Saying Goodbyes

We had three Tuesday evenings in a row eating out:

Vietnamese with the archivists, Liz and her date, Angel, and Josh on January 10

Indian Food with the CHL zone leaders

Chinese food with Elder and Sister Mel Young.

We also meet up with Hal and Jolynn Beckstrand after our oral history in Sandy one Friday night.  We were also suppose to play games and have pizza with Lorna and Tom but Tom (who is a psychologist with the mission department--they both serve as senior service missionaries) had to travel to bring a missionary back to Utah.

And we had a great Sunday meal at Josh's and Voren's home with the Blasneks.  She is from Laos and made a great Asian meal for us.

On top of that, Gary had to speak in Church on January 22 which often sparks conversations about when you are being released....

So, all of those things on top of saying goodbyes to the Blasneks and Elder Conlin have made this build up to our release date even more intense.

We are coming to an end of the partying because we have to start packing now!!

The good, the bad, and the ugly of serving a mission!!!

New Missionaries And A Change Of Assignment

I forgot to mention in the middle of all of the events and goodbyes and everything, that we got three new missionaries on January 13th.---Sister Elaine (Ginger) Smith from New Hampshire and Elder Alan and Sister Bonita (Bonnie) Yeaman from Archer, Idaho.  They arrived on the 13th in the morning and in the afternoon, we headed off for another oral history with the Seals who had served in the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission which is now the Arkansas Bentonville Mission.

The following Friday, we headed over to the mission office with the Yeamans and they were assigned to serve as the new zone leaders for the Collections Zone.  This was announced to the zone on Tuesday, January 24.  We are providing support as assistant zone leaders for the next few weeks and still have to attend a day long training this upcoming week (but that will be awesome).  Sister and Elder Yeaman are great and will be exactly right for our zone moving forward.  We have felt a long that we were meant to serve during the time that we served, but we also felt reassured that the next couple would be right for the future.  We still pray for "our zone" during family prayers, but we feel great about the transitioning to the Yeamans.

I feel bad that we are leaving now because I think the Yeamans would be such great people and we would have built a friendship with them--but we really do have to leave sometime....and February 23rd is the day.

A sweet story:  So, back in July as we were discussing extending our mission to 2023--Gary was suggesting that we extend to the whole 30 months that you can serve a full-time mission in our mission. That would have been April. I was reluctant about the whole idea of extending and was thinking that December or January would be long enough and still give us a break before our next mission (remember we hadn't submitted our papers at this point.)  I ultimately suggested February at the last minute and Gary agreed.

Fast forward to now--Yeamans arrive and are assigned to our zone on January 13 and then on January 20 they are assigned to replace us, giving them and us a month overlap for training and support.  That is pretty much perfect, especially because President Holmes gave us the option of when to make the actual transition.  Gary said--next Tuesday and everyone agreed.  (This is different than the pattern since the new mission presidency started.  Typically, they have called the couple a few weeks or a month before and they begin attending meetings but are not announced until the week the prior leaders are released from their mission.  This way is so much better.)  On to the story:  After they were assigned, Sister Yeaman shared that they had originally been called to start at the MTC on March 27th.  However, once they received their call to the UT SLC Headquarters Mission, they realized that they did not have to do as much preparation to leave as they had thought (they have horses and a small ranch.) When some paperwork came indicating that they could move the date up if they wanted, they decided that would work for them.  So in December, they reached out to the mission department and indicated that they would be available after the first of the year.  Almost immediately they received an email indicating that they were to report to the MTC on January 3rd.

As a result, they are here--right when we need them and we are so glad!  (Now, there might be some who think if I had been willing to stay until April, they wouldn't have needed to come early.  That might be true, but there is another side to THAT as well.  More on that later!!!)

Yeamans will also be targeted missionaries and do oral histories like us so after they received their new assignment they came and observed us doing an oral history in Centerville with the Augustins who served in Texas Lubbock Mission.

God is in the details of our lives!

UTE Basketball

Elder Young got some more tickets to a UTE basketball game and this time it was up on the campus at their home field.  Not being a native Utahan, I have no trouble cheering for the Utes (when they aren't playing BYU) and it was a fun game to watch.  It was sad how few fans there were in the stands.  They have curtains over the upper bowel seats to make it look more full--I guess.  Odd....Cougar fans are crazy and the Marriot Center is pretty full most basketball games whether we are winning or not.

This was before the game.  They did have a few more
fans than this in the stands for the game.

I loved that the overhead screen had closed captioning which included whatever chant the crowd was "cheering"!!!

The Utes won and it was a fun game to watch.  Thanks, Elder Young, for another fun evening of sports together!

