Mom R's Abode

Entry for April 17, 2011

2011-04-17T18:34:00.002-07:00

I can’t believe it has been four weeks since I’ve written. We’ve had a busy and good four weeks. I thoroughly enjoyed General Conference this year. It was so great and spiritual. Each talk seemed better than the last. I couldn’t pick a favorite. The Thursday after we went to Utah. It is too hard for us to go down and back in one day so we left Thursday and came back Saturday. Elder McK opened up for me and counted the money with Elder P and then the P took charge for me so we could be in Utah. We went to the Ks’ first and ate supper with them. We had a very nice visit with them. We also watch Tangled by Walt Disney productions. It is a cute show. I can see why it would appeal to the younger set. We got to M’s just barely ahead of him after he finished his second work. It was fun being there with them, especially with their little girls. They make life very interesting. We played a game of Pinochle after Abbie left for pre-school and before she, Kendra and Collin got home. Natasha stayed with a friend since we would be using her bed. She came and had supper with us so we did get to see her and visit with her for a little while. That evening we went to Titanic, the Musical. I had never heard of it before. C played the clarinet in the orchestra. The orchestra was awesome. I especially liked the way they quit playing all together. They would be playing crescendo and all of a sudden there would be silence. I felt for the director. My right arm ached in sympathy with her right arm. She waved her wand for a straight hour without respite in the first act. I enjoyed it and was glad we went. M went with us. We saw Tasha and her friends. T went the Monday before. Saturday morning Mama called and wanted us to visit with her a little before meeting up in SLC at Bonnie and David’s to go out to Sizzler to have dinner to celebrate Mama’s 92nd birthday. All of my living siblings and their spouses were there as well as my sister-in-law who had married my youngest brother. It was very enjoyable. I ordered the Malibou chicken and Karl got the salad bar. That was the way to do it. I was able to eat almost all of my chicken and half of my baked potato and a couple of nibbles from Karl’s plate. He had a couple of bites of my chicken. It snowed the whole time we were there at Sizzler. It was 3:30 or later when we left. The others were going back to Bonnie’s for dessert and to open the gifts. We opted not to go back there. It would have been 5:00 before we left if we had. We didn’t get home until 9:30 as it was. We stopped in North Salt Lake to pick up Kim’s Grace to bring her up here to stay with her other Grandparents. (We were able to spend some time with her Thursday afternoon and evening.) We were glad that we went except for the weather. The temps were colder down there than they were up here in Idaho. However, the wind wasn’t blowing so it was actually more pleasant most of the time. We woke up to snow each morning but it was melted by noon. We got into a bad storm on the way down. It actually snowed from Downy on but it didn’t start to stick to the roads until Ogden. Thro’ Ogden, Roy and Layton, it was horrendous. You could only see 1 ½ car lengths in head of you and there was solid traffice on either side as well as front and back. We ran into some snow on the way back too but it was mostly rain, all be it was heavy rain in spots. By the time we got to Tremonton, the rain had slowed considerably and by the time we got to Malad the roads were dry and we saw the first sunshine and blue skies all week. We had printed off the bulletin Thursday morning before we left. I was really thankful I had because I surely didn’t feel like doing it when we got back home.

The rest of the week was pretty normal. G did come over Thursday afternoon about 3:00. My sweetheart had often told me and others that he wasn’t really interested in the exhibit at the Museum of Idaho…the bodies exhibit. I wanted to see it and G said she would like to see it too. So we went there and my sweetheart went to exercise at Apple Athletic Club. G and I both thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit. It was graphic and I can see why some people would be squeamish but I found it very interesting and Grace said she did too. I was thankful for my medical background because I could explain things to her in a little more detail and we didn’t have to spend so much time reading all of the material. I noticed how much I had forgotten since taking Anat. & Phys. 39 years ago. (My that makes me seem old!) I still did remember quite a bit tho’. The museum closed at 5:00 so we came home and picked up Grandpa and then we drove to the FHC where I showed Grace around where we worked. Then we went to the Temple Visitors Center. We had been wanting to see the exhibit there of Mark Maybry on the life of Jesus Christ. He is so talented. At first glance they looked like paintings but they were photographs. It is something they way he was able to pose people to take their pictures. Grace said she enjoyed it too. They have a Christus there and they take you in and sit you down in front of it and then turn on a recording depicting the Savior speaking to us. I was sitting there looking up at Him as the recording started: “I am Jesus Christ...” a feeling of emotion swept over me like I have never experienced before. I knew He was speaking to me. It was a wonderful feeling. I could really feel His love for me. After the Visitor’s Center, we took Grace to Wendy’s for supper. The tickets for the museum were quite expensive but they had coupons for each one of them for a free softie with a combo. We had a very nice meal there. G’s other grandpa picked her up at our place about 9:30. I was tired after she left but was really glad we were able to spend that time with her. She was grateful and told us thank you many times.

Friday afternoon about 1:00, B and S picked us up on the way back from Rexburg and then stopped at K’s and we all got into her car and she drove us down to Grace to see my mother-in-law. B and S were here from Nebraska for her to start her second semester there at BYU-I. We had a very nice visit—all of us—down and back as well as a nice visit with my mil. We were glad we went. We got back here about 7:00. I was tired but happy. It was neat to spend time with two of my children, a granddaughter and my mil. Saturday was our day at the FHC. It was potluck both Wednesday and Saturday. We do the second Wednesday and the third Saturday and occasionally they fall in the same week. Yesterday morning, I was in Brother S’s computer tips class and the man at the desk came and asked me if I tho’t I could help a Spanish speaking couple with new.familysearch.org even tho’ they don’t know any English. They had an interpreter with them so that did help. I am grateful that I am as familiar with new.familysearch as I am because altho’ it was in Spanish and I don’t speak or read Spanish as a rule, I was able to help them. I learned that Buscar means Search. They needed to put some names into the program in order to do their work. There were brothers but no parents. I was sitting there wondering how we could put them in without the parents. I’m so grateful for the Holy Ghost who nudges my mind so I can help the patrons. He helped me remember that if I went into the parents & siblings (padres y hermanos) screen I would be able to do it. I worked with them for about 1 ½ hours. I had to leave and eat lunch because I had a class to teach at 1:00. But Sister Price helped them finish up and they had an FOR with seven people on it when they left. I was able to tell them that on Thursday afternoon one of our missionaries works who speaks Spanish. It was a very good feeling to be able to help them. One sister who came in for a class schedule ended up staying for my class and I think she will continue to come. I had two patrons and two missionaries. A small class but as long as people are learning, it is good.

Today, was our ward conference. The talks by the Bishop and President A. They were very good talks and Sunday School and RS were both very good as well. It has been a good day. I am kind of tired this afternoon after all my activities from Wednesday to today. I am so thankful that I can do things that many days in a row. Six years ago I wouldn’t have been able to do half of it if any of it. I have truly been blessed. We just completed our fourth year at the FHC and have begun our fifth. It is very rewarding work.

Journal Entry for March 20, 2011

2011-03-20T19:51:00.002-07:00

I can’t believe it’s been three weeks since I wrote. Last Tuesday, I had an implant put in the right bottom part of my jaw for a crown so I will have teeth to chew on on the right side of my mouth. I have been having to do all of my chewing on the left side. My dentist told me that if I lived as long as my mother, I my teeth would wear out. I found out that an implant is really more painful than having a tooth pulled. I didn’t go to the FHC at all Wednesday and yesterday I just went to teach my class. I have noticed that it is more painful if I talk a lot. I am still on pain pills but have cut down to one 5mg hydrocodone instead of two 7.5. So I am improving. I have a bruise on the right side of my chin that I can half way cover with make-up.

A week ago Wednesday was our RS birthday party. Wednesdays are usually slow after 5:00 pm so I was planning on going. Well, I didn’t get there. A woman came in in a little motorized scooter. She is big in politics in this area. She wanted my help in giving her children the benefit of all her research years ago. I gave her some ideas and told her what I had done: I take my flash drive with me when I go visit my children and plug it into their computer and transfer all the data. I gave her some ideas how to do that. What with new.familysearch now and the new programs, it won’t be hard to do at all. As she was preparing to leave, she asked my name and wrote it down and then gave me her card. Under her name was the term media assistant. I tho’t maybe she could help us get the work out about our open house we plan on having in the fall. The second time I was prompted I knew I should say something. So I asked her about it. She said, “That is my calling! That is what I do.” We talked about that for awhile. It was so neat. Consequently I didn’t get to my RS dinner but, I knew I was where I was supposed to be when I was supposed to be there.

Today, M C C was blessed. Their meetings started at 1:00pm. Ours started at 11:00 am. Shani had called to invite us almost two weeks ago. I hadn’t tho’t about it all this week what with my tooth, etc. I had put it on my calendar but hadn’t looked at it for a few days. When we got to sacrament meeting, P C announced that the bishopric is in short supply. He was the only one there and he would be leaving so to put any contributions under the door to the bishop’s office. I tho’t, “I wonder where he is going…” Then I tho’t, “Oh, my goodness, it is M’s blessing today!” so we left after sacrament meeting, stopped at the house to get a couple of pain pill, (I was glad I had them) then went out to the Summit Park building to the Lincoln 6th Ward. It was a very nice meeting. M wasn’t the only baby blessed. A baby boy named Canyon was also blessed. S explained that they have so many babies in their ward that they bless babies every Sunday. But they can do no more than three at a time. In the circle was Papa Gray (Grandpa G) Grandpa C, Great grandpa R, Uncle W and maybe G J, K’s boyfriend, as well as the bishopric. I got to hold her both before she was blessed and also the rest of the sacrament meeting after she was blessed then a little again at the house. (Since I don’t get to see her very often, I’ll hold her any chance I get.) After sacrament meeting we went to the house for a luncheon. It was all very nice. Paul came later after he went back to the church to take care of things then came to the house to have something to eat. J with the help of his dad, has pretty much finished the family room and M’s bedroom in their basement. They have moved the TV downstairs and have a different couch in the living room. There is much more room in the living room now. It will double the area of their house I am sure. They did a very good job and it all looks so nice. All in all it was a good day.

Entry for last week of January 2011

2011-02-01T16:22:00.001-07:00

Last week was a wonderful week. We had the usual days at the FHC Wednesday and Saturday. Wednesday evening after we got home I found a message from Brother Paul Smith, Stake executive secretary, asking that I give him a call. He asked if I could help with Stake Conference. (I tho’t maybe he was asking me to speak) He said that Elder Holland had requested a handout with the agenda on it and the words of two of the verses of the songs we’d sing printed on it too and wanted to know if I could do something like I do for the bulletin each week. I told him I would be happy to if he would e-mail mail me the agenda. I started it first thing Thursday morning. It took a few hours. Altho’ Saturday’s agenda and songs would have fit on ½ a page back to back, the Sunday agenda was longer and wouldn’t have. I decided that rather than having a blank back that I should just put a picture and some quotes as I do for the bulletin. I took the theme from the songs that were chosen. They turned out pretty well even if I do say so myself. I was able to e-mail them to Brother Smith and he e-mailed them or took them on his thumb drive, I’m not sure which, to the printer. His brother, owns the printing company. They did them in color (the printer at the church is just black & white) and on good-quality paper. They really looked great!

Saturday was a very long day and a wonderful day. I asked the Lord to bless me so I could make it thro’ the nine hours at the FHC, what with being in charge and teaching my class, then also Stake conference that night. I had told my Sweetheart the night before that we should just stop at the Gangplank to eat supper then go right onto the church so we could get a good seat. He tho’t it was a good idea. So that’s what we did. We got to the church about 5:45 pm and the whole parking lot was full plus cars parked on the street! We looked at each other and tho’t, “Boy, people really came early tonight; it doesn’t even start until seven!” Well it was the Priesthood session still going. We got to listen to the last 15 minutes of it with about 50 other people standing in the foyer. Karl went in and sat in the cultural hall for the last 15 minutes. I leaned against the wall till it was over. Karl immediately went up to find us a seat. There were none. Men did leave to go get their wives but they left coats, books etc. to save their places while they left. I was just into the chapel trying to find him when I noticed President Andrus, our Stake President, walking toward me, just in front of me. I was aware of a man in front of him shaking the hand of a woman beside me. I looked and it was Elder Holland! He shook my hand too. After a few minutes I found Karl at the front of the chapel. He said that since there wasn’t a choir that we should sit in the choir seats. We decided we would sit in the seats that those who bless the sacrament sit in. When Elder Holland came up on the stand, he shook hands with both of us. I had prayed that morning that I would be able to shake his hand at least one of the days, Saturday or Sunday. And he shook my hand twice!! Elder Gary Walker of the Seventy also spoke. He loves missionary service! He told us of some of his experiences and told that someone had challenged them to write down 100 names and pray by name for each one of them and then told us what happened with his relationship with those people. He challenged us to pray about at least one person by name, but we could pray about more. I decided to pray for our neighbors, J & S M and J’s mother C B. Of course I couldn’t leave out their children so I include them too. And I decided to also pray for my hairdresser and her family. I was able to shake his hand after the meeting. He put his arm around me and when I told him I had already decided who to pray for, he gave me a squeeze and said, “Bless your heart.” He has the kindest eyes. The mission president and his wife also spoke. Elder Holland spoke for almost a full hour. It was wonderful to listen to him. He is so fervent in his testimony of the Savior and of the prophet, President Monson. When he reads from the scriptures, he does it with such intensity. My heart burned as he spoke to us. He told us he wasn’t going to speak from any text. That he was going to speak from his heart. He told us that no matter how bad times seemed to us that things would get better. He said his message was for the ones or even the one who may be having an extremely hard time and about ready to give up. It was a wonderful talk. The Spirit was so strong and the feeling so wonderful. We got home about 9:20 pm. I was tired but not as tired as I tho’t I would be. The Lord truly did bless me.

We had decided that we would get up Sunday morning like we did for Saturday mornings. I was ready to go about 7:40. We left about 7:50 am. There weren’t many cars in the parking lot yet. When we got in there we noticed that most of the seats in the chapel were reserved for the elderly and those who had tickets; and one half a section of the side for the youth choir. I told Karl that it must be an enormous choir. It was. But they sang beautifully. We sat in the row behind the last row of the chapel on soft, folding chairs. I tho’t maybe my back would really ache by the time we got out of there but I was blessed again and it didn’t. The temple President and Matron also were there Sunday morning and bore their testimonies. People came in at 8:30 thinking they could get a good seat, and the chapel was full. I guess a good seat includes the cultural hall, because it has two large screens, one on each side, so people can see the speakers better. Others who waited until 9:30 had to go to the multipurpose room or the primary room to find seating. They also broadcast it to the St. Leon Building. I hope they were able to feel the strong Spirit there also. Elder Walker spoke again. And Elder Holland told the youth that they must promise him to stay in the church for ten more years. He said, “You see, if you stay for ten more years, I will have you because it is between 12 and 22 that we lose our youth.” (I had already figured that out.) He ended up giving us an Apostolic Blessing. He started out by just blessing everyone there, then changed it to those in our families who weren’t there, then changed it to all those we pray for. I was thrilled with that. My tho’t was, “Does that include those we’ve chosen to pray for as we do Elder Walker’s challenge?” I decided it must. So all of my children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, both of our mothers, our friends we pray for, all of them were included in that Apostolic Blessing.
I had a wonderful feeling as he pronounced it. It was a wonderful two days.

Monday, I was able to sleep in a little longer—till 7:30 or so. I had my 9:00 Directors’ meeting to go to. My chest kind of ached, so I could tell I was tired. I got home about 11:30 am because I had to find teachers for the 12:15 class for missionaries for February. I didn’t do much when I got home. I didn’t change my clothes because we had to go back to a zone conference by 4:45 that afternoon. I was thankful I went to that too. The speaker was President N of the Iona Stake. He gave a very good talk on the importance of families. He finished by 5:30. He could have gone on at least another 15 minutes. We do have to be out of the building by 6:00 pm. It was a good way to end the last three days. I definitely feel that I have been spiritually fed. I was tired by the time we got home. I was still tired this morning but have made two cards, written out checks after writing out the budget, fixed breakfast/brunch and now written in my journal today. I am going to try to make a batch of oatmeal cookies today. I got some mint chips before Christmas and haven’t used them yet. Oh, and I finished Maddy’s baby afghan yesterday too. So I haven’t been idle.

I almost forgot! M C C was born January 26, 2011. She weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz and was 21 inches tall. Has a lot of dark hair. She’s a beauty! Her proud parents are S & J C. Maddy as they will call her, is our great granddaughter. We haven’t seen her yet…I wanted to finish her baby afghan and take it with when we went. We’ll go either Thursday or Friday.

First Week of 2011

2011-01-10T08:37:00.001-07:00

It was good to get back to the FHC last Wednesday. We had more patrons than we’d seen for two or three months. I helped quite a few people. It was good to see the other missionaries and learn how their Christmases went. Saturday was a good day. We had 29 patrons!! That is an all time high for Saturday as far as I know since we started there anyway. We did have a total of 13 missionaries by the end of the day. Elder R has moved over to Saturday from Thursday for which I am very grateful. The B moved to Saturday afternoons and the P have moved to Saturdays too. That is five more missionaries than I would have had other wise. Those 13 were plenty to take care of the patrons. I taught the first PAF class of the series. I had two patrons there—plus three missionaries. I’m hoping that there will be a few more patrons there. There is one woman who came in Saturday afternoon who was interested in taking the class. I hope she does. (Time will tell.) She wants to learn more about PAF. My responsibilities as director went well and smoothly. I had quite some trouble with diarrhea right after prayer meeting. I am thankful I had a change of clothes in the car and was able to get thro’ prayer meeting and then my class without difficulty. There is a sister missionary that also has the same problem. I asked her if she had some anti-diarrhea pills with her. She replied, “Heck, yes!” She lent me two of them and I didn’t have anymore problem. I tho’t I had put two of them in my pocket but couldn’t find them. I found them beside my computer when I got home. I will have to be sure to have some with me at all times. If I carried my purse everywhere I would always have them with. I do usually have pockets in my clothes or at least I will put some in my coat pocket so I will always have them with me. I’m thankful that they work. I took some yesterday morning and didn’t have any trouble. I’m sure that the doctor would tell me that I have IBS or irritable bowl syndrome. But I’m not ready to be diagnosed with that yet. I’ve had problems with it since before my gastric by pass surgery. Dr. L told me it was pancriatic insufficiency. I go for a while with it then go for awhile without any trouble. Since we don’t go to church until 11:00 this year, I’m going to try to get up close to the same time as I did before and then spend that time writing in my journal and maybe, hopefully starting on my life story. After 67 years I should have something to write about.  If I write weekly, then I will have more detail as well as the entries not being so long so that will be good.

Our Christmas Holiday

2011-01-10T08:23:00.002-07:00

I have been remiss from writing in my journal. Since we are on a later Sunday schedule, I hope to do better. I also want to start writing my life’s story/history. We had a wonderful Christmas. My MIL’s neighbors went to spend Christmas with family and their family lives out highway 39 and so they go right past K’s house. So they dropped Mom off there Thursday evening. We arrived down there Christmas Eve Day just after 1:00 pm. S and J & children came and B, W and O were there too. Kmade prime rib…doing some of it in the oven and part of it outside on the grill. It was very good. He has done it every year and it gets better every year, since he found out that not everybody has clam chowder for Christmas Eve dinner. After wards, we had a short program with M (5 years old) passing out the bags with a nativity scene character in it and a strip to be read by that person. (Next year she will be able to read some of them.) Then we would sing a Christmas Carol. S, B and K all took turns playing the piano. I played He Sent His Son for the opening song and Let There Be Peace On Earth for the closing song. So we all did our share.

The next day J brought his lap top with the scenes he shot as his children were opening their gifts. He also shot scenes of the program the night before. While we were doing the closing song, K was holding 2½ year old P and they were playing with each others tongues and sticking them out at each other and trying to catch the other one’s tongue. It was hilarious. K came down to see what everyone was laughing about. She was appalled to see. She exclaimed, “I had no idea that we were being recorded!!” We had a lovely ham dinner on Christmas Day. Since J’s parents were down in Utah, they came back down late morning. B, W and O spent the night. K was there too. It was almost 8:00 before we got up. That was the latest we have ever slept. But then we can’t say we slept the whole time because O (she is 15 months old) woke us up twice with her crying. I’m not sure if it was a strange bed or what with her but…

We all went to Church the next day with K & K. They had very good meetings. At RS I noticed there was no one playing the piano so I volunteered my services. There hasn’t been too many years passed that I wouldn’t have dared do that because I was so out of practice. I’m thankful the Lord has blessed me with the opportunities to be in practice so I can do that. After the meetings, while I was putting my coat on a sister came up to me and told me that her sister was the one who usually played and they were out of town for Christmas. I tho’t she must have been so involved with getting ready for Christmas that she forgot to arrange for someone else to do it. When I told K about it, she stated that that was Mrs. P’s sister and she usually played for her. She hadn’t mentioned that when I was talking to her. It was later than five minutes to when I started playing so I guess the sister who usually did it was running late.

We left that afternoon to take Mom back to Grace. (She stated she really enjoyed being there. She just sat and watched quietly. Didn’t have a lot of interaction but she was glad to be there. We were also glad she didn’t have to spend Christmas alone.) We played Five Crowns, the three of us, (Karl complaining the whole time) and after we finished Mom said, “That was fun.” Karl rolled his eyes. We left the next morning after trying to clean the ugly hard water stains from Mom’s bathtub and toilet and having breakfast to head for Utah.

We arrived down at Mama’s a little after 3:00 pm. I had had a tooth pulled the Tuesday before and was running out of pain pills. Since K had gone to Smith’s to have the prescription filled I knew we could go to Smith’s down there and they could transfer the prescription. So I called M to see where a Smith’s in the area would be. I’m thankful he answers his cell at work. I had tried to call his home but it said that that wasn’t a working number. Thus calling M. I later learned that I had put in 501 instead of 801 as the area code. I was glad it hadn’t gone thro’.

We ended up staying with Mama three nights. We were going to stay with Kim one or two nights but Kimberly was soo sick and I didn’t want to get it besides no one wants company when they are feeling rotten. We did get to see K and the kids at C’s Eagle Court of Honor Wednesday evening; so we did get to see them, which was good. Monday evening we played Mormon Bridge. I still don’t know if I could remember the way to keep score. I guess the next time we play I will have to ask to keep score so Mama can guide me. My tho’t was “When she goes, no one will play again because no one will be able to remember how to keep score.” We watched Perry Mason before going to bed. I hadn’t seen that particular episode before, which is unusual.

I talked to C Tuesday morning to see if we could see them that evening. But R since he is bishop now spends his Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at the church. I had a very nice visit with C but didn’t get to see R. We took Mama to Olive Garden Tuesday around 2:00 pm. We all had soup & salad. It was very good and we had such good service from our waitress. We really enjoyed ourselves there. We were even able to take home what we couldn’t finish which I didn’t know you could do under those circumstances. We had it later on for supper.

We left, all three of us, Wednesday afternoon, early, We exchanged gifts right after we got there. We had a lovely supper and then went to the Court of Honor. It was very nice. C had planned it well. He is the third Eagle Scout among our grandsons. M was one of the speakers. There were three plus the man conducting. I played the closing song and N led. There was a regular Idaho blizzard there that night. It took K more than an hour to go from his house to the church which usually would take 20 minutes. We were glad to see him but worried about him. We did notice on the was back to American Fork that the weather wasn’t as bad then as it had been going. The roads were slick but the wind and snow blowing wasn’t nearly so bad.

We were planning on leaving around 10:00 or so to go to M & T’s. . We had to wash the sheets and make the bed before we left (we didn’t have to but we wanted to do it so Mama wouldn’t have to). With that and packing the car and eating breakfast it was afternoon when we left to go to M’s. Both he and the children were disappointed that we didn’t get there earlier. I told him that I hoped he was smiling when he called and said he might as well have gone to work since we were getting there so late. T said he wasn’t.  We did have time for a game of Pinochle with C sitting in for M on the last hand. We girls won that one which was a surprise since the first hand M was dealt a full family and a double Pinochle which is very rare. And both together being dealt is even rarer. We played two other games of Pinochle before we left to come home Saturday.

New Year’s Eve T had a party. She invited 8-10 people but only three showed up. The little girls were allowed to stay up and watch and play games with them too. They were soo excited about it. M, T, K and I set up the card table in the living room and played Five Crowns and Pinochle while we were waiting for the new year to come in. We were able to go to bed a little after 12:30 am. We left to come home around 11:30. It was a very nice stay there.

I called my mother before we left and she said, “Altho’ we didn’t do anything stupendous, it was a very nice visit. I’m glad you were here.” I felt the same way. It was good to be able to just visit and be with her. It’s been quite a while since I’ve spent that much time with her.

We stopped in SLC and visited with B and D for about 1½ hours. It was good to see them. We hadn’t seen each other since April at Mama’s birthday party. She is recovering nicely from her knee surgery. She is having the other one done on the 19th of this month.

We got to K’s almost 5:00. She was the only one there. We stayed about an hour, loading up our Christmas stuff and visiting about our trip. We got home at 7:00 pm. We found everything just fine. Our neighbors had cleaned off our driveway so we didn’t have to do that. The ground was all covered with snow. Altho’ they didn’t get the storms up here that we got down in Utah. After checking things out, I got started on my bulletin. Since it was Fast Sunday, we didn’t have too many things to do. I waited until the next morning to run it off and fold it since we are now on the 11-2 schedule.

November 2010

2011-01-10T08:20:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday at the FHC Elder Reed came in to help me because we are still so short of missionaries on Saturdays. Toward the end of the day he showed me a new website, roots.cs.byu.edu. It shows you how and who you are related to in the General Authorities and/or their wives. It is fascinating. I've always known that Karl was related to LeGrand Richards. Well, after I had registered and brought my line up, I found out that I am the 9th cousin of his 5 or 6 times removed, I can't remember. Karl is 2nd cousin once removed. Anyway, I got to thinking, if that is the case, then we should hook up back there somewhere. As I was looking at K's and seeing how he was related, I noticed he had some Jenneys in his line. So I got our PAF files out and our common ancestors are John and Sarah Carey Jenney. They are our 8th great-grandparents. Isn't that something? I just found this out a few minutes ago. And all this time we didn't know we were related. Elder Reed had made a comment that if a couple both have pioneer ancestry they will probably have a common ancestor somewhere, even if they have to go way back. I think it was the early 1600's or 1500's. I also I hook up with N S too. We have to go back to the 1500's for that one. The work is really going slow lately tho'. We had only four patrons last Saturday. The week before we had six and we were only open 1/2 a day that day.

We have had a very busy week

2010-09-07T10:35:00.000-07:00

This past week has been a very eventful and interesting week. Richard had called us late Sunday and told us that they were in Pocatello….had gotten there Saturday evening. We saw them Tuesday evening, meeting them at Arctic Circle. It was very nice seeing them. They bought us lunch. I especially enjoyed visiting with Duncan. The other children wanted to play on the toys. We had a very nice visit. He told me about his being the only deacon in his ward after his last friend moves out next month and that he is a home teaching companion with his dad now even tho’ he won’t turn even13 for a couple more weeks. It was soo good to see everyone. All of the children, of course, have grown. We were there about 2 ½ hours and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Wednesday we went to the FHC, of course. I got my hair colored that morning. I look and feel much better. All of the gray hair growing around my face makes me feel so blah. I feel much better (as well as look much better). I was able to help a few people. I left early because it was our Visiting Teachers Conference at 6:30 and they had a very nice luncheon with it. Almost all summer long there have only been 1 or 2 patrons come in after 5:00 so I decided I would ask permission to leave early so Karl and I drove over separately. When I asked Elder Hall if it was OK if I left (it was 6:20), he said “Of course, you can, you are your own boss now.” Referring to my being one of the directors now. I told him only on Saturday not on Wednesday.

Wednesday morning I had called Richard and asked him if he and his family would like to go to the zoo Thursday afternoon. He said they would discuss it and get back to me. He called around 10:00 am or so Thursday and told me that they would very much like to go. We met them there about 2:15. We had a lovely time while there. The weather was perfect…in the high 70’s. A year ago we had gone to the zoo with Michael and his family and it was in the high 80’s or low 90’s then. We didn’t see many animals other than the birds. All of the big animals except the Sloth Bears, were in their dens trying to keep out of the heat. This time we saw the snow leopards (two of them), the lions, the tiger (which roared for us for at least five full minutes), the red pandas as well as the farm yard animals and zebras and yak and llamas, and the monkey house too. It was a very delightful day. I did much better than I had tho’t I could. I only sat down three times in the 2 ½ hours we were there and it was close to an hour before I had to sit down the first time. I really am being blessed. Richard treated us to the new Hong Kong restaurant afterwards. We had never been there before. The food is like the Chinese Garden used to be before it changed ownership. We got home around 6:30. That was my birthday treat with Richard and their children.

Friday, Karen came up and took me to brunch at Perkins. We had a very enjoyable visit. We took our time and weren’t rushed. She had to be to an appointment by 12:30 so we drove separately. By the time I got home, Karl had gone to AAC to exercise and shower. I had a lovely visit on the phone with my mother and Bryan and my mother-in-law. All in all it was a very nice day. That afternoon I made a double batch of zucchini brownies. I took the larger pan to the FHC the next day and saved the smaller one for Sunday. That afternoon Karl found an envelope in our paper box with my name on it. It was a card that one of my visiting teacher had made and a pair of earrings that she also had made. I tho’t that was so sweet of her to do that. I really like the earrings. I also had 15 wishes on Facebook for my birthday and e-mails from my siblings and other two sons too. All in all it was a very nice day.

Saturday, we got to the FHC by 8:00 so I could open it up and get it ready for the day. The Butterworths got there shortly after so Brother B could help me count the money and put it in the till (or I help him). I was very busy helping the patrons and the missionaries all day long. I was so tired when we finished. We needed to go to Winco to get some things for the next day for dinner. Richard and family were coming to dinner after attending church with us . Believe me when I say: it is much different cooking for 11 than for two! But they all seemed to enjoy the food. And there weren’t as many leftovers as it looked like there would be…which is good. We were also supposed to stop and get gas in the Taurus after going to Winco but I was soo tired I forgot. So Sunday after finishing dinner we rested an hour or so then drove to Karen’s and so we had to use the Buick because the Taurus only had 57 miles worth of gas and it is at least 60 miles round trip from our house to Karen’s. We were on fumes with the Buick too by the time we got back but with the Lord’s help we made it and had enough fumes to drive to the gas station Monday morning. Bryan and Sara were there at Karen’s too. They had come from Nebraska the day before to take Sara up to BYU the next day.. Brittany and Wes and Olivia came over to do ice while we were there so we got to see them too. Olivia is sooo cute! And she rules the roost. She has a big sister, three brothers and a grandpa that jump at her every sound. She is 11 months old and already has them all well-trained.  She is a very happy baby. We got home from Blackfoot about 8:00. And we were very tired again. While we were down there Richard was able to finally make the final arrangements for Elena and Ken’s baptism. The kink was thrown in because Ken is 21 years old and is a convert baptism while Elena is a child of record baptism. Richard & Téa said they called Bishop Hayes the end of June to start the ball rolling for the double baptism. When Bishop Hayes called the Idaho Pocatello Mission Office then, he was told that since it was a convert baptism that it was out of his jurisdiction. So he breathed a sigh of relief and figured he wouldn’t have to worry about it. The mission President in the Arizona Phoenix Mission told Richard and Ken that all they would need was the recommend stating that Ken had had all of the missionary discussions and the necessary interviews to be baptized and the bishop of the ward here would be able to take care of it. But then the Mission President here in Idaho said that since Ken was a convert baptism that Elders from our mission were required to be there. When Richard was able to contact the zone leaders, he was told that they were unavailable until after 6 pm. That was not acceptable because Ken’s grandparents were driving from Montana to be here for it and it is a 5½-6 hour drive and Brother Rydalch can’t see to drive after dark. Finally Sunday evening Richard was able to get contact the sister missionaries who got the info from him and then passed it on to the Elders, the district leaders. That was about 6:30 pm. Both Téa and Richard were just about sick to their stomachs over the anxiety about all of this. It was so nice for them to come up here to do this. It gets so hot this time of year in Buckeye and neither Téa’s mom nor I tolerate the heat well. It seems to me that if the two mission Presidents had communicated things may have gone more smoothly. Bishop Hayes was finally able to contact President Bach and he deligated the assignment of conducting the ceremony etc. to him. (Bishop Hayes).

Yesterday, I woke up about 6:45 and got up about 7:00. I made three cards, one for Elena, one for Ken and one for my sweetheart because it was our 48th wedding anniversary. (He wrote me a lovely letter for my birthday the day after it and it counted for our anniversary too) We left for the church about 10:20 because we had to go get gas for the Taurus and then drive cross town because the baptisms were held at the Idaho Falls West Stake Center and we live in the East Stake. There were quite a few people there. Karl said the opening prayer and was one of the witnesses and Grandpa Ryldach said the closing prayer and was one of the other witness. Just after we got there Bishop Hayes informed Richard that Grandma Rydalch was giving a talk on the Holy Ghost. That is the one Téa had prepared to give. So she had maybe ten minutes in all to think about what to say. She did very well. I played the piano. Richard had said I didn’t need to worry about music during the interlude when everyone was changing their clothes. But the bishop came and asked me if I could do it. So I did. As I played I thanked the Lord for preparing me to do it at the spur of the moment with my experience as piano player for the Relief Society as well as the FHC with the prelude music I played then. I have worked up a few pieces with substituting broken cords for the complete cords and it sounded good if I do say so myself. I shook hands with the Elders and they left immediately after helping to fold up the chairs while pictures were being taken. I was able to talk to the sister missionaries a little. Sister Kaveinga led the singing. She is of Tongan descent but if from Los Angeles as was the other sister. She had been out in the mission field 7 months while her companion was a “greenie” and had only been out five weeks. After the baptism we met at Chuck-a-rama for the luncheon afterwards. Téa’s mom and R & T treated us. Téa’s Dad was also there. It was good to see him again and get to visit a little with him. Karen was also at the baptism. We were pleased as was R&T that she was able to come because it is “Fair Week” and that is a very busy week because they keep their business going as well as spend almost all day at the fair supplying the food booths there with ice, and milk and cheese, etc. We got home from Chuck-a-rama by 3:00. Bryan had called about 1:30 to tell us that he was ready to leave Rexburg and would stop at Shani’s and then stop and see us. He got here around 4:00. We had a lovely visit with him. Showed him our “garden” and got a few pointers on it and pruning our peach tree. He also gave me some advice about the computer. He then took us out to eat at the new Hong Kong again for our anniversary. He dropped us off here at home about 7:40. We had a good meal there too. All in all it was a very good day.

I have been so tired by evening the last week that I am so thankful that I can be ready to go again after a good nights sleep. Thank goodness that I sleep well at night. The coming week will be similar in that we have busy things going every day. Will report that next week.

The second week of August already!

2010-08-08T16:56:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that it’s been five weeks since I wrote here. It has been busy what with the FHC and all. I attended my first director’s meeting last Monday. I and Sister Harenberg, who is the secretary, were the only women there. There is also a Sister Price who couldn’t be there but is also an assistant director. Sister Hendricks will also be there until the end of September. I am the only Supervisor who is a woman. I had my début at supervising yesterday. Things went well. We had to be there by 8:00 am to open the building. The Butterworths were there shortly after to count the money and put it in the till. The others started coming about 8:30-8:35; prayer meeting starts at 8:45. The supervisor is the one who conducts prayer meeting and who is generally in charge and makes decisions if any decisions beyond the individual ones need to be made. As my sweetheart was telling his mother last night, “that things went well and Renée just took everything in stride” my tho’t was, “It wasn’t so different, responsibility-wise as being a charge nurse at the hospital.” And I did a pretty good job at that (even if I do say so myself). I started two weeks earlier than I tho’t I would because the Caseaus were gone to California to a niece’s wedding. I’m thankful that Elder Lyon called Elder Reed to be the supervisor for Friday. I’m afraid it would have been too much to do both Friday and Saturday and go to church on Sunday too. Then there is the director’s meeting at 9:00 am on Monday morning too. I think this will work out really well.

Today for church I was able to wear my sandals with 1 ¼ inch heels--The first time since I’ve had surgery. My foot didn’t even swell too much. I’m thankful that the swelling is decreasing. There for a while I wondered if it would. We had good meetings—all three of them.

In Relief Society we talked about how we are a covenant people. Erin Nelson, the teacher, told us she tho’t how neat it is that altho’ people may not be born into the lineage of Abraham, that they may be adopted in and share all of the blessings as if they were born in that lineage. I made the comment that when someone in this life is adopted that the adopted name becomes the legal name and with what we believe with the sealing, then everything is as if they were actually born to those parents. She tho’t that I was trying to take away the neatness of it. Afterwards, I went up and tried to explain it to her. I told her that it is another way that our Heavenly Father has planned so that all people can take advantage of His plan, if they so chose even if they were not born in it. Then I was inspired to say, “It is just like the way we do the temple ordinances for our dead; those who haven’t heard the Gospel in this life and still need the work done, we do it for them.” I felt the Spirit bear witness to me as I said that as to the truthfulness of what I said. I wished that I had been inspired to say that during class so everyone there could have heard it too. (Because it was a new tho’t to me; I hadn’t made that connection before.)

