Be Glad!

Under the direction of Sister Joan Elder, our zone prepared a good bye gift from our zone for President and Sister Randall--two mugs with the mission theme on them along with a card signed by most of our missionaries.  Because of Covid,  Gary and I missed the delivery of the gift, but our assistant zone leaders did a great job and had a sweet visit with the Randalls.  They sent this photo to us:

GOOD NEWS

We have received permission to take Jena with us on our second mission--so now all we have to do is meet with our Stake President and submit our application. Hopefully, we will not have to wait 7 weeks this time or have it interrupted by another pandemic!

Sister Barbara Burwell's Funeral

Yesterday, Gary and I attended Sister Burwell's funeral in West Valley City.  It was a sweet service for a kind and dedicated woman.  She wanted to serve as a missionary the rest of her life and she would have loved to stay in her apartment for the rest of her life.  She told us that many times.  She got her wish.  I am not sure how that works because death doesn't always come when, where, or how we might think it should.  Glad I am not in charge of those details.

It was nice to be there with her family who we have heard about over the past couple of years and also with fellow missionaries

Sister Sitake made the wreath for her

Sister McClure arranged the orchids--a gift from the SPC Lab.

Elder and Sister Sitake, Gary, Sister from the library zone, Sister Evans, me
Sister McClure and President and Sister Randall
(Sister Suzann Kirk and Emily, the intern from the lab, were also there.)

the program

Another goodbye!  Here is a recent picture from a temple trip to the Provo City Center Temple in February.  Sister Burwell was slower getting out of the temple that day and missed the group picture so we took this one with Gary and Jena for our history.  It was one that we shared with her family this week.

Til we meet again, sweet Sister Burwell!

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Covid STILL.....

On Monday we tested Jena as suggested by Covid protocols and she tested positive.  It wasn't until Wednesday that she started coughing and having a runny nose and overall, she has done great.  She doesn't sleep as much as Gary and I did when we were sick.

Gary ended up going in about 6:30 each morning, wearing a mask, to deliver the mail throughout the building.  Then he headed home around mid-morning although that became later and later each day.  I stayed home all week.  I still had congestion and a headache most days.  Sometimes I felt pretty good and then the next day, I would sleep most of the day.  I left the house for the first time yesterday (after 11 days) to attend a funeral and then later to do some grocery shopping.  So slowly life is getting back to normal for us.

We did manage to do an oral history over zoom with a mission leader now living in Portland, Oregon, so some work done while recovering.  And with prayers and lots of drinks of water, I managed to do it without coughing!

I think we are all good to be back to the Library tomorrow--although Jena will still need to wear a mask.

Covid continues to go through the mission, the zone and Salt Lake County but so far everyone has had fairly mild cases with no hospital or ER visits needed.  A blessing of the vaccines.

The one bright spot is that now we have all three had a version of Covid, perhaps that gives us even a bit more protection when we travel to Israel in October. 

More Goodbyes--

One was expected.  Gary's Aunt Rada Hall Kowallis passed away and her memorial was last Monday (the day before Covid struck).  This is his last relative of that generation and it was even more bitter sweet to say goodbye to his cousins after the service.  Over the past decades, many of other meetings have been related to passings--of grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins.  Now what will cause those gatherings to happen?

Gary's dad's older sister

The other was not expected.  On Saturday, one of our own sweet missionaries, Sister Barbara Burwell, passed away in her apartment.  She has been serving as a full-time missionary for 30 months and just switched to a service missionary two weeks ago (you can only serve as a full-time missionary for 30 months.  Then you have to go through the whole process of application again.)  She was still in her same apartment and she had a son and grandchildren visiting.  They were all talking and she simply passed away sitting in a chair.  She would have turned 80 years old next month.  Such a shock for us all.

Two good women who loved the Lord and served them their entire lives!  Their reunions are sweet as they entered into the next phase of their living.

Covid Quarantine

Well, after 2 years and three months plus, I guess it only seems fair that it was our turn to deal with Covid.  Our story goes like this...........(yes, we are vaccinated and boostered--thank heavens--and we are doing fine...cough, cough! Just don't make us laugh)

Last Monday, we got a text from our newest missionary that she was not feeling well so she was staying home.  Later that day, we got a message that she had tested positive for Covid.  Covid had been going around the mission and in Salt Lake County so it wasn't a big surprise that we had another missionary test positive.

Tuesday morning, I woke up with a sore throat and coughed a couple of times.  I decided to wear a mask as I took Jena to the doctor for her yearly physical, but more to be super cautious--in case I coughed while I was there.  I didn't but heading home, I started coughing and not feeling well.  It hit fast.  By noon, I was curled in bed with a fever, coughing, and nausea.  I took a Covid test a few hours later because "the internet" said to test immediately.  My test came back negative--again.  Later that evening, we learned of other missionaries who were testing positive.