Some Grandma Time

Alex had two major doctor appointments on January 19th so I ran up to Syracuse and hung out with the other kids for the afternoon.  (Update on Alex--Alex is having symptoms again from the surgery she had last summer but the surgeon doesn't want to re-operate until she has grown a bit more.  ENT isn't sure what to do to have relieve symptoms because they feel it is probably related to the brain compressions.  They did order some more tests and set up to more appointments for further investigations.  She will come back to the surgeon in the summer.)

For some reason, we played games for a couple of hours...unusual because Ezri is usually not interested in the games (well, playing by any rules) and doesn't like us doing things without her.  Today, she alternated between playing near or with us and watching TV.  Liam, Zander and Carter loved our game afternoon.  

Somehow, no pictures of Liam (and Alex was gone to the doctor's)
 

US/Canada Team Goodbye To Blasneks

One of the reasons I am getting more sentimental about leaving is that SO many missionaries are leaving in January.  Thee are so many that President Holmes had them all stand up before Sacrament meeting.  All of this talk of people leaving just adds to the weight of our own goodbyes in the near future.

And Sister Kay Collins who is leaving in March has been posting on Facebook how many more days she has-- we are 30 days LESS than her release date--so I am not counting but she is doing it for us!

January 18, the US/Canada team had an afternoon surprise get together for the Blasneks.  They have been such a dedicated and faithful support to the ARC team and to the zone in central.  They were only here a year but we all grew to love and care for them.  They will be missed.

The team really wanted it to be a surprise and it was.  We missed the first part because of another meeting but everyone assured us that they were shocked!

whole team and missionaries for US/Canada

Scott, Liz, Blasneks, Josh  (archivists)

Kristy, Maddy, Blasneks, and Melanie   (catalog team)

Blasneks with Sister Slaughter

us with Blasneks

Again, one of the great blessings of our mission has been these wonderful people we have served with--both missionaries and the employees.

More pictures on Tuesday, January 24 at their last devotional with the zone.

We got a photo with the "girls" as Jena calls them--Hannah and Paulee who have served as interns for the past year.

Sister Kathy Evans who started in our zone and then went to the Special Projects Zone to do transcriptions has an sweet relationship with Jena.  Tuesday was also her last day so we exchanged notes and treats with each other including York Patties which she kept at her desk on the 4th floor.

There was another good-bye luncheon for Elder and Sister Blasnek along with about 6 others (including Sister Evans) who were leaving from the mission.  They had come in as an MTC group and had met monthly throughout their mission and some who were staying longer put on a luncheon for them in the Nauvoo Room on Tuesday, January 24th.  We got invited as their zone leaders.

The missionaries leaving sat at the head table

Sister Beech who is leaving is taking a photo of those who are staying
as I take a photo of them who are leaving

It was a day of frequent tears but none as intense as when Sister McClure and Sister Mantolea sang an Hawaiian farewell song...so beautiful!

Goodbyes are hard, because loving people makes it that way---but loving them is so worth it!

Side note:  The Blasneks started their trip home to AZ on Thursday, but Friday morning, Elder Blasnek called Gary to "check in and see how things were going at the ARC."  Gary said he will not be calling and checking in!

Mission Moments

As we are approaching our release date in February, I want to capture more of the every day moments in our mission.

Morning Devotionals have been such a great way to be with our zone and to be uplifted by their remarks and their testimonies.

President Paul Jackson on Jan. 18

The COB lunch room: we will miss the salmon and the sweet pork---on anything--

Jena doing the mail on the second floor.  It seems like every day recently, we see people in the Church History Library who call Jena by name (Sister Hall) and tell her that they are going to miss her delivering the mail to them. She will miss them as well.

New art work in the mission office based on the names of Christ found in the scriptures!

Both President Randall and President Holmes have stressed that we not lose the "awe and wonder" of serving here at the Temple Square Campus where prophets and Apostles serve, speak, bear testimony, pray, and guide the direction of the Church.  It has been a special place to be and we are so grateful for this opportunity to do our small piece of the work in the Church History Library.

Another day at the COB lunch room but Gary was not cooperating for a picture. 

The Mission Presidency and Zone Leaders

We tried to take some group zone leader shots in December to try to get one before some of the zone leaders were released that we had served with.  Those didn't really work out, so I wanted to make sure to at least try again with the CHL/MS/HSS Zone leaders who served under President Jackson.  We have a monthly meeting on the 3rd Wednesday of each month so we took advantage of that time.  As it turned out, President and Sister Holmes attended that meeting and Faerbers were out in the hall waiting for their meeting to start, so we were able to get a group shot with the entire mission presidency.  Since we didn't have a picture of the new mission presidency together, it was a nice bonus.