Oh, by the way, I have lost the three pounds I gained plus one. I should be able to do even better when I start exercising more and get back to Silver Sneakers. I am determined to do that. We got our reports last week of our blood work when we went to the doctor July 27. my A1c is the same as last time, 7.3. I want to get it back down in the 6 range. I know I will have to exercise regularly to do that. Even a couple times a week will be better than what I’m doing now.

We also went to the temple a week ago Friday. We have been averaging once a month. Hopefully we can increase it to twice a month. We’ll see.

Entry for August 1, 2010
My goodness, it does get hot in Russia as well as cold. 40 degrees Celsius is equal to 104 Fahrenheit. Did you know that? That is hot. The hottest it has been here so far this summer is 98 degrees F. That was last weekend. Today it is 89 degrees F. Our house stays fairly cool until it starts cooling off last night then we face the fan out the front door and open the back door and windows and blow the hot air out the front and let the cool air come in the back. That works out pretty well. If it were 104 tho’ I don’t think it would work as well.

My foot is healing very well. I even wore my sandals to church today for the first time since I had the surgery June 25. My foot did swell and I came home and put on my nursing shoes so the swelling would go down. That is what I have worn for almost two weeks to keep the swelling down. I’m in no pain, which is very nice.

Grandpa fell while riding his bike a week ago. He was trying to bring home about 8 feet of chain link fence on it and ran into the curb and fell. He broke a blood vessel on his right shin. So he has a very colorful leg, ankle and foot now. It is starting to turn yellow now tho’ which means it is healing (an excerpt from a letter to Bryce.)

My Life the Last Five Weeks

2010-07-25T16:21:00.001-07:00

It has been quite some time since I wrote. On June 25 I had a bunionectomy on my left foot. I’ve talked to people who’s bunions were excruciatingly painful and so was the surgery. Mine didn’t even ache until the weekend before the surgery. Up until then I was debating whether or not to cancel the surgery. I took the aching as a sing to have it. The bunion didn’t really bother me but my doctor, a podiatrist, told me that the fact that I have calluses on the protrusion that resulted in the bunion meant it was rubbing which means that I could get a diabetic ulcer. I have taken care of people with diabetic ulcers and know they are very hard to get rid of. So between that and the aching I decided to have it. My pain was easily controlled with the pain pills. I had to wear a special shoe for 3 ½ weeks. I couldn’t take a shower for 12 days….just spit bathes as I called them. I have been wearing a matched pair of shoes since last Tuesday. The doctor advised me to wear exercise type shoes (what we used to call tenny runners) because they would keep my foot from swelling. ( wondered about that because it is soo confining. But he was right. It swells less when I wear those shoes than when I don’t.) I have mostly done that wearing them to the FHC and to church. Yesterday we didn’t go the FHC because it was the 24th of July. We don’t celebrate the 24th on the 24th so it must have been a directive from SLC. Anyway, I had the surgery done then because we had a two week hiatus or vacation while the FHC was thoroughly cleaned. I spent the first week literally just sitting in my recliner with my left leg on two pillows with frozen peas & carrots or corn on my foot. The Sunday after, I went to just sacrament meeting. I used my wheelchair which caused a lot of attention. But with it I was able to keep my left leg up. I did most of the cooking fixing quick simple meals. But that was about all I did for two weeks. I wore my Cherokee sandel on my right foot. It was the shoe that had a little more than an inch sole to almost match the sole on my special shoe. But I wobbled. Altho’, I have been wearing a matched pair since Tuesday, I have noticed that I still don’t quite walk naturally as I did before.

I spent the 4th of July sitting in my chair. They celebrated on the 3rd here. Both days I spent in my chair. I couldn’t have gone anywhere to see the parade or fireworks and not have my leg hanging down. We watch Macy’s 4th of July, and the Boston Pops 4th of July. On the 5th we watched A Capitol 4th that I had recorded the evening before from PBS. They all were very good. Lovely music and beautiful fireworks. Of course, they aren’t nearly as pretty as in real life. As I was sitting in sacrament meeting that day, pondering our wonderful country and the many blessings I enjoy, the tho’t came to me: it really is appropriate to”celebrate” the 4th of July at church. There is no better place to worship our Heavenly Father and thank Him for the gifts of this country and our forefathers and what they did.

We returned to the FHC Wednesday July 7th. We took my wheel chair with me because I wasn’t sure how long I could sit with my foot down. I went about two and a half hours, then my sweetheart went out and got the wheel chair out of the car. I was glad that we had taken it. We took it Saturday also, but I was so busy helping others at the computer that I didn’t have a chance to use it. I wouldn’t have been nearly as effective if I had been in the w/c because I couldn’t have gotten close enough to the person I was helping and the computer. I also had my class to teach Saturday as well. And the w/c wouldn’t have worked there at all. By the time the class was over with, there was less than an hour left and we could go home. I haven’t used the w/c since.

On July 14, Elder Lyon, the director for the FHC came in. We usually don’t see him on Wednesday afternoon. He only works ½ day that day and usually is there in the morning. We don’t start our shift until 1:00 pm. Anyway, he was there then. And he came up to me and asked if I could visit with him for a few minutes. So went with him to his office. He started by asking me how my foot was and what I had done with it. He then asked me to be an assistant director taking the Caseau’s place after their mission ends August 19. So I won’t start until about the middle of August. There are eight assistant directors who help the director and supervise each of the shifts. They have weekly meetings, Monday morning at 9:00. He asked me if I tho’t I could do two days in a row. I told him that I have been very glad over the years that my days are split. I’m not to tell anyone. I have told my family but they all live away from here so that’s OK. He’ll probably announce it to the board tomorrow or maybe not till next week, but then for sure.

Thursday, Karl’s cousin called and told us that Uncle Lee had called her and told her that he was in Island Park for a family reunion and was getting married the next evening. We got to talking and decided since we didn’t have anything to do that evening and more importantly, we didn’t need to go to the FHC the next day, we would go. We didn’t know for sure how long it would take to drive there and had no idea where the church was. When we got to Island Park we stopped at the first gas station we saw. I had my missionary name tag on since I was in Sunday clothes. The young man asked if we were asking about the LDS church. I told him yes. I was surprised to learn there was one there. The last time we had been up there, we still had all of our children were home. In fact, Richard probably wasn’t born yet. And they didn’t have an LDS church there then. It was quite interesting. They had a notice on the door stating that they had sacrament meetings at 9:00 and 11:00 am and 9:00 pm. They were telling us that they had 2,000 people attending some of those meeting….it didn’t sound like a total for the day. It was good to see Uncle Lee and meet his new wife. They have been neighbors the last five years. Aunt Aileen died the beginning of this year. Uncle Lee explained that Carol was alone and he was alone and it just made sense to get married. She had only been baptized a month or so but after a year she had agreed to be sealed to him in the temple. They looked very happy. All of Uncle Lee’s children were there. It was good to talk to each one of them. We were made very much welcome. We didn’t get home until almost 11:00pm. The wedding didn’t start until 8:15. we found out it takes about an hour and a half—give or take—to drive up there or back from there.

Since we don’t get to go to the Famers’ Market on Saturday with our working at the FHC that day, we decided that we wanted to do that yesterday. Then my sweetheart took me to Perkins for brunch. We tried one of their new omelets. It was delicious. I had planned on going to the temple and maybe the visitors’ center too. Or one or the other. But with our going to Island Park the evening before we slept in late and ran out of energy too soon.

After my surgery, I didn’t even turn on my computer for a whole week. I still haven’t begun to catch up on my e-mail. I’ve been able to stay on top of my bulletins for which I am glad. We did it on Thursday, the week of my surgery and then Saturday the next week. I’m so thankful for a computer. I don’t know how I would be able to do this without it. And I can find applicable quotes, too, online on the topics the speakers speak on.

Oh, I just about forgot. Friday about 3:00 pm Fred, Karl’s youngest brother called and said he was at Home Depot parking lot and he’d like to see us if we could drive over. They were in the area to see their newest grandson. His son-in-law works there at HD. Fred had dropped him off that morning then left to go visit Mom in Grace and just gotten back an hour before his SIL would be thro’. We were able to watch the Blue Angels practicing for the air show they yesterday and this afternoon. It was great to see them instead of just hear them. They are so loud but since they travel faster than sound it is hard to tell where they are coming from and where they are. Besides, the houses and trees where we live, are so close together, we can’t get a good view here. But we did there. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them as we visited with Fred. There are six of them but only four fly together most of the time. They are extremely loud!! We also enjoyed talking to Fred and learning what all he’s been doing and what all of his children have been doing.

Well, that’s a summary of my life over the last five weeks or so. I have gained three pounds with my inactivity. I’ll have to start exercising and walking again and get those off.

I Am So Thankful For My Ancestors

2010-02-07T18:08:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting experience at the FHC yesterday. It was after teaching my PAF class and only an hour or so before closing. A young woman had come in stating she needed to make a Family Tree for a class that she and her husband are taking in preparation for becoming foster parents. She brought her own birth certificate and her mother’s death certificate. Her mother was born the same year I was, 1943 and her sire was born in 1936. (I say sire because she never met him; he is her birth father but that is all. Her mother never married him but married two or three other men.) They died 1998 and 2008 respectively. We were able to find them on the Social Security Death Index and therefore obtained their correct birth and death dates. That is all we were able to find. The young woman’s grandmother is still alive but not in good health. I believe the young woman stated her grandmother has Alzheimer’s. All we could come up with was herself, her mother and her grandmother. We looked on many different sites. The US census would have been a good source, except the last available one is the 1930 census. It was hard for me to imagine that that was all one could know about her ancestors. I compared it to my own life where my great-grandchildren have two great-great grandmothers still living. That is five living generations! It made me realize, again, just how blessed I am to know about my ancestors and many of their stories and experiences they experienced while on this earth. I am so thankful for my ancestors and the lives they lived and trials they endured so that I could be where I am today, living in the United States of America and be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If just one of them had lived their life differently, who’s to say where I would be this day.

A Special Stake Conference

2010-01-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

I worte this last week and forgot to post it.

We had a special Stake Conference today called by Elder Bruce Porter of the First Council of Seventy. We didn’t have a Saturday night meeting but they did have a special leadership meeting with 20 Stake Presidents and their bishops in attendance. Presiding was Elder Dallen H. Oakes, Elder Packer, son of President Packer and Elder Porter. Elder and Sister Porter were the only ones there today. It was a wonderful meeting. I could feel the Spirit so strongly. Dad sang in the choir. They were notified only ten days ago of this conference. I’m not quite sure why our Stake was chosen but they said we were chosen to have this conference.
President Heber Andrus talked first. He spoke of the importance of our continuing to read our scriptures, say our family prayers and have family home evenings. We are promised as we continue to do these things, we will be blessed with a more abundance attendance of the Holy Ghost which will keep us safe from the adversary.

President Manwaring spoke of faith and footings and how if both are square, strong and true so are we or our buildings. And President Kite told the story of the good Samaritan and talked about taking care of the poor and the needy whether it be poor in earthly things or in spirit that we need to be sensitive and help them return to strength.

President Andrus then called his daughter-in-law, the new Stake YW president, and the new Stake Primary president and a young man who was preparing to leave on a mission. He had his call because he had been thro’ the temple a week ago (up in Rexburg since ours is closed) but didn’t tell us where it he is going. They were all surprised by the call but all gave excellent talks.

After the intermediate hymn Sister Susan Porter spoke to us. She spoke of experiences they had walking where Jesus walked in the Holy Land. She said they were able to spend two weeks there a few months ago. She said that altho’ we can’t all go to the Holy Land, we can still walk how Jesus walked, talk as He walked meaning we can do the things he did: love others as He did, help others as He did, teach others as He did. It was a very good talk.

Elder Porter gave such a good talk. I believe that he has an article in the December Ensign that my Sweetheart read to me last Monday for our Family Home Evening. He spoke on many things and I could really feel the spirit. I can’t remember that much about it. I do remember that he said, ”Those who are experiencing guilt because of suffering abuse caused by someone else, need not feel guilty anymore. That the Savior took care of that for them.” Altho’ I haven’t experienced anything like that personally, I felt that there was someone there who needed to hear that. He spoke of many other things. I really could feel the Spirit. I know that he is a servant of the Father. I was able to meet him and shake my hand afterwards. As he shook my hand he called me Sister Robinson thanked me for “the service I am doing at the Family History Center. (of course I had my name tag on.) I tho’t, “That’s the least I can do.” I felt so spiritually fed after attending that meeting.

I’ve had two good weeks at the FHC. All three of my PAF classes have gone very well. There were 13 there the first two weeks and 16 there yesterday. I’m thankful that so many are interested in learning about it. I have also been able to help many of the patrons who have come in as well as some of the new missionaries. It feels so good to be able to help people. I’m very thankful for my calling as a FHC missionary and for the knowledge that has been given me and a good mind to help me remember the things I have learned so that I can help others. I really think that the fact I can do these things is a spiritual gift. I also know that this is what I am supposed to be doing at this time in my life. I’m thankful that my sweetheart supports me in this and goes with me. We have made some choice friends that we wouldn’t have met anywhere else.

How Do You Hold Onto An Angel?

2010-01-28T12:47:00.001-07:00

Monday, I learned that my niece had her baby and it only lived three short hours. My heart literally aches for her, her husband and her parents. My mother’s parents have 200 descendants and this is the first and only baby that has died shortly after birth in those descendants. It is such a sad thing. My tho’t has been that she only needed to receive her body to go on in her eternal progression. Understanding that helps but does not take away the pain. I was wondering the other day if my father, who died forty years ago, was there to greet her. As I wondered this, the Spirit whispered to me that he may have been but the Savior was there to greet her with open arms for sure. I am copying two documents that my brother sent me. The first is written by the father of the baby and the second by my brother:

Colette’s Story
January 26, 2010
There are many and yet no words that I can say that does our hearts justice. The last few days have held many colors of emotion. In this small time our family has lived a lifetime.

We have felt the excitement of a new spirit knocking at our door. The whirlwind of change as she joined us in the delivery room. The pride felt of knowing our family is +1. This was a daughter of our god making herself known. The sudden energy of compassion poured out around us from the resourceful and intelligent staff. The loving power and awarmth of the priesthood. The dizzying amount of technological advancements beeping around us. The capability to say, “I love you”, over long distances. The painful reluctance and humble concession to our Heavenly Father’s will. A tender snuggle from one so small. The tears of strangers now shared as a untied family. The thunderous unyielding efforts to reunite mother with daughter. The peaceful feel of a daughter returned home. The piercing heartbeat of a unbreakable bond.

Our Heavenly Father has blessed us, not only with another one of his daughters, but one who cared to make herself known. One so strong in spirit that she, communicated with a two year old using gentle nudges from a tummy, bring a smile to her older brother’s face in just single thought, unite mother and father closer than ever before, bring complete strangers together with strength of spirit and conviction. She delivered our Heavenly Father’s tender mercy and love with a single, self-sustained breath.

She shared her simple testimony with us and now, I as her earthly father share this part of my heart and the testimony of my love for our Savior. I testify of the simple truth of our Heavenly Father’s perfect plan, and with a heavy heart, relay how grateful I am for the blessings that come from an Eternal Family. I encourage all who read this to take this little girl’s humble example and share your life’s testimony. Have no fear even until your last breath! I have learned that without words you have the power to change hearts and strengthen many!

With humble gratitude I leave you this testimony in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Dusty

How Do You Hold on to an Angel?
By Roy C Wendel
As I write these words, my heart is breaking. After a brief three-hours in mortality, my precious, sweet, perfect little granddaughter, Colette Eliza Chadwick returned home to a loving and understanding Heavely Father. This all happened on Sunday, January 24, 2010.

I awoke early Monday morning, sobbing in my bed. later that day I went downstairs and wrote three questions on a pad of paper.
1. How do you hold an Angel?
2. How many tars does it take to heal a broken heart?
3. Who helped her home?
When I woke up this morning, Tuesday, January 26th the answers came to me through the warm comfort of the spirit.

Angels come and go in our lives all of the time. Some stay for a while and some do not. Colette is one of those angels! She came-she only needed a physical body to complete her salvation and become perfect. She drew one unassisted breathe into her small undeveloped lungs. That was all she needed to be perfected. So I ask the question again- How do you hold onto an angel? The answer I received was swift and clear-“You don’t hold on to an angel- Angels hold onto you!”

Broken hearts are hard to heal. It seems that a heart breaks all at once. One moment it is whole- the next it is shattered. Like a piece of crystal thrown against a brick wall-it seems impossible to reassemble! As I lay in bed crying I was asking this question, “How many tears will it take to heal a broken heart?” again the answer was swift and sure-“it takes a million gazillion tears to heal a broken heart—but they are not all yours!” tears have been shed by family, friends, and most importantly by our Savior. We have been surrounded by love, supported by faith, and taught a great lesson by an angel who lived such a short time. Yes, there will be lots of tears-but no one will be shedding them alone!

I once had the privilege of helping the primary present a depiction of the plan of salvation to the children. They went from pre-mortal life to mortality then on to immortality. At each stage I was able to talk with them and explain what was going to happen. I felt impressed to say to each of them, “Don’t worry, although you don’t know exactly what is going to happen, there will be someone there who knows you and loves you and they will help you along.” This morning I was wondering about Colette. I was reflecting on my third question, “Who was there to help her home?” once again the answer was plan and perhaps more than comforting. It was just two words that came into my mind—“I AM” the great I AM—the creator and Savior of the universe, the keeper of the gate who employeth no servant there, it was He who received Colette, it was He who gave me comfort and understanding.

Now the real work begins. We have a member of our family who is perfected and waiting for the rest of us. It is my prayer that we will each do what we know we need to do to make sure that this little, sweet, perfect, Colette Eliza Chadwick is not alone.

Remember—you don’t hold an angel—an angel holds on to you!

A New Year Already!

2010-01-10T16:35:00.003-07:00

My, the time has flown. It is a new year and I missed the whole month of December writing here. It was a very busy month, baking, getting ready for Christmas as well as working at the FHC twice a week. We had a very nice Christmas. It was different in that Christmas Eve we had only Karen & Kent’s neighbor, Bob there plus, Karen and Kent, Kylie, my mother-in-law, my sweetheart and myself. Bob just stayed for the meal and left. The rest of us had our program. It was the smallest number yet for the program. We took turns reading the scriptures that told of Christ’s birth on both continents. Kylie and I took turns playing the piano as the others sang the Christmas carols. Karl and Kylie sand a duet of “Star Bright”. Their voices blend sooo nicely. Karl sang “O Holy Night” accapelo and of course we sang “He sent His Son” and “Let There Be Peace On Earth” accompanied by myself. It was all very nice. Mom’s neighbor was coming up to IF so brought her as far as Blackfoot. She said she had been invited to Christmas dinner at Paul’s but she was soo glad to be there with us for the Christmas Eve part as well as all day Christmas day.

We left about 2:00 the day after Christmas to take her home. We stayed with her until Monday morning when we headed for Utah to see our two sons and their families and my mother. Sunday afternoon, Paul and ElDene came over and a little later their oldest son, Kevin came over with his girlfriend, Jessica. We had a delightful visit with all of them. After they left the three of us played Rumicube, two games. It was fun. We left about 10:00 the next morning for Utah. I had talked to Kim and Bryan and Téa and Mama Saturday night. Found out that our gifts for Richard, Téa and family hadn’t gotten there. Téa had called earlier in the week saying they weren’t there yet. I discovered that I had the wrong house number on it….7654 instead of 1654. I guess I can’t read my own writing. I have corrected the address for sure. They had blizzard in Nebraska. Bryan said that in the six years that they have lived there, he hasn’t seen drifts that high before. They had about 21 inches with 40 mph winds.

Kim said it would be best if we waited to come to his house because he had to work until 9:00 pm Monday. He would be off Tuesday and Wednesday. So we stayed with Mama Monday night. That was good too. you get a different kind of visit when you stay over night instead of just visiting for a couple of hours. The same when staying with our children. it is just different when we wake up at their house instead of just stopping in for a few hours. We had a delightful time with Kim, Kimberly and their children. We played games and watched a couple of movies. I had given Karl “Ever Strong” the story of the Highland Rugby Team (SLC) and “One Good Man”. I took them both with us. Everyone seemed to enjoy watching them. we went shopping with the Kim's Wednesday afternoon then left for Michael & Tanya’s just before 5:00. We had a delightful time visiting with them too. Their two little girls are sooo cute and make you feel so welcome and loved. The others do too but…We also enjoyed Tasha and Collin too.

We spent New Year’s Eve with Michael & Tanya. We were able to play a couple of good games of Pinochle while we were there. The men got double pinochle again. But the women did too. we have been keeping track who gets it and when the last five+ years and the men get it three to one of the women getting it. We kept telling them that and they didn’t believe it so now we keep track. We left about 10:00 or so New Year’s Day (we have found that that is a good time to travel…not as much traffic as other days) and stopped at Karen & Kent’s to pick up the stuff we left there from Christmas and got home about 4:30 or so New Year’s Day. Saturday, I did the wash, made out the budget, paid the bills, etc. and quickly put the bulletin together and ran it off and folded them….all with Karl’s help.

Sunday was our first Sunday meeting at 9:00. it will be nice having a part of a day after church. Monday, I took down all of the Christmas decorations and Karl took them down stairs. It was pretty much an all day job for me. Tuesday, we went to Silver Sneakers exercise class and worked on the bulletin, Wednesday, the FHC, Thursday, Silver Sneakers, and worked on the bulletin, Friday, ran off the bulletin and got them folded and went to the temple and Saturday the FHC again where I taught my first PAF class in the series. I didn’t expect hardly anyone there. I had told a few patrons about it as they came in but didn’t really expect anyone to come. I knew that there would be one new missionary couple, so I knew there would be maybe five there. I thought I was being optimistic by printing off seven handouts. There were 16 people there!!! I was soo pleasantly surprised. It went very well and all seemed to enjoy it. All in all it was a very full week. I’ve decided that I need to keep going to Silver Sneakers. I hadn’t been to Apple Athletic Club for at least four months maybe five. Karl has kept going at least twice a week all that time but I had other things to keep me busy. I decided that I need to do it for me tho’. My blood sugars have been better and I feel better and my abs stay in much better. I need to do this!! So last weeks schedule will probably be close to last week. If I can get to Apple Athletic Club at least two times if possible three times a week, I will be much healthier. I have the bulletin pretty much down now if people will get me the material I need to put in it by Thursday evening, then I think it is a plan that will work. Time will tell.

I Have Many Things to be Thankful For

2009-11-27T16:21:00.001-07:00

About three weeks ago a niece challenged us to write something every day that we are thankful for. I took the challenge and will record the results here.
#1. Today I am thankful for life itself.
#2. Today I am thankful to be alive in this day and age.
#3. I'm so thankful to be a member of the Chruch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
#4. I'm thankful for my parents and the things they taught me and the examples they set for me to follow.
#5. I am thankful for the men & women in and have been in the armed forces, those who fight to keep our freedoms in tact.
#6. I'm thankful for my children and the way they are teaching their children. And I am sooo grateful for my grandchildren and now great grandchildren.
#7. I'm thankful for my calling as a Family History Missionary and the knowledge I have gained from being at the Family History Center.
#8. I'm thankful for the love that I feel from others and my many friends.
#9. I am thankful for a nice warm home on these cold winter days & nights.
# 10. I'm thankful for my knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father and older brother, Jesus Christ.
#11. I'm thankful for finding ancestors last night at the FHC who fought in the Revolutionary War. After reading the "Prelude to Glory" series, I know that they didn't get the 2 lbs. 10 shillings that the papers said they did. They really went thro' a lot so we could have such a wonderful country.
#12. I'm thankful to live here in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
#13. I'm thankful for a sweet, helpful husband
#14. I'm thankful to still have my mother with us. She is 90 years old. I enjoy talking to her on the phone.
#15. I'm thankful to still have my mother-in-law with us. She is 93 years old. Both she and my mother are in good enough health that they still live alone
#16. I am thankful for many friends all over the world, right now.
#18. I'm thankful for a good mind and that I learn quickly.
#19. I'm thankful for tiny babies. They help remind us of a loving Heavenly Father whose presence they so recently left. (I was able to take care of my great-granddaughter, Olivia, while her mother and grandmother went shopping--taking advantage of the Black Friday specials.)
#20. I’m thankful to have modern day prophets to lead us in the ways our Heavenly Father wants us to go and help us be prepared when disasters & trials strike.
I have so many more blessings than even these. They are really too many to innumerate. Everything I have and am I owe to my loving Heavenly Father. I know all good things come from Him.

For November 9, 2009

2009-11-09T11:44:00.000-07:00

I have received many compliments on the bulletin each week. I think the members of my ward are enjoying how I am doing it. I try to find a picture and quotes to support the topic that is being discussed in Sacrament meeting. So far it hasn’t been too hard. I hope it will continue to be fairly easy to find material for the different topics that can be discussed in Sacrament meeting. This last week I had quite a “headache” over it tho’. I liked to put in five *’s between the sections of it and as Bryan put it WORD is trying to “help” me by recognizing I want some separation there and puts a line across the page of black squares. It looks really ugly compared to the neat ***** that I have been putting in. No matter what I did I couldn’t get rid of them. I did the bulletin twice and just about finished it then that black line showed up. I called K and B. It was K’s birthday and it was good to talk to him but he busy with his family. Bryan was at the temple so I had to wait for him to get home. I sent the bulletin to both B and K. I had to go to gmail.com because my Outlook wasn’t working that day. That also was very frustrating. I usually like to get the bulletin all printed and folded and everything by Friday afternoon so I don’t have to worry about it Saturday along with working at the FHC for 8+ hours. But I finished it about 10:00 Friday night. As we were coming home after working at the FHC then having stopped at the church to print them off and fold them, I noticed that I had last week’s birthdays on instead of this week’s. (That was because I started over from last week’s bulletin and forgot to change them.) After the initial program for Sacrament meeting, I ended up typing in almost everything else from scratch. And I forgot to check on the birthdays. I may just have to leave out the little *’s altho’ I really like how they work.

I finished reading a really good book yesterday. It is “The Incredible Ways of Women” by Barbara Barrington Jones. It is her story as well as the stories of many other LDS women who have experienced great challenges and still “landed on their feet” to coin a phrase. She had many faith promoting experiences in there. It was given to me by my mil for Christmas last year.

Last week we went to see the neurologist for my husband. He has been having something-like seizures a few times over the last 18 months or so. Not often enough to really worry about it a lot but to still be concerned. The doctor said he that altho’ he could have seizures, he didn’t think so but we needed a sleep deprived EEG and and MRI of his brain. The EEG was last Friday morning at 5:30. I figured that if we were awake then, the earlier the better. We got home again about 7:45 and I was in bed by 8:00. The tech told us that he didn’t have to go to sleep, just his brain did. That is the first time I had heard that. He said he didn’t feel like he went to sleep but hopefully his brain did so that we got good results from the test. The tech said that there would be about 300 pages of brain waves for the neurologist to manually read and measure. My tho’t was “no wonder they are so expensive!” My sweetheart will have the MRI tomorrow. We have a follow up appointment November 30, the Monday after Thanksgiving.

The work at the FHC is going well. I’ve been keeping quite busy with helping the patrons. I’ve even had enough time to be able to help my Sweetheart to get things on his PAF and get them straightened out. We are now putting the PID #’s from the newFamilySearch on our PAF files. We use the FamilyInsight Program to do this, using the Full Synchronization part. We are also updating our records from nFS as we do this.

I’m thankful for both of my callings as a Family History missionary and also the Bulletin Editor. I do really enjoy both.

The month of September has passed

2009-10-13T12:43:00.002-07:00

It has been about five weeks since I wrote. Since then we have been to Nebraska and back, seen Bryan, Sandy and whole family, had another great-granddaughter, sent a third grandchild to the MTC, taught three PAF classes, been released as Service Missionaries and re-set apart and sustained as Bulletin Editor for the Kearney 1st Ward. My it sounds like we’ve been busy .

We had a wonderful trip to Nebraska to visit B & S and to welcome C home from the Chile, Concepcion, South Mission and see B before he left on his to the Russia, Samara Mission. We heard many things about Chile. We went to church with them and enjoyed listening to both C and B talk. We went to Vala’s Pumpkin Patch. That is a very unique place. It was a lot of fun. 3-year old Jason didn’t like the camels. I guess they were too big for him. They were very friendly tho’. C tried to get him to pet them but he cried and said he wanted to go home. We really hadn’t been there that long yet. I walked over next to C and altho’ C was holding J he leaned over and threw his arms around my neck and cried, “I want to go home.” We decided to look at the goats instead. They weren’t as big as intimidating. Bryan helped me out with WORD and showed my how to set up a page and do column break etc. I’m thankful he did. I still have a lot to learn but I think it will be something that I enjoy. I hope the ward members will cooperate with me and get things to me by Thursday evening so I can put it together and print it on Friday. It has to be Friday because we work at the FHC Saturday and I don’t feeling doing much once I get home from there.

C took us to the Airport October 1; we were there shortly after 7 a.m. B was home finishing packing the van so they could leave for Utah and Idaho as soon as he got back. They were taking some of J’s stuff to her that wouldn’t fit in her car when she went back to BYU. They also had a young woman from their ward with them that they dropped off in Brigham City. Then they headed up to Idaho to K’s. they got there about 2 a.m. That was a very long day for them. We got in IF and home about 2 :45. We were an hour and a half later because of a longer stop over in Denver than we had anticipated. I had a hair appointment at 4:00 and then did some shopping after unpacking my suitcases. By the time I got home from that I just collapsed in my chair. I was really tired. I went to bed earlier that night than in a long time. Bryan, Chris and Bryce were here shortly after 10:00 the next morning. They and Karl cleaned off the carport and took stuff to the dump for us. Sandy came about noon and helped me get started on my kitchen. They also helped get stuff out of the living room we are no longer using. Both the living room and carport and kitchen too look so much better. We’ve been doing a little bit here and there every day to keep things cleaned up and looking better and even doing more. I’m very thankful to them for doing that for us.

We were re-set apart as Service Missionaries as I said. The bishop gave us both a beautiful blessing along with the setting apart. I’m thankful that my health has been such I have been able to do this and will be able to do this. I was also released as RS pianist before I was sustained as bulletin editor. So now I will have to consciously play the piano a couple of times a week so I can still play effectively at the FHC for our prayer meetings. I’m very grateful for the knowledge I have acquired during the last 2½ years. My testimony of Family History has grown so much. I’m thankful for a good mind and Spiritual Gifts that I wasn’t really aware of before we started there. I am more sensitive to knowing when the Spirit is prompting me than I was before we started our mission. I have gained so much since we first started our mission. We have also made some very choice friends that we wouldn’t know otherwise. Some of them have even more health challenges than we do but are still constant and faithful workers.

We went to the doctor’s on September 11 for our quarterly evaluation. Dr. L ordered an UA for K. It had been awhile since he had one. It turned out that it showed gross hematuria. (lots of blood). The doctor called the Monday before we left for Omaha and said he needed to see Karl very soon. That it was considered cancer until it was ruled out. K had not been feeling well for about two or three weeks about two or three weeks before this. I asked if it could be one of his kidney stones moving. He said he didn’t know but didn’t think so. Well, he had a CTKUB (CT scan of his kidney uteter and bladder) on October 5. it showed that he now has a kidney stone in his uteter. I’m sure that that is what caused the blood in his urine. It also showed some fluid in each kidney as well as two or three stones in each kidney. We told Dr. L that we knew about the stones but had been told they were too large to move. He also has a large gall stone that isn’t causing him any trouble. The CT scan also showed masses in each kidney. In the right one was a hard mass….neither are very large. So he had an ultra sound last Thursday. Both the radiologist and Dr. L said that cancer can’t be ruled out but we are to wait another three months and do another one and see if it has grown any. Depending on whether it has or not will determine what we do next about it.
The kidney stone doesn’t seem to be moving now but will cause him much discomfort when it does. I hope it is at a time that won’t inconvience him too much when it does decide to move.

As for weather is concerned: it was in the 80’s when we left for Omaha. It was cooler there than here while we were there but still very pleasant. I took my jacket with me and the only time I used it was when we went from the airport here in IF to the car to come home. It was in the 40’s with the wind blowing. All last week it was like that! 20 degrees below the norm. we are to get back up into the 60’s this week. This has been such a weird summer; we only had two weeks of autumn, then winter. We have had snow fall two or three times now. It really makes one wonder what kind of winter we will have. I hope it isn’t too cold. I don’t mind the snow too much. But I do the cold.

Labor Day Weekend 2009

2009-09-08T10:06:00.002-07:00

We had such a wonderful weekend this Labor Day weekend. Our #2 son and his family (except for oldest daughter who had to stay home to work) came to visit us. His almost 16 year old son and five-year-old daughter and three-year-old daughter and wife were here with us from Saturday before 10:00am to yesterday a little after 4:00pm.

It was soo nice having them here. We got our Pinochle game in Saturday evening. The women actually won that one!! It really isn’t very often that that happens. If T hadn’t had a headache, we would have let the men try to win. It is soo much fun playing with them. They all went to church with us Sunday. The little girls weren’t feeling well, fighting colds, so Tanya took them home and the rest of us stayed. I enjoyed church.

Yesterday, we went to the zoo. It has been three or four years since we went there. it was so much fun watching the little girls as they exclaimed over all the animals. I got very tired but was really glad that I was there. I fixed breakfast so my back was already bothering me but I persisted. I’m glad I did. As we were getting out of the van, the primary president in our ward, a very sweet young woman, greeted us. They were in line ahead of us to go to the zoo. She turned around and gave T two guest tickets for the zoo. That was sooo sweet of her. She’s one of our favorite people anyway. We got quite a few pictures there at the zoo; both of the animals and the girls. Even got one of C too.

Afterwards, M took us to Frontier Pies for lunch. We will go back. The meals were priced very reasonably and the food was very good. After we got back to the house, they loaded the van with their things and while M rested for a few minutes, the little girls and I watch videos. They didn’t get to see the last one they wanted to and they cried because they didn’t want to leave. It was over a video but I’m glad they didn’t want to leave because they hadn’t been here for only an hour or so and K was ready to go home. I was really tired after they left and can still feel it today but am sooo glad they came.

Last Thursday, we met with President M, first counselor in the Stake Presidency. He handed us our certificates of honorable release from our missions as of October 9, 2009 and then a letter calling us to serve at the FHC for the next 30 months starting October 11, 2009. I’m thankful that that is all taken care of. So we will be officially released one day only. I’m thankful that my health is good enough to be able to do this work. Our whole stake now has access to newFamilySearch as of yesterday. It is an exciting time to be on board with this new program coming out in our area. I’m so thankful for the Lord’s blessings that we have been able to do this. My health has considerably improved since we started. Altho’ I do get tired, I can do this and am so thankful that I can. It is definitely the work of the Lord and part of His Plan. I’m thankful to be alive at this time when the Church has been restored and with the technology that we have today. It makes family history/genealogy so much easier. I’m thankful for the wonderful children and grandchildren that He has blessed me/us with. They are such good people and I’m thankful to have each one of them as my friend as well as child or grandchild. I’m thankful that they are trying to live the Gospel the best they can. I’m thankful for my heritage; for what my ancestors went thro’ that I was able to be born into the Church and in this great land. I am sooo blessed!

The newFamilySearch is getting closer

2009-08-04T11:13:00.001-07:00

I don’t know where July went. We had a wonderful 4th when we went to spend the afternoon and evening with the Stanfields. That was very enjoyable and the fireworks were spectacular! We went back to the FHC the Wednesday after and have been going every Wednesday and Saturday since. There has been a big push on getting ready and teaching the family history consultants in our temple district the newFamilySearch. It is rewarding helping others to learn. We now have to convert temple ready submission disks to FOR’s or Family Ordinance Request forms before patrons can have their family names printed off. That means that the temple no longer accepts the floppy disks as they have in the past. I converted two last Saturday. This change just took place on July 28 so it is brand new. The first one that came in was a big file and the program didn’t do what I expected it to. When you click on “see now” it’s supposed to take you to the next screen that asks you if you want to print now. It was such a large file, that it wouldn’t progress. I asked Elder Mondock if he could help me. I know that he knows a lot about computers as well as the newFamilySearch program. Karl told me later that he was on another computer working thro’ different things trying to figure it out then came over and told me how to do it. I just had to go back to the Home page and click on GEDCOMs I have added. Then it brought up the print screen and we were able to print. There were two different submissions on that floppy and it even gave me the option to go right on and print the second one too. About an hour later another young man came over from the temple with a floppy and the Sister at the desk came and got me again. I am very glad to do it but I told two of the sisters that they might as well watch so they will know how to do it too. Because until everyone in our temple district has access to the nFS, we will be converting the floppies to FOR’s. Anyway, as I was going thro’ the second one, the same thing happened as the first one I did. I couldn’t remember how I go to the screen that said GEDCOMs I have added and as I sat there wondering I felt the Spirit nudge me to click on the back arrow. And that is where I found it…on the Home page. I will not forget again. I felt really good because I recognized the touch of the Spirit in my mind. It is a neat feeling.

