Relief Society Lesson

The main distraction from all of that partying was that I had been asked to give the lesson in Relief Society today. I actually enjoy teaching, but this was a bit nerve racking--more than normal.  It was tricker to prepare even though I had like 6 weeks notice on what the talk was to be discussed.  Part of it was teaching a group of 50 women--all serving full-time missions and basically all over the age of 60 is somewhat challenging.  There is so much life experience in the room and most of them are great teachers themselves.  But also we really don't know each other very well.  I don't know them and they don't know me.

The lesson was from Elder Ballard's talk "Lovest Thou Me More Than These?"  One of the things I did was read his biography which was excellent.  I encourage anyone who would like to learn more about him to read it.  At the beginning of the lesson, I did a brief summary of his life.  I had gotten this book, because several of the mission presidents we have interviewed had served under President Ballard when he was mission president over the Canada Toronto Mission in the mid-1970s.  Their comments made me curious about him.

These are items I used for my lessons.  Different from talks, I usually write out my outline for a lesson by hand often in a legal pad like this.  

I gave each class member an index card and asked them to write down a time when they put Christ first over anything else--What choice had they made?  Why did they make it?  What was the outcome?  As full time missionaries, they all have made a choice to put Christ first for this time in our lives.  But how can we always do it?  What does that look like in our every day lives?

The class then divided up into six groups and discussed practical ways to increase our love for the Savior including favorite scriptures, quotes, spiritual practices, and stories that keep us focused on letting Christ and God prevail in our lives.

It went fine and got done on time which is good!

I am not sure exactly how it happened, but now I have a devotional message to give on Thursday of this week, the following Monday--an hour workshop on "communication", and then the following day I lead a book club discussion on the book "The Witch of Blackberry Pond."  Fortunately, they are mostly different groups of people so no one person has to hear me four times in 10 days.

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

I had a stomach bug for the first part of the week which isn't how you want to feel for Thanksgiving.  It changed our plans a bit as I decided we shouldn't go spend the night with Jessica and Elessia's family the night before Thanksgiving.  Fortunately, I felt better on Thursday so we cooked the turkey and headed up to Syracuse for the afternoon.

Here are the kids eating some extra marshmallows while dinner was being finished in the other room.

The only other picture I ended up taking that day was of Liam as he started on his pumpkin pie after dinner.

Friday afternoon, we headed to Eden to Vonette and Gary's to play games and enjoy some yummy tomato soup in bread bowls for dinner.  It was fun to be with them, to play some games, and to enjoy some conversation.

Saturday, we headed down to Provo to take Ben some Thanksgiving leftovers for his lunch and a visit.  On the way back out of town, we spied this Santa riding a bike next to us.

Certainly is the season for food, fun, family, friends, and games!  And looking ahead to next week--there is much more of all of it to come!
 

Happy Saturday, Grandchildren!

I made heart shaped pancakes for Jena and Gary, but sent a picture of one to our kids to share with our grandkids.  They love fun shaped pancakes!  (However, Tosha is really the master of pancake art!) but they like mine anyway! 

FUN DAY TO BE A BYU FAN!

 

I really don't have any "history" to match this with, but the announcers at the BYU basketball game last night kept mentioning it so I thought I would put it here as well:

BYU women's soccer beat the first seeded Virginia team to advance to the Elite 8.

BYU women's basketball won their game.

BYU women's volleyball won their game to end up first place in their conference.

A BYU woman and a BYU man came in first place in the National NCAA cross country races today.

BYU football won their game against Georgia Southern.

and to finish the day BYU won their basketball game.

Go, Cougars!!

Brigham City Temple

When we got our call and learned a bit about our mission, one of our plans was to take our monthly temple day and attend all of the temples within the 60 mile radius (plus Logan) which are considered in our mission.  With Covid, that has limited that plan somewhat but this month we scheduled two of those visits--Brigham City Temple last Friday and then Payson on this upcoming Tuesday.