Seated:  Sister Jenna Jackson, Sister Erin Holmes, Sister LuAnn Faerber
First row standing:  President Paul Jackson; President Doug Holmes; President Mike Faerber
Sister and Elder Johnson, Sister and Elder Walters, Sister and Elder Stevens, Gary, me, Sister and Elder Winder, Sister and Elder Burrow

One very sweet moment for me was after we had taken these pictures which were done in the lobby on the 3rd floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, Sister Holmes spotted Jena inside the mission office which was across the lobby and down a hallway.  She called out to her and then others joined for Jena to come and be in the photo with us! She doesn't hurry but she moved faster than normal to join this group of leaders who have grown to love her (and she to love them) over the past several months.

Elder Winder hasn't sent me the photo yet but I will add it HERE!

Sister Burrow also sent these from last December (which she didn't like) because the positioning of people blocked too many faces (including Gary).  But for us, perfect or not--it serves as a reminder of all of these zone leaders we have served with for the past year or so!  We have seen many zone leaders come and go over our 28 months in the mission.
 

This was taken in the Relief Society/Overflow room of the JSMB on the mezzanine level in December of 2022.

Mission presidency in front then the St. Clairs, Alders, Olsens, Stephens, Walters, Races, Halls, Jones, Seckers, Beechs, Farnsworth, Burrows with Winders kneeling behind the mission presidency.

Saffron Valley Restaurant With CHL Zone Leaders

Continuing the tradition that we started with Carters and Hiltbrands, we went to dinner on Tuesday with the Burrows and the Walters along with President and Sister Jackson.  We went to the Saffron Valley Restaurant on E. Street just a few blocks from us.

the Halls, Sister Jenna Jackson, the Walters, the Burrows, President Jackson and Jena

The food was AMAZING!  It was Indian food and the best I have had since leaving Hong Kong.  The whole meal, I kept thinking that this is the best meal I have had for years.

As we do more and more of these "last" events, I am just so grateful for this opportunity to serve in this mission and to be surrounded by amazing people from so many places.  It has been work and hard, but it has been awesome and blessed as well.

And I am sure, our next mission will be so very different...and that will be a blessing, too!

"Lunch and Cocoa" (Tuesday, January 17th)

We had our zone "Lunch and Cocoa" with a bonus winter treat.  It is a fun way to gather and to get to know each other better in a more casual setting.

Hot chocolate and popcorn

We put "winter scenes and winter music" from YouTube on the screens in the room

to get us all in the winter spirit.  It has been a pretty snowy winter for us so far so

we were already in the right mood for hot chocolate.  However, the Nauvoo Room is in the 

basement and doesn't have windows so we liked our look at outside through technology.

Sister Janet Newbold saw these cute donut snowman and we decided to make them for our Lunch and Cocoa.

PHOTOS FROM LAST WEEK WHEN THEY ASSEMBLED THE SNOWMAN AT OUR WEEKLY LEADERSHIP MEETING: (I wasn't there while they made them as I had to take care of something else.)

Elder Steve Dinger and Gary

Sister Newbold isn't sure what she accidently pushed to get the alien hats on this photo but it made her laugh so she sent it to me----and I sent it to our kids (who loved it) and to Sister Dinger who said it made her laugh out loud!

Sister Janet Newbold and Sister Kathy Jones

With Jena filling in for me

We had 40 cute little snowman and our zone members loved them.  We had extra which we shared with the staff.  Gary and Jena walked around the 4th floor where all of the admin people work and passed them out to "rave reviews."

We love our missionaries and these sweet missionaries who are serving as our assistants.  We have been blessed to serve with some amazing missionaries!

The Count Down Has Begun

With our release date about 5 weeks away, we took advantage of the holiday weekend to pack up some boxes of things that we don't need and took them up to our storage unit.  10 boxes done; ???how many more to do!

This is bit of a crazy move--we have to pack up things that we don't need and can't take to Arkansas; separate from the stuff we need--clothes and kitchen stuff--between February and the end of March; and the stuff we are taking with us to Arkansas.  

In moving here, we made several trips back and forth to get what we wanted and could fit into our apartment.  When we go to Arkansas, we will be taking only our car!  It will be different, for sure.  Books and pictures on the walls will not be making the trip!

 

 

"What comes in, must now go out!"

Old Friends

 for Jena.....

Hannah, Jena, and David Brown

All three of them went to Clearfield.  We have know David since high school and in fact, we attended his mission farewell.  Then, when Jena was in Provo, they saw each other on campus and David ended up becoming a volunteer for the Wonderwood Program for 2 years before Covid hit and ended that pilot.

Hannah knew David from Clearfield,  She is an intern at the Church History Library and she and Jena have had a fun relationship this past year.  She had invited David to come up and see the Church History Library and to surprise Jena!

Fun times!  David is now teaching seminary at Bountiful High School and is also actually the liaison for the adaptive needs students in the region.  

We also hung out with "old friends" this week.  We did an oral history on Friday afternoon in Sandy so afterward we met up with Hal and Jolynn Beckstrand and went to dinner and played games all night.  We are trying to see some of our friends before we leave for Arkansas.