The first part of the month we went to Utah to a family reunion for the F Roland and Afton Christensen Robinson family. We stayed with Mama that time. It was good to be able to visit with her and spend some time with her. The last few times we’ve been down, I’ve seen her but it isn’t quite the same as when you are there long enough to actually visit too. She spoke in sacrament meeting that Sunday and we went to it. She did very well. I’m glad we were able to be there for that. I met a couple of her neighbors because we sat in the Chipman Village row. After she talked we left for Lehi because Tanya was teaching RS and I wanted to be there. She did such a good job. I’m very glad that we made the effort to go there too. Who knows when we can be there again when she teachs. We went back and had dinner with Mama. She was soo exhausted that she slept a good part of the afternoon away. She said she hadn’t been able to sleep well since she was asked to speak. She started out her talk by saying:
Listen to the announcement I am going to make.
You must denounce your belief in Joseph Smith and his doctrine and teachings or we will burn you house, barn and crops down around you.

She went on to say that they told her Great-great grandfather (my third great grandfather), Cyril Call that when he lived outside Nauvoo. He told them that he knew Joseph Smith was a prophet and that what he taught was truth and that he couldn’t deny any of it. He and his family, his sick wife whom they pulled out of the house on a mattress, hid in the corn fields watching all of their possessions go up in flames until my great-great grandfather, their second child came from Nauvoo, found them and took them home with him. They still had minor children in their home. They had eleven children. I have a great appreciation for my ancestors and what they went thro’ to belong to the Church and further the work of the Lord.

The reunion was very nice. Both Michael and his two little girls and Kim and his family were there besides Karl and me. All of Karl’s siblings were there except Fred who lives in Oregon. Gene & Dot were in charge of it this year. Six of their nine children were there. None of Stan & Kathy’s were there nor Paul & ElDene’s nor Jewel’s altho’ Jewel brought some of her grandchildren. It was good to see Kent there too. It had been awhile since we had seen him. The next one is planned for the last week of June 2011.

Stake Conference--A new Stake Presidency

2009-06-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

We had our semi annual stake conference last night and this morning. It was sooo good and the Spirit was very strong. We received a new Stake President this morning also. Presidents Doyle Batt, and David Lyman and Robert Fulks had been in for nine years. Heber Andrus was sustained as President with Greg Manwaring and Robert Kite as his counselors. They have all been bishops. President Andrus served as a counselor to Gary Miekle when he was the president. They will be very good for they are spiritual and humble men. Elder Douglas Callister and Elder J. Craig Rowe were the Seventies who presided and called the new presidency in behalf of the Lord. They gave such good talks both last evening and this morning. Elder Callister told us that after picking up their son from his mission in Eastern Canada, they stopped in Upstate New York to see a prominent attorney and his family (Elder Callister was also an attorney by trade) who was a good friend and colleague. They had a meal with them. The wife reminded her husband that Brother Callister was a religious man was used to saying a prayer on the food before eating and asked if it would be all right if he did it then. The friend who was a staunch Jew told Elder Callister and his family that he would permit it but would not permit the name of Jesus to be uttered in their Jewish house. I was sitting there wondering how he would close it. He said that he said a nice blessing then closed it in “the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Amen” One of his children leaned over to him and whispered, “You did it, Dad!” We all had a nice chuckle over that. He also reminded us of what we committed to do as we raised our hands to the square and sustained this new presidency. He gave many examples from his service he and his family have done all over the world. He didn’t use a note at all. He’s a very humble and spiritual man. I could feel it while he was talking as well as when I shook his hand afterwards. He thanked me for my service as he noticed and read my name tag. It made me feel very humble and I almost got emotional then. It was a very good meeting.

The FHC yesterday

2009-06-28T18:46:00.001-07:00

I had an experience at the FHC yesterday. Altho’ it has been closed this last week and will be the next week for deep cleaning, Elder Lyon gave permission for a family to hold some of their family reunion there. We were asked to go in as volunteers to help with it. we were asked to be there by 9:00. After we had stood around for more than 30 minutes we found that the people weren’t even going to be coming until after 10:00. Anyway, I started helping a woman who was looking for her grandfather after he divorced her grandmother. She said that he just dropped out of site. We looked on census, and ancestry.com family tree and everywhere else we could think of. After we had worked for about an hour and half or so looking of him, the only census we found him on was before the divorce, she asked a question about the ordinance work for her great-grand parents. She said she had checked FamilySearch.org and couldn’t find anything. So logged into new.FamilySearch.org and searched for him. He was there; his work had been done. She wanted to know who had done it. I went to FamilyTree in the labs.familysearch.org site. It just showed the dates and the temples that the work had been done in. It had nothing else. Sometimes it does. She asked me to check on her brother who had died four years ago. She had explained that her brother’s wife altho’ a member herself, was adamant about their son not being baptized and stated that she had had permission from her brother to do his work for him before he died. Anyway, since I was still in FamilyTree I just went to new Search and typed in his information. When I pulled up his folder and scrolled down it showed that his work had been done last year in the Columbia River Temple. She loudly exclaimed, “I’m so angry!!!” as she hit the desk with her hands that others wondered what was going on. After she stated two or three that she was soo angry, she started to just sob loudly as she was swearing, two or three different swear words, very loudly. I know everyone else was wondering what was going on. Fortunately, most of the people with the family reunion had left. (as I tho’t about it later, I’m even sure she was with those people because she didn’t interact with any of them. She seemed to just notice that the center was open so came in). She sobbed and sobbed. All of this was very loud. She said she wanted a copy of the work printed off. So I tried to do that. I was only able to get page one. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get page two. Brother Killian was there and had sat down at the computer on my right side, she was on my left, and tried to find out who had done the work. He has “support” powers so could find out things I couldn’t. He still wasn’t able to find out who had done it but he was able to print the page two. The woman apologized to me for swearing and explained that since her brother had given her permission to have his work done after he died, that she was going to approach the wife and hopefully she would say to do the son’s work too since he had died a couple of years ago. We couldn’t find any record of the son on the program which means none of his work had been done or we would have been able to find him. She stated that someone had ruined her family! She paid her dime for the printouts and left. I felt really drained. It reminded me of when I had to deal with difficult family members while I was at work. (e.g. a young woman with two small sons whose husband had died of cancer while I was the nurse and I guess she was in denial all along because she really carried on and cried hysterically and sat on his lap and refused to leave him. I finally had to call the doctor for a sedative for her. He said he couldn’t understand her acting that way because she knew he was close to death for a couple of weeks or more. I told him that she must have been in denial.)

The ironic thing is that exactly two weeks ago a woman came in just 20 minutes before we were to close and angrily stated that she was holding the cards and she had just found out on new.familysearch.org that her grandmothers work had been done and she was holding the cards!!! She was very upset. She had been holding the cards for two years. She explained she was waiting for her mother’s health to improve so she could do the initiatory work for her mother. Anyway, she also got very upset and swore. At least neither of them took the name of the Lord in vain for which I am very thankful. I told Brother Killian about it and stated I don’t know why I have lucked out so…..Sister Hendricks stated that people just don’t seem to understand that it is our ancestor, not my ancestor. The thing is tho’ is that both of these people were born after 1900. The grandmother was born in 1909 and the brother was born in 1947 and President Hinckley has stated that anyone born since 1900 should be reserved for their ancestors to do or to get permission before doing the work. And the people who did that work did not follow that because the ladies I was talking to had no other immediate families who would have done the work. The lady yesterday kept asking why the Church didn’t stop them from doing it. I just stated that it couldn’t, As I have tho’t about it since, I have come to realize that the prophet has given us guidelines and we as a people have our agency whether or not to follow it. That is what it all comes down to. Both of these women were too close to the situation to realize that the work was done and that is what was important.

Our Reunion

2009-06-28T17:56:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe that it has been four weeks since I’ve written here. It has been an eventful at least last two weeks. A week ago Thursday, we left IF after my hair appointment and stopped in Blackfoot at Karen’s and picked up Bryan and Jessica and headed for Utah. Karl drove and Bryan sat in the front seat with him. Jessica and I sat in the back. It was a joy to be able to visit and talk with her. I heard many of her mission experiences that I wouldn’t have heard otherwise. I was able to share some of my experiences also at the FHC. We arrived at Mama’s in American Fork about 4:00 PM. we stayed and visited with her until about 5:45. I had called into Papa Murphy’s in Orem for two pizza’s that we stopped and picked up on the way to the Kims’. We had a delightful visit with them and their two sons. Grace was in IF visiting with her other Grandma . We left there about 8:30 to head back to Michael’s to spend the night. Jess slept on the hide-a-bed and Bryan slept on the living room floor. Karl & I slept were we usually did. I was able to show Tanya and Michael the new.FamilySearch and check out some names for her. It was very interesting. If we hadn’t had to get up so early to leave for Manti the next morning we would have stayed up later.

After my shower the next morning, I came down stairs and Jess was sitting on the floor with Kendra and Abbie sewing on the sewing cards. Abbie said to me, “Just why are you here, Grandma?” I answered that we had just come to spend the night. She then asked, “Where is your husband?” not where is Grandpa….it sounded so mature for a three year old. We left Michael & Tanya’s shortly after 7:00 AM. We had a very pleasant ride with more visiting. We took I-15 to Nephi and beyond because Manti and Ephraim aren’t well marked that way. We went about 14 miles further than we needed to and took the emergency vehicle turn around and headed back to Nephi. The turn-off was very well marked from that direction. We got to Manti about 9:15. Deborah and Jake’s sealing didn’t start until 10:30. We planned on being there 30 minutes early. We found the house that we lived in when Bryan was a baby and when Michael was born. It looked the same but different. If it hadn’t been across from the park we wouldn’t have been able to find it. There is quite a hill from the parking lot to the temple. I didn’t remember it’s being so steep. Of course I was much younger when we were married there. 46+ years ago. Just as we were approaching the temple we came across an older man with four younger men. They said that they were just killing time waiting for the sealing they had come for started. Jessica had noticed they were from Texas and mentioned it. So I asked which wedding they were there for. It was Jake & Deborah’s and he was Jake’s grandfather. Jake was the fifth generation to be married in that temple. That is why they had all come from Texas for the wedding. I decided that Idaho wasn’t really that far after all. As I first went into the temple I saw Mildred’s David standing there. I hadn’t seen him since before his mission…a few years before. I met a Sister Bailey who mentioned she was from the IF area. She said the IF temple was her “home temple.” It was delightful talking to her. I found out that she was Susan Wichham Butikofer’s sister, whom I went to nursing school with. (I saw Susan today after Stake Conference and told her I had met her sister in Manti temple.) We waited and visited in the bride’s waiting room for about 35 minutes before they took us up stairs to the sealing room. The sealer commented that one mother was here and the other was with us. I knew Mildred would be there and probably Daddy too but I couldn’t feel either one of them. Deborah said she could for which I was happy. She said she really appreciated our being there. I was the only one of my and Mildred’s siblings who was able to attend. It was very special. I’m thankful that Bryan offered to drive us down and back to Blackfoot. It worded out so well that way. We left the temple after our picture was taken as part of the group and the bride’s family and went to a hamburger place and ate lunch then headed for Blackfoot. We stopped in Provo on ninth North and ninth East at what used to be Carson’s market and is now BYU Creamery on Ninth and met a young woman who had served in Jess’s mission. We had some of the creamery ice cream (couldn’t pass that up because we don’t have the chance to have it that often) it was fresh strawberry and very good. We had a delightful time getting acquainted with another Jessica. We stopped at the rest stop at Brigham City and got to Blackfoot about 7:45 that evening. It turned out that Karen had been violently ill (Shani was too; they had eaten at the same place the day before) starting Thursday afternoon. She was feeling much better but very weak. Sandy did all the chasing and buying and getting ready for the reunion the next day.

The Kims got there about 9:30 that night. I’m thankful that they came. It was their 16th wedding anniversary that day. Kimberly’s mother & dad brought Grace down the next day. Grandma Robinson was there when we got there. Kent had picked her up (Karen was supposed to but was too sick) Friday morning. It was good to have her there too. My mother, Grandma Wendel would have loved to have been there but felt like she needed to be there to support Deborah and Jake and go to the reception the night before. I totally understand that. I hope she lives long enough to come to another one. Michael & Tanya and girls got there about 10:10 the next morning. Richard got there about 1:30 that afternoon. All of our children were there. Which was wonderful. But there were still nine missing. Richard’s wife, Téa, and his six children couldn’t come. Michael’s Collin was working at scout camp and couldn’t come (Bryan and Michael both missed family reunions when they were working at scout camp so I understand that.) And Bryan’s Chris who is on a mission in Chile also wasn’t there. It has been rainy all month long. It had rained all the days in June except for about three. It rained intermittently that day too. We were hoping that it wouldn’t rain while we ate because there were too many to eat in the house. We could have eaten in the shop but it was a long ways to carry everything. Kim’s nine-year-old Alex, when it started to rain and had rained for awhile, suggested a prayer. He offered it. It stopped raining and didn’t start again until after we were thro’ eating. Oh the faith of a child. It was cool but with sweaters and jackets we got along OK. There were five generations there with Great-great grandma Robinson there and Shani’s children. And yes, we did get a couple pictures of them as well as of all the other families. It went very well. Karen despite being sick and Sandy’s organization pulled it off very well. I appreciate all of my children and love them very much. They are good people and are teaching their children to walk uprightly before the Lord. And Shani and Brittany and their husbands are inturn teaching their children, our great grandchildren too.

The Kims left that night, Nathaniel had to give a talk in sacrament meeting the next day. Michael & Tanya and girls left after lunch after church. We were thinking of leaving for IF with Richard coming home with us for the night and Mom coming with us too because Karen & Kent were supposed to be over to Kent’s parents for that evening for father’s day. Kent’s father had been in the hospital the week before. About 4:15 we were in the kitchen and heard this sound, we rushed to the living room and rain was coming down in torrents and horizontally besides. The rain was pouring out of the rain gutters as if they weren’t even there. Then it started to hail really bad with almost dime sized hail. It came down for awhile; we were about an hour late in leaving for IF. We had a quiet evening. We watched Emma, my Story, neither Mom nor Richard had seen it. Karen & Kent came and got Mom and took her back to Blackfoot for the night then Karen would take her back to Pocatello to meet Paul & ElDene for her to go back home.
Richard left about 9:15-9:30 the next morning. He was driving a Suburban that Téa’s father had given them back to Buckeye. It was soo wonderful having him here. He seemed to enjoy being here too. He went from room to room looking at the pictures and looking at the changes. As I said before I am so thankful for my children and the people they have become.

Going with the Sister Missionaries

2009-06-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

I had quite a different experience last Friday evening. We had spent pretty much all day cleaning the house especially the big room, because the sister missionaries were coming for dinner at 5:00 pm. We got it looking much better than it had been. I had started on picking things up and clearing off the table etc. the day before. I hope we can keep it straight for a while. I need to do something in the living room too. We did start on it but ran out of time. I was soo tired that I just crashed for about an hour, then had to make a cake and change my clothes because I was going with them to teach a lesson to a young single man with two small daughters. I felt so much better after I slept about 45 minutes and was able to complete the evening. We had a delite gourmet chicken garlic pizza and salad with the cherry chocolate cake for dessert. It is very easy to make and sooo delicious. They both wanted the recipe.

We left about 5:45 to go meet Josh and his little girls. He wasn’t there yet so we went to another place where they left a sticky note and then back to Josh’s. He came about five minutes later. He had taken his daughters to the zoo.
It was exchange day in the district. They have it once a transfer where they exchange companions with another companionship in the area. The two sisters I went with evidently just met that day---at least had never worked together before. I sat there amazed as one would start a tho’t and the other would finish it like they had practiced and practiced. The Spirit bore testimony to me that it was thro’ the Spirit they were able to do this. It was a very neat experience and I will go again when given the opportunity. I told them I could go most any evening other than Wednesday since I’m at the FHC then.

Also I have been attending a special class at the FHC for only those they have invited to learn more about the new.FamilySearch.org and also about Family Tree which is on the labs.familysearch.org. I had one two weeks ago then another today and one next Monday. I’m not sure if they will have any more of them or not. I found it very interesting. I had Sister F, one of our support people to help me straighten out my Rufener lines on newFamilySearch.org because I three totally different lines and someone has totally messed them up and married and sealed them to the wrong people. We got it all straightened out and then I went to Wendy’s (where they give missionaries a 50% discount) and got my lunch and went back to the FHC to eat it. After that I went in and on one of the computers to add the dates I had on them via Family Tree in labs.familysearch.org. It was all messed up again!! It didn’t stay. I was sooo disappointed. I went in and told Sister F and she said that since the work for them was all done, then just don’t stress over it. Maybe sometime I will be able to straighten it all up. And I still can’t register for the new.FamilySearch.org. So now I have two things to be disappointed about. However, there is a silver lining. Since my sweetheart can register and we are in the same household so people could contact me if they wanted to, I can use his, so I have been able to get on and just search for my people and make some of the changes I need to and want to.

I also stayed for a class at 3:00 on advanced computer techniques. I thoroughly enjoyed that too. I learned a lot. I got home about 5:30 pm after leaving at 10:15 am. It was a long day but a fruitful one.

An Evening About Joseph and Emma Smith

2009-05-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

Before I start telling about our zone meeting last evening, I just want to say that I still can’t register for the newFamillySearch. It is sooo frustrating to me!! I probably know it the best of anyone there who hasn’t been able to actually use it. I have attended classes on it. Almost everyone at the FHC can register. Even those who haven’t done the e-lessons or the family consultant lessons on lds.netdimensions.com. it seems to be because I wrote my name Renée instead of Renee and the computer is having difficulty recognizing me as a consultant. Elder Lyon, our director said last evening that they were keeping the lines hot between the center and SLC trying to get it straightened out. Hopefully, I will be able to register by tomorrow when I go back to the center.

Last evening we were given a very neat treat. We had a 4th great grandson of Joseph and Emma Hale Smith talk to us. He lives here in Idaho Falls now, is married and has two small children. He is working full time and going to school full time and is an officer in the Joseph Smith, Emma Hale Smith Family Association and in that capacity is working on getting ready for a family reunion in Nauvoo for 200 or so members of that family this summer. He is 26 years old and grew up in Montana. He said many of the family went to Montana to get away from the stigma of being related to Joseph Smith. He said they literally feared for their lives. He is the grandson of Gracia (pronounced Grasha I found out last night) Jones who wrote the books, Joseph and Emma and Emma and Lucy and one other one that I can’t remember. He stated that for many years he didn’t let anyone know of his heritage or lineage. He grew up in the church as did his parents. He says that there are only a small handful of members of the Church in the JSEHSFA. I think all of them are probably his siblings and their children and his cousins. He told how kids scoffed at him and gave him a really hard time even in 7th grade when they first learned of his lineage. He told of people who just plain didn’t believe him and made fun of him when they learned of it so he figured it would just be better that he not let anyone know. He mentioned that it was when he was on his mission that he found out that he needed to let others know of it. He was listening to a man tell of his ancestors experiences with the Wiley Handcart Company and thoroughly enjoying it when the Spirit whispered to him that he could and should also enlighten people about his ancestors. He said that at first it was difficult but now he enjoys doing it.

He bore a strong testimony of Joseph being a true prophet of God and Emma being an elect lady and is his eternal companion. He said one woman while on his mission told him she was sorry for Joseph because he could not spend the eternities with his eternal companion because she left the church. He told us that he knows that their Calling and Election were made sure. He didn’t site scripture and verse as he did with other things but I got the impression that it is there. He also said that Emma didn’t leave the Church, the Church left her that she remained faithful to its doctrine and principals the rest of her life. He mentioned that altho’ she didn’t like polygamy and sometimes denied it existed and was being practiced as a commandment of God, she endured it. He also pointed out that in the 124 Section of the D&C that it talks about the Nauvoo House and how it will be a “resting place” for her and it will be a place for her family in the generations to come. He told us that two years ago and again this summer he and Joseph and Emma’s descendants did and will stay there at the Nauvoo House. He said that two years ago, his mother (who is the daughter of Gracia Jones) was in charge of feeding all those people and as she was working and cooking in the kitchen she could feel “Emma’s spirit”. He also pointed out that he strongly believes and the Spirit has confirmed this to him that Emma stayed in Nauvoo because she was commanded to. She also stayed because Lucy Mack Smith was too ill and couldn’t make the journey so she took care of her. As he was telling us this someone asked about the houses there and how they’ve been restored. He was telling us that many even most of the restoration of those houses (altho’ our Church has done some of them) has been done by the RLDS or Community of God Church and “they have done a phenomenal job of it”. As he was telling us this he started to say that had Emma not stayed in Nauvoo, the houses and place as we know it today, then the microphone fell on to the floor, he said, “That is exactly what would have happened to those houses was they would have just fallen apart or been taken apart” and nothing would exist there today. He also said that Emma needed protection and General Bidemon provided that for her. He said that they had an “affectionate companionship”.

He had a decadency chart there. Most of Joseph and Emma’s posterity is from Joseph III and Alexander, his ancestor. Joseph III has only about a third of the posterity that Alexander does. He said, “We don’t know why that is, it just is.” It was a very enjoyable and enlightening evening. I feel I know Emma much better after listening to him. I have always felt that she would be with Joseph and that she is his eternal companion but now I feel like I know her better. I am very thankful that we went.

About My Mother's Day and the day before

2009-05-17T10:12:00.002-07:00

Yesterday was a different day at FHC. It started by Elder C telling us that everyone could register for the newFamilySearch except me. Apparently, I hadn’t completed the survey at the end of the lds.netdimensions site for the learning about the newFamilySearch. So that is what I did first after copying off the handouts for my last PAF class for this session of classes. (I start all over again July 11.) I will have to wait a day or two in order to be able to register. I had good times yesterday too but many complications. I helped four or five people. I think I was able to answer all the questions posed to me, which was nice. A woman came in and wanted help transferring things from her floppy disk to her USB drive. I later found out that she had other PAF files on another USB drive so was able to help her transfer everything to her new USB drive. Before that a couple with their daughter came in and wanted to prepare their file to go thro’ TempleReady. We put it thro’ PAF Insight for the ordinances that may already be completed and also merged a few duplicates on the file too. it all was on their USB drive. When we attempted to put it thro’ TempleReady, it kept asking for the disk to be inserted in the E drive. That was the port that the USB drive was in. Since they had an appointment at 11:30 they left saying they would be back. I had lunch then prepared for my PAF class. I felt impressed to check out the computers in the computer lab to see if PAF Companion was on each one and could be used since that was the last half of my class. I found out that something wasn’t talking to something else because altho’ PAF Companion was installed on all of the computers, a box that said “could not find experience drive” came up and it would go any further. That was for the tabs that you wanted to preview instead of printing. The first few tabs worked fine but it was the ones that wouldn’t work that are the most fun. So I asked Elder C if he could open and set up the Archibald room because I had taught in there before we had the computer lab and it worked fine. So I taught the first part of the class in the lab then we walked down two halls to the Archibald room for the rest of the class. I soon found out that the “fun”tabs wouldn’t work in there either altho’ it wasn’t the same problem. So I explained the best I could with what I had. Then we went back to the lab and let them work on my worksheet using the custom report part of the worksheet. I found out I had made a mistake and left out a step on the work sheet. I left the class members in there working on their worksheets while I went out and helped the family I had been helping that morning. We tried to do the TempleReady from the USB drive again and it still wouldn’t work. I have come to the conclusion that you must have to transfer the file to the desktop in order for TempleReady to accept it. We ended up making a GEDCOM file and putting it thro’ that way. That was easy enough to do but since the file only had a little over 300 names and the TempleReady program easily handles up to 2.000, I figured I’d skip that step. By making the GEDCOM file it worked fine. They were very appreciative. It was a pleasure to work with them.

After we were thro’ there at the FHC we met K & K, and M and S & Jand P at Smitty’s and they treated us to dinner and gave me a gift for Mother’s Day. (It was the book Daughters of God by M. Russell Ballard and some lotion and a lovely card. I’m looking forward to reading it. I read the forward by Sheri Dew out loud to my sweetheart on the way home. It all was very enjoyable. My sweetheart and I split the Halibut dinner. We had pancakes with it and a salad and a roll and strawberry shortcake that we brought home with us. I was soo full that it was an hour after we got home that I started feeling better. It was a very enjoyable time. I was very tired when I got home tho’. I got along fine while I was gone but I “let down” after I got home and didn’t do much after that. K is a very special daughter. She is our only daughter but I don’t think anyone could have a better one. She is so kind and tho’tful and loving. Her grandchildren just love her. I remember my grandchildren making me feel very special too. Being a grandma is a mutual admiration society with her grandchildren. It is a very good feeling.

I opened a gift from M & T this morning. It was a TimeOut for Women DVD and a lovely card that M wrote in. it is sooo neat being friends with my children. They are the best of our friends. Some of the discussions I have with my children are so enjoyable and enlightening. I’ve spent many a late night discussing things with M when no one else is about or around. We both find these very enjoyable. I’ve treasure those kinds of talks with all of my children. They have told me that they also treasure them and that makes them that much more special.

My sweetheart wrote me a lovely letter today. He started out differently this year than any other letter he has written me…talking about Heavenly Father’s creations etc. then went on to say what some of our prophets have said about woman being His greatest creation, etc. It was a very nice letter. He always writes such nice letters. He expresses himself very well. He is always complimentary to me when he writes about me. I love him very much and am thankful that I married him almost 47 years ago.
K called and I had a very nice chat with him. And B called and left a lovely message while I was talking to K. I’m sorry that I didn’t get to talk to him.

After our family chat, R sent this to me: I think it is beautiful.

I was thinking of you today and wrote this for you:

Today is Mother’s Day.
All across the nation, millions will meet to celebrate Motherhood… and most will miss the beauty of it.
They will meet in churches of many faiths, in restaurants, in living rooms.
They will think of the many dangers that mothers have rescued their children from, and of the very pains that those mothers endured to bring the children into the world at the mothers’ own peril, but this is not what makes my mother beautiful.
They will talk about the countless hours mothers spent watching after little ones, of sleep they lost and dreams they sacrificed to rear their children, but this is not what makes my mother beautiful.
They will tell stories about the times when mothers could easily have lashed out in anger at their children, but wisely held their tongues, but this is not what makes my mother beautiful.
They will recall times when mothers watched their children make choices they knew would bring sorrow, and could do nothing but pray, hope and wait for their children to see what they saw, but this is not what makes my mother beautiful.
They will reflect on the many menial tasks that mothers perform, and realize that many are done when those mothers would rather have been doing nearly anything else, but this is not what makes my mother beautiful.
No, as much as we deify mothers this one day out of the year, and rightly credit them for the many times when they put others before themselves, and the many times that they could so easily and understandably have let down those that they loved and did not, this Is not what makes my mother beautiful.
What makes my mother beautiful is not the fact that she did all of these things, but the indisputable fact that, given the opportunity to live her life again from the beginning, she would do these things all over again. That is her virtue. That is her glory. That is the legacy that will follow her into the heavens and all of the worlds to come. That is why Mother’s Day endures. Somewhere beneath all of the frills and mixed-up feelings is a sense that all of us have that, while childhood is fleeting, Motherhood is eternal.
R 5/10/2009
I’m so thankful that all of my children are my friends. Except for my sweetheart, they are the best friends I have. I love the discussions and events that I’ve had with each of them. They are special and dear to my heart.

My mother

2009-04-21T10:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I completed reading my mother’s life history (it inspires me to start working on my own) and enjoyed reading it sooo much. It gave me new insight on my grandparents and how hard it was for them to raise their family. It also helped me to envision my mother as a little girl and young woman. I’m so thankful for her writing it. She has had many hardships, trials and challenges but she is a strong woman and came thro’ them with flying colors. She has been a widow for 39 years, and finished raising her three youngest children alone. Two of her six children have already passed on before her. That has to be one of the hardest trials there is. She started at BYU when she was just 17 years old. Her first teaching job was in Mexico and she taught children as old or older than she was. Her oldest brother died when he was 13 and she 12. I remember her telling me that it was quite traumatic to suddenly be the oldest child. (Since I have always been the oldest child I hadn’t tho’t that much about it. But as the oldest child one is expected to be responsible, set a good example and help out with the other children among other things.) Mama told of going to school and collecting her brother’s things and cleaning out his locker because she knew it would be so hard for her parents to do. So she started that roll almost immediately. And she has fulfilled that roll very well. I love her very much and really appreciate the many things she has taught me from being compassionate as well as responsible, to sewing and cooking. I could cook from the time I can remember and I started sewing when I was nine. I made most of my own clothes from age 12 on up. Mama taught 4-H so my sister, (who was only 8 at the time) and I could learn how to sew. She loves playing games (as her mother before her did) and has passed that love on to me.

This is what I wrote in a card for her

Altho' it is passed your birthday I want you to know that I'm thankful that you are my mother and that you are still here
with us. I'm thankful for all of the many things you taught me and the example you are for me. I just got thro'
reading your history today. I'm thankful that you wrote it for us, your posterity. It put a few things in a different light
than I imagined them. I'm glad you included your early life. I got a different picture of Grandpa, especially. He never seemed to have
very much to say from what I remember about him. I'm glad to know that he did have a testimony and that the Church and the gospel
meant much to him. I also remember your telling me as I was growing up that I needed to get a college degree and
to be married in the temple. Now I know where you got it from. It took a while but I did get the degree (altho'
it is only an associate degree) and I'm very grateful that I had it when K could no longer teach. I'm
not sure what we would have done had I not had it. I could have worked full time at minimum wage and we still wouldn't have
made it. With my degree, I was able to work only three days a week and that is all I needed to work with the earning power I had.
I'm thankful that my children and grandchildren got to know you as well. You have been such an influence on them.

I love you very much and am so thankful that I was sent to your home as your oldest child.

Happy Easter

2009-04-14T11:56:00.002-07:00

I can’t believe that it’s been that long since I have written. It has been a good month with much goings on. Since I found out that my A1C is 7.2 (the highest it’s ever been!) with no real changes except not as much exercise, actually hardly any, I have tried to go back to exercising. I’ve done better last month but I still need to improve. I’ve only exercised once or twice a week and I need to get up to at least three or four. I can tell exercise makes a difference tho’ even tho’ I haven’t done as much as I should. (My blood sugars are already lower than they have been.)

Last Thursday we left for Utah. We left a little later since I was planning on going to the Israel Barlow Family Association meeting of which I am the family representative of the Pamela Elizabeth Barlow tribe. It was held in Bountiful, Utah. I wanted to meet H B, the man I have corresponded with via e-mail and talked to many times on the phone. I did meet him and his lovely wife and a few others. I was told the meeting would start at 5:00 pm but found out that it didn’t start until 6:00 pm. I had time to chat and get to know a few people which I wouldn’t have been able to if it had started at 5:00. The meeting was very informative. I met S C who is the paid genealogist/researcher for the organization. Her husband’s grandmother was a Barlow. I found out that Israel’s 5th great grandfather, the one who came over from England, was a puritan and he come over and joined John Winthrope’s Puritan colony in Massachusetts. His name was Edmund Barlow. He would be my 8th great grandfather. (And I just discovered I had them on my PAF file already. However, I hadn’t realized that they were Puritans.) I really enjoyed being to that meeting and meeting those people. As we were leaving it, I had the tho’t: I’m so thankful that I am not as shy as I used to be. If I were there was no way I could have gone to a meeting where I knew not a soul and intermingled with them and thoroughly enjoy myself. I wouldn’t have dare go. I can thank my nursing for that besides just being more mature and thank the Lord the most that He has guided my path in the directions He has. There is nothing to catch the Spirit of Elijah like meeting people who have the same ancestors as you have. I also met D. She lives in Sandy and also is a service missionary at the Family History Center in SLC. We compared things and talked about the new FamilySearch. I found it very interesting to speak with her.

We got to Michael’s a little after 9:00. The meeting lasted until 8:20 or so. The little girls were in bed. but I was surprised that N was too. C was still up. M got home about 10:15 pm. He works at LDSFS in American Fork. He and Tand I stayed up until almost 1:30 talking and catching up. We woke up about 7:15 and I went up and read scriptures with the family and had family prayer with them. It was kind of a miscellaneous day. We enjoyed each other’s company and had fun with K and A. They are such cute little girls. And they seem to think we are special too. That evening T and I went to a bridal shower for my niece, D. She will be getting married in June but since she and her fiancé were here from Texas and her sister was here from California, (the other three sisters live in the area) they had the bridal shower for her then. They are my sister’s daughters. She died seven years ago of pulmonary emboli. It was good to see all of them and the shower was a lot of fun. My mother and two sisters, B and J were there also. After we got home Tanya and I were telling K and M about the shower. After K went to bed we started talking about other times we had been together and remembered the time we were at Joy’s place the night before my father-in-law’s funeral. We were playing games and telling jokes and how hard we laughed. I retold the joke that really made us all laugh and I was laughing so hard I couldn’t even tell the punch line. M had to guess it. I haven’t laughed that hard in years! Then T told of an experience M's co worker told him of and we really laughed then too. It felt so good to laugh. I can see why they say it is healthy to laugh.

Saturday morning we had time for a game of Pinochle. We really do enjoy playing that together. They even have some cards that aren’t regular face cards that we often use. After the Pinochle game we got ready to go to Mama’s 9oth birthday party. It was held at the Senior Citizen’s Center in American Fork. She looked very nice and really not 90 years old. I hope I look as good if I live that long. There were sooo many people there. It was good to see all of them. All of her living children were there and all of her grandchildren except five. My B and R and their families, D Y, and my youngest brother’s two children, J and J. They sent out 300 invitations and there were more than that there I would dare say. I saw cousins who had to introduce themselves because it had been so long since I had seen them. I didn’t get to see one cousin I would have really enjoyed talking to.My sister, B said she was there, but I was visiting with other cousins and didn’t notice her and she didn’t seek me out sooo. A few people did seek me out tho’ and that was very nice. All of my uncles and aunts told me I was looking so good. I decided I must have looked pretty bad the last time they saw me. Mama said that is right. I did look pretty bad there for a while. I know it’s thro’ the blessings of the Lord that I am doing so well. Uncle G told me I looked very good in my seniorness. I guess he was referring to my being a senior citizen now. We got some lovely pictures while there. I will send some of them to my children. We went back to M’s and watched them dye Easter Eggs. After the little girls were in bed we watched The Testaments. It really se tthe mood for my day the next day, it being Easter Sunday and all.

Sunday was a lovely day too. Went to church with M & T and children. They have a new chapel less than a block away from them. We had a lovely dinner there then went over to Orem, taking C with us, to see the Kims as we call them. Our son K and his wife K and their children. We had a nice visit with them. We played Pictionery Jr. and the junior Apples to Apples games. I also played the key board while K and K sang, Let There be Peace on Earth and Oh, That I Were an Angel. I think we all thoroughly enjoyed that. Karl and I were both amazed to find out that K's voice sounds almost identical to his dad's. All four of our sons have good voices but only K sounds like his Dad. I didn’t think it had been that long since I heard him sing. Altho’ it has been quite a while and he was much younger. I guess his voice has matured. We got back to M & T’s just as it was getting dark. (we don’t like to drive in the dark any more.) We had strawberry short cake and watched Meet the Robinsons which we had never seen. It was a cute movie. We were in bed before 11:00---the first night since we got there. We got up a little after 7:00 for reading the scriptures and prayer. K went back to bed. We left about 11:00 to go visit my mother for a couple of hours. We had lunch with her and enjoyed visiting with her until almost 2:00. We got gas there in American Fork before we got on the freeway and got in IF about 6:20. We got gas and ate at Chinese Garden and got home about 7:30. I was surely tired. But it was a good trip and wouldn’t have missed it for the world. It was jam packed with things to do and people to see.

Yesterday was such a beautiful day and warm—very spring like. But today there is a winter storm warning until Thursday! And it is snowing!! The high is supposed to be 50 degrees but it won’t get near that I don’t think.