Jena and I went to the Brigham City Open House years ago, but we haven't been there for a session.  We met with Vonette and Gary and did sealings.  This was Jena's first time to do sealings and she did great--serving as a daughter for many sealings of daughters to parents.  When the session first started, the sealer asked Jena to serve as a witness.  It caught me off guard and made me cry from the very beginning!  What a powerful moment of acknowledgement of worth.

After finishing our names, I talked to Jena about her sealing in the Dallas Temple and how she had sat on the alter (she was 10 months old) with her hand on ours as she was sealed to us.  We then looked in the mirrors and talked about standing there with everyone and talking about eternity.

Gary was not being cooperative for a photo---

Vonette took this photo.  We tried to get one in front of the temple but the doors kept opening up.

It was a sweet day.....followed by dinner with the Kerrs and conversation.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Thursday was a busy day which started early for all of us as I had to go to Syracuse for a dentist appointment at 8:30.  Once I got back to the library, it was meetings and more meetings and then an awesome oral history with President David and Sister Susan Clark who served in the Washington Spokane Mission.  It lasted about 3 hours but Gary and I both agreed that it was one of the most enjoyable interviews we have done.  It has a great mix of facts, fun, and spiritual moments.  And President and Sister Clark were so fun with each other.  Loved it!

When we got out of the oral history, we both had several messages to deal with on our phones.  I had two from Sister Virginia Bowers--did we want tickets to the Hale Theatre?...Sure, when?  TONIGHT!

We said yes and hurried home to grab some leftovers for dinner and change our clothes.  We didn't tell Jena where we were going, but when we drove into the Hale Theatre parking, she was very excited! "Her favorite!"  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was amazing.

Checking out the program on the telephone--

Before it started--

It was a fun evening now and a good "topper" to a great day---except for the whole dentist appointment and getting up early part!

 

Christmas Is Coming---

to Temple Square,  The Christmas tree in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building which was only green the  Sunday before last, is now lit and decorated.

On Tuesday, they started with the Christmas tree in The Church History Library.  It takes some serious equipment and a number of people all day to get it set up and decorated.

The boxes of decorations--someone had fun stacking those totes!

So many decorations--

Mid-afternoon--

Closeup on the completed tree--

And it seemed appropriate a few days later to see the lights around the Conference Center turned on as we headed home one day.  The main Temple Square lights will be turned on the day after Thanksgiving, but we have a little preview around the Conference Center.

Christmas is coming!
 

A Picture of Us

One of our missionaries got this photo of us at the Zone Social. He sent it to us after seeing that we didn't have one when we shared photos with our zone:

Not sure why I wasn't smiling, but here we are with Elder and Sister Barker.

Speaking of friends---

 

A friend, Liisa Berg, posted this photo from 1992 on Facebook this past week.  So many memories and such a great group of strong, accomplished women.  I am proud to be a part of them.

Left to right:  Katie Hillam, Kim Wade, Tuan Thatcher, Gurmett Mann, Maureen Chandler, Paula Engstrom, Jill Anderson, Sandy Lai

Sitting:  me, Christine Smith, Liisa Berg

I think it was both an unique time in Hong Kong in the Victoria Ward but also a unique time in my life.  These women and many more from that time made and still are making such an impact on my life.  They are strong, faithful women--adventurous and smart; kind and amazing.  I am so glad that our paths crossed and that we know that we have eternity to strengthen our friendships.

It is sad that I don't have pictures of all of the great women whom I have known and know in my life.  I have been gifted with so many great friends and my life have been changed for the better for knowing each one of them.

Missionary Moments Mis-Mash

In between all of the social activities we were involved in last week, we also were still involved in the daily work of our mission.

Last Sunday, Jena attended Church with us as her ward had Stake Conference and we weren't sure how to make that work.  The Christmas tree was just in the beginning stages of being put up in the JSMB.  Since we all work navy and black, we decided to get a picture taken (with a stranger's help)

Masks- included!