Blue Sky!!!

After the winter storms, it is great to see blue skies!!!  (view out the Joseph Smith Memorial Building toward the south)
 

A Train For My Dad

Last Thursday, we headed out to Stansbury Park to do an oral history with mission leaders who served in the Texas Lubbock Mission.  It was a sweet experience as they talked about this place that I love as well.  As we were driving out of their neighborhood after the interview, Gary pointed out the train winding across the mountainside in front of us.

My dad loved trains so I love trains and I am lucky because I married someone who loves them too!

We had spoken about my dad as we talked with the Roses, because they knew the Hendricks who are dear friends to my parents.  It made seeing a train even more special at that time!

I love my dad and I think about him each time I write in the blog because for so many years, he was who I wrote my blog for--each week to keep him updated on my life.  It has only been in the last four or five years that I realized the value of the history that I can share with generations to come.  I hope that I have a lot of descendants that love trains like we do!

Jena's Second Devotional

Jena was excited to give her second devotional for our zone and she wanted to do a PowerPoint so she helped me select the graphics after the two of us had written her remarks.  She had decided to do it on service so I set her up on my computer and asked her to pick one of the Church's videos about service to base her talk on.  

She selected a cute one about simple ideas to do each day like introduce yourself to a stranger or pay someone a compliment.  We prepared cards to hand out to our missionaries to give them a task to do that day.  Our missionaries had fun doing them and coming to tell us about what they did.

One of our missionaries commented how confident Jena was as she stood at the pulpit and gave her remarks.  She did great.  She started by saying something like:  "I am Jena and this is my lovely talk." It made me laugh but also I was proud of her.  She was confident!  It just made me grateful for all of life experience's which have led her to this point and all of the people who have been involved in her life.  We have been so blessed by so many who believed in her and in our plans for her future starting way back when she was a toddler!

I wish she could brush her own hair, but that is a small thing compared to all that she has accomplished!

Getting A Milkshake To Ben

Ben was diagnosed with Covid the Thursday after Christmas and put into isolation.  That meant being in a room by yourself--no TV, radio, or computer.  A nurse came and checked on him every 30 minutes or so, but otherwise he was stuck there with not much to do except be sick!!  The staff would take him a portable phone so I talked to him twice a day except for one day when he was especially sick and really unable to talk.  I called once a day to get an update on his progress from a nurse.  He was quite sick for 4-5 days but is making a good recovery.  Today he moved back to his old room with his roommate.  He has to wear a mask when he is on the unit, but he is able to attend groups on the unit now.  He says he has spent most of today talking to people.  After a week of being isolated, I am not surprised.

Anyway, when I heard he was sick, I wanted to do something for him. Of course, he is my son and that is a natural response.  He told me that they didn't have popsicles to cool his throat which was surprising to me.  So I reached out to the doctor to see if I could bring Ben a blizzard and also bringing Creamsicles for the unit.  He thought it was a great idea.

As it turned out, there were a few bumps in the road to making this happened but last Tuesday, things were set for me to make a delivery to the back door.  The only problem was that I had to "hid" the blizzard so they could sneak it into Ben.  Unfortunately, I didn't know that until Dr. Roundy called me as I am driving down to Provo.  So I was trying to figure out a way to hid a Blizzard with stuff I could buy at Smith's.  I ended up putting the Blizzard which didn't have a lid into a zip lock bag into a gift bag packed with grocery sacks to hold it upright and then put into another grocery sack.

When I arrived at the back door, there was a deer guarding the door!

Luckily, he was alone and headed down the building after a minute or two.

Here is the Blizzard getting bagged for the drop off---

Drop off at the door.....

Then I called the nurse and she came and got it and made the "secret delivery" to Ben and shared the Creamies with the unit!  Ben told me that several people told him thank you for the Creamies which is nice.  

Dr. Roundy told me that Ben was the "best" patient during his Covid isolation.  He followed directions from staff and didn't try to "escape" his room.  Ben is a good person, for sure.  I guess it has been a pretty trying week with several clients sick on the unit.

Glad he is doing better!  Covid is not fun!

 

Winter Storms

Over the past week or so, we have had a series of winter storms go by bringing days of snow or rain.  I might not be a fan of snow, but even I have to admit that the world covered with snow can be beautiful!

Can't even see the mountains to the north

the trees are striking in their white coats

to the west to Temple Square where you can see the
Church Office Building but the temple without its
spires is hard to identify

Outside views from the lunchroom at the Church Library

Despite the snow, the cranes were hard at work hauling stuff around.

From the second floor looking through the tree to the Relief Society Building...

It is an honor to be serving on and around these holy spaces!  Temple Square will always be a special place to me now more than ever before.