Installment # III

2009-03-09T14:07:00.001-07:00

It was good to get back to the FHC. We were told we were missed. We took some ribbing because we weren’t there. I just told them we went down where it was warm. 85 degrees on the day Emma was baptized! It was very cold here we were told. I helped a few people. I am so thankful for the knowledge I have gained since we started there. A couple of weeks ago I told Elder that our mission ends in October. He said that I’d better stay around longer than that. That he had put my name in for something and I’d just better stick around. I am already teaching the PAF classes on Saturday so can’t imagine what it is all about. Time will tell.
I’ve had a couple of insights the last little while, while working there: the one was just the other day. One of the new missionaries was asking me about putting still born instead of child in the baptism and endowment fields on the individual screen. And the spirit let me know that they didn’t need to be sealed to their parents because the Atonement had taken care of them. That was a comfort to me because I have worried about little ones who are still born who wouldn’t have been BIC. I feel that the spirit is in the body before the child is born. I have felt life inside of me five times. And I know that those babies are alive before they are born. I feel that the spirit enters the body at quickening or when the mother first feels life. That is just my feelings there is no scripture or verse to support it. I feel that if the spirit is still on God’s timetable then it is only in the womb a second or so before it is born. Like I said, I have nothing to support it I just feel that way.

The other thing happened about a month ago. I was helping a young woman trying to register for FamilySearch.org. Nothing was working. She was getting sooo discouraged. She said that she lived an hour and a half away from IF and that she had planned to leave around 10:00 that morning to get to the FHC. Everything went wrong and kept her from leaving until after noon. She didn’t get there until almost 2:00. I asked her if there was a chance she had already registered because it told us that her user name had already been used. She told me that her husband may have registered her. So I found out that she had an e-mail address that she would be able to retrieve online so we sent in the request for her user name and password to be sent to her e-mail address. After we retrieved that, we were still having problems and couldn’t get the program to accept to so we could change her password to something easier for her to remember. She was ready to throw up her hands and quit. I told here that Sister F was just in the next room and she would be able to help us get it straightened out. She said she just wanted to get home; it would take her an hour and a half anyway to get home. I told her that it would only take a minute or two and that she would have to call either SLC or us to get it straightened out anyway so she gave in. S. F typed in the exact same name and password that we did and it worked for her! So S. F changed her password right then and there for her. The young woman went back into the main room and was able to find three generations of her ancestors who needed their work done! She was soo elated. She said, “I was beginning to wonder if my ancestors wanted their work done.” (She h ad told that she was a fairly recent convert.) I replied, “I don’t think it was you ancestors that would try to throw a wrench into things because they have the choice whether to accept the work being done for them or reject it.” “But,” I said, “ I do believe Satan would try to discourage you from doing this work because he knows how important it is that it be done and he would try to thwart you by causing you to become discouraged.” I felt the Spirit witnessing to me that what I said was true as I said it. It is a neat feeling.

Installment # II

2009-03-09T13:59:00.002-07:00

Saturday, R, T, my husband and I went into Mesa temple. It has been remodeled since we were there seven or eight years ago. It is a beautiful temple. We treated them to lunch there at the temple. It takes about an hour and 10-20 minutes to drive from their house to the temple. It made me really appreciate that we just need to drive across town. We got back about 2:00 and E’s baptism was at 4:00; they were to be there by 3:30. There were three children from the Buckeye First ward getting baptized that day. It was a very nice program. And T gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. She did a good job. She said it had been 15 years since she was baptized. She is a very spiritual person.

A couple of times I sat down at the piano and played it while C and E sang the hymns that I played. We could just find a hymn book. I’d liked to have found a Children’s Song Book. They know more of those songs. Next time we are there they should know where it is. Only the bare necessities had been unpacked. It will take them a while yet to get completely settled. C made the statement after singing We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet, that Grandma R doesn’t believe the way we do but she respects what we believe. I tho’t that was very good for both Grandma R and the children to realize that. They have a good relationship as do we.
E was radiant after her baptism. She looked so angelic in her white dress. I couldn’t hear much of the blessing that R gave her. (They don’t believe in using microphones in Arizona. I couldn’t hear D’s either.) Afterwards, friends and their children came over to the house and had refreshments…supper. They stayed until about 9:30 or so. It was very enjoyable.
Their church meetings start at 8:00!! That is early. We got there before the sacrament which I tho’t was good. We enjoyed being there at church with them. D wasn’t feeling well so he wasn’t there but the rest were. And K, T’s cousin/stepbrother went with us too. I think it would be neat if he got interested in the Church.

That evening we went to the ice cream social that the T's from their old ward holds every fast Sunday. We met many of R and T’s friends and remembered meeting others before. It was very enjoyable. We got home shortly after 10:00. T’s mom stayed home with E and A. T said that that was the first time she’d seen R able to relax when they’ve been there because he didn’t have to wonder where the two little ones were.

T had told us that the day after they moved in that they had noticed all of the covers were off the outlets. Some of the screws they were able to find, others not. It was when they found the screw driver in the refrigerator that they realized that it was Ephriam that had taken them off. He has a real fascination with the refrigerator. We are thankful that he had the muscle dexterity (which most 3 ½ years olds don’t) that he was able to do it without getting himself electrocuted.
I played Battle Ship with D on the way to the social. I played with E and C when we got back. It is much easier to play on the kitchen table than it is in the van going somewhere. The little pieces move around too easily and won’t stay put in a moving car. They need to be magnetized or something. I learned that D was doing a French catapult (I can’t remember the name, needless to say) made out of legos for the Science Fair that was supposed to be last week. I hope he did well. I asked him to send me pictures of it but he hasn’t done it yet. I read the girls a story about the Squeegy Bug. I actually read it twice to E. I had some good visits with both R and T. It was good to be there. I hope we were able to help out somewhat. Next time they will be settled and there will be more time to do things together.
The shuttle was to pick us up Monday morning at 10:05. It was right there on time or a minute or two early. We arrived at Sky Harbor with almost two hours to spare. We arrived in SLC 20 minutes early so we had an hour or a little more to wait for the shuttle to bring us back to IF. We had an uneventful ride home and arrived at the bus depot at 6:50 or so. We were home by 7:15 PM. Everything was good, except Karl had put the plug in the utility sink in the utility room to soak some screws in a golf club head he found the night before we left. (He wanted to get the brass off so he could recycle it.) And he evidently didn’t shut the water off tight. And the utility room was absolutely flooded. It also came out about a yard into the carpet in our big room. Boxes were ruined. It gave us a good excuse to clean everything out of there. He even had to move the washer and dryer and get behind them. Some of the things were on a board but most was not. We still haven’t got everything back in there. I think I’ll take much of the yarn I have and haven’t used, to DI. Someone else can use it. The patterns I may just throw away. I don’t do much sewing anymore.

Our Trip to Buckeye Installment I

2009-03-09T13:50:00.002-07:00

We left the house at 6:55 am Tuesday morning. We arrived at SL airport by 11:20. Our plane was to leave at 12:35. We go thro' security without any problems. Of course I had to be wanded because my knee beeped when I went thro' the gate. We had about 30 mintes to wait until they started boarding the plane. Since I had gotten online and gotten a boarding pass already, we were B- 7 & 8, we were able to get on before too long and there were plenty of seats. There were empty seats thro' out the plane. We landed in Phoenix 10 minutes early which was nice. I had made reservations with the supper shuttle the day before by phone. I've decided that is the way to do it for sure at all times because they knew where we were going and the address and the cross streets etc. We really didn't have to tell them anything. It took us about 40 minutes to go from the airport to R and T's new house. It is almost due west of the airport. R and T were at their old house doing some cleaning etc. when we got there. We were here an hour or so before T got back. It was two or three before R did because he had to load up the things they didn't want and take it to the transfer station. That is the same as our dump. They take everything that goes to the dump to the transfer station then, bulldozers with bucket lifts lift everything into big trucks and then it is trucked to the dump. We had a late supper. It was sooo good to see everyone. Their house is beautiful and sooo roomy. The children as they showed us around kept saying, "It is soo big!" The rooms are, the yard is, the garage is, etc. Their bottom floor is larger than our main floor of our house then they have six bedrooms and a loft with three bathrooms up stairs. There is also a 1/2 bath down stairs. It is very nice having a bathroom that we share with just the R's and not have to share it with the children. The first night E, who is three, kept coming to visit us after we were in bed. We finally locked the door and then he just knocked on the door a few times. He has a very distinct knock. We can always tell it is E knocking. There is a fan in the room, which makes it very nice. Altho' it was thawing when we left home, It was still supposed to be in the 30's all week in IF. It is spring here!! I have to keep reminding myself that it really is February. It is delightful. The bedroom was actually too warm that first night but the fan made it just right. Their back yard is gigantic!! The children said it was the size of at least two football fields. There is nothing but dirt and tumble weeds out there but there is plenty of room for a nice sized garden, a tennis court, a small swimming pool and still have yard left over. Since this is a dessert, I'm not sure if they will have any grass. They may, time will tell, but it won't be very much if they do. Oh, they also have a three car garage. They are by no means settled but we have been able to help some either around here or watching the children while R and T went over to the other house to finish cleaning up. My husband went with them over there three times to help. They turned the keys in today, so they will be able to spend all of the availabe time in getting settled over here. Téa has a big beautiful kitchen with granite counters. There is an island in the middle with cupboard space underneath and an outlet and a bar with stools on one side. There is a very nice family room off to the side of it. A living or front room in front and a room off to the side behind the garage that they will be using for a school room. They have four computers and T does home schooling. With six children I really don't know how she does it, but she is a very organized person. Both of the R and us have a bedroom with the bathroom in between. C and A share a room, E and E share a room and D and E share a room. That's the way it is so far anyway. We've had to watch E really closely because he loves to go outside and he can open any lock (has been able to practically since he could walk.) He will go out the front door and stand there and ring the doorbell. They have put an otoman in front of the door to slow him down or try to stop him from going out but he can move it himself when he really wants too. Today, he asked T to help him move it in front of the door. (It reminded me of J when he reminded S to lock the door after they returned from the store. And yes the lock was to specifically lock Jin.) Yesterday, M found him a block and a half away. That is the only time that I’m aware of his leaving the yard. They will have to watch him closely tho’ or he could just disappear. They live in a cul-de-sac so traffic isn't a problem right in front of their house but away from the cul-de-sac it could be.
Thursday afternoon I helped C hang up her clothes and get settled in her room. It took us 2 ½ to 3 hours. We did enjoy working together. She said she would get R4 to vacuum her room and I wasn’t sure what she was talking about. After I saw it I could tell it looks like it could have come from Star Wars or something like that.

A Testimony

2009-02-09T18:37:00.001-07:00

This is a testimony that was sent to me last November. As one can see I am greatly behind in my e-mails. Anyway, I tho't this important and beautiful enough to include it here.

This was sent by a person who works at the LA Temple. What an incredible story! It is so relieving to hear "our side" of what has been happening the last few weeks...
My dear family, brothers and sisters, friends and leaders:
My heart is overflowing with joy and gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His tender mercies and mighty miracles in our behalf. I just have to share this with you. As most of you know, I am a Temple ordinance worker and work the morning shift in the LA Temple every Saturday. Today, I had the priviledge of transcribing Sister Martz', the new assistant matron, message during our devotional.
She started like this "The prophet Joseph Smith said that no unhallowed hand would be able to stop this Work from progressing. These past few weeks when mobs have combined and armies have gathered against the saints, the Lord has protected His house". She went on to say that those, like her, who were inside the Temple when mobs were surrounding it, did not realize how scary and terrifying this looked on TV to the rest of us, because inside the House of the Lord all was calm and there was peace abundant. After Proposition 8 passed, the Temple began receiving threatening calls and mail from those opposing it. They were warned that more than 5000 people would come to the Temple and burn it to the ground, and stop Its work. The first Thursday when the mob came, the new LA Temple President called the Salt Lake City Temple Offices for instructions. He was instructed to call the local police and to insure the safety of those attending the Temple by closing the gates.
The assistant matron said today, that it was a tender mercy from the Lord that the mob chose that Thursday to come since they had only one person coming to receive his own endowment that day, which he received in time to leave before trouble started. The LAPD and the FBI responded quickly to the Temple Presidency's summons and patrolled the grounds and kept the mob from entering the same. Most of them had never been there before and expressed their surprise at how beautiful and peaceful all around was. They were invited to come back during the Christmas season to see the lights and they promised they would.
On Thursday, November 13th, sister Campbell, a secretary in the Temple, was opening the mail and upon opening a large manila envelope found inside a smaller one. When she opened this one, a white powder flew all around her desk. She thought this could be related to the demonstrators and feared the worst-ANTRAX. She contacted the President, who in turn called the Salt Lake City Temple office again for instructions. The FBI, the LAPD, and even the SWAT teams were once again in the grounds to investigate, and the Temple once again had to close from around 11:30 AM to 5PM. They closed the gates and were instructed to keep all the people there wherever they were found at the time. Those in the parking lot had to remain in the parking lot. Those entering the Temple had to remain in the first floor and those already upstairs were taken to the Celestial Room.
Then, the miracles began to happen: A brother serving as a recorder that day is a Microbiologist by profession and used to deal with hazardous substances every day. He was the first to say the white powder in the envelope was only talc, and put every one at ease. Then the sister coordinator upstairs was impressed to call upstairs to the sealing area, and said "They said we can't go down but no one said we can't go up, and I have many people in the Celestial room with their ceremonial clothes on ready to work. Could they do some sealings?" As it happened, there were four sealers present that day and they ran four sealing sessions non stop while the Temple was closed. Downstairs, someone else thought to invite those in the Lobby to do some initiatories, which they promptly did for all those hours too, brothers and sisters alike.
Among those waiting in the parking lot there was a large group of young men and women with their leaders who had come to do Baptisms for the dead, and who waited patiently all those hours and decided when the Temple was reopened to go ahead and fulfill their assignment instead of driving back home. The Temple reopened in time for the 5:30 PM session. The next day when recording the ordinances, they discovered that they had performed 2000 sacred ordinances on Thursday, only one less than the day before when three stakes had been visiting the Temple.
Once again the assistant matron reminded us of the words of the prophet Joseph Smith, "No unhallowed hand can stop the Work from progressing...". But, this is not all, a prophecy was fulfilled also. When the new LA Temple President was set apart by President Uchdorft of the First Presidency, he received a blessing and these words were pronounced: " The time has come for the LA Temple to come out of obscurity and become an Ensign for Righteousness to the world under your presidency." The pictures of the Temple have been shown on TV, newspapers and the internet, not only in this country but worldwide. People of other faiths have called and sent letters to the Temple thanking the Church for defending marriage and protecting the family, and commenting how impressed they are by how beautiful and majestic the Temple looks .
One minister of an African American church, who by his own admission had harbored ill feelings against the mormons before said " I am impressed by your integrity and Christ like behavior, and even if I am not ready to consider you my brothers and sisters in Christ, we can be first cousins!".
I asked the assistant matron if I could share her comments and she said to go ahead. I can only add my own testimony that I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has the power and authority of God on earth. God Lives and Jesus, His only Begotten Son and our Savior is coming soon to redeem His people. I am grateful to know this and I pray we stand firm, steadfast and immobile while the prophecies of the signs before His Coming are fulfilled. "Be not afraid, only believe" He has said, and also " What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." I testify that this is true and testify it in the Holy Name of Whom I strive to serve, even Jesus Christ. Be faithful and safe is my humble prayer. Your sister in Christ, Patricia H. Arnazzi

2009-02-08T12:14:00.000-07:00

I have been corresponding with John Rufener all week now, sometimes six or eight times a day. The other man who contacted me told me he couldn’t help me so I deleted his e-mail. John has sent me the ship’s manifest with my Grandma Wendel’s name on it when she sailed from Liverpool to America. She left the year before the rest of her mother, father and siblings. She came to SLC and lived with Aunt Elise and Aunt Louise, her half sisters (same mother, different father). They all three worked and saved money so the rest of the family could join them. He let me get online to view his family tree etc. He also sent me pictures of Aunt Elise from the time she was a young woman until she was much older. I think he sent five pictures in all. After viewing the picture of Aunt Elise when she was the oldest, I decided I must have met her because she surely looked familiar. It could have been at my grandmother’s funeral because she died two years before Aunt Elise did. He also sent me some links about Aunt Elise and her life, a short biography etc. She sounds like a very interesting woman.

Elise Furer Musser (7 December 1877 - 30 August 1967) was a prominent figure in Utah political and social life from the 1930s until her death. A poor Swiss immigrant convert to Mormonism she found her place of leadership after marrying Salt Lake City attorney Burton W. Musser, a member of one of Utah's most important families. Mrs. Musser worked at Neighborhood House an establishment designed to aid the poor and the foreign-born in Salt Lake City and she led the way toward passage of child labor legislation in Utah. She served as a Utah State Senator and Democratic National Committeewoman, but her greatest political achievement, perhaps, was her appointment by President Roosevelt in the 1930s as the United States Delegate (and only woman participant) to international peace conferences in Buenos Aires and Lima.
Elise Furer was born in Les Loges, Canton of Neuchatel, Switzerland, the fourth of five children. Her father died when she was three and although her mother remarried when she was seven the family was very poor. Elise spent four years unhappily in the home of a childless aunt, but eventually returned to her mother. She was a bright student and although her education was sporadic she graduated from high school at a younger age than usual.
A major turning point came in 1894 when she was baptized into the Mormon Church in response to the message of missionaries. Her conversion, while no doubt sincere, had an economic component as well, for she saw in the Mormon Church an opportunity to emigrate to America to improve her condition in life. She arrived in Salt Lake City in 1897 and accepted a menial housekeeping job for a few weeks while she added English to the French and German languages which she already spoke (she eventually would become fluent in Spanish and Italian as well).
Salt Lake City, however, seemed not to contain the kind of opportunity she sought and when an opportunity came for her to move to one of the Mormon colonies in Mexico she accepted. The Mexican colonies, of course, were refuges for polygamists who had found themselves rejected by both church and state in Utah. Elise was unaware of the purpose of the colonies when she went there. She found a good home with one of the families though once again she was unable to locate work that would provide her with more than a modest income. She did manage to accumulate a certain amount of savings, and that, together with her unwillingness to enter a polygamous marriage which would be expected of her if she remained in Mexico, induced her to return to Salt Lake City.
It proved to be another fortuitous move. Shortly after she attended a party in the Second Ward and became friends with Blanche Musser, she met Blanche's brother, Burton, who was to become her husband. They were married in 1911 and moved to New York City while Burton attended law school at Columbia University. Elise also attended college in New York City and the years there were happy ones for her.
Two events of great significance occurred while the couple was in the East. They had been Republicans, but they became very impressed with Woodrow Wilson and joined the Democratic party, the party in which both were to become very influential. Also, they had a baby boy, Bernard, in 1914. Burton had typhoid part of the time she was carrying Bernard and she was worried about suffering a miscarriage if she contracted the disease. Thus the birth of her son had special significance for the couple and her letters later in life, even while engaged in the most intricate and momentous political processes, show an unfailing concern for Bernard's well-being, his travels and his education.
Mrs. Musser's entrance into politics came through her involvement with Neighborhood House where she put her linguistic skills and her social compassion to good use. It was while engaged at Neighborhood House that she attracted the attention of the wife of Governor George Dern who asked her to serve as State Chairman of Democratic Women. That first post led eventually to diplomatic missions in Latin America and service as the Utah State Senator. For the remainder of her life Mrs. Musser was a figure to be reckoned with in Utah Democratic politics.
During the last decades of her life, Mrs. Musser was active in a wide variety of social and political organizations and served as mentor to many younger women who wanted careers outside the home. For reasons that remain relatively obscure she drifted away from and she joined the Unitarian Church in 1940. It was in that church that her funeral services were held in 1967.

John is 61 years old to my 65 years…about the same age as my brother. I sent him the GEDCOM files on the Rufeners and Meiers that I have gotten the names for since we started or mission. Also a picture of the Rufener family after my Grandpa and Grandma were married. John’s grandfather, Henry, was also in the picture as well as other members of the family. I also sent him a picture of the home in Switzerland where the missionaries taught the Rufener family. It has been a very interesting and rewarding week.

An Interesting Experience

2009-02-02T12:50:00.000-07:00

I just had an interesting experience. I was looking in the archives of my online blog for an entry I made since we started our mission. I couldn’t find that particular blog but I did find two things I was unaware of. The first one was in April 2007 and the other May of 2007. I guess I need to check back every once in a while a month or two and see if anyone has left me any messages. These two were from two men who does family history/genealogy. The first was from a Rufener cousin…he has the same great grandfather I do. (Frederic Rufener) And his name is Rufener too. I have no idea where he lives. The other is from a man who lives in Switzerland who offered to help me find individuals in Bern, Switzerland. And those messages had been sitting there all this time and I was unaware of it. I e-mailed both of them and asked them to please not wait so long to contact me as it did me them. J

Time will tell what happens.

I can't believe it is February already!

2009-02-01T12:15:00.001-07:00

Last Monday was our Zone meeting there at the FHC. Our director and is wife, Larry and Kathy Killian were released after serving four+ years and Elder Wayne Lyon and Sister Caroline Lyon will be our new directors. They have been at the center for five years. The Killians will be “moving” up the chain to be the Regional Family History consultants working with 12 stakes within the temple district of the IF temple. I’m thankful that I got to know them as well as I did and work with them the last 21 months.

After all of the business was taken care of Brother and Sister Kazier from Rexburg spoke to us. He is a patriarch up there now, worked there at the Regional FHC four years ago and was instrumental in all of the obituaries in SE Idaho being digilized and pictures of grave stones put with them so they are accessible on the computer. He spoke of what the Lord is telling the youth today in their blessings. He had nine points. Some of them were: pay and honest and full tithing, attend your meetings, read and study the scriptures, pray daily and often…you get the idea. All of them were things we all should be doing if we want to endure to the end.

Afterwards, my husband and I went to Gangplank to eat (the meeting was 5-6 pm) and the couple ahead of us was the Kaziers. Sister Kazier asked us to come and sit with them. We spent a delightful hour and a half getting to know them and they us. He has worked at the site, taught at Ricks for 20 years, and is still working on establishing certain sites on the computer for different things. We found out we know their daughter, Janet, who lives in Kearney 2nd Ward. They have six children and 29 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. It was a very delightful evening.

I’ve been busy at the FHC. Since they have made me the trainer on both Saturdays and Wednesdays now, and we have quite a few new missionaries, that alone keeps me busy. Yesterday I helped four different patrons as well. I have discovered a way to find more ancestors. On Ancetry.com is One World Tree. When you put an ancestors name in there and click on find famous ancestors, it comes up with people you are related to. I typed in Mildred Theresa Call. She is related to 37 famous people!! Florence Nightingale, Rutherford B. Hayes, Thomas More, Eli Whitney, and many others. I clicked on Florence Nightingale first. They have your ancestors ancestors and the ancestors of the other person listed until they find a common ancestor. With Florence Nightingale there were seven above Grandma and only five above Florence. A week ago I tho’t of checking to see if I have all seven on my PAF file. I had all of them except the common ancestor. I put her into my file. When I clicked on her little box, I found her husband and 11 other children with dates and places for all of them. I copied and pasted all of them. The next day I went to FamilySearch.org and found that all of their work had been done. Then Saturday, a week ago I found about 40 more people. Last Wednesday, I found more. I have decided I will check out each one of those 37 people. I’m on the 5th one now. I was so busy yesterday, that I only had time to add two more people. But that’s OK. I will get to it as I get to it.

I worked with a woman, yesterday, who is here from Missouri. Because her temple district has been rolled out she is registered on the NewFamilySearch.org. She needed help understanding that. Since they told us last October or November that we will be getting the NewFamilySearch but not soon, they haven’t been teaching any more classes on them. I’m so thankful the Lord helped me learn and understand how to use it and helped to remember who to do so I could help that nice sister. She really didn’t know anything about it. I taught her how to combine duplicates, check for duplicates, that the green arrow means there is someone in that family needs work done, and if there is a check there that the whole family’s work is done. She was there four or five hours. I’m so thankful the Lord helped me remember all of that. I hadn’t done anything with it for months. I’m thankful to be a Family History Missionary. I truly believe I am doing what the Lord wants me to do. We, me and my husband, are supposed to be serving there. My husband has learned how to scan books with the new scanner. That is something I really don’t know. I had one session on it and helped someone that same day learn about it but that was months ago and since it was only one time, I would need to be shown again. Since I am busy helping the patrons and the new missionaries, I really don’t have time to spend on it anyway. It gives my husband satisfaction to be able to do it. He has mastered it well. He has also indexed more than 11,000 names! He has done all of those at the FHC also.

The second week of January 2009

2009-01-12T19:06:00.000-07:00

This week has been so rewarding at the FHC. One of my daughters-in-law reminded me that one of the gifts of the Spirit is Knowledge, another one is being able to teach others that knowledge. I had to become a missionary at the FHC to realize that I have these gifts. I have taught Primary, Jr. Sunday School, Beehives in Young Women’s and Relief Society. I have had good success in all of these but I never tho’t of it as having those Gifts of the Spirit. But there at the FHC it is so obvious that I am so blessed. I have been able to retain most of the things I have been taught and am able to teach it to others in such a way that they can understand it. It is such a wonderful experience to be able to do this. Since the first of the year I have been so busy that the time has just flown by. Busy with teaching and helping both new missionaries and patrons to learn new things and help them find the information they are looking for. Elder Killian, the director at FHC told us that we have cleared more than 225,000 ordinances last year. The first two days we were open, January 2nd and 3rd, we cleared more than 2,000 names. They add up the numbers at the end of each month. It will be interesting to see how many we do this month. Elder Killian told me last Wednesday that when he first started there at the center as a missionary 14 years ago, that they only cleared 20,000 ordinances all year long and they were probably the majority of them duplicates. And of those over 225,000 ordinances this past year that over 200,000 were probably not duplicates. I think that is so exciting.

Last Saturday I had such a special experience. I had spent the morning helping two new missionaries (this was only their second day there at the center) get a acquainted with their PAF program and clean it up, get rid of duplicates, etc. I also helped quite a few patrons as well. As I was going back in the big room after eating lunch one sister waved me over to where she had just seated a man and a woman at at computer. She introduced me that Bill and Adrian were there and Bill was not a member and had a name to put thro’ temple ready. I asked them if they had brought their information. They hadn’t brought anything with them. However, Bill could remember all of the pertinent information. I showed them how to bring up a new PAF program (you need to use PAF to put a name thro’ temple ready) and had Adrian type in her name, address, etc. I told her to type in her husbands name first. That’s when I found out that they weren’t married. Since the Sister hadn’t told me the last names I just assumed… Anyway, Bill typed in the name of a young woman and her birth date and place. When he was typing in the death date, he got quite emotional and left for a few minutes. I said to Adrian, “you say he isn’t a member?” and she said, “That’s right.” I then asked her how it came to the point that he wanted his wife’s work done. (I had told them he obviously was very close to this young woman and Adrian told me she was his wife.) Adrian also told me that she and Bill had “been keeping company” for 17 months and that his wife had appeared to her and had asked her to get her work done for her. She said that she finally was able to approach him on it and he was agreeable to have her work done. After we put the name thro’ temple ready and got the submission disk completed, Adrian asked us the purpose of the FHC and other questions about it. I let the other sister take over and went back to helping others. But while Bill was in the other room trying to compose himself, I told Adrian that when my sons went on missions, they didn’t have to fill out the four generation family group sheets and send them in with their application like they do today. I said that this showed me why they do that now; that I can see how family history can be a very powerful missionary tool.

This morning my husband and I went into the first new missionary class of the year to teach the “computer, basic skills class”. My husband ran the computer and I did the teaching telling them different things about the computer and how we use them there at the center. We have 19 new missionaries. I found out half of them were retired educators. I found that very interesting. About 2/3 of them felt comfortable with the computer. The other third didn’t know much about them. I taught in the new computer lab for the first time. It is great. As I told them about something, my husband would show them on the main computer with the overhead projector on the wall then they were able to do the same thing on their individual computers. I also had a worksheet for them to find certain things on the computer. Sister Hendricks had allowed me a full two hours but we were all thro’ in a hour and a half. By doing this I get to meet the new missionaries that work on other days besides Wednesday and Saturday when I work. The class went well and I think almost everyone learned something new. Even those who know computers because we do a few things differently there. One of the sisters had arranged for four of the missionaries to be in there to help them if they had difficulty with the assignment. It was a rewarding experience.

On the way home we stopped at Office Max and got a new 8 GB USB drive for $20! The first one I got for me less than two years ago was a 2 GB that was selling for $80 and was on sale for $30. With everything going up technology is definitely one thing that the price is going down. It is sooo nice. I’m going to use that new USB drive for my backup for everything. My 2 GB USB drive is almost ¾ full. I have over 600 pictures on it of people and documents. It holds much more than I tho’t it would.

2009-01-05T15:36:00.000-07:00

It’s the first of a new year. We had a lovely Christmas. We went down to Karen & Kent’s about 2:30 pm Christmas Eve Day. Shani & Jon and children as well as Kylie were already there. Jon is doing sooo good!! It is good to see him able to walk and move without difficulty. He talks well but when he’s trying to explain something you can see him thinking of how he wants to say it. I remember doing that too. Brittany & Wes came a little later. My husband’s mother was there by the time we got there too. One of her young neighbors and his family has in-laws just down the road from Karen & Kent and so he went right past their place so he dropped her off and then picked her up the day after Christmas. She really enjoyed being there and we enjoyed having her. She would have spent Christmas alone or we would have had to go get her and take her back otherwise. It worked out really well that way. We got another five generation picture on Christmas Eve; one with Porter in this time too and Macie a little older. The others weren’t to excited about getting it but were compliant especially since I was so adamant in getting it. Who knows how many more opportunities we will have to do this. It really doesn’t happen that often.
We fixed our Crème Burlée French Toast while we were waiting for others to get there.

Karen and Shani told us what Macie was doing earlier with her little play cell phone: Macie was going around handing her phone to people she handed it to me and said it is your mom she had Kylie talk to Brittany and she had shani talk to a friend than she handed the phone to Kent and said here Papa it's for you and he took the phone and said who is it and without hesitating she said it's Jesus and Kent the look on his face was priceless he wasn't so sure he was ready to talk to him. We all had a good chuckle over that.

We had prime rib for dinner that night. Kent does a really good job of cooking it. That and Dutch oven potatoes. It was all very luscious. One of their neighbors, Bob came and also Kent’s parents were there too. Bob and Kent parents left before we had our Christmas Eve program. Jon and Brittany had a thumb fight while we were waiting to start. Jon did very well. Brittany said, “I wish I could say I was letting him win, but I’m not!” We didn’t read the Christmas Story in the scriptures this year. Macie, who is three, was there and so we did things a few things differently. Karen had some figurines of the nativity so Shani put each individually in a lunch bag with a piece of paper explaining the character, Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, a camel, a donkey, the three wise men, shepherds, etc. it also had a Christmas Carol and the page number it is found on on it. Brittany, Shani, Kylie, Wes and I all took turns playing the piano. We’ve never had so many players before! I used to have to do all of it. It was nice to be able to sing the carols instead of just playing them.

Christmas Day Kylie knocked on our door at 7:10 am. We needed to get started because Kylie had to be back to Kimberly by Twin Falls to go to work by 2:00 pm. it was blowing and snowing. It took us a couple of hours to open all of the gifts that were there. Brittany & Wes spent the night since Julie (the children’s mother) had their children. They left about 10:00 to meet Julie in Tremonton to bring the children back to Idaho. Brittany called after going thro’ Malad Pass and told us it really should have been closed because there were so many cars on the road; but they made it thro’ and then made it back. We were thankful for that. Karen had checked on the internet and found out that the freeway between Pocatello and American Falls was closed because of blizzard conditions. We weren’t really surprised. They left about 9:30 with Kent driving Kylie and Karen following in their suburban, and drove her to Massacre Rocks beyond American Falls taking the old Highway 39 that runs right passed their house. Karen said she had never driven in such bad weather and she hoped to never again.
Karl, Mom and I went down stairs and watch a DVD about Gordon B. Hinckley’s life. It was very interesting. Karen & Kent got back about 2 or 2:30. Brittany & Wes and children got there about 4:00 or so. It was good to see the kids again.

As we looked at the blowing snow I was glad that we always stay until the day after Christmas. We have done that for ten years or so since we ran into black ice and wrecked coming home after dark on Christmas Day. Staying until the day after makes it possible for us to spend the whole Christmas Day there. We play the games usually after it gets dark and that’s part of the most fun.

We left around noon the day after after Cameron Williams and his family stopped and picked up Mom to take her back home. When we got back to IF we could tell that they had had snow here but not nearly as much as there was in Blackfoot.

We had a very quiet New Years Day. We didn’t really celebrate New Years Eve either. We did put up our Christmas decorations. (The big room still looks kind of empty without the tree.) It pretty much took us all day. Karl said he thinks he made at least 16 trips down and up the stairs getting the empty boxes them taking them back down. I’d guess even more than that because we had more than eight boxes up here.

We went to the center for the first time in two weeks on the 3rd of January. I really didn’t think we would have any patrons come in but I helped at least five myself so there were many more than I tho’t there would be. We cleared over 800 ordinances that day. Counting the ones cleared the day before over 1,000 were cleared. So the work is going on and this year is starting out with a bang. We cleared many more ordinances last year than we did the year before…thousands more. We are on the down side of our mission but if things keep going well, I and I hope we will extend again.

Thanksgiving 1968

2008-12-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

When we got home from the FHC Saturday night, we had been home about ten minutes, we received a phone call from our daughter, Karen. She told me that her son-in-law, Jon had had a stroke. I said, Shani’s Jon? And she said yes. I said something about my stroke that I had had just before Thanksgiving in 1968 almost three weeks after Kim was born. She said she didn’t know I had had a stroke. Anyway, we went a little later than evening down to the hospital. I just waltzed in and told Jon, “I’ve come to give you hope.” I told him about my stroke. As we were coming home I tho’t that all of my children, altho’ Bryan was 5, Michael 4, Karen 2 ½ and Kim almost three weeks and Richard not yet born for eight more years, may not really know anything about it. So I decided to write it down.

