere.
Yes, I am in a wheechair for most of the time. Even though our apartment is just two blocks away I am not yet able to make the walk, but I am confident that I will be able to make it soon.
Things are getting better for me it seems each day. The 3 weeks of traction and the fact that the therapists in Houston showed Ed how to help get my hips realigned has made a big difference.
The new exercises they gave me to do have also helped, so I am encouraged. Ed is certainly ready to have me fixed! He doesn't mind pushing me around but he really doesn't like being responsible for fixing the meals in our little kitchen. I do what I can, but I can't stay on my feet standing very long yet. If I am walking I do much better, but standing is still very painful.
We are seeing a neurologist here tomorrow morning.
We have had a few adventures with the wheelchair. It seems that Ed isn't able to judge the door openings really well. He also doesn't have a great ability to watch for bumps....
Walking home one day we took the crosswalk in the middle of the block between temple square and the conference center. There is a significant dip for a gutter. We made it down the first and scraped the foot rests then crossed the street. Ed didn't learn from the scraping of the feet and charged ahead not noticing that there was another significant dip and a little lip on the street side. I saw it coming but only had time to put my feet down a little bit. The wheelchair hit the lip and stopped and I continued the forward motion. There were several people around us and Ed of course did his usual yell as he realized what was happening. I was airborn for a split second but my feet saved me and I fell back into the chair. I was so happy that I was able to stop myself before face planting on the sidewalk. It was very close.
Thursday last week we went for a tour of the new Church History Library. They described to us some of the work that is done there so we would have a little idea of the work done in that part of the mission. Some of us may be assigned there. I was so impressed with this facility. So much has been done and is continuing to be done. There are a lot more volunteers/missionaries needed.
Actually that is one thing we learned. In the last year the Church has seen a decline in the number of senior couples serving. I'm sure part of that has to do with the economy, but it has had an impact on the amount of work that is done.
We have enjoyed going around stores getting the things we need. We are supposed to wear our name tags wherever we go. We are not supposed to wear jeans anywhere except if we are working in a yard or exercising, etc. so we have had many people come up and start talking to us about our mission. Most are surprised when they find out we are from Texas and then they start telling us about their missions or other people they know who are serving or they say, "I really should be doing more research and family history work than I am doing."
This is the transition that I have felt this week. Each day we have been inspired regarding this work, both the genealogy and the family history. A sign in the training room reads something like this: Genealogy without the history is just mythology. We have heard over and over again about the importance of this work and the many individuals who are waiting for their work to be done. We have been counseled to make prayer, scripture study and journaling a more important part of each day so the Holy Ghost will be able to teach us, and guide us to the names and histories of those who are waiting for us to realize the blessings of the ordinances of the gospel.
One of the messages we received from our Mission Presidency is to keep the TV off. This was so funny to me. Ed had told me before we came that he wanted to get a TV. I told him that I didn't think we should be watching TV at all. (Ashley told him the same thing, "You should be focusing on your mission, Dad!") When we arrived at our apartment we found that the previous missionaries had left a TV. It was an old one and after getting it hooked up Ed said that he would want to get a better TV. Then when we heard this counsel from the presidency Ed slowly turned his head towards me and I just smiled. We haven't turned the TV on once during the week. I think we will not be spending money on a new TV anytime soon. Let me just say here, I love my husband dearly.
We have another full week of intense training this week. There is so much to learn. Each day I am so concerned about my ability to remember the new stuff that I was taught that day. There is so much! On Friday we will receive our permanent assignments. We have learned that the Family and Church History Mission has 22 zones where we could be assigned. On Friday, we will meet our zone leaders after getting our assignment and then we finish our training by going to the temple as a group; missionaries, Presidency and trainers. It will be a great way to finish our general training. The following Monday we will report to our assigned places and receive another week or two of training in our specific assignments. Stay tuned!
We have completed our first week as official missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It has been a full week. I surprised myself on Friday afternoon when we came back to our apartment about 3:30PM and I was so tired I fell asleep! It was the middle of the afternoon and I was struggling to keep my eyes opened. Ed went out and walked again. He will be very happy when we get our assignment next week so we can set up an exercise schedule.
We began our mission on Friday, Aug 6th with a yummy luncheon in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB). I was so excited to receive our name tags here. I feel so official! We met all the members of the Mission Presidency and their wives. We were seated at a "Texas Table". One of the Presidency are Elder and Sister Boye who are from San Antonio. Another missionary couple, Elder and Sister Wheeler are from Shilling, Texas by Amarillo. There is a Sister Missionary who is from College Station. We felt very proud that Texas was well represented in our group of 20 missionaries.
We also met our Branch President and his wife (who is the RS Pres.). They told us that the branch operates a little differently from other branches in that the missionaries do not receive callings per se, but the President will invite individuals (or you could volunteer) to teach a specific lesson or to play the piano/organ for a month, etc. Every couple will serve together as companions for home teaching. It was very fun to attend out first Sunday meetings and hear the congregation singing. Wow! There were a few people who had family visiting, but there were only 4-5 children in the entire congregation. It was very quite during the sacrament. Nice.