Wednesday, Gary went into the office--since my test was negative--and he started coughing.  He took a Covid test later that evening as he started not feeling well and he tested positive.  So now, we were all quarantined for five days at least....I retested on Thursday and this time my test was positive.  I was glad---if you are going to be sick, you might as well have the current pandemic virus.  Both Gary and I have had fairly mild cases.  Tuesday through Friday are pretty much a blur for me, but it has been like a seasonal flu type illness--fever, coughing, nausea and vomiting.  

Through all of this, Jena has shown no signs of being sick.  We will test her tomorrow as suggested and watch her closely over the next 10 days or so.  She is scheduled for some dental work at the end of the month at the University of Utah dental clinic and we have waited 10 months for this appointment so I hope she doesn't get sick then.

We have been sleeping and watching lots of movies and TV shows!  Making it through a movie without falling asleep has been an achievement for Gary and I.  At least once, we both fell asleep so Jena turned the movie off and went into her room and let us sleep.  She has been a good sport and taken good care of us--making sure we have water and whatever we need.

Tomorrow is our last day of quarantine as long as our fevers are definitely gone.  Gary is planning to go back to the library on Tuesday--I might wait one more day.  Taking it one day at a time.

June 2022 is shaping up to be quite a month!

"Tour of The Salt Lake City Cemetery" Zone Social

Not "the graveyard trip" that Gary referred to it as a few times.  If you are serving as missionaries in the Church History Library, it seems logical that one of your socials should involve an historical cemetery, right?

We invited Scott Christensen, the historian over US/Canada, to guide us on a tour of this cemetery where 12 of the 16 past presidents of the Church are buried.  We decided to visit 8 of the locations for the evening (it involved a bit of driving and walking on very uneven lawns as the cemetery is built on a hill).  News about our activity got around and we invited other missionaries to join us.  We ended up with around 41 people.  It was a beautiful evening with a slight breeze- perfect for our activity.

Spencer Kimball

Camilla Eyring Kimball

I didn't notice it, but Gary grabbed the wrong tag--He is wearing a Sister Hall tag.  Had to get a photo of that!  We were in a bit of a hurry to switch to more casual clothes.

The cemetery is the largest owned by a city in the US and has this pretty location overlooking the valley.  

Gathering together to start near the top of the cemetery

Scott told a bit about the prophet and their wife as we stood by the stones.

President Nelson's first wife has already been buried here and last year a stone was posted using some reclaimed stone from the reconstruction of the Salt Lake Temple.

I actually shared about President Lee.  He was the first prophet I think I saw in person--at a BYU devotional.

The Hiltbrands had chairs in their car which allowed Sister Forman to enjoy the activity better.  She will be turning 90 this September.

Jena enjoyed the chair from time to time.....

Sister Evans, Sister McClure, Sister Thatcher

Elder and Sister Winder (Mission Office)

Sister Lee

Gordon and Marjorie Hinckley

As people walked to the next location, Jena asked me to take a picture by President Hinckley's marker. That didn't surprise me.  As a little girl, Jena would look through magazines and if she found a photo of President Hinckley, she would take the magazine to her room--whether it was the Friend, New Era or the Ensign. She gives very short prayers even now, but one of her consistent ones when blessing the food added: "Bless President Hinckley. He good prophet." She loves all of the prophets but there is something about President Hinckley and her.

This was one stop not for an LDS prophet, but for a Navy Captain man killed at Pearl Harbor-Mervyn Bennion.  He remained on his ship directly rescued efforts despite being wounded.  The account was that he held his body together to try to minimize loss of life in the confusion right after the attacks.

David O. McKay and Emma Rae McKay

It had happened a bit before now, but here Scott asked if anyone had any connection with President McKay--First an elder said that he had signed his first mission call in the 1960s and then other memories were shared.  Then at each of the other stops, people shared short stories or interactions...and testimonies were shared and spirits lifted.

Sister Evans, Sister Thatcher, Sister Kaupusi, Sister Elder

Elder Steve Dinger shared about Joseph F. Smith

and Sister Joan Elder shared about Joseph Fielding Smith.

That was our last stop for the evening and she did a great thing.

She played him bearing his testimony in one of his last conference addresses before

passing away.  How sweet it was to be standing there among these awesome missionaries

and to hear a prophet's voice bearing record of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ

after just remembering these sweet latter day prophets.

It was perfect!

Sister Debra Dixon

Then some of us headed to the Kokonut Island Grill for dinner.  The food was great.

Sister Sitake, Sister McClure,
Sister Evans, Sister Thatcher, Sister Kaupusi

the Judkins

the Elders

Sister Dixon and Sister Lee and Elder Bae

Hawaiian grill

Hiltbrands and some from their zone

Mel Young and the Dingers

Lasts (mission medical) and the Elders

Just wonderful people to spend an evening with!