On the Monday before Thanksgiving, November 25, 1968, I awoke with a slight head ache. Kim lacked two days of being three weeks old. Mondays were always busy. I had a 5 year old, Bryan, 4 year old Michael, 2 ½ year old Karen as well as Kim. Monday was wash day. I had a wringer type washer so once I started washing I had to stick right to it in order to finish. Monday was also bake day, baking bread, a cake and cookies for my family for the coming week. By the time I’d finished the wash, my head ache had gotten worse. I had a pain in my head with every heart beat. I called the doctor. I couldn’t get past the receptionist. She told me, “Well, you have four small children; maybe you have a migraine.” I told her I’d never had one before and tho’t and I hope I don’t have one now. I took a couple of asprin which dulled it for awhile and went on with my baking. After the asprin wore off it was much worse. I took some Darvon that my dad had given me that he had had left over from some surgery he had had. It didn’t help a bit. (I wasn’t an RN then so hadn’t heard you weren’t supposed to take medications prescribed for other people.) I called the doctor again. Again, I couldn’t get past the receptionist. I went back to taking care of my little ones and my baking. I called the doctor again and this time the receptionist called him to the phone. I described what I had been experiencing. He told me to come in that it might be my blood pressure. I told him I would have to wait until my husband got home from work. When Karl got home, (as far as I can remember, I got all the washing done and put away and the baking done. I didn’t iron until Tuesday.) we gathered up the children and he took me to the doctor’s office. He took my B/P and told me that my top number was over 200 and bottom number was over 100. (If I’d had my degree then I would have had him be more specific. Since I didn’t the numbers didn’t mean that much to me anyway.) He gave me a shot of Demerol and Phenergan and told me to go home and go to bed. Karl was there to take care of the children so I went to bed and slept. Altho’ Kim was our largest baby, ½ ounce shy of nine pounds, he woke up twice between 10 pm and 6 am to be fed. I can’t remember if I was aware of his waking up that night or if Karl had to feed him. I do remember waking up about 4:30 am to use the bathroom. I remember my right leg dragging as I walked. When I looked in the mirror, I noticed that the left side of my mouth drooped. 40 years ago women had to use a belt to hold their sanitary napkins. I was still flowing from the birth. I remember it seemed to take forever to put the clean napkin on because my right hand wasn’t working very well. Afterwards, I went back to bed and slept until the alarm went off. Karl asked me how I was feeling. I guess he could immediately tell something was wrong. He called the doctor as soon he was in his office and was told that he would see me but not until he had seen all of his other patients. 40 years ago there were no doctors in the emergency rooms altho’ they did have emergency rooms staffed with nurses. We didn’t think about going there, tho’. I remember Karl and Phil Ingersal, the Elders Quorum President, lying their hands on my head and giving me a blessing. I remember feeling like it wasn’t really me they were giving the blessing to. It was like I was observing their giving it to someone else. Karl had called the school and told them he couldn’t be there that day and explained why. If I remember right, they told him to take the next day off too. I can’t remember that much about those two days. I do remember going to the doctors office. I imagine Karl had to assist me as I walked. I can’t really remember. When I asked him if he did, he said he couldn’t but, “all I know is you were pretty brave, pretty brave.” I don’t remember that either. I suspect he was the brave one. He was a 31 year old father with a 5, 4 2 ½ , almost three week old children and a 25 year old wife who couldn’t function. I can only imagine how I would feel had the situation been reversed. They took me into the exam room. I was sitting there on the exam table. I guess the doctor could understand me and I was able to convey my concerns to him. He just looked at me, took my B/P and maybe listened to my heart and lungs, I’m not sure. I do know they didn’t have me undress or anything and he also didn’t have me walk or shake my hand or anything like that. I do remember asking him if it were a stroke. He said, “No, it was an allergy to Phenergan.” I asked him how he knew it wasn’t a stroke and he said, “Because you are not old enough to have had a stroke.” Now, keep in mind he was an OBGYN doctor and if he had ever studied strokes it was probably 40 years ago. (He was probably in his 50’s which seemed old to me at that time.) He didn’t even have the decency to go out into the waiting room where Karl was with our four children and speak with him or try to reassure him or anything. There were no other patients there. (We had just moved here to Idaho Falls the last of August and didn’t know that many people, none well, nor no any other doctors.) So Karl took me and the children back home. It seems like he took the children out to the car and then came and assisted me back. Karl tells me that when I was trying to tell him what the doctor said, that I was talking about a little red bike. (I remember his telling later truck but he now says bike.) I tho’t I was saying what the doctor had told me. It sounded to me like I was. I don’t remember the next day at all. I know I slept thro’ Kim’s nightly feedings. Didn’t hear a thing. That is a symptom of strokes is the sleeping a lot. We had been invited down to Grace to my in-laws for Thanksgiving. I remember being there. There was plenty of help for Karl with the children while we were there. I think Karl’s brothers, Gene and Stan and their families were there too. I remember sitting in a chair in the dining room and their serving me a piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top. I was in an arm chair and someone had set the pie on the arm of the chair. I was using my left hand to eat because my right wasn’t working right. As I was trying to cut a piece of pie to eat it, the pie fell upside down on the carpet. I remember feeling devastated until I looked at my mother-in-law’s face and how sad she looked and I remember her apologizing saying she should have known better. That’s really about all I remember about that visit. I know we stayed until Sunday. I think I went to church that day but can not be sure. I know we left Bryan and Michael down there for a week and came home with just Karen and Kim. Karl went back to school the next day. I remember that week feeding Karen and me lunch and feeding Kim then we would all go down for a nap, not waking until Karl got home from school around 4:00 pm. I later really felt for Karl because he was feeding Kim the two times between 10 pm and 6 am and then having to go to work then come home and take over here. I know I didn’t have any additional help other than him. The diapers Kim wore were cloth diapers using safety pins to close them. I was able to take care of him and Karen when Karl wasn’t there. I don’t remember how difficult it was. I’m sure it must have been challenging at times for me. I don’t think we even informed the bishop. We tho’t the doctor knew what he was talking about. And we figured I’d eventually get over it, given enough time. As I was talking to doctors later, two in particular, told me that it was a stroke I had had. That an allergy doesn’t act like that nor does it last that long. And when I was studying strokes in my nursing classes and as I took care of stroke patients I knew that that was what I had had also. I was also told that if and when I ever had a brain CT scan that it would show that I had had a stroke even tho’ it is many years later. Had I gone to the hospital 40 years ago, there was no CT scanner here to do one anyway. Altho’ as far as I can remember I was able to take care of my family less than a week after the stroke, it was months before I could speak spontaneously without thinking out every sentence before speaking and it took about six months for my hand writing to return to normal. I can remember it being about three weeks before I wrote to my parents. So I must not have had that much control until then. My mother said that my hand writing was quite illegible for six months. I do know that I had no medical intervention. It was thro’ the Priesthood and the tender mercies of the Lord that I had a full recovery over not so long a time….looking back on it. I’m sure that the first week or two especially was quite challenging but I can’t remember for sure. But over 40 years six months really isn’t that long. I told Jonathon Sunday night that if any good could come out of my stroke it was that my total recovery could give hope to others who have had a stroke. I also told him that I had no residual from it unless you could count when I get my tangue tongled. J All kidding aside. I am so grateful to the Lord granting the miracle of a full recovery so shortly after it happened. The other night Kim asked me about another episode. I told him that that was the only one meaning the only stroke. However, the next morning when I was still in the twilight zone before fully becoming awake, I knew that he was referring to when I had my rotator cuff repaired and had a laringial (sp?)spasm and went into respiratory arrest (quit breathing) and went very dark before I started breathing again. When they took another EKG after that it should I had had a heart attack and the x-ray of the lungs were completely white (they showed me.) they were going to put me in ICU but by the time the 2 ½ hours I was in the recovery room was up, they put me in IMC instead. (that’s were Jon is). The next morning (it was supposed to be a day surgery and I was supposed to have gone home that night) the EKG showed a right bundle branch block, no MI or heart attack, and the x-ray of my lungs were all black the way it was supposed to be. I still have the right bundle branch block (I just had an EKG last week) but Dr. Stutts told me that if I had to have a block that the RBB was the one to have. So there were two episodes that the I guess I could have been very comprimized but the Lord thro’ his priesthood has blessed me. That was the second thing I tho’t when I first woke up in recovery after the shoulder surgery, “It’s a good thing I had a blessing last night.” The first thing was, “I didn’t see the light.” J

I hope this helps you understand. I don’t think of it very often. Only when I need to tell someone to help them.

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-12-08T12:11:00.002-07:00

. We had a lovely Thanksgiving. We went to Karen & Kent’s. Shani and Jon were there with Macie and Porter. Macie is talking quite plainly now. She is so cute. Porter is six months old now and also very cute. I enjoyed being around them both so much. We also enjoyed having Bryce there. He came down here the Sunday evening before and stayed with us until Tuesday evening after Michael McLean’s The Forgotten Carols. I think he really enjoyed them. I know I did. He went home with Karen that night so he could spend some time with Kylie because after that time they may not see each other until after his mission.

While Bryce was here he helped me do some straightening and cleaning in the big room. He also brought in a cabinet that Karen had given my husband to put some of his stuff in by his chair. He also brought all of the Christmas boxes upstairs for my husband. It took my husband a couple of days to get them upstairs last year. Bryce’s young legs did it in less than 30 minutes. And there were quite a few boxes too. He put the Christmas tree together for me and put the star on. We didn’t have time to decorate it that evening with going to Forgotten Carols. And on Wednesday I was cooking and getting things ready to take to Karen’s for Thanksgiving etc. Wednesday evening the Kims and children stopped by on their way to Kimberly’s brother Rex’s place in Rigby where they stayed and had Thanksgiving. Since I hadn’t decorated the tree yet and had told them their children could stay there while they spent the day together, I decided to wait until Friday and let Nathaniel, Grace and Alex help me with it. We had a good day together. Then the Kims and children spent most of Saturday with us too. It was very pleasant to visit with them and have them here. We also really enjoyed having Bryce here too.

I am so blessed. I’m blessed to be a missionary at the Family History Center. The Lord has blessed me with a good mind that I can remember things. I have learned so much since we started there almost 20 months ago. I enjoy teaching what I’ve learned to others. I’m now a trainer on the Saturday shift and that means I teach the new missionaries and help them with some of the programs we have and with their own PAF program to get them cleaned up, etc. It is so rewarding.

At a zone conference last Friday both Elder Killian, the FHC director and Brother Rawson, who spoke to us, told us that we were where we were supposed to be in our lives, working there at the Family History Center. The Spirit bore witness to me as they each said it.

Last Wednesday I was helping a patron who had ancestors from Switzerland and told him about the Billiter Notes that Julius Billiter microfilmed most if not all of the Parish records in Switzerland. After he left and I ate supper I looked at my pedigree chart and was looking at my Grandma Wendel’s line and saw the names Hofer and Dreier. I looked in the FHLibrary Catalog and found films with both of their names. I felt like I needed to check out the Dreiers. I looked up there at the FHC to see if we had the film on the Dreiers and we did! I found six generations with children, back to my 11th great grandparents!! That is 13th great grand parents for you. Some of the work has been done but not all. I definitely feel like the Spirit was guiding me on this. I took the submission disk after preparing it Saturday to the temple so I’m sending the cards down to Michael so Collin and Natasha can do the baptisms next week when the youth in their ward go to the temple.

At a zone conference last Friday both Elder Killian, the FHC director and Brother Rawson, who spoke to us, told us that we were where we were supposed to be in our lives, working there at the Family History Center. The Spirit bore witness to me as they each said it.

It's November Already!

2008-11-02T09:07:00.000-07:00

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It has been four weeks since I have written. Things have been happening but I just haven’t taken the time to write. We’ve been going to the FHC two days a week. I have been helping many people each day. Most of my time is spent helping either new missionaries or the patrons. I really enjoy doing that and am so thankful for the knowledge I have gained since I started there and for my memory so I can remember it and pass it on. And I am still learning new skills too. I learned yesterday how to enlarge pictures on the copy machine and how to lighten them. You just have to push certain buttons but you have to know what buttons to push.

Last Thursday, our bishop had asked us as a ward service project to have 60 people at the cannery to do applesauce and clean up so they can do some extended repairs. The unofficial count was 72 which I think was just wonderful. Since I couldn’t tolerate that kind of work for four hours, I volunteered to take care of Hatchs’ four children while both of them went. I had tho’t about it for about a week before talking to them. I was kind of apprehensive about it because it would be at least 4 ½ to 5 hours I’d be with them and it had been a long time since I had taken care of any children not to mention four at once. Colleen is 8, Keeton 6, Kevin 4 and Logan 3. I took some DVD’s that I didn’t think they had seen (which they hadn’t) and a VCR tape and some books and our colored dominoes so we could play chicken foot. Logan knew his colors very well and was my partner. Kevin ended up winning! They were so well behaved and we all had a great time.

Our country is in a real turmoil right now. We are truly living in perilous times. National elections are this coming Tuesday. It seems to be again, we are “voting for the lesser of two evils” type thing. The one candidate appears to be a warm good person but the ideas he is presenting are too radical and too close to socialism. He wants to give everyone everything without their having to work or account for it. And that just isn’t right! The other one wants to improve things and has some aggressive ideas that may or may not work, and he is 72 years old! Now, I know are prophets are and have been much older than that and work very hard every day. But I think this is different. I’m fasting today (and my sweetheart, too) at least until after church at 2:00 pm (I usually don’t fast because I need to take my medication with food.) I decided that this is an important enough issue and we need the Lord’s help so much that I will do it this time. I’m already thirsty just thinking about it now. The easiest part was when I was asleep. J I told my mother in March or April that if the Democrats get in this time, maybe it will speed up the Second Coming. She said that was a new one on her; she hadn’t heard that one before. There is expected to be a record turnout at this election.

Today is the first day off of daylight savings time. It is nice and light this morning, early. But it will get dark very early tonight. That will take more getting used to. It already was getting dark so much earlier. We have had unseasonably warm weather, in the high sixties but I have so enjoyed it. We do definitely need the rain and moisture that we usually get in the fall and winter time.

That pretty much covers the month of October. I haven’t exercised as I should have done. And my blood sugars are a little higher. I know how to fix that and commit to going to Apple Athletic Club more often. I’m thankful that my sweetheart has kept up with his own exercising. Oh, and our bathroom is completely finished. It only took seven weeks. It is beautiful! I enjoy it so much. Having it in disrepair for so long, I really do appreciate it more. If I had know the last of August when they started that it would be October before they finished it, I’m not sure I would have had the courage to do it. But I am thankful that we did.

It's October already!

2008-10-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

It’s October already! The year is going so quickly. I loved General Conference yesterday and the day before. It is neat being close to the Spirit or having it close to me for those two days almost all day long. It bore witness to me many times that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet and mouthpiece of our Lord and Savio, Jesus Christ. And also that Jesus Christ is the son of God and our Savior and Redeemer and without Him there is no way we could return Home again.

It has been a busy three weeks since I wrote. Our bathroom is all but completed. Evan and Norm are coming today to fix the goof they did last week when laying the floor. Evan forgot about the toe-kick drawer in the bottom of the cabinet and laid the underflooring beside it instead of also under it then Norm laid the vinyl on top of that and coved it up under the drawer. So it can’t be opened at all. They will come today and lift the vanity and place the underflooring and I guess vinyl underneath it so I can use my drawer. It is a beautiful deep drawer. Bryce came Friday and put on the mirror and the door to the vanity and cabinet above. He does beautiful work. It just takes him forever and a day. Last week we got 43” high cabinet, white with a drawer and two shelves. It is 20” wide and 11” so it is just the right size to be there where that triangular shelf was. It will be much more serviceable than that triangular shelf. My sweetheart put it together during the afternoon session of conference, Saturday. We also got a wood over the toilet space saver with doors on it. My sweetheart has started to put it together. We may get it put together and in the bathroom today after they finish in there. It really is looking beautiful. We have shower doors on the tub. The vinyl is shades of brown and gold with some dark streaks thro’ it. It looks like it is in squares but is all one piece. The walls are called Hayseed white. It is an off-white with a golden hue to it. We are going back to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get a shorter mirror. I had originally gotten a full length mirror but with the taller cabinet (the white one) it won’t fit there. I remember seeing one with a tarnished silver frame that is a 2 ½ or 3 foot mirror that will look very nice. It is more expensive but it will go well with the room. I need it so I can see the back of my hair.

The work at the FHC is going well. We didn’t go Saturday because of conference. I found the passenger list and passport application for Johann Wendel, my great grandfather, when he came from Germany and then went back to Germany for his mission. It is now linked to my PAF program. I found it on Ancestry.com. I’ve been able to help a few of the patrons that have come in and also many of the new missionaries. I’m so thankful that the Lord has given me the gift of knowledge and remembering and teaching and so I can do that. I attribute my being able to do so entirely to Him.

We are truly blessed.

The second week of September 2008

2008-09-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

It has been a couple of weeks since I wrote. Since then I have had a birthday, anniversary and worked at the FHC five times and taught three classes. I also taught the new missionaries the basic computer class last Monday as well as my two PAF classes. We also went to the temple both Fridays so we’ve been being good.

Our bathroom isn’t much further than it was two weeks ago. It has all of the “mud” on the walls now, three coats, but other than that no changes. Still a hole in the wall behind the toilet, and just the base flooring on the floor. They are supposed to come with the new vanity and medicine cabinet today so I’m hoping in a day or two it will be completely finished. I keep telling myself, “Be patient. They will eventually get it all done.” That will be sooo nice.

I talked to my mother last night and she told me about the Regional Conference they had down there last week. I told her about the first one we had here in our chapel, the one piped to over 80 Stakes in SE Idaho and Wyoming. Elder Oakes spoke, and President Faust presided and spoke. I commented on how relaxed Elder Oakes was and how he smiled as he spoke of living in SE Idaho until he was nine or ten. I think he said it was the Twin Falls area. My mother told me that she had taught with his mother at the Vernal High School when he wasn’t much older than that. She commented that it must have been her first assignment after her husband had died. That is where my mother and father met. They were both teaching there. My mother commented that she was teaching a homeliving class and a little three year old girl wondered into her classroom. It seems that sister Oakes had a baby sitter for her youngest daughter, Evelyn, while she taught and her two older boys after they finished their elementary school classes would go there to the high school and do their homework etc. until their mother was ready to leave for the day. It seems that one day the babysitter had to go somewhere so left the little girl with her mother and she wandered off and into my mother’s classroom. She said that altho’ the girl was quite young she had “a beautiful head of hair”. And she used the little girl to demonstrate how to French braid hair. That is something I had never heard before. I knew that is where my father and mother met but I didn’t know any of the rest of it.

I taught “note & sources” again last Saturday. It is the most challenging of all of the classes I have taught. As I went over it last week to review so I would be prepared I learned even more about it. There was one patron there and six missionaries plus myself. So eight all together. We had potluck that day. We just say potluck and it is amazing the variety there is there with no making of assignments. It is fun. I took a fruit cocktail pudding that I remember making for my children for many years on Sunday afternoons. I hadn’t made it for years. They all really liked it and wanted the recipe. I was able to remember it and type it and copy it off for them. I also took some chicken rolls. They all really liked them too.

I’m going to have to find a new hairdresser. The fellow who has been doing my hair for the last 24-25 years decided he needed to get a job with benefits. He’s in his mid 40’s so I guess it is about time he started thinking about when he could no longer work. I told him “what am I supposed to do? I’ve got you trained now!” He just chuckled. I wish him well. I have talked around. There are some women in my ward who go to a Mikol (a woman) (pronounced the same as Michael) down here at the salon at Cardon’s gas station and car wash and deli and salon. It’s less than a mile from here so I’ll probably go there. They said that they really like the way she does their hair. I wish Wyatt well in his endeavors. I’ve had many compliments after he has done my hair.

Another two weeks have passed

2008-08-31T17:15:00.000-07:00

Last week we attended the Twin Falls Temple Dedication. It was wonderful. That is the fifth temple dedication we have been able to attend. First the Palmyra Temple, then the Nauvoo Temple, then the Winter Quarter’s Temple, then the Rexburg Temple last January and now the Twin Falls Temple. The first three were dedicated by President Hinckley; the last two by President Monson. Altho’ Elder Quinton Cook read the dedicatory prayer (it was the fourth dedicatory service that day) President Monson was there and did speak. His daughter, Sister Dibb was there also. She is the 2nd counselor in the General Young Women’s Presidency. Elder Costas also spoke and President Eyring conducted. It was very special. They showed pictures of the temple and its rooms before the dedication started. I remember thinking, “I’m so glad that we saw it in person because altho’ it looked beautiful in the pictures it was so much more beautiful in real life.

Today is our #2 son’s birthday. It was 44 years ago he was born. He was born the first day of school for the teachers at Manti High School. We were living in an upstairs apartment at that time. And even being 7 months pregnant when we moved in the stairs didn’t bother me half as much as they would now. J We had lived in Ephraim for ten months then moved to Manti the first of June. The main thing we noticed there was that Ephraim was very friendly and accepting. Manti gave you the feeling that if you weren’t born there, you didn’t belong. We lived there just barely a year. Our oldest son and I were sooo close before Michael was born. My husband worked in the turkeys that summer, feeding them etc. So Bryan and I were together just the two of us most of the time. My parents went and got Bryan and he stayed with them about ten days or so while I was in the hospital and recuperating from the birth. I missed Bryan sooo much. When Mama and Daddy first brought him home, he wouldn’t have a thing to do with me for days. He seemed to hold me responsible for the presence of that intruder. We have a picture of my husband holding both babies (Bryan was only 13 months old) and Bryan is looking at his brother with such an ambivalent look on his face. He soon grew to love his brother tho’ but it took a year or two or 14 or 15 for him to learn to respect him.

Last Tuesday Henderson Cleaning and Restoring came and started tearing up our upstairs bathroom. The bathtub leaked down into the basement, the toilet leaked down into the basement, and we have lived here 14 years with no major changes so we went for it! The floor is still torn up, there is a big hole in the wall where Evan is going to put in a new outlet. We have to wait a week or two for our vanity since it is smaller than any we could find and it has to be custom built. But the tub and shower are in and workable which they weren’t for two days! Evan first told us that they would tear things out the first day and have everything put back together by the end of the second day. It’s going to be a “little” longer than that. But it will be soo nice when we get it finished. I guess I should say when they get it finished.

I finally got into see Dr. Brooke who is a dermatologist. I had an infection in my left index finger around the nail. It still looks really bad. He said it was fungus and that the acrylic nails must come off. So after 15 years with beautiful nails, I’ll have to go back to ugly nails. He said if I didn’t bet rid of them I could lose all of my nails. I’m not willing to risk that. This is the first time I’ve had really any problem with anything like this in the 15 years. I can keep track because I first had them done for Kim and Kimberly’s wedding.

We have had a two week vacation from the FHC because they are doing some much needed construction; they are building a computer lab room which will be very nice to be able to teach our classes in there and have people doing the same thing you are teaching them while you are teaching them instead of just showing them how. It is so easy to forget what you learned by the time you try to do it yourself. We also got to go to Heather’s (Joy’s Heather) wedding last Saturday. That was the first tho’t I had when they told us it would be closed. “I get to go to Heather’s wedding after all!” it was very nice. Heather and Blaine plan to go thro’ the temple in a year. I’m really glad we were able to be there. We got to see my mother and two sisters and their husbands and my brother and his wife and many nieces and a nephew and their sweethearts that we hadn’t seen for awhile.

A Busy Two Weeks

2008-08-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to the Twin Falls Temple Open House. We left on Thursday about 11:00 am and went via way of the I 15, I 86 and I 84. We stopped at a rest stop about half way there. It had signs and posters about Massacre Rocks and the story about it. We tho’t maybe that was where we were but…Massacre Rocks is a State Park and this turned out to be just a “rest stop” We ate lunch there and used the facilities and then decided to check out a trail head. The sign said that at the end of the trail were the authentic ruts from the Oregon Trail. We tho’t we’d go a little ways. We had no idea how long it would be. It turned out to be on the other side of the freeway. We went in two tunnels to go under the freeway. I’m sure it was at least a mile one way. I was a little disappointed because the trail was covered with vegetation and we could only see one “rut” so we weren’t sure we were there on the Oregon Trail. But there were signs that said we were. We had seen the wagon ruts at the supper club at Soda Springs where you could see two ruts in stone and the same above Cheyenne toward Fort Laramie. So it wasn’t quite what we expected. I was thrilled to learn that I could still walk that far and that my back didn’t bother me at all. My hip ached but my back didn’t. I haven’t done as much walking this summer as I have the last two. They changed the walking class to Monday and Wednesday at 8:30 am. It wore me out the last two years and with my big weekends on Saturday at the FHC and then Sundays it’s hard to get moving early on Mondays. And with working at the center on Wednesday afternoon, I haven’t felt like I could do both. At the beginning of the summer, I had good intentions of walking on Tuesday and Thursdays like I did last summer but…..

We got to Twin Falls and the motel about 5:00pm or so. We walked a little way to a steak and seafood restaurant. We split a steak and shrimp dinner. Oh, that shrimp was succulent. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted shrimp so good. We saw Jean and Scott Jenkins there who used to live in our ward before they moved to Washington. It was quite a coincidence and very pleasant.

We went to the extended complimentary breakfast the motel had. That meant they had scrambled eggs and waffles along with the juices, drinks and fruit. It was very good and filling. We met an older couple from Bounitful, Utah who had come up for the open house. My husband asked the man’s name just as they were leaving. He was a Call. I told him that my grandmother was a Call. It turns out that his ancestor was a brother to my great great grandfather. I glad that my husband asked his name. We also met his daughter.

We left for the open house about 11:00 am. I had on a dress and also my missionary name tag. We have been told we are supposed to wear them whenever we are in Sunday dress. One of the sisters there greeting people as they entered the chapel, asked me “Are you reporting for duty?” I told her we were from Idaho Falls. She looked closer and saw that we were not proselyting missionaries. We waited in the chapel about 20 minutes then we went to watch the video talking about temples in general and their purpose and the Twin Falls temple in particular. After watching the video we walked next door to the temple. It is definitely a small temple but also a very beautiful one. It reminds of the Rexburg temple but is much smaller. It has only one ordinance room and Rexburg has two. The TF temple has a mural by Leon Parsons of the Shoshone Falls. It is gorgeous. Our host told us that Leon Parson went down there and precisely measured the room then built one of the exact same size in his studio in Rexburg. He painted the mural there and then rolled up the canvas and took it to TF. He does such beautiful work. The temple has the syringe, the Idaho State Flower thro’out it. In the stained glass windows and in some of the carpets. It is indeed a beautiful building. The dedication will be next Sunday. We received our recommend/tickets today to be able to go.

The last two weeks at the center have been busy. I’ve been able to help quite a few people, both patrons and new missionaries. Yesterday, a family of six came in to use PAF Insight to update records they had received from a man in Canada on who sent them over 16,000 names. We discovered that most of the people had died too late to be able to do their work. If it has been within 95 years one should obtain permission from the direct descendants if they are not of the immediate family themselves. So we had to take the check marks out of many of the boxes as we were doing the temple ready part to take the names to the temple. They still had between 50 and 75 names to take thro’ tho’. They were getting them ready for a family reunion. I was on my feet a lot going back and forth among them helping them and giving them advice when asked. I also taught a PAF class (which went well with two patrons and two missionaries in it) on the Print menu and helped a few other people too. One patron had finally found proof of a marriage of one ancestor that her mother had told her about for years. It was in the third column on a page. When she printed it out, only the first two printed out. One of the missionaries came to me to see if I knew what to do. I right clicked a few times and tried a few things (I was led by the Spirit) and we were able to get to a page to be printed that printed off all three columns. I felt good about that too. I know the Spirit led me because I don’t do trouble shooting when it comes to the computer. I just don’t have enough knowledge in that area.

I was very tired when I got home. I enjoyed watching some of the Olympics. I had recorded the basketball game between the USA and Spain and slept thro’ the whole third quarter. But that’s OK. The USA was so far ahead by then that I knew they would win. It was neat to watch Michael Phelps and the USA 4 X 100 medley swim race. Michael Phelps earned, with the help of his team mates, his 8th Gold Medal. In his interviews afterwards and again today he is so humble and gives his mom much of the credit. He’s a neat young man. He was diagnosed with ADHD as a young boy and that was how his mother helped him channel his energy was thro’ swimming. He does have long arms and long fingers which definitely helped. He won one race by .01 of a second. It is something to me that they can have that precise of a measurement.

Oh, and I saw Karen Huffacker who last month told me she and her husband were leaving in September for the MTC for a mission in Chile. I asked her again which mission it was and it is the Chile Concepcion, South mission, the same one that Chris is in. I was ecstatic to learn that. I was afraid that it was just Concepcion. They will be working in the office. She is taking care of the books and he taking care of the fleet of cars. So they should see Chris. They won’t get to Chile until just before Christmas but Chris will see them as he leaves if at no other time. I think it is very exciting.

The NewFamilySearch

2008-08-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

I had typed a whole page about my classes that I taught at the Family History Center Wednesday and Saturday. I hit control and aimed for C and hit V so everything was erased “Family History Center” was in it’s place that I have been putting on top of each of my lessons. So I will try to summarize and get everything in just not so long. It’s not earth shattering but almost….. J

I taught two classes last week. The one on Wednesday was on World Vital Records, a website of database links to various websites that can aid patrons in looking up and finding information on their ancestors. Since I didn’t know anything about it I spent a lot of time preparing. In the summer not very many patrons come in to do research. So we missionaries spend the time teaching each other about different websites so we can be knowledgeable enough to help the patrons this fall and winter when they start coming in again. There are different missionaries who work different days. e.g. Grandpa and I work on Wednesday and Saturday only. Others work other days. So there was a different teacher each day to teach the missionaries that day. I went to the class on both Monday and Tuesday which really helped. I woke up at 5:00 am Wednesday morning and couldn’t go back to sleep so got up and started working more on my class. It went well. I was able to find pictures of Grandpa Wendel and Johnny’s headstones that are down in the Spanish Fork Cemetery that someone had photographed and put on the site. I had never seen Johnny’s so I was very excited to see it and was so pleased with it mainly I guess because of the manner in which he died. I’m sending them to you so you can see them too. The class went very well.

We had to be at the center by noon because they are starting to teach us about the NewFamilySearch that we hope to get by the end of this year or the first of next year at the latest. The Winter Quarter’s Temple District and the Mesa Temple District are already rolled out and using the program. We will be teaching the Stake and ward consultants in South East Idaho so they are now letting us have hands on on working on the NewFamilySearch site. We can’t type in anything new but can combine duplicates and search and add people that way so if they are already in the system we can add them to our profile. It is so exciting. Anyway at noon they go thro’ the e-learning lessons with us and then at 1:00 we have a class taught by Sister Freeman who is part of the Support group that answers questions about the NewFamilySearch from all over the United States and maybe even the world. By the end of August there will be 104 temples out of the 128 working temples that have rolled out. So we should be fairly soon we are hoping. The temples in Idaho and Utah are the last to be rolled out. That way hopefully all of the bugs will be rolled out.

On Saturday I taught the Beginning PAF class on GEDCOM files and Exporting and Importing files. It went very well. I was glad that I have taught this before and have used it often so I am familiar with it. There are some new missionaries that come to it. There were 8 there counting me which is a good size. I passed off all the questions on the sheet for the e-learning lessons for the NewFamilySearch that I found the answers to by going thro’ the lessons. I then got online with the NewFamilySearch and worked on my file. They told us last Wednesday that we can combine and search and add new people to our file but we can’t type in anything new because we are working under someone’s number. There is a lot that has to be done with it to make it right. I have been able to correct some of the things with combining and searching but there will be lots to do when I can get registered which won’t be until we are in the 90 day window of when our temple district will start using it. It is sooo exciting tho’. Both Bryan and Richard’s temple district has it. In a way I envy them. But it is getting closer.

Two Good Books

2008-07-20T17:36:00.000-07:00

Last week I finished reading a book called “America’s Hope” by Douglas E Brinely. He is a religion professor at BYU. He had isolated or catalogued the 10 steps from arriving in this Promised Land to the destruction of whole civilizations e.g. the antediluvians (the people who inhabited this hemisphere before the flood), the Jaredites and the Nephites. They all had things in common. Their ancestors had made covenants with the Lord at the b beginning of their sorgein here. And as time went on they forgot them and became very wicked and were eventually totally destroyed. At first it sounded like we as a nation were doomed; but it did end on a hopeful note. Altho’ the supreme court has done its best to destroy the constitution by the way it is interpreting it, the righteous people of our faith as well as other faiths who believe in Jesus Christ will be able to save it. Brother Brinley pointed out that because this is the cradle of the Lord’s church and kingdom, it will be preserved as long as we do our part. He also pointed out that the Civil War or War Between the States was a direct result of the people of Illinois killing the Prophet Joseph and Hyrum and then casting or driving the Saints out of the country. Once they got across the Mississippi River they were out of the boundaries of the United States of America. I knew that the Prophet Joseph had prophesied before his death of the great war, but I hadn’t realized that it was a direct result of his death and driving the Saints from the country. A friend pointed out that “and that was their children that suffered the war not them themselves because the war was a good 20 years after the prophet was killed…almost anyway. It started before 20 but it last longer than 20 years after. I tho’t that very interesting. My friend went on to say, “We can chose our actions but we can not chose the consequences.”

I also read a book last week called “The Message” by Lance Richardson. He was a young man who had been comatose for a month or so and during that time he literally went to Paradise and was allowed to remember and record (actually was told to record) his experiences. He made it all sound so wonderful. I am looking forward to experiencing it myself. Altho’ I am no hurry to get there, I certainly don’t fear leaving this life. He pointed out that his ancestors whom he met there told him that they spent much “time” watching out for and literally helping their descendants get thro’ their struggles and happenings in this life. I found great comfort in that. Altho’ Lance returned to this life and was able to recover much, much faster than anyone every expected he could, he died about five years later. I remember taking care of him as a patient in the hospital. That was before his after death experience. He was two years older than our oldest son.

Both of these books has influenced and strengthened my testimony. I liked to think that my father who died 38 ½ years ago met and conversed with our youngest son as well as our grandchildren before they were born. I now think that he and others are helping all of us thro’ our trials and experiences in this life. This idea is not new with me nor for me, this book just strengthened it.

Our Fourth of July

2008-07-14T10:34:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Fourth of July. We went up to Rexburg to get Bryce, our grandson who is going to BYUI up there. Since he said he tho’t it would be nice to go to the parade, we went. We hadn’t been probably for about ten years. It was a nice parade and I enjoyed it. someone had roped off an area that they weren’t using and since the parade had already started we set up our chairs there. No one asked us to leave so I guess it was OK. It didn’t last too long and didn’t start to get hot until just before it ended. Bryce had asked if we could go to the Ammon Deseret Book Store and meet his friend Mike. Since we were on 16th street and DB is on about 31st we decided we were halfway there so we went. It turned out that Mike is my favorite person who worked at the DB across from the temple. It also turned out that he was transferred to the one in Ammon only about a month before and he would start as the manager of the on in Rexburg the next Monday. So I will miss him but it was very unique and neat that we had dealt with each other before. He gave us each a free piece of pie. It was delicious. Bryce and I got coconut cream and my husband got banana cream. We stopped at Albertson’s and got some cherries. We watched Little Women then I fixed a Mexican Casserole with hamburger, refried beans, onions, taco seasoning and lots of cheese on top. Oh and Frietos. We were ready to leave by 4:30 to go over to a friend’s house who lives across from the boat dock where they shoot off the fireworks. We had to leave early because they close the road and don’t allow traffic thro’ after about 5:30 or so. Bryce and I were all ready to go and had everything in the car and we couldn’t find my husband. We looked outside, upstairs, down stairs, everywhere we could think of close by. Then we got in the car and drove around a couple of blocks looking ofr him. Since we couldn’t see him anywhere we just went back into the house and sat and waited for him. He finally sauntered back. We live 730 North and he had gone to 500 South to get a piece of carpet that he saw on the way home earlier that day. Needless to say, I wasn’t happy. I have told him before that when he leaves he needs to tell me where he is going. Had he done so we could have met him down there and picked him up. Yes, he was walking! Well, we finally got there about 5:30. My friend had told me that we should probably be there by 5:00 because she didn’t know what time they closed the road. Anyway, we had supper with them. American, Korean and Mexican fare it turned out. All very delicious. We met people who knew people we knew, people we had worked with and others. My friend had told me that they found out the first year they were there that their yard filled up early in the evening with people they didn’t know who invaded their house, some without asking, to use their facilities and they decided they wanted to fill up their yard with people they knew. And the fireworks were fantastic!! They are choreographed with music and they had set up speakers so we could hear the music above the noise of the fireworks. We had debris raining down on us but nothing big or burned us. It took us 40-45 minutes to get home instead of 10-15 it would have otherwise. My husband wasn’t very patient but I talked to people who took an hour and a half or more. So it could have been worse.

On Saturday we took Bryce to see Penny Promise, a clean movie that was a wonderful story. We all really enjoyed it. Later that day we took Bryce back to Rexburg. It had been in the high 90’s both days. I’m thankful that our house stays fairly cool.

We hadn’t been to the center since the 23th of June. We didn’t do a lot with our time off. I did get a tooth pulled and we did a little extra cleaning. It was nice to have some leisure time.

We went back this last Wednesday. I helped a young woman who had gone on her mission to Finland. She said the temple there was in the process of being built while she was there and last summer she and some others went back there and went thro’ the temple. She told me that the Saints there prayed so hard that President Hinckley would live long enough to dedicate it. It was the last temple he dedicated. She stated, I think that is what kept him alive so long, was the prayers of the Saints there. On Saturday, I helped a woman who had come into do a temple ready for her son-in-law’s family. It was really neat talking to her. I showed her some of the things I had on my PAF because she had told me she was looking for pictures of her great-grandparents. I showed her how you could have pictures and documents linked to the PAF program. I taught my first PAF class of the 2nd round of teaching them yesterday. There was even one patron there as well as some of the new missionaries. I was happy about that. Summer is a slow time there at the center. People have too many other things they want to do. I had a good day tho’ and could feel the spirit was with me as I helped a few of the people there. And I learned something new again. There have been very few times I have been there at the FHC that I haven’t learned something new. It is a wonderful feeling to learn. And also to be able to teach others what one has learned.

Busy Times

2008-06-23T12:26:00.000-07:00

We have been quite busy since I last wrote. I don’t think I have written at all this month (shame shameJ). We went to Grace to spend Memorial Day with Grandma Robinson. We left Sunday afternoon to go down. We stayed until Tuesday morning then headed for Utah. We spent some time with Grandma Wendel and got many family history things with our digital camera. I’m very glad about that. We did that on Wednesday. Thursday we went to Natasha’s graduation, then left Friday morning and left for Blackfoot for Kylie’s graduation Friday night. Karen told me as soon as we got there that Brittany and Shani were celebrating her birthday (which was the Wednesday before) Saturday evening at Brittany & Wes’s new house in Rockford or Rockland, I never can remember which. Their house is sooo nice and so big. It is probably twice as big as ours is. We had a very nice time there. Shani, Jon, Macie and Porter were there as well as Grandma & Grandpa Gray, Bryan and Bryce and us. It was close to a kitchen full. J

We had the Family History Center to do Saturday (I had to teach my last PAF class). So we drove back home Friday night then went to the FHC Saturday (We were there exactly 10 ½ hours and that included sleeping); having packed before we left we then drove down to Karen’s. We stayed there that night and went to Sacrament meeting the next day then went back to Karen’s to visit with your dad before he left to go back home after bringing Bryce out here. They got to Karen’s shortly after we did Friday evening. We stayed for Kylie’s Seminary graduation Sunday night, took Bryce home, met his one roommate and finally got back home at 9:00 that night. It was a big week!!!

I had had a sore that wouldn’t heal cut out off my left forearm the Thursday before we left and I could tell before we got home that there was infection in it. It was very red and spreading, tender wherever the red was, hot and it didn’t look good and felt just as bad as it looked. I went into the doctor Monday and had the sutures removed. I also had an IV antibiotic that day and the next two days then took it by mouth for 10 more days. I went to the doctor every day that week except for Friday. I did go to the FHC as well.