Gary thought this was a humorous sign in the entry of our apartment complex-- "Happy Fall!"--Think about it!

We had some debris tracked through the second floor of the Church History Library and a quick thinking archivist thought to use archive folders to cover the spots until the carpet could be cleaned.....you never know what you might see at the Church History Library.

More cookies when we came home one night!

And this is a picture of Elder Daniel Rona giving a devotional message about Joseph Smith...from Jerusalem!!!  How cool is that!  It was about 5:30 pm for him.  He was born in Germany with Jewish parents, they emigrated to Israel after World War 2, and then he and his dad emigrated to the US when Elder Rona was six or so.  At some point his dad accepted the gospel and they moved to Salt Lake.  He said that one of the things that drew his dad to the Church was the concept of prophets.  He said that his father knew that the true Church had to have prophets like Moses and Abraham.  Elder Rona lives in Salt Lake but still runs a tourist company in Israel.  We hope someday to go on one of his tours ourselves.

And then we met Elder Larry Faria and his wife on Zoom on Friday.  They had served in the Church History Library Zone years ago as full-time missionaries and Elder Faria has continued in an assignment as a service missionary from their home in Monet, MO.  This is close by Springfield, MO where we lived when we were first married and it was fun to talk about that part of the country with people who know.  They moved there in 1980 so 18 months after we moved to Utah.  Again, we are struck by the amazing men and women who serve with us in the Church History Library.  They are all remarkable and the Farias are no exception.  He has a very aggressive form of cancer which he has been fighting for a couple of years, but he continues to use his talents to serve the Lord.  Somehow their records got them placed in the wrong zone and he was "lost" for a bit, but now he is part of our zone and we can benefit from their strong spirits.

Friday, I also finally had a minute or two to hang my new maps--to represent Archives and Area Support--a world map and a US/Canada one for our team.

I love looking at maps!

Missionary Moments are magnificent!
 

North Visitor's Center

Temple Square continues to undergo a variety of changes as part of the renovation of the Salt Lake City Temple.

This week they started on the tear down of the North Visitor's Center.  It is hard to imagine Temple Square without this building.  It has had a variety of displays and art work which shared the message of the gospel to the visitors on Temple Square since 1963.  The most famous part of the exhibits is the 11-foot replica of Bertel Thorvaldsen"s 'Christus' the original sits in the Church of Our Lady, a Lutheran Church in Copenhagen. 

Photos from a Giberson Reunion Visit to Temple Square in 2018.

My brother, Scott with Jena
Scotty in the back right

The statue has been removed and is being stored.  It will be placed somewhere on Temple Square, but I don't think I have seen the announcement about where exactly.  The area under this site will become gardens and pathways.  Reports also stated that bathrooms will be placed somewhere to support visitors. 

All of this background for these photos from this week:

I was taking pictures from ground level, but I think some of these people probably got some good photos from their view on top of the Conference Center directly north of the visitor's center--

Historical times to be serving in the Utah Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission!  You never know what you might see next!

"Feast or Famine"

If you think of 2020/2021 has mostly a "famine" of social gatherings, then this past week, we have had a "feast" of them--

Last Sunday:  Break the Fast with the Brigham Apartments missionaries.  We had about 25 gathering together for a great potluck.  I took meatballs in a crock pot.  I go only stay a short time, because I had to join the Owen Cousin Zoom Reunion at 5:00, but Gary and Jena enjoyed the company and food for a while longer.

Last Monday:  Ensign Peak Branch had their Aloha Potluck dinner at the State Center on 2nd North.  I took potato salad to that potluck  (recording so I can make sure to not always bring the same thing. :) ).  This is to welcome all the new missionaries and say goodbye to those who will be leaving in the next month or so.  This is only the second one we have been able to attend.