After the luncheon on Friday we had multiple pictures taken. I did not enjoy this part very much. Then we went back to the training room on the 3rd floor of the JSMB and met our trainers. Each of us is assigned and individual trainer. Ed and were assigned to a cute couple who are serving as missionaries from South Jordan, Utah. They drive in each day and attend their home ward. Sister Rogers is very sweet and Brother Rogers is a computer guy, perfect for Ed. We didn't do much in the way of training on our first Friday, but it was good to get started.
We were given the weekend to get our affairs in order and rest up for an intense week. We were very happy for this. We went shopping that evening and basically got everything we needed.
On Saturday we celebrated Autumn's birthday. She wanted to go to Tucano's for lunch. It is a Brazian restaurant we had never been to but she loves it. I think Ashley had introduced her to it. Fortunately it was close by our apartment. We invited my mother to join us and then we all went to our apartment so they could see it. We then played games and ate the fruit pizza I made for her since she doesn't like cake. It will be fun to be close to Autumn/Derrick and my mom and other family members while we are here.
Monday morning begins with a devotional meeting at 7:30AM. From there we go for instruction from the Presidency or for training at our computers. We have an hour for lunch. We have been shown around so we know how to get to the cafeteria in the Church Office Building (COB) where there is a wide variety of food available at very reasonable prices. We also have enjoyed having a cup of soup from the Nauvoo Cafe in the lobby of the JSMB. It is much easier on Ed because he has to wheel me everywhere.
Yes, I am in a wheechair for most of the time. Even though our apartment is just two blocks away I am not yet able to make the walk, but I am confident that I will be able to make it soon.
Things are getting better for me it seems each day. The 3 weeks of traction and the fact that the therapists in Houston showed Ed how to help get my hips realigned has made a big difference.
The new exercises they gave me to do have also helped, so I am encouraged. Ed is certainly ready to have me fixed! He doesn't mind pushing me around but he really doesn't like being responsible for fixing the meals in our little kitchen. I do what I can, but I can't stay on my feet standing very long yet. If I am walking I do much better, but standing is still very painful.
We are seeing a neurologist here tomorrow morning.
We have had a few adventures with the wheelchair. It seems that Ed isn't able to judge the door openings really well. He also doesn't have a great ability to watch for bumps....
Walking home one day we took the crosswalk in the middle of the block between temple square and the conference center. There is a significant dip for a gutter. We made it down the first and scraped the foot rests then crossed the street. Ed didn't learn from the scraping of the feet and charged ahead not noticing that there was another significant dip and a little lip on the street side. I saw it coming but only had time to put my feet down a little bit. The wheelchair hit the lip and stopped and I continued the forward motion. There were several people around us and Ed of course did his usual yell as he realized what was happening. I was airborn for a split second but my feet saved me and I fell back into the chair. I was so happy that I was able to stop myself before face planting on the sidewalk. It was very close.
Thursday last week we went for a tour of the new Church History Library. They described to us some of the work that is done there so we would have a little idea of the work done in that part of the mission. Some of us may be assigned there. I was so impressed with this facility. So much has been done and is continuing to be done. There are a lot more volunteers/missionaries needed.
Actually that is one thing we learned. In the last year the Church has seen a decline in the number of senior couples serving. I'm sure part of that has to do with the economy, but it has had an impact on the amount of work that is done.
We have enjoyed going around stores getting the things we need. We are supposed to wear our name tags wherever we go. We are not supposed to wear jeans anywhere except if we are working in a yard or exercising, etc. so we have had many people come up and start talking to us about our mission. Most are surprised when they find out we are from Texas and then they start telling us about their missions or other people they know who are serving or they say, "I really should be doing more research and family history work than I am doing."
This is the transition that I have felt this week. Each day we have been inspired regarding this work, both the genealogy and the family history. A sign in the training room reads something like this: Genealogy without the history is just mythology. We have heard over and over again about the importance of this work and the many individuals who are waiting for their work to be done. We have been counseled to make prayer, scripture study and journaling a more important part of each day so the Holy Ghost will be able to teach us, and guide us to the names and histories of those who are waiting for us to realize the blessings of the ordinances of the gospel.
One of the messages we received from our Mission Presidency is to keep the TV off. This was so funny to me. Ed had told me before we came that he wanted to get a TV. I told him that I didn't think we should be watching TV at all. (Ashley told him the same thing, "You should be focusing on your mission, Dad!") When we arrived at our apartment we found that the previous missionaries had left a TV. It was an old one and after getting it hooked up Ed said that he would want to get a better TV. Then when we heard this counsel from the presidency Ed slowly turned his head towards me and I just smiled. We haven't turned the TV on once during the week. I think we will not be spending money on a new TV anytime soon. Let me just say here, I love my husband dearly.
We have another full week of intense training this week. There is so much to learn. Each day I am so concerned about my ability to remember the new stuff that I was taught that day. There is so much! On Friday we will receive our permanent assignments. We have learned that the Family and Church History Mission has 22 zones where we could be assigned. On Friday, we will meet our zone leaders after getting our assignment and then we finish our training by going to the temple as a group; missionaries, Presidency and trainers. It will be a great way to finish our general training. The following Monday we will report to our assigned places and receive another week or two of training in our specific assignments. Stay tuned!
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