This is the fourth week of June and I don’t know where the time has gone. Richard and Téa got here on the 4th of June. They stayed with Téa’s mother. We saw them at least six different times. It was so good to see them. Duncan is now 10 ½. He will be a deacon before we know it. Cheanna turned 9 the Saturday after they got here. We went over to the Rydalchs’ and helped them celebrate. That was after spending 6 ½ hours at the center. (Our supervisor let us leave 1 1/2 hours early.) It was fun but Sunday after church I was surely tired. Monday too. Emma is 7 and Elena turned 6 day before yesterday. They were back in Phoenix by then. Ephraim is 2 1/2 , he’ll be 3 in August and is a real live wire. I really think he’s even more active than Jason if you can imagine. Richard said that he has uninstalled many programs on their computer many times and Téa said that if they had about six locks on their doors way up high they would be able to hear him unlocking them and get to him before he got away! J Anya turned a year old last month. Richard brought all six of them to church with him (Tea’s wasn’t feeling well.) and they were all so well behaved. (Even Ephraim. He didn’t hold still the rest of the day tho’ except when he took a nap at our place after dinner.) I don’t think the people in front of us knew that there were six children behind them. We picked up Macie and took her to the Arctic Circle and met Richard, Téa and their children there one Thursday afternoon. It was fun. Macie ate some lunch then went to play on the toys. She started following around two little blond girls. One a couple of years older than she and one about the same age. I had just got thro’ telling Richard, “she has all these cousins here and she’s following those little blond girls around.” About five minutes later Joy and Gerald Gray (Kent’s parents) walked in with Kylie. The two little blond girls were their daughter, Kelly’s grandchildren and their great grandchildren like Macie is our great granddaughter (and theirs too). It couldn’t have worked out better if we’d planned it.

Yesterday, we blessed Porter Dan Chugg. Jon gave him a lovely blessing. We then had a lunch out on Shani & Jon’s back lawn. It was very nice. They live in a very young ward. Their bishop doesn’t look old enough to be a bishop. (Needless to say he looks very young.) They have at least five nurseries in their ward. And noisy?!! You could hardly hear the speakers and you had to really concentrate to be able to understand them. The subject was one that has become close to my heart….Family History….They talked about the New Family Search program that we hope will be rolled out in our area by the end of the year. At the first of the year, they told us at the center that it would be within the next few months. Then they had many changes that the ones who already had it had suggested and so they pulled it back. Last Saturday someone said it may be next February or April before we get it. I sincerely hope not. But as our director said, “By the time we get it (we will be among the last to get it) all the bugs should be worked out.” That part is good. Last Wednesday I was able to start reading thro’ the special e-lessons they have online for the consultants. I worked on it Saturday also. I’m so excited about it. It will be neat learning it and be able to teach it to others.

Mother's Day 2008

2008-05-18T17:02:00.002-07:00

Last Sunday we were in Omaha, Nebraska at Bryce’s graduation. It was soo nice to be there. I am glad we were able to go. We saw Sandy’s mom and dad again. We hadn’t seen them for two years since Chris graduated. It’s nice to be able to visit and catch up with them. Bryce’s graduation was very nice. There were about 304 graduates as close as I could figure. There were two student speakers as well as the school principal and the chairman of the school board. Sara played in the band. She plays the trombone. So it was just adults there plus Jason.

We left the Tuesday before. We left the house at 6:45 am. Our home teacher, Todd Hong, was kind enough to take us to the shuttle on his way to work. He works in Fort Hall. We had a couple of hours from the time we got to the airport till the plane left. We had a stopover in Denver with a two hour wait there. we got to Omaha about 7 pm and to Bryan & Sandy’s house by 8:00. It was a long day! I didn’t feel to bad tho’ until the next morning then I really felt like “the morning after the night before”. By the afternoon I was feeling better. Bryan wasn’t there. He had had to leave the Sunday before for Vandenberg AFB for his work. He got back about 7 pm Friday night. Jason was a joy to be around. He seemed to know us and wasn’t a bit shy around us. We hadn’t seen him since last August. Helen and Al, Sandy’s parents got there Wednesday evening. Thursday evening everyone went to bed except for Sandy, Helen and me. We stayed up until 1:00 am just visiting and catching up. No interruptions or anything. The time quickly got away from us but we all thoroughly enjoyed it. We talked a little bit about everything and nothing. Wednesday evening, Helen, Al Karl and I stayed home while Sandy went to the high school for the awards program for Bryce and Sara. Jason kept us all four going. He sneaked outside twice before we could stop him…of course out of the front door. They have put locks high up on their doors because Jason can navigate even the dead bolt locks. After the second time we were smart enough to lock the high lock. My husband and I took him for a walk around the block. He trotted all the way around…and it’s a big block! I kept hold of his hand all the way around. He was very cooperative about that for which I was very thankful. I knew if he got away from me, I wouldn’t be able to catch him. He just moves too fast.

On Sunday Bryan, Jason, Karl and I went to the Cottonwood ward to sacrament meeting. While Bryan was upstairs getting ready to go, Jason locked himself in the bathroom (Sandy had told me that he locks the door when he goes in to do things he knows he shouldn’t and that there was a small screwdriver above the doorframe of each bathroom. Bryan found Jason sitting in the sink in two inches of cold water with my tooth brush in his mouth and my toothpaste in his hand. For some reason he really likes toothbrushes. Their ward didn’t meet until 1:00 pm and we all had to leave around 11:30 to get to Omaha. Bryce requested Schnitzel, potatoes and gravy, rolls, corn and green beans, and strawberry lemonade. Sandy also surprised him with a cheese cake, which he hadn’t requested but wasn’t a bit disappointed when he found out about it. After dinner we were able to talk to Chris who is in Chile and Jessica who is in Tucson. It was wonderful to be able to talk to them. They both are doing very well and having great success on their respective missions. They sound pretty much the same but more mature and wiser. Monday night I was outside with Bryan and Jason. Karl and Helen were out there for a while also. Bryan showed us all around his yard and showed us his trees and plants. His hobby is very much plants. I think it may have started when he worked for Kim Johnson while he was still in high school and the summer before his mission. He may have also worked for him after his mission as well. In fact, I think he did. After Karl and Helen went in I started playing “I’m going to get you” with Jason. He would run and I would go after him. He went slow enough that I didn’t have much trouble keeping up with him. He some how got the idea that he was “safe” by the flower box Bryan has in the middle of his garden. He would run around then head for the flowerbox when he wanted a rest. He would run and then turn around and face me squealing; he’d place his hands over his face and then run at me and grab me around the legs. We both had great fun. I can safely say that it wore me out much more than it did Jason.

My husband and I were each able to call and talk to our mother's and wish them a Happy Mother's Day. Of course we were there with Bryan, Michael called that evening. Karen had brought me a gift the day before we left. After we got home I found out that Richard had called Monday and Kim had sent me a nice card. It was good to hear or see each one of them.

We left Bryan’s about 10:30 am Tuesday morning. We had an uneventful trip until we got to Denver. The plane was late starting to board. We all got boarded about two minutes before we were to take off, then we just sat there. After about ten minute, the captain came in front of the cabin and told us that they had found something suspicious in one of the bathrooms. We all had to deplane taking everything with us that we had brought on board. They had called the police and the fire department. We stood in the gateway for about ten minutes, then they told us to sit down in the terminal. After we had all been sitting down about a minute they told us we could reboard. We took off a full hour after we were first told too. I was told that someone had wrapped an air freshener from the toilet seat in toilet paper. My husband was told that someone had spread foot powder all over the bathroom. Maybe it was both. Anyway, buy the time we got to SLC our shuttle had left and we had to wait another hour for one to arrive. So we were two hours later getting home than we had anticipated. All in all it was a good trip and we had a wonderful time and are glad we went. Of course it is always good to get home.

Wednesday morning I had a 10:00 nail appointment and then we had to be at the FHC at 12:15. I kept telling myself that I could let down and do nothing Thursday. That did help me get thro’ Wednesday. I had Thursday and Friday only to prepare for my class on Saturday. It was on the Advanced Focus filter of the PAF program. Again, I felt the Spirit helping me and guiding me as I was preparing it. I spent about 6 ½ hours total on that class. I’m glad that I understood it as well as I did. I had used it twice to help partrons to isolate some of the individuals on their programs that had things on their individual screen that needed to be changed. I also had to write up the program for me to give and also the step by step instructions of how to use it. It went very well. I have only two more classes to teach and this round will be over. I will start again on July 12. I anticipate it being easier to teach the second round. I sincerely hope so.

The Gift of the Holy Ghost

2008-04-27T15:07:00.000-07:00

I am so thankful for the gift of the Holy Ghost! I have relied on it heavily since we were called as Family History Missionaries a year ago but never more than last week. Since they called me in January to teach the PAF classes there at the center and I found out it would be both the beginning and advanced PAF classes, I have worried about the one I taught yesterday. It was on Notes & Sources. This is the part that teaches how to document the data on your PAF program. Anyone involved with Family History or Genealogy will tell you that documentation is very important. Without it one would never know the correct dates and places of the events we place in our programs whether it is on paper or computer. I had attended two different classes on it taught by two different teachers. I had an inkling what it was about but as far as teaching it to someone else so they could understand it, I was very fuzzy. The first ADV PAF (as I call it) was a week ago yesterday. It was showing and understanding the Tools menu on the program, especially the preferences part where one can customize how his own program looks. I spent a few hours on it off and on during the week but was able to fairly quickly figure things out. I could feel the Spirit guiding me on some of the things that I had never been shown on.

Well, last Monday, I spent 1 ½ hours on the Notes & Sources. Tuesday morning as I got up I tho’t I would go to my 9:00 water aerobics class and then the 10:30 Silver Sneakers class and then come home and spend time trying to figure out Notes & Sources. Well, I got up about 7:30 and came in and started trying to figure things out. I had been praying for days for guidance and understanding of the program so I could teach it. Once I started except for occasional trips to the bathroom and getting a drink of water or something to eat I spent 7 hours trying to figure things out. When I first started, my mind and brain felt so muddled and foggy. I could feel the Spirit teaching me and guiding me as I tried the different ways to add things to the program and figure out just how to do it. I also wrote up the things that I would say and figured out a step by step handout to give to those who attended the class. When I finished, felt sooo enlightened and at peace! It was a wonderful experience. The rest of the week I just reviewed my materials that I had written and added some sources into my PAF. I figure I spent at least ten hours on preparation for that one class!! I thank my Heavenly Father for the Gift of the Holy Ghost for I know without it I never would have been able to do what I did.

Yesterday when it came time to teach the class I was very humble and prayerful. The class went very well. As I was going thro’ the materials, I’d hear someone say, “I didn’t know that!” or ”that’s how you do it!” They asked pertinent and important questions that if I didn’t have the answer, I replied, “Let’s see what works.” I learned things even as I taught. It was such a satisfying feeling as I finished the class. There were eight people there, two patrons and the others missionaries.

Today, we had our second historical Regional Stake conference by Satellite. There were 67 Stakes present from Pocatello to St. Anthony here in Southeast Idaho. President Uchtdorf was presiding, Elder Tingy of the Presidency of the Seventy, Sister Elaine S Dalton and Elder Russell M Nelson also talked. It was sooo inspiring. President Uchtodorf told us of three things we can do to insure our place in the Kingdom of God.
!. Have a current temple recommend. He said that CTR could also stand for that.
2. Read the scriptures daily.
3. have daily prayer.
I need to improve on my scripture reading. I have really fallen away from doing that regularly, which is too bad.

It is wonderful what we can experience now with the modern technology that we have now. I’m so thankful to be alive now with all of this technology and especially with the Priesthood restored and all of the blessings of both. It is a wonderful time indeed.

it's Been A While

2008-04-21T17:50:00.000-07:00

We have been kind of busy lately. I enjoyed conference sooo much. The Spirit bore witness to me that Thomas S Monson is now the prophet of God. His humility is very touching. I remember thinking when he was sustained as an apostle that he would probably be someday the prophet. Your dad was two I think at that time…if that old even. I loved all of the talks and tho’t they were so timely.

Last weekend we were in Utah. We left Thursday and came back Saturday. We stayed at the Kims in Orem Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. We went to Alex’s baptism on Saturday and spent the day with the Kims. Friday we spent in American Fork with Grandma Wendel. Joy and Tom were there. We had home made chicken noodle soup and home made rolls for lunch. Rachel and her son, Wyatt, Rebekah and Deborah came over after lunch to visit for a while. It was very nice to see them. We went up to Roy and Cindy’s for dinner. Bonnie and David were also there and Julie, Johnny’s wife came after work. We had a lovely dinner and really enjoyed visiting with everyone. The last time we were all together was at Johnny’s funeral six years ago. We had a delicious dinner and great company. Bonnie & David had worked at the SL temple that morning. I think they have to be there by 3:45 AM, of all times! We got back to Orem close to 10:00 pm. Since both the Kims and Michael & Tanya’s church starts at 1:00 pm we decided to visit with Grandma W on the way to Michael’s. Because others were there when we were Friday, it didn’t count as a visit. We spent Sunday night at Michael’s. We were going to play Pinochle but Grandpa watched a Star Trek—Next Generation show and Natasha and Michael and I just talked. It was sooo enjoyable. Tanya wasn’t feeling well at all so she was up in bed. On the way home Monday, we stopped in SLC at a Golden Corral on 34th West and 35th South to meet with my best girlfriend in high school and her husband. We hadn’t seen each other for at least seven years. It was sooo nice to catch up with each others’ family and what we all were doing now that all of us have retired. They are ordinance workers at the SL temple. They work Fridays with Bonnie & David.

I was soo tired when we got home Monday evening. We stopped in Blackfoot at Karen & Kent’s but no one was home. I didn’t do anything Tuesday; I should say I didn’t go anywhere Tuesday, just did things around the house. They’ve asked me to teach both the Beginning and Advanced PAF classes at the FHC. I started the first Advanced PAF last Saturday. I spent 3-4 hours total preparing for it. it was on the “tools menu”. This week it is on Sources, Citations and Notes. That is the documentation and how you do it for the dates that you have on your program. I’m a little worried about it. Mainly because I haven’t done that much with it. I spent a couple of hours on it today and so far some of it is as clear as mud. Next week is “multimedia” which is putting pictures and actual documents on your computer, PAF program. That one doesn’t bother me that much. I’ve done it quite a bit. The Lord has blessed me so far in teaching these classes and I’m sure he will continue to do so.

In just two weeks we will be going to Papillion for Bryce’s graduation. We leave May 6th and come home May 13th. I’m really looking forward to being there with everyone (everyone that is except you and Chris. That will really be different.) You all have always been there when we’ve been there. Natasha will graduate on May 29 and Kylie on May 30 so we will be able to attend all three for which I am very grateful that it worked out that way. I haven’t really worried about it but I have wondered if we would have to choose and hoped we wouldn’t.

The Work is Going Well!

2008-03-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe that two weeks have passed already since I wrote. We have been keeping busy what with church, FHC, exercising and just plain living. My sweetheart has been fighting a bad cold for two or more weeks now. It’s been forever since I’ve had a kiss. But I haven’t caught his cold! So that has had good results that way anyway. He has been able to keep up with the FHC but hasn’t felt well sometimes while doing it.

The work at the center is going very well. I’m able to help people without having to ask other missionaries how to finish up with something. It feels sooo good! A week ago on the same day, I was indexing and at two different times I looked up and two different people beckoned me over to them. And I knew enough to help them. Last Saturday, another missionary asked me to help him help another patron. That was very rewarding also. It had to do with importing another PAF file onto the patron’s own file. For some reason it wasn’t working. When I walked her thro’ it, it worked. Another missionary asked for Brother Sweat and he was downstairs on another assignment so I offered to see if I could help. I could! This time it was exporting a partial PAF file to add to her main file in such a way that there wouldn’t be a lot of matching and merging to do. The nice thing about that was: that was what I was teaching my PAF class on that afternoon. It was very good review for the class. Brother Jim Larsen came to my class. There were nine there in all at one time! The most ever. He teaches the Wednesday evening classes. He said he even learned something knew from me and was impressed with my handout. I got my handouts from Brother Sweat who used to teach the PAF class on Saturday. They have step by step instructions for each procedure. I don’t think he taught the Advanced PAF class tho’. So I will have to make my own handouts for the coming Advanced classes. I at least have an example to follow from the previous classes. It will just take more time to prepare each week than it has before since I already had the instructions. We have been on our mission now for 11 months. I’m thankful that we extended as long as we did. I’m really beginning to feel like I can do some good now and know what I am doing. A couple of weeks ago I taught my husband how to do indexing. He spends quite a bit of time on a computer now. It is good to see him doing it.

I had my annual eye exam a week or so ago with good results. Altho’ my eyes are very dry, the doctor could tell just by looking at them that they were dry, my retinas and everything look good. The vision in my right eye is 20/50 but the left is 20/30. So I’m still good to drive. I just need to put Systane eye lubrication drops in my eyes three or four times a day. They really do feel much better. I felt like I had allergies or something because they were burning.

I also went to see my orthopedist a couple of weeks ago. The nurse measured me and said that I was 5’ ¾”. I said, “I am not! I am 5’2”!” She asked if I wanted her to prove it and I told her yes! Well, she remeasured me and proved that I am 5’ ¾”. When we went to our daughter’s place Saturday to help celebrate her middle daughter’s 22nd birthday, I stood by her and she is considerably taller than I am. She is 5’2”. I also stood (all of us were in stocking feet) by her youngest daughter who is 5’ 1 ½ “ tall and she is also noticeably taller than I am. So I am shrinking for sure!! I used to think I was almost 5’ 4” because I knew I was about ½ inch shorter than my mother who always said she was 5’ 4 ¼ “. So I figured I was between 5’ 3 ½ “ and 5’ 3 ¾ “. When I had my knee surgery, they measured me and said I was 5’ 2” then. That’s what I was the last time I was measured. I admit it has been awhile since I was measured and I can’t reach my top cupboards like I used to could (thank goodness my husband is tall) but under 5’ 1” or just over 5’! It makes me wonder what I will end up at. Oh, the crowning convincer of my shortened stature: we had a Hawiian Luau for our ward party last Friday night and I wore my muumuu and kept tripping over it! Which I had never done before.

The Last of February to the First of March

2008-03-04T15:40:00.002-07:00

Last Monday we had zone conference there at the FHC. President and Mrs. DeMordant of the IF Temple presidency were the speakers. I got to know him at the hospital. He was one of our radiologists. He and his wife have been mission parents in the South Africa, Johannesburg Mission. Sister DeMordant stated that one way they kept their new converts coming and not falling between the cracks was they instituted a program where within one week of their baptism they were visited by members who talked to them about doing baptisms for their kindred dead. They started this by asking if they had any other relatives who were members of our church. If the answer was no then they started telling them about baptism for the dead. They started them on making some records with starting with themselves, adding their parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. In essence, starting on their family history. Within two months they had them entering the temple doing baptisms for their kindred dead and after one year 80% of their converts entered the temple for their own endowments. It sounded wonderful! President DeMordant told the history of Family History. I found it very interesting. The one statement he made that really thrilled me and I sat up and took notice of was: The general authorities (I don’t remember which ones) have stated that those who work on geneoalogy, family history, whichever you wish to call it we be greatly blessed and their children and their children will also be greatly blessed. And angels will attend them. My tho’t was, our children and grandchildren will have angels attend them because of our service here as well as my husband and me being blessed. That made me feel very good.

This past Friday and Saturday was Time Out for Women. I am so thankful that I attended. I had never been to one before. I so thoroughly enjoyed it and feel so loved and so much better about myself than I did before. The presenters (that’s what they called them instead of speakers) were for Friday evening, Wendy Watson Nelson, wife of Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Sheri Dew with Jenny Oakes Baker playing many numbers on her violin. I loved all of it. Sister Nelson talked of asking pertinent and poignant questions whenever things get boring, or we are troubled. We can ask them of ourselves or of others as well. Sister Dew told us that our “Sphere of Influence” was much larger than we can ever imagine. Jenny played some popular, classical and familiar pieces and hymns. She plays beautiful and is quite a showman. I came home feeling so filled. My granddaughter picked me up and we met her mother there as well as my daughter-in-law, my daughter’s husband sister and two of her daughters, and my gradndaughter's mother-in-law. There were eight of us together. There were over 1800 women there. The place was sold out.

The next morning my granddaughter picked me up at 7:10 and we met her mother there. The others came later. The place was packed again. Both times the pre-show was done by Mercy River a trio of three young wives and mothers. They have beautiful voices that blend so well. They sang a few songs then put words up on the screen and had us sing some favorite hymns. It was very enjoyable and also set the mood very well. They first presented all of the presenters of the day after welcoming us. They were Kenneth Cope, Emily Watts, S. Michael Wilcox, Chris Stewart, Jason Wright, and Sharon G Larsen. Kenneth Cope is a song writer/singer. His songs are so poignant and right to the point. He writes many of his own songs altho’ he did a medley of other songs too. One of his songs was about God loving broken things (people). I later learned (I couldn’t see the program well enough to read the individual bios until after I got home—the lights were dim.) that he is now serving as a bishop. It made a lot of sense to me because he seemed so close to our Heavenly Father. I tho’t, “Ahh, that explains it.”

Sister Emily Watts is the author of “Take two chocolates and call me in the Morning”. She could be so funny and yet so serious and spiritual. She talked about Mother guilt and how we all have it but really shouldn’t because our children are given their agency and most things we feel so guilty about isn’t our fault. Brother Wilcox is an institute teacher at the University of Utah. He spoke on the great and wondrous world the Lord has made for us. He gave an analogy of the queen of chess. He explained that the queen is the most powerful piece on the board. And then he said, “You sisters are God’s queens.” My heart swelled with knowing the truthfulness of that statement. Notice I didn’t write and he didn’t say that the queen was the most powerful and important piece on the board. Only the most powerful. He was referring to our roles as wives and mothers, teachers, etc. It kind of goes along with our “Sphere of Influence being greater than we can imagine.” Unfortunately, Satan also knows that and has been trying to put women down since the beginning of time.

Brother Stewart is a former pilot with the Air Force and also a well renowned author. He wrote the “Great and the Terrible series. He could be funny at times but also very spiritual. Jason Wright wrote the “Christmas Jar” and “The Wednesday Letters”. He spoke of the way hand-written letters have almost become obsolete with all of today’s technology. He challenged each of us to hand write a letter that night. I chose to write to my mother. I wrote seven pages as fast as I could write. Karl told me that it looked like my nurse’s writing. J Sister Larsen is a survivor of cancer, infertility and a wayward son. She is also Ardith Kapp’s sister. She mentioned that when she was serving on the general Young women’s board she and Sheri Dew were traveling companions. Sheri has always been very popular and she found herself being ignored while everyone made a big fuss over Sheri. She told of one time Sheri stated, “I’m always a bride’smaid and never the bride.” Sharon said, “ I told her to stuff it! I am Ardith Kapp’s sister and Sheri Dew’s traveling companion!” She got a big laugh out of that. She was also very spiritual. She said her four most important things to remember were: (And she stated that we may have different ones but should have equally important ones to us)
Forgive and be Fogiven
Remember the Lord knows what will make you happy
Keep your covenents
And I can’t remember the last one. They were all very good.
Anyway, I came away feeling so loved by my Heavenly Father and so thankful that I am a woman. The next morning before church I was practicing for RS. I had chosen “My Nature is Devine” from the Young Women’s song book. The last part of that states, “You my child are mine” saying the spirit whispers it to us. And all of those wonderful feelings came back to me. I hope I can carry that feeling with me for a long time.

A Good Week

2008-02-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday when we were talking to our oldest son he asked if we were willing to spend Mother’s Day with them. Their second son is graduating from high school that day. I told him of course we were. I got online the next morning to check out tickets for our flight. I had a received an e-mail from Travelocity that said we could get tickets for $172+ round trip. I signed up for it. It did not ask me how many tickets I wanted so I tho’t well, I can sign up for me and then do it for my husband on the same flight. So I tried that. I got us to Omaha OK but on the trip back all the flights were sold out. I tho’t, “Oh no! we go him there now we need to get him back.” I noticed a place that I could click on that said “same flight for more money” or something similar. I found a place on the same plane for about $40 more. I tho’t at least we can go together. But then on the return flight it had us arriving in Denver where we change planes and me leaving a hour and a half earlier than he would. I could just wait in SLC for him and schedule the shuttle for after he arrived but on our way back last year while I was using the restroom, he went on ahead and turned left instead of right and went further than three football fields before he turned around and came back. When I found out that he wasn’t at our gate, I retraced my steps and got back to the area around the restroom just as he did. We were the last to board the plane. They called our name three different times over the PAS and I felt like we just barely made it. So I was kind of concerned about that. He does have some short term memory loss which has become very evident since we started our mission at the FHC. So I called him in from outside and laid it all out for him. He said, “that sounds kind of scary to me but I guess if that’s the only way we can get back then go for it. I went to minimize that screen and hit the red X instead and was mad at myself for doing it. I had to start all over again from the beginning! Thank goodness I did. As I started over and went thro’ the process, we ended up on the same planes all the way thro’ the trip both going and coming. I didn’t think twice about booking it that’s for sure. I told my husband, “Some is watching over us!” I’m so thankful that it all worked out. It is another testimony to me that our Heavenly Father knows us and is aware of what we need.

Yesterday morning we went thro’ the temple with our third oldest granddaughter for her own endowments. Since we are supposed to be at the FHC every Saturday, when I found out she was planning on going, I called our Saturday supervisor and told him the situation. He said, “Go and have a good time. I would have been upset if you hadn’t called and had just come into the center that day.” He was sooo understanding and there were other missionaries that couldn’t be there so they were short that day but he said that it all worked out. It was so nice being there with her. There were many people there from her father’s and husband’s families. We were the only one’s from her mother’s family. I was just glad we were able to attend. We have been with the four grandchildren who have received their own endowment when they went thro’ the first time. I hope we can continue that. We have also been to all of our grandchildren’s baptisms that have been baptized. We have eight more to go. I hope we can continue with this practice.

I taught my first PAF class yesterday. There were only five people there including myself, my husband and one missionary we work with on Wednesday. So that means there were two patrons who came in. When there are plenty of missionaries there, many of them attend the class so you actually have someone to teach. But I just sat down and made eye contact with them. They were sitting on the row right by the computer, so I was able to just sit there and work the computer and they could hear me OK. If the class ever gets any larger, I will have my husband work the computer and I will probably have to use the mike because I have such a soft voice that even when I use my diaphragm people often say they can’t hear me. The two patrons were a mother who lives here and her son from Arco. They neither one have internet. I think the son will have it by the time he comes next week. His mother may hold off for awhile. The missionary from Wednesday even said he learned something that he didn’t know. That made me feel really good because he is the one who taught me about the program since we started at the FHC. The class was a short one. It only last about 30 minutes. So I took them out on the computer and helped them get on FamilySearch.org. I helped them register so they can obtain LDS ordinance data. They both just happened to have their temple recommends with them that has their membership number on it. In order to register you need your membership number and your confirmation date. Both can be obtained from the ward clerk of the ward. They found 13 generations of people with the LDS ordinances on some of them anyway. The son had a flash drive so it was tricky to download it onto the hard drive then onto his flash drive. There is an extra step in there that isn’t explained (everything else had step by step directions.) So I cornered another missionary who I knew would probably know how to do it, which he did, and he showed them what to do. As I watched, I tho’t, “well, that’s my thing I learned new today and I was only here for four hours today.” The mother and son stayed until closing. I felt like I just kind of played all day. It is fun teaching!

An Eventful Three Weeks

2008-02-17T18:00:00.002-07:00

It has been three weeks since I wrote. In that time our beloved prophet Gordon B. Hinckley died. We were able to watch his funeral while at the FHC....not one single patron came in during that time. We have a new prophet, Thomas S. Monson with Henry B.Eyring and Dieter F. Uchtdorph as his counselors. I have expected President Monson to be our prophet since I can remember the day he was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve at age 36 44 years ago. I can very well remember that day. He was my brother-in-law’s mission president in Canada and he married my sister and her husband in the Salt Lake Temple. My husband and I weren’t able to attend because we forgot our temple recommends. We were picked up by my aunt and uncle and had our two babies along because we had just moved to Roy, Utah and didn’t know anyone to baby sit. We were able to see the bride and groom and everyone else who attended except we didn’t get to meet Elder Monson. That was really sad. Two days later we attended the same temple (my aunt watched the two little ones for us) when my husband’s brother was married by Elder Spenser W. Kimball. As I showed my recommend, I tho’t of a popular song that was being sung at that time, Happiness Is…. Happiness is having your temple recommend with you when you need it. I felt so much more secure that day. It was terrible before to not have it with me and know I was worthy to be there but didn’t have the proof.

Last Sunday was the dedication of the Rexburg temple. There were four different dedicatory services held that day. Ours was the last one at 4:30 pm. We got to the church about 3 :45 and the chapel was all but full. A woman was saving a place for her husband but moved down and there was room for all three of us. It was very special. At first I was very disappointed and surprised that President Monson wasn’t there. Elder Russell M. Nelson conducted and gave the dedicatory prayer. Also Elder David R Bednar and he wife, Susan were there and they both spoke. Elder Bednar was president of Ricks/BYUI when the transition from the one to the other was made. They both gave very good talks. Elder Eyring was supposed to have been there (he also was a former President of Ricks) but he had broken his ankle and since he is 72 years old, his doctors told him to stay home. The first counselor in the temple presidency and his wife both spoke. And they called on three others who were involved in the temple planning. They were all good speakers. There was also a choir there too of 18 people. There wasn’t room for a larger choir. Elder Bednar explained and led the Hosanna shout. I’m so glad I was able to attend. We were home before 6:00. It is so wonderful that they could “pipe” thro’ satellite those proceedings to the area chapels so everyone who wanted to could witness the proceedings.

We have been busy at the FHC. The last few times I’ve been so busy helping people I haven’t gotten much done on the obituary indexing. My husband has spent all of his time doing them, however. Wednesday, I helped a woman with temple ready. She wanted to seal two husbands to each wife of the people she was doing the work for. So there were six people involved. I had to really think to get all of the names on the same file. But the Spirit helped me and I was able to do it. A new missionary was sitting there close by and after we got thro’ with it she said, “I know who I want to help me when I’m ready” while looking at me. I told her I would be glad to help her anytime.

Then yesterday, this other woman came in. She wanted to find out more on David Smith Park, one of her ancestors. As we got to looking around in the IGI and Ancestral File, we found a David Smith Park but the same information was on a David Alfred Park. The same parents, spouse and birth ate and death date. He was born in Provo. So someone suggested that we look at the old ward records that we have there on microfilm. So I looked for the film online at the Family History Catalog. We found the film number. We got it out and hooked it up. It was stake records and not what we wanted at all. It was supposed to have been from 1842 to 1890. It didn’t even start until 1907. So we went back to the drawer and were looking at the films that were by the other one. I said, why don’t we try this one and picked the one just below the other one. We hooked it up and it only took five minutes or so and we found that whole family. His father, mother and all of their children. And his name is David Alfred. I asked where she got the Smith from. She said that it was from an aunt who was a descendant of his. His mother’s maiden name was Smith so it did make sense. Anyway, she said she wanted a copy of it. So we marked the spot and took it over to the digital copier. (I’m sooo glad that I’ve used it enough that I knew what I was doing!) But it wouldn’t turn on. It turned out that the plug was loose or the power strip was turned off. (The patron is the one who checked that out so I not sure which). And it turned out that the computer hadn’t even been booted up. And just as we were finding that out they announced that the library would be closing in 12 minutes! We were finally able to get her copies. It was a wonderful feeling. Just as I was thinking about how we actually found it, I told the patron,”I think we were led to this.” And she agreed. We were a few minutes late leaving, but no one seemed to mind and realized that what we were getting was very important. It was a good day!

This is this weeks entry!

2008-01-27T17:24:00.001-07:00

I didn’t go exercise this week either. The temperatures were so cold Monday and Tuesday that I didn’t go anywhere. They didn’t even have school Tuesday (Monday was a school holiday anyway or they wouldn’t have had school anyway.) It was a -34 with wind chill. Now that is cold!

I had my nails done Wednesday and didn’t go anywhere Thursday or Friday. I did get my book and video/DVD shelves cleared off and organized Friday tho’. It really was an all day job. I gathered up all of the VHS’s and put them in plastic bags to take to DI. They are still good and can be used again so I don’t just want to throw them away. Many of the movies that were recorded on them we now have the DVD for. And the others I didn’t want to watch them anymore. One time was enough.

Wednesday at the FHC I typed on obituaries for most of the day. I did check two drawers of micro film and then looked at the one micro film and found some more Bernard’s. They have all had their work done. But I at least have them added to my line now. Yesterday tho’ was very different. We had five missionaries not there for various reasons so we were short. And we got very busy. I helped eight or nine people my self! The most ever in one day. I was able to show some people how to do the digital copier that enables one to make a copy of information from a micro film. It has taken me a while to learn it but I have used it four or five times myself now so am quite proficient at it. I’m glad I have learned how to use this tool. I was the only one there yesterday who knew how to use it. It gives me such a good feeling when I help or teach someone. One couple came in to put her stepmother’s name on a temple submission disk so she could do her work and have her sealed to the husband. They had me do the typing. Usually I just sit beside them and tell them what to do. But the wife said she didn’t know anything about computers and her husband did but didn’t have the right glasses with him so he couldn’t see the screen that well. After I go thro’ I asked them if they had a PAF program on their computer. The husband relied, “Yes, but I don’t know anything about it so it doesn’t do me any good.” I told him that if he would bring his information on his children, parents, grandparents etc. (and the right glasses [this with a smile and he smiled back]) that one of us would sit down with him and walk him thro’ it and by the time he had all of that information on he would know enough about the program that he would be able to do it himself. The wife asked when I worked. I told her Wednesdays 1-9 and Saturdays 9-5. That made me feel really good that she asked. I will look for them next week.

Last evening and today was Stake Conference. We had planned on going but we were both so tired by the time we got home from the FHC that we didn’t get there last night. My husband sang in the choir today and we both went. I was glad I did. It was a very good meeting and the music was just wonderful. They did such a good job both the singers and the accompanists.

I am determined to do more exercising this coming week. Time will tell.

The week of January 20, 2008

2008-01-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

This was written last week but the blogger site wouldn't accept it last week and I forgot about it until now so it is posted a week late.

This past week has been kind of laid back. I haven’t exercised nearly as much as I should have done but when the temperatures are below zero it is so hard to go out when you don’t absolutely have to. I’ve kept busy at home. I’ve working on an I’m a Child of God plague for our youngest grandchild. I accomplished quite a bit on that last week. At the FHC we have both been working on indexing Obituaries for South East Idaho. We type in the name of the images that were digilized last summer so then can be sent into the Family Search Program in SLC and will be able to be obtained online from anywhere in the world. That is so remarkable. I’ve also been working on a micro film that after I ordered it from SLC I found out that it was already at the library. I have found 72 people some I have found after checking the IGI have their work done but some don’t. They are on the Meier line which takes off from the Bernhard line which takes off from the Rufener line which takes off from the Wendel line. So it is back aways. I have to go back over the Bernhards who are on the same film and I may be able to add more to my line.

The other day I was wondering where I had put the cards that had the baptisms and confirmations of the people Natasha and Collin were baptized for the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I was thinking that I had put them in my temple suit case so my sweetheart and I could do the initiatory work the next time we went thro’ the temple again. They weren’t in there. I couldn’t imagine where I had put them and felt some urgency to find them. These were people who were waiting to have their work done and I was so afraid that I wouldn’t be able to find them. My tho’t was: the Lord will help me find them. Yesterday morning while I was saying my morning prayers, I was asking for His help. The tho’t came to me: they may be in that desk drawer with the tracker sheets. I knew that I had entered the baptisms on my PAF file. I had also taken all the duplicate cards and put them together and in my temple suitcase so I could take them back to the temple. I then tho’t: Maybe I got them mixed up with them. Then my tho’t immediately went back to look in that desk drawer. So I did. And there were three different tracking sheets. Each had a pink sticky on it. One had 13 females, another had 10 males and another had Sealings. I looked inside them and sure enough there they were! I am so thankful for the gift of the Holy Ghost and that I am worthy of His promptings and can recognize them. That experience made me feel warm and fuzzy all over and was a good beginning to a good day.

It's 2008!

2008-01-12T18:57:00.000-07:00

I actually wrote this in Word them forgot to post it on here on January 6th. So I'll post it now. Sorry about that.

I can’t believe it is now 2008! I don’t know where 2007 went. And I don’t feel as old as I tho’t I would if I lived this long (most of the time anyway). 2008 arrived very quietly at our house. My husband was doing one of his SUDOKUs and I was playing Mah Jong on the computer and it just sneaked in. The moment was here before we knew it.