Last Tuesday:  Dinner at the "Other Place Restaurant" which is Greek and American food with the Pierponts and one of their daughters, in town from Virginia.  Pierponts are former missionaries in our zone.  They will be moving down to the Sandy area to another apartment next month.

Last Wednesday (and really the focus of most of the beginning of the week for me):  Our first in-person Social for our Zone; "Christmas Prep".  We had a short but beautiful program in the Chapel of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and then served dinner in the Relief Society Room.  We had about 45 people in attendance. Although we adjusted things due to recent increases in Covid in the area and didn't do games and White Turkey Exchange, it was still a sweet evening and people enjoyed being together in that setting.

Getting things from our apartment and the Church History Library to the Mezzanine level was a bit more work than a typical event.  Fortunately there was openings in the drop off spot in front of the building and the mission had a cart we could use. 

We used things which we found in a box at the CHL and just added a few candies, a runner, and a snowman.

The ceiling in the Relief Society Room

The beautiful Chapel where we had our program and where we meet for Church each week.

Sister Jones decided that her nativity from Mali, Africa would be perfect and she ran home and got the pieces.  She was right.  It was perfect.

Our program:

Opening Hymn:  "Away in the Manager"    Jena led the music, Sister Parker played the organ

Opening prayer

Piano number by Sister Marianne Jones   "The Christmas Song"

Reading by Elder Nelson Spencer    "Willie and Annie's Prayer"

Piano numbers by Sister Patty Barker   "What Child is This?"  "Hosea, the Divine Christ Child" (that title is not exactly right  ;(

Reading by Sister Joyce Forman  "The Cobbler"  She has this memorized and gave it completely without notes.  She is 85 years old.  It was so powerful.

Closing hymn:  "Silent Night" with Sister Joan Young on the guitar and Jena leading.

Prayer/blessing on food:

It lasted just over 30 minutes and was all so sweet.

Dinner and our amazing missionaries---

Lower left and around--Sister Dixon, Sister McClure (with her daughter), Sister Allan, Jena, Sister Newbold, and Elder Spencer

Sister Jones, Sister Winn, Sister Joan Young, President Parker, Sister Parker, Elder Young, Elder Eppich, and Sister Eppich

Sister Semadeni, Sister Forman, Elder Semadeni, Sister Collet, Elder Collet, Sister Fetzer

Elder Twelmeyer, Sister Twelmeyer, Sister Horrocks, Sister Burwell, Sister Conlin, Elder Conlin, President Larsen, and Sister Larson

Elder Johnson, Sister Johnson, Sister Cox, Elder Peterson, Elder Elder, Sister Elder, Elder Barrus, Sister Barrus

Elder Creswell, Elder Dave Young, Elder Pat Young, Elder Barker, Sister Barker

Of course, Gary and I were there, but no pictures of us.  Also President and Sister Randall attended the program but had to leave to attend another event in Draper.

I know it seems a bit early for a Christmas Program but since most of our missionaries live at home and are parts of their local wards and often have family around, we decided to simplify December by having something now.

All week I have prayed that no one gets sick from Covid as a result of our gathering.  We tried to social distancing during the program and wore masks as we served food, etc.  So far, no outbreak that we have heard of.........

Last Thursday:  Grandkids Visit- The "fun" continued as Jena and I headed to Syracuse and hung out with Liam, Zander, Alex, and Ezri.  This was a last minute thing as Carter unfortunately ended up in Primary's on Wednesday due to problems with her O2.  Luckily she only had to stay overnight and got home Thursday evening.  The only reason I put "fun" in quotes is because Alex started throwing up while we were there so we mostly all had a quiet evening and helped Alex.

Last Friday:  We headed to Provo and took Ben McDonalds for dinner.

Yesterday (Saturday):  We STAYED home!  And it felt good.  We cleaned the house and took care of a few things around here, but I mostly read and took a long nap.  I am getting older and I think I needed a day to recoup from a busy week.