New Year’s day we went to the Rexburg Temple open house. It is such a beautiful building! It sits there on top of the east hills so majestically. We went to the Stake Center next door first. They ushered us into the chapel to wait for our turn to start the tour. We waited about 20 minutes. They then took us to a classroom and showed us a video about the history of temples. Many of the temple rooms they showed us were of the Rexburg temple I realized as I went thro’ them. After that they guided thro’ a covered walkway over to the temple. It was about a block long and had three sets of steps (kind steps) on the way. Then we were there. The first floor has the baptistery and the locker/dressing rooms for both men and women.

We went up two flights of stairs. They did give us a choice of using the stairs or the elevator. The stairs also looked just like the ones at Winter Quarter’s Temple. I knew I had done those so I chose the stairs. Little did I know?? On the second level were the main dressing rooms for the patrons. The other dressing rooms were for the people doing baptisms for the dead. . They had so many people there to show us the way it wasn’t possible to get lost. But as my group was to turn left, I turned right and went thro’ the women’s dressing room. It’s a lot like the dressing room at the Winter Quarter’s temple. All the way thro’ I was wondering if those people ahead of me were the same ones that were ahead of me before. As I left the dressing room I was still thinking that. One of the ushers came up to me saying “Ma’m Ma’m”. When I finally realized that he was talking to me he told me that he tho’t I had lost my group. I had. My husband had noticed that I was no longer with them and had told him I may have gone the wrong way. So I went thro’ the women’s dressing room twice. Then I was sure it was set up like the one at the Winter Quarter’s Temple.

The next flight of steps had at least 25 steps in. (what more is there to do than count the steps as you are going up them?) On this floor are the ordinance rooms. There were two of them but we only got to see one of them. They each have murals in painted by Leon Parsons who grew up in or around Rexburg. The one we saw was a mountain scene with deer and elk etc. and lots of trees. It was beautiful. The room had rich brown wood and beautiful chandeliers. We also saw the Celestial room on that floor. It is sooo beautiful. It had mirrors on either side and such beautiful crystal chandeliers. It had such a feeling of peace there also. The pamphlet they put out explained that many of the materials were imported from other countries, wood from Africa and stone and tile from Israel. There are stained glass windows throughout the building that depict a wheat stalk. The last and final floor had the sealing rooms on it. The last steps we went up had 35 steps in it! The sealing rooms are very spacious and beautiful. They all are at least as big as the largest one in the IF temple. They had a smaller version of the chandelier in the celestial room. And small crystal lamps on the walls like the sealing rooms at the Winter Quarter’s temple. And the Mt. Timpanogos also. Then we walked all the way down all of those steps without stopping. There was another flight of stairs that I wondered where they led to but I wasn’t disappointed that they didn’t take us up there. I counted 89 steps on the way down! I’m not sure if I lost count or not when my husband spoke to me. but there were at least 89. My husband asked me if I wanted to take the elevator down. I told him no that going down wasn’t nearly has hard on my knees as going up was. He says that going down is harder. But it doesn’t hurt as much. But my knees were surely wobbley by the time we got down. Even going down the kind steps in the walkway I could feel the weakness in them. It was good to sit down while we had refreshments. The weather was cold but no wind and the sky was a beautiful blue with the bright sunshine. It was a beautiful day all in all.

Our 2007 Christmas

2007-12-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas. We had the biggest snowfall on Christmas Eve day this year. Even bigger than the first Saturday in October when we got eight inches. We got pretty close to a foot of snow this time. It snowed all day long we are told. The evidence was here when we got back from our daughter’s on the 26th. It was snowing hard when we left here about noon. We usually don’t like to travel in that kind of weather but figured that Blackfoot wasn’t really that far and we really wanted to be there. It took us over an hour to get from our house to theirs. We couldn’t go any faster than 45 mph. It was bad. If we’d had to go any further or longer, I’m not sure we would have done it. But the snow let up about three miles north of Blackfoot. The sky didn’t clear but we could see further than a block. At one time it was almost a whiteout and we couldn’t see any further than a car length ahead of us. We are thankful it wasn’t that way very long…about a minute or two was all.

Since Grandma was going to be alone for Christmas this year we had planned on going down to get her and bring her back with us. And the take her back home on the 26th. Well, she was able to be there with us but we didn’t have to travel to her home at all. She had told the kind people who take her to church in the wintertime so she doesn’t have to drive on those slick roads that we were going down the next day to pick her up and bring her here. They told her that they were coming up here then and would be glad to bring her with them. She wasn’t sure about that because she wanted her car to go for a run to charge up the battery. I told her it would surely help us out and Grandpa agreed. So we decided that was a good way to go. Then my BIL called us a little later and told us that he would be taking wife to up here for her dialysis treatment on the 26th and if we wanted to meet them there before 1:00 pm then he would be glad to take Grandma home with them. It worked out sooo well. And she thoroughly enjoyed being there too. She didn’t say too much but I could tell she was enjoying just sitting there watching everyone, the adults as well as the children. On Christmas Eve it was just us three and our daughter. SIL and their youngest daughter. So they invited two of their neighbors to dinner who had lost their wives. The one had to leave before our program to go to pick up his daughter from work. But the other one stayed for the program. He said he so much enjoyed it. And he isn’t even LDS. For our program we took turns reading the scriptures from the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Our granddaughter played a beautiful piano solo, a medley of Christmas Carols. And Grandpa sang Star of the East and O Holy Night. This year it was a little different in that our granddaughter sang the whole song of the first one. (Last year she just did the duet the first time thro’ then the second verse.) Since Grandpa’s voice still wasn’t up to par from the cold he’s been fighting, she consented to sing the second one with him too…without any rehearsal. She had been telling me that she was a good sight reader so I asked her if she wished to really show us how good she was. She said, “Sure”. It has a high G in three places. The first time she came to it she just stopped and said, “I don’t know if I can do that.” But the second and third time she hit both of them strong and right on! It was beautiful. I got chills down my spine sitting there at the piano accompanying them. And their voices blend so beautifully. I told them both, “I don’t care which ward you sing in but you need to sing together for sacrament meeting. You need to share this talent with others.” Later I was thinking that they might as well do it in both wards because they will have it prepared and it won’t be that hard to do. They both agreed. So time will tell.

The next morning we got up a little before 7:30 and had opened about ¾ of our presents when our oldest granddaughter, her husband and little girl came. They came in their PJ’s and with their gifts unopened. That was surely fun especially watching the little one open her gifts and a few others as well. We were just getting thro’ with breakfast when our second oldest granddaughter her husband and children got there. It was fun with them too. Three of the four children really warmed up to me. They each gave me a hug as they were leaving. The fourth was a little more distant so we will give him more time. Their father said that all of them are doing so much better since they are now living there with him and his wife. They now have some consistency and structure in their lives which is so good for them. Their little faces are even brighter now. His wife is doing an awesome job in loving them, teaching them and disciplining them. She is doing so well having just jumped in with those children in her life. We were all there for dinner. There were 15 of us! Our only daughter’s family is growing!

I made some family group sheets (five generations of them) with pictures for everyone for our gift this year. When you get back I give some to you or you can copy off the ones I gave your dad and mom. I was sooo excited to learn how to do that at the family history center. I also compiled some stories that I found online of some of the pioneer ancestors in both Grandpa’s and my line. I took them to Zip Print and they bound it into a little book. It turned out quite nicely too.

We are so thankful to be alive at this time when the gospel has been restored. I am so thankful for computers. I can see how they will definitely help us to get our genealogy done and find our ancestors. Our mission is showing us new things all of the time. It is very evident to me that the Lord’s hand is in all of this and that this is all part of His plan. I am so grateful for this time of year which gives us a little more time (if we take it) to reflect on the birth and life of our Savior and what He has done for us so we can return to our Heavenly Father. I love the feeling of love and giving that surrounds us this time of the year.

The Week of December 2

2007-12-09T16:46:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy week. We still don’t have our Christmas tree up yet. I was going to do it two different days last week then other things took precedent. We should be able to do it tomorrow. I’m starting in with another cold again!! Yes I am taking Zicam. I hope it prevents it from getting too bad. It hasn’t been three weeks since my last one and it had only been four or five weeks since the one before. I sick and tired of colds! Of course I guess it could be something worse.

I have been able to index over 1200 names so far. It is actually fun. I can do a few here and a few there two or three times a day. Yesterday I did indexing of the Southeast Idaho Death records that have been digilized and after they are indexed they will be put on DVD’s and sent to SLFHC where they will eventually be put on FamilySearch.org. I also helped a man yesterday update his records….it took at least 2 ½ hours. We put his over 200 names thro’ PAF Insight then temple ready and by time we got thro’ he had only 25 ordinances that needed to be done…for only seven or eight individuals. I told him that that is why we up date and check. Because altho’ it took time to do it, it didn’t take nearly as long as duplicating all of the ordinances of all of those people. He agreed.
I was tired when I got home but it was a good kind of tired. Karl also did the indexing of the death records. We both finished the cemeteries we were working on. He was working on Challis and I was working on Driggs. He is doing very well there at the center and everyone is so kind to help us whenever we have a question about something. It is sooo good to have someone there who knows more about things that we do.

Monday I spent the day making two batches of pumpkin orange bread, one batch of fruit cake and one batch of Christmas bread. I got it all done in good time but was surely tired when I got thro’. I found out that my back does still bother me if I’m on my feet all day long. Tuesday I went for a message. My scoliosis has disappeared. I remember Shelley telling me when I first started with the massages four years ago, that my shoulders were going one way and my hips the other and my spine was shaped like an S. My spine is straight up and down now. I was as much as three inches forward four years ago. I was still an inch forward but she was able to correct that. I’m so thankful for her talent of being able to help me this way. And it feels good too! That evening we went to the family Christmas party with the children. We usually don’t go but Greg Hulet called and asked me to play the piano while the congregation sang Christmas Carols. So we went. I am glad we did. It was fun. Each of the auxiliaries did a part on the program. It was great fun. And I have found out that since I’ve had this calling as a missionary, I can play anything out of the hymn book even tho’ I haven’t practiced it that day. I did practice the songs that Greg gave me but, the young men sang one of them so instead of duplicating we changed it and I was able to play it just fine. I am so thankful for the blessings the Lord has blessed me with.

Wednesday we went to APPLE Athletic Club for my water aerobics class and Karl exercised up stairs. That afternoon and evening we were at the FHC. I found out that a film I had ordered was already there so I looked at for awhile. I was able to find my people, the Bernhards and Meiers in Switzerland. My Grandma Wendel’s mother was a Bernhard and her mother was a Meier if I remember right. I hope to be able to find many more families on there, especially siblings of my people. I did find another daughter in the first family I found. At first I found another son too but the Spirit let me know that he was in another family.

Thursday we went to the Silver Sneakers Christmas Party at APPLE that was held after class. It was fun. And that night I went to enrichment at Verna Rae John’s home where we played games and learned how to dip bite sized cheese cakes. It was much fun too.

Friday we went to APPLE again, me for my water aerobics class and Karl to exercise upstairs. That evening we went to the FHC’s Christmas Party/zone meeting. It was $9 a plate which did seem kind of steep but since we only eat one dinner between us anyway that all we ordered and we each had plenty to eat. It was very nice.

I already told you about yesterday. Today, two of the three Christmas carols we sang in sacrament meeting I had been practicing all week to do for RS. So we wouldn’t duplicate we changed our songs. I love Christmas carols but I don’t enjoy singing the same ones twice in one day. I know the Lord blesses me. If I practice I have done all I can do and when it is changed at the spur of the moment He does the rest for the ones I haven’t practiced so that I can play as if I had practiced them. Isn’t that wonderful? He does that with all of our inadequacies and shortcomings. I am so thankful to Him for that as well as the many others things He has done for me. I love this time of year and the love that is felt all around. Too bad it doesn’t last the whole year thro’.

Our Thanksgiving

2007-12-02T17:23:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We went down to Michael & Tanya’s there in Lehi. It was so nice being there with them. We originally planned on leaving Wednesday morning but Karl started down with a bad cold Monday evening and he was still miserable Wednesday so we waited until Thursday morning to leave. He started taking Airborne that Monday evening and altho’ it still got bad it didn’t last as long. It was so nice being there with them and their children. Their little girls are so cute. Up to now Abbie hasn’t wanted anything to do with me. She would smile at me across the table but wouldn’t get any closer. This time she gave me hug after hug. She’d run at me and throw her arms around me. It was so neat. Kendra didn’t want to get very close tho’. But Abbie made up for it. We got down there about 2:45 or so. We had dinner around 4:00 so we were there in plenty of time. We played games and more games while we were there. We of course played Pinochle. Tanya even got a double pinochle dealt to her!! The first time ever! The men have gotten so many more double pinnaclesys than the women there is no comparison. I think we have had five now and they have had at least 15. It is still fun playing tho’. We also learned to play The Settlers of Catan. It is so much fun. Each game is different because of the way to place the cards which make up the board. Karl played one game with us. After that he said he had much more fun just watching us play. Six of us can play that at a time so Natasha and Collin played too. That is the first time I have seen a sullen side of Collin. After awhile he was back to his happy self tho’. We went to church with them and had some very enjoyable meetings. We had dinner Sunday with my mother. She had gone to Soda Springs to my sister, Joy’s, with my other sister Bonnie and her husband David. She got back Saturday evening. It was good to see her. Kim & Kimberly came to IF to have Thanksgiving with her parents. We saw them Sunday evening also. We left Monday morning to come home. We stopped in Far West by Ogden to pick up Karl’s mother and took her to Grace. She spent Thanksgiving at Stan & Kathy’s in Roy. They took her over to Jewel’s Saturday evening. It takes longer to come home by way of Grace but since it was in our general direction of travel it didn’t make sense for others to make the extra trip up and back. We stopped and saw Karen & Kent too. Shani and Macie were there too and of course Kylie. It was good to see all of them. It was about 7:15 pm when we got home. It was a long day. It was sooo good to be home and sleep in our own bed. It gets more and more that way as we grow older.

Wednesday at the FHC I helped three patrons. I helped three other people also….other missionaries. I helped one sister with the digital microfilm copier. I had been shown how to do it a couple of times before but the last time was in July and since I hadn’t used it since I couldn’t remember anymore about it. Since no one else knew anymore than I did I got out of my comfort zone and she and I together figured out the written directions. I prayed while we were doing it and my prayer was answered. I was able, with the help of the Lord, to help her figure out how to do it. As I was looking for someone more experienced than I, I realized that there were only about three other people who had been there longer than we have. I still feel so new that I was surprised to realize that we are now veterans of the place. J A little later a sister came in who wanted to learn how to research and what you do to find someone in Scotland. He was born in Scotland and died in England. I was out of my comfort zone again. I uttered another prayer for help and felt the Spirit guide me as I led her on her search. We were unable to find him…the census records don’t go back to 1830 there in the UK. They don’t start until 1850 or so and since he died in 1833 (he was married in 1830) we could not find a record of him. But I told her about some of the patron classes that are held and got a class schedule for her. There is a class on research in Scotland within the next two weeks. I felt that I was prompted to tell her about that. It is such a neat feeling to help others. The third person was a young woman that I helped put her grandfather and uncle’s name thro’ Temple Ready to make the Temple Submission Disk. (Now that was in my comfort zone.) She was expecting her third baby in March and her oldest won’t be three until May. I told her that I had had the same situation. She seemed to be comforted to know that someone else had been in her same situation. I felt that I had had a good worthwhile shift. Saturday, altho’ I didn’t help any patrons (I did help Karl) I did some indexing online and also helped index the obituaries that need to be done by the end of the year. There are thousands and thousands that need to be done. I’m not sure how many I did but I went form the Sh’s to the end of the S’s in the Ashton Cemetery. It took two or three hours. I felt good about my accomplishment. I now have 800 names to my credit on the indexing online. I do enjoy doing it. Karl helped one of the missionaries there with PAF Insight. I thought that was neat. It didn’t seem to register with him.

Today our meetings were special. We had a good sacrament meeting filled with the Spirit and a good Sunday School lesson on God is Love and a good RS lesson too on pretty much the same thing. Oh, I forgot to mention that we tied a quilt Tuesday morning for the humanitarian effort. Our Stake (I really think it is region because other women I know in other stakes are doing the same thing.) has pledged to make hundreds of crib quilts for the humanitarian effort. Karl helped me tie it. It was fun. It didn’t take nearly as long as I thought it would. We had taken it down with us so Michael, Tanya, Natasha and Collin could help us too. But we had too much fun playing games. Karen called and said that she would come up and we could all go over to Shani’s and have a quilt tying party. But by the time Karen got here, it was all done. So we didn’t go. If I had another one to do (if I’d known how easy it was I may have had another one to do.) I would have gone over. It was a relief to get it done tho’. Our ward donated 70 quilts…we led the stake we were told.

That’s about all for this time. I’m so grateful for my health and for the opportunity that I have of serving as a service missionary. I’m grateful for my family, my husband, children and their sweethearts and grandchildren and great grandchildren. I’m so very thankful to be alive at this time when the gospel has been restored and so many good things are happening. I’m thankful for the knowledge I have about the Plan of Salvation and to know that I have a loving Heavenly Father who gave us the greatest gift of all, his only Begotten Son, so that we may return to Him. I’m grateful for what Jesus Christ has done for me that I may return to my Heavenly Father. I’m thankful for the guides that the church and gospel gave me in raising my children. I have so much to be grateful for.

Third Week of November, 2007

2007-11-18T14:07:00.000-07:00

I didn’t write last week altho’ I did have a couple of things to write about. I’ve been getting things around for our children for Christmas so that has been taking up most of my spare time. I’ve just about got it completed. I want to have it done so I can take it down to Michael and Kim and our mothers when we go down to Michael & Tanya’s for Thanksgiving. I’m really looking forward to that. It’s been since July since we were down there.

About a month ago I ordered a micro film from SLC FHC. I’ve been looking at it periodically over the last few weeks. It is the Billiter notes that Julius Billiter compiled from the parish records in Blumenstein, Bern Switzerland. I have found all of the people that I already have on it, corrected a birthday on my second great grandmother, found two more complete generations and seven more children on another generation so far. I’ve checked them all on the IIGI and all of the work is completed except for a sealing of one son to his parents. But it is still so exciting to find other people! There are many more records to go thro’. And after Christmas I will check the FHC Library Catalog to see if he has the names of others also. I imagine he did other families besides the Rufeners. I hope so. They are all type written so are very easy to read. That makes it very nice.

Last week I had two dentist appointments and one doctor’s appointment. I had my six month checkup the week before at the dentist. He wanted to extend a filling on my one crown that he had fixed five months before…no charge. That was Monday. Then Tuesday, I had a six month check visit with the endodontist who did my root canal six months ago. He said that everything looked good. And then Wednesday, I had an appointment with Dr. Baird who did my gastric bypass surgery. He saw me six months ago and wanted me to return in six months to see if I’d lost any more weight. I did see Sandy Birch, the dietician with the New U program, and she told me that my weight was just fine and as long as I keep exercising and keeping my portions small I should be just fine. Dr. Baird agreed and said he wanted to see me again in a year. Thursday I went to Silver Sneakers, my visiting teachers came and went to our RS Book Club that night. We discussed Sheri Dew’s latest book, God wants a Powerful People. We all really enjoyed it and discussed some of her unique experiences and the lessons she pointed out from them. We won’t meet again until January. We will read Richard Paul Evans newest novel in the mean time. None of us could remember the title.

I started coming down with a cold Friday night. I started in on the Zicam. I was able to go to the FHC yesterday and didn’t feel too bad until about an hour before closing time. By the time I went to bed I was really miserable. Sometimes a good nights sleep is enough but I wondered so called Sharon Butler to ask if she could play for me in RS if I didn’t feel like going. I got up this morning and called Sharon to ask her to play for me then went back to bed where I stayed until Karl got home from church. I started reading Rachel Ann Nunes lastest book, Flying Home. It is very good. Of course I got some extra sleep to. I want to be over this so it doesn’t interfere with our going to Utah for Thanksgiving. I’m feeling a little better now so I think the Zicam is working.

We had 2nd Wednesday last Wednesday where we take potluck to the FHC. I took a modified recipe of chicken cooked in the crock pot with Ranch salad dressing powder sprinkled on it and onions cut up. After it had cooked for three hours I put in cream of mushroom soup mixed with cream cheese in and then after cooking up brown rice I stirred it in also. It’s supposed to be served over rice or noodles but I tho’t that way would work better. Everyone really liked it. We didn’t bring any home at all.

Then Saturday we had potluck again. We are the only ones who work both Wednesdays and Saturdays. Yesterday I took the cranberry, apple salad I do every year for Thanksgiving. We did bring some of it home but not too much.

We also stopped into Porter’s last week to get the materials for the baby quilt we are to donate for humanitarian puposes. I need to get it marked and sewn together in the envelope method so we can take it down with us and all of Michael’s family (except the two little ones can help with it and I can turn it in next week.

Oh, and yesterday Karl and I learned how to do indexing. Leo Mondock is one of our missionaries and he is also an arbitrator for the program and and strong advocate for it. he showed me then he helped me show Karl and we worked together and did 75 names plus our other duties while there. The second batch we did were Spanish. He helps me with the Spanish but I think I will be able to do it OK. They are begging for those who will do the Spanish indexing. With his help I’ll be able to do it. And it is fun!! I think we will really enjoy it. he will sign up himself before too long I think.

The last week of October 2007

2007-11-04T17:22:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe it is November already! I’m not sure where this year has gone. It will be 2008 before I know it.

I believe I mentioned before that I have been “dragging”. Well, we had a doctor’s appointment last Tuesday. Karl went for an insulin resistance test at 8:00 am. Our appointment was at 3:00 pm. Dr. Liljenquist told us that his test was about the same. No better but no worse. He is to now take his two metformin twice a day instead of just once. I hope it helps. He has gained weight. As I have. About five pounds for me. I need to work hard to get it off. Our vital signs were normal. The results of the blood work that we had done will be sent to us sometime this week. I also had an iron infusion. I think I’m feeling better. Right now it is hard to tell. I had a big last three days. We didn’t go to the Family History Center last Wednesday because the center closed at noon that day because of Halloween. I was surprised to learn that. But we also found out that it will be closed from noon Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving until the next Monday and also from December 22 @ 5:00 pm until January 7 for Christmas. That sounds really good. All these closures show that it is really family oriented.

Altho’ I didn’t go to the center on Wednesday, I went on Friday to work for Anna Jean Sweat who subbed for me in August (twice so I have one more payback for her.) when we were visiting Bryan and Sandy and family. I did help two people Friday. It took awhile with both. Afterwards on Friday I got home just before 5:30. I was very tired but couldn’t let down because of the High Priest Quorum banquet that night at 6:30. I made it OK and was very glad I went. We got home a little after 8:00 pm. I just kind of lay around until it was time to go to bed. Because I had to go back again Saturday. I was able to get up and go and got along OK but I was surely tired. I am so glad we have a couple of days in between the days we go there regularly. It is much easier to have the energy to do it. Then today being Sunday and church and all….It has been getting harder lately to get up and ready and there before 9:00. Altho’ I’ve been able to do it, it has been hard and I’m really ready for a nap Sunday afternoon. Usually it is only about 45 minutes but today it was 2 hours!! Like I said I think the iron infusion may have helped me. Also I know the Lord helped me do it. Each morning while saying my prayers I asked the Lord to bless me to make it thro’ the day and to do what I had to do. He really did bless me. Even a year ago but especially two years ago I wouldn’t have been able to have three big days in a row like that.

That is about all that happened all week. This week I need to get back into the habit of exercising five days a week as well as everything else I need to do. I’m working on Chirstmas for our children so we can take it with us to Utah when we go to Michael’s for Thanksgiving. I’ve just about got everything together that I want. Now to finish it up. That will be what I will be doing this next week also.

Another Week

2007-10-30T07:15:00.000-07:00

This week has been a good week. Monday, I went to the Joint Efforts water exercise class. That is the class where we move more slowly. When I woke up Monday morning I didn’t feel like rushing to get to the 9:00 water aerobics so I waited until 1:00 to go. That way Karl was able to go with me too. He can’t go at 9:00 anymore because he is helping (tutoring) the first graders at Tiebreaker Elementary school in reading. He does enjoy doing that. Tuesday, I did make it to Silver Sneakers exercise class. Even tho’ we sit on chair a lot and march while doing so or lifting weights etc. it amazes me how much I need it. It is challenging enough for me while I am doing it that I know that it benefits me to go. I know a few people whom it has really helped also. One woman used to have to use a cane and no longer does. And I’ve met people that I wouldn’t know otherwise whom I really enjoy associating with. One woman, I found out grew up in El Paso and her dad used to be my Grandpa and Grandma Hurst’s bishop. It is a small world.

Wednesday of course we went to the FHC. I went to two classes that day. One was on Mary’s Genealogical Treasures which can be found online. Brother Wulf explained that anything you would want to find that has to do with genealogy or family history you can find a link to from her site. She also has links to all of the LDS scriptures temples, etc. Yes she is LDS. The other class was an advanced PAF class. Brother Larsen taught it and there was a gal there who is a professional genealogist and she helped him with it too. It w as on the importance of listing your sources of documentation for the information you put on your PAF program. I need to start doing that. When we took the class from Renae Ellis in 1988 she really stressed documentation and we got copies of all of our birth certificates and blessing certificates, baptism certificates, etc. I had wondered how those fit in with the PAF program. He also helped me straighten out some things to do with the class I was to teach on Saturday.

Thursday we went to silver Sneakers again (the first time we’ve gone both times in the week since we started back last month) and then I went visiting teaching. I go to Ethel Baron by myself because Amy Smith is my companion and she is working full time now and can’t leave until 6:00 pm. And Ethel wants to be visited in the late morning or early afternoon. We went to see Sharen Stech. We are also assigned to her mother who used to live with her but she is now at the assisted living facility, The Turtle and Crane on First Street. So it isn’t much farther to go. I also usually visit her alone too because Sharen and her daughter are usually there in the evening and I don’t think she needs four visitors at once.

I got the results back from my Feritin level. It was 40 which is still within normal limits but it had dropped from 169. I would think that much of a drop would make me drag. I’ll find out at our doctor’s appointment we have Tuesday, October 30.

Friday I went to the 9:00 water aerobics class. It was the first time to that class since the Friday before. I worked hard and didn’t do too much until it was time to get ready to go to the temple that evening. It was zone conference with the missionaries at the FHC. We were asked to be in our seats all dressed in white for the chapel session then go to the 7:00 session after that. It was very special being there with those people. There was such a special feeling there. The sister who spoke to us, Sister Myers, I had just met Wednesday evening at the center. She took Sister Sylvester’s place from 5-9. She’s a very sweet lady. She made us smile. She was referring to the wives of King Benjamin and Nephi. Since their names aren’t given in the scriptures, she called them Mrs. Queen Benjamin and Mrs. Nephi. I tho’t, “that’s a clever idea; I’m not so sure I would have tho’t of it.”

That night after we got home from the temple, I worked on my PAF file for awhile and tried to back it up to my flash drive so I could start where I left off when I worked on it at the center the next day. The light on it kept flashing off and on (it had never done that before) and it took forever for the hour glass to go away. When it finally did a sign came up that said it couldn’t find the R drive. (Kim had helped me change it to that). I tho’t what gives here? I went into my computer and it had nothing on there. I tried to back up my PAF program to it and a sign came up that said that the R drive had been corrupted. I had about seven or eight things on it—one of which was the ancestry stuff that I had gotten from Bryan last August. Don’t ask me why but I never did transfer that to my hard drive and I certainly should have. I will be able to eventually retrieve it when we go there again next May if not before. Everything else I have on my hard drive except…..I was to teach a class on updating your records thro’ temple ready. I had made a file of 32 people of Grandma Hurst’s ancestors and deleted the ordinances so I would be sure and have some to find while teaching the class. I was to show the class how to prepare the ged.com file, go into the program, retrieve the ordinances that have been done and then how to restore them to your program. I just about panicked! I tho’t what do I do about my class? How do I get my PAF program to the center? Then I remembered that we had gotten Karl a flash drive, one gig, about a month ago. I didn’t really think he needed one but he wanted one and we got it for $10 so….I was so thankful that we had that. So I made a new file for my class and backed it up to Karl’s flash drive as well as my PAF program.

The class went well. There were no patrons there but seven of the missionaries were there. Two of them told me that I had done a good job and that they had learned something. That was rewarding. However, I was glad when it was all over.

My Week

2007-10-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

We woke up to almost snow yesterday. It did snow but didn’t stick. It is supposed to warm up this week. I hope so. I’m not ready for winter yet.

The FHC was the busiest I have seen on a Saturday yet since we started over six months ago. I myself helped with four different temple ready submission disks. I am so thankful that I have been able to learn how to do that and remember how. It is so satisfying and gives so much peace of mind to help others. The first part of the shift was kind of frustrating for me tho’. I am to teach a class to other missionaries and patrons that may come in next Saturday on updating your records with temple ready. I wanted to make a special file that I knew would have ordinances to download from the temple ready program. So I tried to make a partial file starting with my Grandma Hurst and going back 4 or 5 generations. Instead of going to export, (I had forgotten how to do it) I went right straight to the “Export for temple ready windows” and it brought up the wrong people. I tried it two or three times then went to Brother Mondock for help. As he was standing there and I was telling him what I did, it dawned on me that I was clicking on the wrong thing. He did walk me thro’ it but after I remembered what I was doing wrong it went OK. I was able to go ahead and do it and everything turned out all right. I saved it to my flash drive but I will have to redo it because when I got home the file came up as read only and I won’t be able to add to it. So I deleted it and will practice a few more times here at home. I will have time to make another file like that before my class this Saturday if I have to.

I helped Karl get started on using PAF Insight with his file. He is finding he still needs to do some editing. It is amazing how easy it is to miss some things altho’ you try so hard to get everything each time you go thro’ it. He is learning and doing well. It is so neat to work with the people we work with there at the center. The people we work with both on Wednesday and Saturday are very special.

I have been kind of dragging lately so I had a Feritin level drawn last Friday. I called a little later to find out the results and found out it is within the normal limits. So maybe I’m not getting enough exercise or not going to bed early enough. If I’m in bed before midnight, I can’t go to sleep until later. But I need to be up and gone before 9:00 every morning if I keep to my schedule of exercise and FHC. I just stayed home all day Thursday. It felt sooo good to not have to go anywhere (altho’ I should have gone to the Silver Sneakers exercise class.

Today before sacrament meeting I was sitting there in my seat with Karl and some ladies who were very friendly came in and sat down behind us. They explained that they were from the General Board of the Primary. There were six of them. One I recognized from our stake. She is on the Stake Primary Board. They have been visiting areas in Idaho all week. There were two from the Primary General Board and two from the Young Women’s General Board. After sacrament meeting as I was coming out of the restroom two of them were going in. They both commented told me what a beautiful singing voice my husband has. They said they just sat there and listened to him and thoroughly enjoyed it. I told them thank you. Then as I was walking down the hallway to the Sunday School class another one stopped me and told me the same thing. I know that the people at the FHC really enjoy his voice too. He leads the singing on both days. I really love hearing him sing too and whistle as well. It seems he is almost always whistling whether here at home, out side or even at the FHC if he’s checking the micro film or micro fische. He does have a wonderful talent in doing both. I’m thankful to be able to share it with him and listen to him often. He makes a few in our corner of the world a little happier.

It's Almost Winter!

2007-10-14T15:54:00.000-07:00

We had our first BIG snowstorm of the season last Saturday. (It had actually snowed the Saturday before but none stayed on the ground here.) We got about five inches and it snowed for six hours or more….a very wet snow that brought down many trees and took the power out to many people. We were fortunate enough that we didn’t have to deal with either. However, I was very frustrated just before the first session of conference because we couldn’t get reception from DISH. We had not been told that snow would interfere with it. So we turned on the radio and tuned into KBYI in Rexburg but it kept going out on us. I was very frustrated to say the least. I called Kim and asked him how we could get it on the computer. He walked me thro’ that and that is how we listened to the first session. We didn’t miss any of the talks but we didn’t hear about Elder Gonzalez call until later on in the conference when others referred to it. We didn’t have any more trouble the other sessions for which we were very thankful.

It was such a good conference. I think President Eyring will do a great job in the first presidency and I was also impressed with Elder Cook. I so enjoyed listening to all of the messages. My heart within me burned many times during the conference as the Spirit witnessed to me that what was being said was the truth. I am so thankful to live in this day and age when we can sit in the comfort of our own homes whether to listen via computer, TV or radio.

Since we started on our mission at the Regional Family History Center, I have come to know that computers were invented especially for family history. Last Wednesday Elder Killian, the director of the FHC taught us what we can expect with the new family search when it comes out. It will be a wonderful program. It should have all of the kinks worked out by the time you are home from your mission. It will be such a program that people can work from around the world on the same line. Elder Killian said that the one word we need to remove from our vocabulary regarding family history in order for it to work at a optimum is “my” as in “my ancestor”; we need to replace that with “our” as in “our ancestor”. He said that when you go back a few generations and count the people who have descended from one ancestor, you can see why. The descendants can be in the thousands! Also because of the computer we will be able to, thro’ the New Family Search, do (can already do some but it will get better) much research from the confines of our own homes on our own PC’s. That sounds so neat to me.

We extended our mission to Oct of 2009? We would be all thro’ (our release date was Oct 9, 2007) by now if we hadn’t. I am enjoying it so much and learning so much and get such a good feeling now that I know enough that I can help someone else and if I don’t know how I know who to turn to to get help for them. I get very tired on the days we go to the FHC but it is a good tired and I am so thankful that my health has improved enough that I can do something like this. Less than three years ago, I was wondering if I would see the age of 70! Now I am confident that I can live to be as old as my mother is now or even see 90 or older depending on the Lord's will. I just hope I will remain in good health and be able to keep on serving as I am now.

Our Special Sunday

2007-09-30T18:20:00.000-07:00

Today is my sweetheart’s 70th birthday. That surely doesn’t seem as old as I used to think it did, even tho’ it still sounds old. I can’t believe that in just six years I will be there too. He’s had a good day.

Our week was a pretty typical week. Friday, Saturday and Sunday have been very special, however. Friday evening we had the missionaries here for supper. I admitted to my husband, Karl that I do it not only because I enjoy having them but also because it gives him an excuse to help me clean up the house and make it presentable every once in a while. Elder Arellano is from Peru and Elder McCarreher is from Pennsylvania. They were hearty eaters which we enjoyed. We had Hawaiian haystacks with rolls. And mincemeat pie for dessert. I tho’t I had taken cherry pie out of the freezer to bake. When Karl took it out of the oven for me, I tho’t my goodness that cherry pie is pale, they must have forgotten to put the food coloring into the pie cherries. When I found out it was mincemeat, I was kind of concerned because I think I know more people who don’t like mincemeat than do. But they both liked it and seemed to enjoy it. Elder Arellano had two pieces even. They were only here a little over an hour but it was a good hour.

Saturday at the FHC we had a genealogy conference with Brother Paul Smart from SLC as the presentor. He was really big on Indexing. Almost every thing he showed us he would say that was possible because of Indexing or that would be so much easier if they had indexed it. He was trying to recruit as many of us as possible for Indexing. I think I am almost converted. I was going to talk to our ward FH consultants today but didn’t get a chance too. I had Karl drop me off at the church on his way home so I could attend the luncheon and RS General Broadcast. I was a little late but got there in plenty of time to eat. The broadcast was wonderful. I really enjoyed the music too. Music can make me very emotional. The way I could feel the spirit and with the beautiful music, I wasn’t able to talk for a little while afterwards. It makes me really look forward to next weekend for General Conference.

We had a very special day today. There was a new man on the stand with the bishopric when we got there. When Bishop John started to conduct he said, “Altho’ I’m usually nervous doing this today I am more nervous. Sister Mickelson told me to just take a deep breath and carry on.” He then announced that Elder Lynn and Sister Jeanine Mickelson of the First Quorum of Seventy were here in Idaho Falls and chose our ward to attend. What a neat experience having them there with us. A new couple in our ward, Julianna and Kevin Robinson (no relation that we can ascertain) spoke to us. Then Elder Mickelson spoke to us. He said that it was a real treat to be here with us and to feel the Spirit so strongly. He said it was a real treat singing the hymns in English because they are assigned to Mexico City in the Area Presidency there. I guess they are home for conference and since they are originally from IF they came home to see family. He talked about our sacrament hymn We Sing All Hail to Jesus Name. He told of the last feast of the Passover and how the Savior introduced the sacrament. Elder Mickelson has such a neat spirit about him. Sister Mickelson was sitting directly behind me and I turned around and met her after the meeting concluded. She shook my hand and said, “I’m so happy to meet you, Sister Robinson.” That really thrilled me to have her call me by name. I then went up and shook hands with Elder Mickelson. He also called me by name. Of course I had my name tag on so that helped.

They were in Sunday School with us too. I sat beside Sister Mickelson there. The last five to seven minutes of class Elder Mickelson asked Brother Mullins if it was okay if he asked a few questions. Of course Brother Mullins turned the time over to him. He first commented that there were two types of death. He then asked what physical death was and what spiritual death was. We talked about them for awhile. He asked me, calling me by name, and I can’t remember the exact question but the answer I gave was, “Because Jesus Christ was resurrected every person who ever lived will also be resurrected. He then went onto explain justification, the world’s definition and also the Lord’s or Paul’s definition. He is a great teacher! We were struggling with understanding not sanctification but justification by the Lord, Jesus Christ. What I got out of it was sanctification and justification by the Lord, Jesus Christ are one and the same. We went a little over but the spirit was sooo strong.

We then went into the cultural hall for our joint meeting with the priesthood and relief society. The song we were going to use for the opening song Lord I Would Follow Thee they used for a closing song in sacrament meeting. Sooo we sang # 130 Be Thou Humble. It is true that I have played it before but it has been long enough ago that I can’t remember when. But I had practiced almost every day last week and the Lord blessed me and I was able to play without many mistakes if any. I am very grateful for that. Bishop John talked about a special ward service project that he would need 40 couples for on October 13. He wants 20 couples from 8-12 and another 20 couples from 1-5. It sounds like they are doing an “extreme makeover” for a house of someone in our ward. He said he couldn’t tell us too much yet because the Lord just woke him up at 2:30 just this morning told him what he was to do. I was sitting there thinking, “we are committed to the FHC on Saturdays, which is more important. When I talked to him afterwards and told him that, he said, “And that is exactly where you are supposed to be on that Saturday. Thanks for telling me.” I felt much better. I wanted to help with the ward service project but couldn’t see how we could. Bishop John then talked on the Nine B’s that President Hinckley wrote about. It was a very good meeting.

After Bishop got thro’ speaking he asked Elder Mickelson so speak again. He spoke for only a few minutes but told of his love of the Prophet and how wonderful it was to work with him. He said we are all anxiously awaiting as you are to find out who the new apostle will be and who the new counselor in the General Presidency will be. He said, “we all love the sense of humor of President Hinckley.” Then he told us how his daughters and daughters-in-law take over his supper to him every night, that he is so busy that he would probably forget to eat. He said that this one night one of them took dinner over to him and asked him if he liked spinach. He said that he did not. His daughter told him that he should eat it anyway that it was full of iron and would be good for him. He replied, “If I wanted iron, I’d eat a horseshoe!” He got a big chuckle out of that. He bore a strong testimony of President Gordon B. Hinckley being the true prophet of God on the earth at this time. My heart burned within me as he was telling us this. After I played the postlude music, I shook hands with him and Sister Mickelson again. She didn’t shake my hand but gave me a hug and said, “Sister Robinson it was such a pleasure to meet you.” I think I told her the same thing (using her name of courseJ ). It really thrilled me that she used my name. As I was thinking about it later, and wondering why it meant so much to me my tho’ts were: it made me feel as if she really knew me even tho’ we had just met for the first time….I imagine it will be much the same way when I meet the Lord again, that He will call me by name and He will know who I am and what I have done in this life.

Hearing and being there with Elder Mickelson really strengthened my testimony and made me feel so close to the spirit. I’m really looking forward next week to the spiritual feast we can experience while watching General Conference.

It was a very wonderful and sobering experience.

Blog Entry for September 23

2007-09-23T16:30:00.001-07:00

Altho’ I was feeling better on the whole this week, I could tell I still tired easily. I heard a guy on the radio on the way to my nail appointment mention that he had had a doozy of the flu. I tho’t, “Maybe that’s what I had because it did take me longer to get over and took me down quite a ways. I did exercise three times during the week and had a nail appointment as well as an appointment for a perm Friday. We also went to the temple Friday evening. We went to the bishop’s afterwards for dessert. It was nice associating with the other couples who were there.

Wednesday, I taught my first patron class at the FHC. It was on the Family History Library Catalog. I remember the first class I had on it and it seemed to all go over my head. I practiced a few times both at home and the center. The FHLC is found at Familysearch.org. When clicked on it brings up a screen that has about seven different searches on it. I was to go thro’ each search and explain how to use each one. There were about ten people in the class. Only two were patrons; the rest were missionaries. I felt that it went very well. I had all of the keywords that I wanted to use written down and had practiced it three or four different times. When I was going thro’ it again Wednesday morning, I typed in Rufener for the Surname search and nothing happened. I knew that it had worked the other times I had tried it but tho’t I’d better have another name available if it should happen again. I typed in Call. Up came a list of things that had the name Call in. One of them was the 50 ancestors pioneers of Dallen Harris Oaks and June Dixon Oaks. I looked down thro’ the list and there was Cyril and Sally Tiffany Call. They are my third great grandparents on my maternal grandmother’s side. I didn’t know whether it was Elder Oaks or his wife but I was excited. When we got back that night I called my mother and told her about it. She said, “Well, of course! His first wife was a full cousin to Grandma Hurst. She was Uncle Willard’s daughter.” She may have known that but I didn’t. I tho’t then, “Even tho’ we are not related by blood to Elder Oaks, we are sealed to the same people!” I gave the others a chance to have me type in places or names. The class lasted about 35 to 40 minutes. People said that I did a good job. The patrons that had come in asked a couple of other questions and I helped them with that for a few minutes. We also had to help with microfilm inventory. We each were assigned four or five drawers that we were to go thro’ and check each box and make sure that the film in the box had the same number on it as the number on the box. Each drawer has 50 to 70 films in. it seemed to take forever! I only did two drawers on Wednesday and saved the last two for Saturday. Later that evening a woman came in and wanted to put her aunt’s and the aunt’s husband names thro’ temple ready to make a TSD (temple submission disk) so she could take them to the temple. I helped her, figured I knew what I was doing because I had done it many times. Well we went thro’ everything (she had to type the names into a new PAF program because she had just brought them in on a paper family group sheet) and as it finished it said there was one sealing to spouse but no endowments. Since they had been baptized in their youth but had never gone thro’ the temple in their lifetime, that is just exactly what they needed. I went to Sister Hendricks, our Wednesday supervisor until 5:00 pm when Brother Hall takes over. She said that she was shown how to take care of that just that morning. So she went over to the computer with us and we went thro’ what she had been shown and it didn’t work. I ended up doing it three different times on three different computers and it still didn’t come out right! By that time Brother Hall was there. He uses the old DOS program so walked her thro’ that. She had to type everything in again. It’s a good thing that there were only the two names. And she was finally able to get her TSD. Later I asked Sister Killian, the wife of the director, about it. She said that the program does have a glitch and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t and when it doesn’t, you have to put each name thro’ individually, not just as individuals as we had tried to do. So now I know two ways to get around that problem if it should happen again.

Thursday was laid back and Friday after going to water aerobics and then getting my perm, as I stated above we went thro’ the temple. I had attended three different classes last week at Apple Athletic Club. Monday, I went to the Joint Efforts water class (that’s the one with joint problems and must move more slowly and not jump around so much). Tuesday we went to Silver Sneakers and then Friday the water aerobics. I’m hoping to go all five days this coming week. I can do water aerobics Monday, Wednesday and Friday and Silver Sneakers Tuesday and Thursday. That is a full week of it.

Yesterday at the FHC I finished the two drawers I need to inventory. It seemed to take forever. I started right out of prayer meeting. There was a 10:00 learning computer class that I attended. I had tho’t of attending the two previous weeks but was helping someone else or just spaced it so this was the first one I had attended. I hope they teach them again before too long. I took a chunk out of my right index finger on the drawer braces that hold the drawers in place. It was much easier to set the lower drawers on the table to go over the film instead of bending over. I was able to spend about an hour and a half on the computer is all. That isn’t much time in eight hours. I was surely tired when I got thro’ last night. It has carried over into today. I’m looking forward to January when our meeting go to 11:00 on Sunday mornings then I won’t have to hurry so fast on Sunday mornings. It has been a good day today tho’.

A Long Week

2007-09-16T17:16:00.000-07:00

This week hasn’t been very fun. A week ago Wednesday I started out with a cold that got pretty bad. I didn’t have any Zicam left and by the time I got some it was too late to do much good. (It has helped in the past when I took it as soon as I started getting symptoms. I didn’t get anymore until Friday or Monday I can’t remember which.) Sunday, I was feeling pretty miserable. Monday I was feeling even worse so didn’t do anything but sleep a lot and lay around the house. I certainly didn’t feel like exercising. Tuesday, I felt even worse than Monday. I had a low grade fever the night before; was chilling almost all night and had a headache. Tuesday when I wore up, I still had the headache plus a face ache and my top teeth even ached especially on the left side of my face. It hurt to chew even soft foods. After being up for awhile I realized that I had an sinus infection. Because I had been into see my doctor only about six weeks before I was able to call him and he called in a prescription for me for a Z-pack. By Tuesday evening I was starting to feel better—my face didn’t ache anymore.

I went to the family history center Wednesday after fixing a chicken salad and creamy cucumbers to take with….every second Wednesday we take potluck to share with everyone….I wanted to take the chicken salad but I needed to use up the cukes so took both. This is one day I would much rather have been closer to Utah instead of clear up here in Idaho. Karen, Kent, Shani and Macie were able to meet at my mother’s place to see Jessica and Chris before they entered the MTC at 1:00 pm that day. Bonnie, Joy and Tom and my niece, Mary and her fiancé were also there. It would have been sooo neat to also be there. Then Mary went thro’ the Jordan River Temple Thursday night for her own endowments. I would have really liked to have been there for that too. Also on Friday evening her sisters gave Mary a surprise bridal shower. I would have really liked to have been there for that too. But the way I was feeling those three days, I probably couldn’t have gone even if I did live closer. Mama told me that all of Mary’s siblings were there as well as her father and stepmother were there at the temple with her. She also said that they all felt Mildred there too. It sounded like it was a very special night.

I got along OK at the center…I can still say that I learn something each time I go. (altho’ I can’t remember specifically what it was I learned new that day.) I was surely tired and miserable by the time I got home at 9:20 or so that evening. It was sooo different coming out now when it is completely dark. We went on our winter hours starting on the 4th….that means we are open until 9:00 instead of 8:00 pm. Thursday I could tell I had overdone the day before. I lay around most of the day. Altho’ my face didn’t hurt anymore I could tell I still had a bad cold. Altho’ the Lord blessed me while at the center, I didn’t even have to wipe my nose very much, I could tell I still had a cold. Friday I didn’t feel a lot better so just took it easy that day too. Saturday I was able to go to the center and got along fine. I helped one little opinionated man who doesn’t like things “zipped” and no one could change his mind that the “zipping” of a PAF file is different than the rest of the documents on a computer that are zipped. I was able to help him tho’ by showing him how to clean up his PAF file by taking out the abbreviations, adding vowels where needed and putting USA on places in the states after the date 1776. Also a few other things. I hope he was able to remember it when he got home. I had him do it instead of just showing him but sometimes you need more than one showing. I could tell that he is as old as Karl is (I saw his birthdate on his PAF file) but he was a little more computer literate. Also Brother Higgins showed me another little trick on PAF Insight that I didn’t know before. I knew that you could highlight a number of names and as the first name finished being searched it automatically went on to the next. Brother Higgins showed me that when you are doing this and you have enough info on the name you are doing but it isn’t thro’ searching, then you can click the “Stop current search” tab and then it goes on to the next search. It’s just a little thing but it surely helps the frustration.

I’m feeling much better today. I still have a runny now but I think I’m back to just allergies now. I’m ready to get back to my regular schedule next week.

A Treasure-Trove

2007-09-09T15:04:00.000-07:00

While we were visiting Bryan and Sandy in Papillion, Nebraska, Bryan got out his Family History books and showed us the many things he has collected. He told us that we could copy anything we wanted to that he had. I told him that I tho’t that I had most of it if not all of it and I would go home and check and see what I had and then let him know what I wanted to copy. Well, we got home August 23. I finally got around to looking in the box I had that I have my genealogy stuff in last Friday. And did I find a treasure trove. (I believe that’s the right word.) I found papers that Aunt Pearl had given me in 1988 when we took our first family history class from Renae Ellis in the 38th ward. I remember going thro’ those papers but didn’t know who they were or how they were related to me. Now I know! I found family group sheets that had Johannes Rufener’s father and mother and their family as well clear back to his great grand father!! I had been looking on a film that I got from the FHC in SLC for hours trying to find them. they weren’t on there. I’ve spent I’m not sure how many hours on it and have come to the conclusion that the things I want aren’t on that particular film. But the important thing is…on the back of all these family group sheets there was a statement: from Billeten notes complied from Parish Records—Blumenstein. I had no idea what that meant….what were Billeten notes? I took the family group sheets with me to the center yesterday and copied everything into my PAF. I now know where they all fit in. I feel like I know personally who Johannes Rufener is altho’ at the time I first received these papers, I had no idea how he was related to me. I also found other things related to family history that I found very interesting and that mean much more to me than when I first received them. I’m so thankful that I kept everything there in that box.

When we took that initial family history class, Karl and I had asked each of our siblings to send us their family group sheets. All of my siblings sent their info except Roy and Mildred. I need updates on those I do have. I have all of the children for Bonnie and Joy and Johnny but not dates of all of their ordinance work. Of Karl’s family we just have Paul and Fred’s family. It would be so nice to get all of the rest of it. We can go to the IGI and get those who have died but not those who are living. Mildred’s last three daughters sent me their information. I hope the others remember to send it to me.

Anyway, yesterday, Sister Teresa Carl gave us a tour of the books, reference counter and many different things there at the center. We had had that tour before but things were so new to us then that not much registered. Anyway, I noticed just how knowledgeable Sister Carl is about all that stuff and I knew from first hand experience that she is also very knowledgeable about the computer as well as the PAF program. So I took one of the family group sheets over to her and showed her the note and asked her if she had any idea what the Billeten notes were. She said she had no idea but she immediately Googled them. And they came up….it seems a man named Julius Bitteten compiled Parish Records there in Blumenstein. After she showed me this, I googled it myself. I found out that altho’ they did have a site with info on them, they referred you to the FHC Library Catalog in SLC. I went there and found the micro film entitled Rufener family of Blumenstein, Bern Switzerland. This was filmed by the Church in 1965. I am so excited about this! It is a book but on microfilm. I will either order it tomorrow or do it Wednesday. He lived from 1869 to 1957. I’m not sure how far back those records go but I have found out that there are three different Rufener lines in my paternal grandmother’s family. I hope this will enable me to go back even further in the family along all three lines. Who knows it may even have information on the families who married into the Rufeners. I’ll have to wait and see.

Yesterday I was able to help a little man who told me he was 80 years old and knew nothing about computers and had no intention of learning but needed someone to help him get a temple submission disk ready for the youth in his ward to do baptisms for the dead. I was able to do that for him. He also had enough information about another whole family that wasn’t on his file for the disk that I was able to do another submission by making a whole new file and then putting it thro’ temple ready. There were five more people who needed their work done. By putting it thro’ temple ready we found that of the two submissions there were about six who had already had their work done for them. He ended up with a total of 53 ordinances that needed to be done. I also printed off the updates (since he didn’t have a computer to do it) and gave them to him so he could add them to his personal file. It took a little extra work to compile that but I couldn’t see the sense in his not being able to get to the information. I had a couple of questions thro’ the whole process but I just went to Brother Sweat and he was able to answer them for me. I’m so thankful that he works there on Saturdays with us.

Bishop John announced today that Brother Conley and Sister Beverly Stucki had received a call to serve 30 months in the FHC. So we will have two couples from our ward serving there. There is only one other woman from our Stake that I know of who works there. It will be good to have more there.

For my birthday, Karl took me to eat lunch at Perkins and then to Pirates of the Caribbean III movie. We found it very fast paced and with a few surprises but very good. I couldn’t help but notice that they left it wide open for a number IV if they wish to do it. I also talked to each of our children for my birthday, except Richard and he called the next evening. It was good to talk to each one of them. On our anniversary on Thursday he took me to Olive Garden for lunch (we’ve found out there is much less waiting at lunch than in the evening.) The rest of the day I took it easy because I started coming down with a bad cold. I had run out of Zicam so it has got a pretty good hold on me.

That is about all of the excitement for this week.

September Already!

2007-09-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe it is September already. This year has gone sooo fast. It has been a busy week. I went to the FHC three times this past week….Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. I usually work Wednesday and Saturday. I worked Thursday for Dorothy Clements because she worked for me the 18th while we were in Papillion. I was able to do it OK but I am glad that I usually do it only two days a week. As I’ve said before, I learn something new every single time I am there. It is so rewarding. And being able to know enough to help others is also very rewarding.

Wednesday, I was working at the computer and Karl came up to me and said that we were called on the carpet….that Brother Killian, the director of the FHC wanted to speak with us in his office. He asked how we were doing and how we were liking our mission. I told him that I was loving it and was learning so much. Karl mentioned that he was OK with it but he didn’t think he was learning very much. Brother Killian told him that he would be surprised just how much he had learned. (When you stop to consider that he didn’t know anything at all about a personal computer nor the Personal Ancestral File, I think he has come a long way . I still like to have him on the computer next to me, when he is on tho; because he still does have many questions.) Anyway, Brother Killian told us that since we were called for only six months that our time would be up October 9, 2007. I told him that that was too soon. I told him that I was willing to extend 24 months but I couldn’t speak for my husband. Karl said that if I would do it, he would too. I appreciate so much his support and willingness to do this with me. So our official release date is now October 9, 2009. Brother Killian said when that time came and if we wanted to extend again, we could but we would have to fill out the paper work again. As long as my health holds up, I’ll keep doing it. I think Karl feels the same way.

We are both excited about getting in on the bottom floor of the new program. Brother Lyon told us Thursday that there were now five temple districts on the new program….St. Louis, Reno, Billings, Orlando and one of the temples in Mexico. Three came on board all the same a week ago. It sounds like it will be spreading fast.

Bryan called and left a message Thursday evening that he got accepted at Northrup Grumann, one of the contractors that he’s worked with while in the Air Force. He knows the man he who will be his supervisor and has worked with him before. He will just be on the other side of the table now. He will start October 1. That will be very nice. He may have had to wait until Dec 1 due to red tape, etc. It is good that he can start then. He will have three weeks of not working as it is. During that time he will take Jess and Chris to the MTC. We are very happy for him.

That are the highlights of this past week.

Our Tirp to Papillion

2007-08-26T15:48:00.000-07:00

Our Trip to Papillion and Back

We got back Thursday evening just before 6:00 pm. It was a wonderful trip but so good to get home. We left Wednesday, August 15 just before 7:00 am to catch the shuttle to the SLC Airport. Our neighbor, Michele Hatch took us over then came and got us too. We let them harvest some of our tomatoes while we were gone. Just before we got to Blackfoot I discovered that I had forgotten my wallet with my photo ID in it. I was sick to my stomach. I didn’t know if I would be in Papillion or Idaho Falls that night. I told Karl that he might have to go on without me. He said, “That’s not going to happen.” He suggested at one of our stops on the way down maybe we could call the Idaho MVD and ask them to send a copy of my driver’s license. We later learned that that wasn’t an option because if they could do it others could too and that could lead to ID theft. Anyway, I felt better afterwards and felt like things would work out. When we got to the airport, I told them that I didn’t have in photo ID and we were from Idaho Falls, Idaho. They asked me if I had any ID at all. I had my temple recommend with me (thank goodness) but didn’t feel it was right to use that. And it didn’t have a photo of me on it. When I told them no, they said that’s OK; you’ll just have to go thro’ some extra screening. Since I’m always “wanded” because my total knee always sets off the alarms, that part wasn’t any different. Then they just checked what was in my purse. The digital camera, my pills, my flash drive, beef jerky, string cheese etc. And that was all there was to it. I actually got thro’ security faster than Karl did because they took me one way with fewer people and he went the other way with everyone else. I tho’t that interesting. We had an about two hour wait for the plane to board. We took off about 1:30 pm. We arrived in Phoenix at 2:00 pm. That’s PST instead of MDT when we left. We had 54 minutes to change planes. Since it was the same airline that we had gotten off of (US Airways) I figured the gates would be close together. Boy was I wrong! We deplaned at B12 and had to go around a corner then on four moving sidewalks and around another corner and down a ways to gate A 22. I had to make a pit stop. Karl decided to go on and not wait for me. I couldn’t see him anywhere when I got out. I waited around for a few minutes then headed for gate A 22. I got there and couldn’t see him anywhere. I walked down the middle all the way back to the restroom. There he was! He had gone to B 22 instead of A 22! And had just gotten back from there. I told him that we had 10 minutes to get to our gate. I felt like he was going really slowly which was very frustrating to me. As we turned the last corner, I heard them announce our flight and naming two passengers then Robinson, party of 2. I was walking as fast as I could go pulling Karl’s carry on bag on wheels (his is smaller than mine). I heard them announce again the same thing as before plus this was the last announcement before take off. I got there in time. Karl was two or three minutes behind me. We were the last ones on the plane. My shins ached almost all the way to Omaha. I told Karl that next time he was to wait for me. I had told him before a couple of times what our next gate was but I guess it didn’t register.
We got to Omaha Airport about 7:40 pm. Bryan and Jason were waiting for us at the head of the ramp before you go downstairs after your luggage. We had both made a pit stop. We got down to the carrousel and waited and waited for our luggage. When they stopped the carrousel and we hadn’t gotten our luggage I wondered if it were even on the plane with us. (We had had the experience eleven years ago where our luggage didn’t change planes as we did so had to wait until the next day to get it.) We went to the US Airways office and she scanned the stickers we had and went into the back room and was pulling our two large bags as she came out. She crossly said, “Well, you weren’t there to pick them up so we collected them.” I tho’t she wasn’t very nice but was very glad to have them. We got to Papillion and Bryan & Sandy’s house about 9 30. I was sooo tired. It had been a very long day. The next day we just kind of rested and visited. We didn’t see Chris because he was still in Iowa installing Dish networks. (We didn’t see him until Tuesday morning.) Jason of course was in bed so we didn’t see him until Thursday morning. Boy, he is a big boy. He could easily pass for a 3 to 3 1/2 year old. He is 34 inches tall and weighs 32 #. He is only 16 months old. I had to constantly remind myself that he is still a baby. He doesn’t walk anywhere. He runs everywhere and never seems to hold still. (I was impressed how well he did in church because of that trait. He was very good.) He goes from one thing to the next with “lightening” speed. He in the cupboards, then trying to turn on the DVD player then goes after the dog, then goes back to opening the drawers or cupboard doors in the kitchen. It wore me out to watch him. He does give hugs and kisses but you have to be ready for them or you miss out. They last about two seconds is all then he’s on his way somewhere else. While we were there,

Bryan took us to see the Dead Sea scrolls which were there on exhibit at the Trailways Visitor’s Center there by the temple. We found it very interesting. They have them here at the museum too (they are both duplicates not the real thing) but we would have had to pay $8 a piece to see them and with them there, we didn’t have to pay anything. He also took us Monday to go to the Durham Union Western History Museum. But they were closed on Monday. So he took us over to the mill that the Mormons built while there at winter quarters. But it was closed on Mondays too. It is tho’t to have been built by Karl’s great- great grandfather, Frederick Kesler, Jr. who was a milner. We did get to see the out side and read the plaque. It is now a sort of museum. We went back to the DUWHM on Wednesday. Jessica and Jason were there with us. We found it very interesting. It is the “new” Union Pacific Railroad Station finished in 1937. It has a BIG lobby with people sized statues in it that when you sit down by them or stand by them they tell you their story. That station move over 10,000 people and troops a day during World War II. When it was no longer the mode of travel of choice it closed down in 1971 and was given to the city of Omaha I think in 1976 for a museum. They have actual train cars in there that you can go thro’. They have the history of the city of Omaha. The Mormons were the first white people to go there, except for maybe some explorers (Lewis & Clark etc.) Of course the Indians were there before then. They had the story on Chief Standing Bear who was of a native tribe there who was relocated by the US Government to Oklahoma. He and some others decided they didn’t like it there nor the idleness that was imposed upon them so they walked back to Nebraska, the Omaha area. When they got back they were put in jail. An influential lawyer from the East was there visiting or on business and heard of their plight and decided to represent them against the US Government. And they won!! That was about 1869 if I remember correctly. That was the first time that an Indian or Native American was recognized as a person. I hadn’t tho’t about that before. I wondered why since we have heard so much of Chief Crazy Horse of the Sioux and other famous Indian chiefs why we hadn’t heard Chief Standing Bear’s story. As far as I’m concerned that is more important history than Chief Crazy Horse’s story.

The highlight of the trip was going to the temple Tuesday night with Jessica and Chris for their first time. The Winter Quarters Temple is a beautiful little temple. Where the IF temple can hold 150 per session, the Winter Quarters Temple can only hold about 50 and that’s including the officiators. It was a very special experience for Jess and Chris, Bryan & Sandy and us. I told them that the first time Bryan went thro’ the temple for his own endowments that after we reached the Celestial Room I was standing there thinking, “This is what true joy is all about!” Altho’ it just the beginning of “adult hood” for your child, a parent gets a certain feeling of satisfaction and awe that they have been able to teach that young person from birth to be righteous and follow the path of the Lord. I’ve had that feeling with all five of my children and now three of our grandchildren. It is truly a wonderful feeling.

We left the house about 7:10 Thursday morning. Bryan dropped us off at the airport then went into Omaha for a job interview. As we left last Thursday, he had eight more days to work in the Air Force before he retires. It is now down to six. Three days this week and three days the next. His retirement ceremony will be on September 7. It would have been so nice to have been there for that too. But I’m think we were there at the right time. They will be leaving the next Monday after that to take Jess and Chris to the MTC in Provo. And I’m sure things will be hectic enough and go more smoothly without our being there. Jess and Chris are ready for their missions and are excited to go. I’m so happy for them that they have the opportunity to go. I tho’t it was so nice and tho’tful of the Brethren to let them enter the MTC the same day (September 12) since they have to come from Nebraska. But Sandy told me that it was probably just a coincidence because they had friends that had a son and daughter leaving about the same time only they entered the MTC two weeks apart. They also were from Nebraska. So they visited family and friends in Utah for two weeks.

We flew from Omaha to Denver then on to SLC. We took off from Omaha about 9:40. Again I had to go thro’ the “special” screening but no big deal. We arrived in Denver about 10:15 and left at 11:20 and arrived in SLC at 12:45. We caught the shuttle at 1:30 and arrived in IF at 5:15 or so. We got home about 5:45 or so. It was sooo good to be home. We found everything just fine. My wallet was right where I had left it. I got unpacked and called Michael and Kim to see if they would be able to come to the Robinson family reunion Saturday. I tried to call both Karen and my mother but neither answered. I talked to both of them Friday afternoon.

Friday, we went to the temple sealing of April George and daughter of a good friend of mine. It was very nice. It was about 20-30 minutes late starting because the groom and forgotten the wedding license and his recommend. But everything turned out all right. I’m sure he’ll be razed about that the rest of his life.

Friday afternoon after eating at Olive Garden after the wedding and having a rest….I was still very tired from our trip….I baked a cake, made my mother’s baked beans with sausage, and a chicken salad for the reunion the next day. It was in Grace, Idaho at the park and Karl and I were in charge of it. We left bout 9:00 Saturday morning. I was sooo glad that I had all of the food I was going to take prepared the evening before. We got to Grace about 11:15, stopped at Mom’s house to let her know we were there then headed over to the park to put covers on the tables and get things set up. At first it didn’t look like there would be very many there but there was a good turnout. Mom’s two youngest sons weren’t there but the other four and her daughter was. All of Stan’s family was there except his youngest son who had to work. Karen, Kent, Kylie, Shani and Macie were there from our family. It was so good to see everyone and get to visit with them and find out what they are now doing in life. We got home about 7:15, stopped at a wedding reception for a young man in our ward, Blaine & Kimberly Larsen Ward’s oldest son. They are the same age as our Bryan and Kimberly went all the way thro’ school from first grade on and primary and everything (as she stated) with him. It was very nice. But again it was very good to get home.

We have missed two full weeks at the FHC. We start back Wednesday. It will good to get back. I'd like to be able to put some pictures on this but can't remember how. I will send them out with the e-mails instead.

An addition

2007-08-05T16:32:00.001-07:00

I forgot to say that I booked tickets last Tuesday to fly to Omaha on the 15th of this month. Jess & Chris are going thro’ the temple for the first time on the 21st and since we aren’t coming back until the 23rd we will be able to be there with them. The other times we have flown out we have been able to take a direct flight from SLC to Omaha. This time there wasn’t one airway that went direct. We stop at Phoenix for 54 minutes and change planes there on the way there and stop in Denver for an hour on the way back. Since we catch the shuttle here at 7:15 am and get there at 7:34 or something like that, it will be a very long day. We leave Omaha about 9:15 or so and arrive back here in IF before 5:30. it surely makes a difference when you gain an hour instead of losing an hour. We are really looking forward to the trip.

Another week in the life of Renée Robinson

2007-08-05T15:11:00.000-07:00

This past week has been a very busy week. We were at the FHC for four out of the seven days. Monday was a regular Monday with water aerobics (the only time I went all week). Tuesday, was a laid back day. Wednesday, we started our class on Danish Research at the FHC. We both found it very interesting. It lasted till about 12:10 or so. We then had a special missionary teaching meeting that they have every day but Saturday at 12:15 it only lasts 15 or 20 minutes. Then we had our regular shift from 1-8. Starting with prayer meeting at 12:45.

Thursday, we also went to another Danish Research class. Afterwards we went thro’ a session at the temple. We had meant to take the check book with us since we always eat after a session but we had forgotten it. We had taken our clothes, suitcases etc….Anyway, we went back home and got it and got there for the 2:00 session. We were surely tired by the time we got back.

Friday, we had our third class on Danish Research. We were supposed to tell what we had learned the day before on Danish census. I told them that we had found Karl’s grandmother’s grandmother and her father who was living with them. Then we found her daughter with a man about her age living with them. On a later census it showed that they were husband and wife and showed their four children also. I went home and checked at FamilySearch.com and found out that all of their work had already been done. It turned out that my mother-in-law had done the research and had had the work done. Karl had even done the work for some of the men. The baptisms all had been done in Medford Temple by Fred and his children. The sealings were all done in Ogden. The endowments had been done in Idaho Falls, Logan, Ogden and Jordan River Temples. Anyway, I shared that with the people in the class then I told them that altho’ the work had been done, that I was glad that we had found it because I had just sent some of their names down to Natasha and Collin to do baptisms for them and not I was able to prevent their being duplicated. Someone there asked me if I had taken the duplicates back to the temple to be canceled. I hadn’t heard of that before. I did that the next day. After the class Friday we went to Office Max and got some note books, folders, envelopes and a 1 Gig flash drive for Karl for $10. We tho’t that a very good buy. It is a Toshibeshi (sp?) He wanted his own and tho’t we couldn’t lose with that. We got home about 2:30 and saw the pole along the front of the house that they brought at 2:00 to put in our new blinds. We had forgotten all about it. So I called them and they were there in about 15 minutes to put them up. We had ordered them the 9th of July. We had been talking about getting vertical blinds for over a year and finally took the plunge. The sheers we had were just thread bare and hanging so raggedly. The blinds are kind of an almond color with a pattern on them. They look very nice. Much better than if they were plain white. The Harpers, James and Mandy and their three children were there to install them. Barissa will be in the fourth grade like Grace will be; Mason will be in second grade like Alex will and Morgan was 2 ½ months old. He was born the day before Anya was. We had a nice visit with them while they were putting them up. The rest of Friday was just kind of laid back and catching our breaths. I did fix supper that night.

Saturday we went to the FHC and were late…we are supposed to be there so Karl could lead the singing and I got on the computer and forgot to curl my hair until the last minute so we got there just as they were finishing prayer meeting. I had time to run some names thro’ temple ready for windows from my PAF file. When I tried to to run them thro’ temple ready to make the TSD (temple submission disk) it only took two families instead of the 17 individuals that my PAF said I had. So I went thro’ PAF again then the Temple Ready again. This time I had three families. I enlisted the help of Brother Anderson. He is working with the “new” program that the church is getting ready to get out. (Already two temple districts are using it….the St. Louis and the Las Vegas Temple districts). He had me erase everything and mark all the names I wanted to do again and as I was marking them, he noticed that I had marked individuals and told me that it now had to be marked family in order for it to take it. So for the fourth time I went thro’ everything again and it worked. By the time I put it thro’ the temple ready program, I ended up with six more male baptisms and five more female. Since I had e-mailed Tanya and asked her to not do the duplicates I was glad that I could replace them and maybe one or two more. It took me about 2 ½ hours in all but I did it and learned something in the process too. I was sooo tired by the time I got home. It had been a BIG week. I just kind of lay around until it was time to go to bed. I am going thro’ my PAF again and trying to estimate dates on marriages or births. If one date is given and it is the full date, you can estimate when the other date was. That is sooo good that they let you do that now. So I worked on that for a while last night too. It doesn’t take too much energy to do that. I was soo tired last night tho’.

I didn’t wake up until 8:05 this morning so I really had to hurry to get showered and ready for church and there by 9:00. I’m glad I went tho’. We had a very spiritual testimony meeting. We had two babies blessed and that always adds. One of the babies great-great grandmothers was there. We had a special fast this week for more moisture. We haven’t had any more than 1 ½ inches of rain since the first of the year. As church had just let out there was a very loud clap of thunder and it started to rain. It rained for only about 20 to 30 minutes but we are hoping and praying that there will be more. Tonight is the family chat. It will be nice to touch base with everyone. We forgot it last month. (Michael didn’t); we had gotten back from Utah about midnight the night before and I just spaced it.

Well there’s another week in my life.

A Few Surprises This Week

2007-07-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

This week has been quite a busy one. Monday was kind of laid back except for going to water aerobics at 9:00 am. Oh, then I met with Elena Lambert for some strength training. After wards she asked me if I felt all right. I told her I felt like I’d had a workout but other than that I was fine. She told me that my eyes and skin look kind of yellow….not healthy. I told her, “And here I tho’t it was my golden tan.” She told me I should call someone and be checked that day. I told her we had an appointment with Dr. Liljenquist the next day. Then I forgot about her comment until the next day.

Tuesday, we had our walking class on 49th South and 45th East. That is the mile long hill….I figure I walked at least three miles that day. After the class, the instructor, Diane Thompson, asked me if I was feeling OK. I told her that aside just walking three miles I felt fine. She told me that my eyes looked yellow and that my skin on my face looked yellowish green. Now if that doesn’t sound sickening, I don’t know what does. I wasn’t too concerned because I’m not feeling overly tired. People I’ve known with jaundice, hepatitis etc. don’t have any energy to do anything…let alone walk three miles. That afternoon we went to see Dr. Liljenquist. He told me that he didn’t think I or my eyes looked that bad…maybe a little cast of yellow. But he ordered a liver panel and gave me his cell phone # so I could call him that evening and find out the results. When I called him, he told me that the liver panel was fine and that my bilirubin was within normal limits. He said there was one liver function that was a little above normal but that could have something to do with bones too. ?? He told me I did not have jaundice. I felt better about that.

The next day, Wednesday, we went to Apple for water aerobics again and some women there told me my skin and eyes were yellow or yellowish green. I told them again about the liver panel and what the doctor said and that I felt fine and I wouldn’t have the energy to even go to Apple not to mention jumping up and down in the water for an hour. So they let up. We went to the FHC that afternoon. I worked on cleaning up my PAF some more. I have found another couple of duplicates and some corrections that needed to be done. After I got thro’ eating my supper, Sister Slyvester came in and told Brother Larsen that the lady he was helping needed some more help. I told Brother Larsen to stay and finish his supper that since I was thro’ with mine I would see if I could help her. By the time I got out there Brother Hall was helping her. I just stood behind and watched…thinking I might could learn something. She was trying to make a STD or submit to temple disk to take to the temple to have the cards made up so she could do the work for a young man and have him and his little sister, who had died as a child sealed to their parents. It kept not working. All of the boxes were checked for baptism, endowment and sealing to parents for both of them. The Sister said, “But the child doesn’t need the baptism nor endowment. I just want her sealed to her parents. So Brother Hall told her to uncheck the boxes. She did and all of them unchecked. So he told her to check the one just for sealing to parents. When she did that, all three boxes were checked again. After he had had her do that two or three more times I could tell he was getting frustrated. (He’s the one who is 81 years old and has worked there at FHC for almost 13 years.) The tho’t just popped into my head and I asked her: Did you type in Child on the date line for baptism and endowment on her PAF? She told me she didn’t think so. When she went back and did that, then only the sealing to parents was checked. As I tho’t about that later, I tho’t that I had never come across that before. I know it was the Spirit who put it into my mind. I felt very fulfilled after that. It was a good day.

Thursday, we went to our walking class at Community Park and learned how to do Nordic walking with special poles. It was a little different to get used to but fun. That afternoon I went to get my nails done. I usually get them done Wednesday morning but since we had the German Research Class that morning I had to change my appointment. I didn’t say anything to Stacey about what others have said about my skin color. But she noticed it and made a really big deal of it. I told her about the liver panel and how I wasn’t lagging in energy which is a definite symptom of liver problems. She told me to get another opinion, to not settle for Dr. Liljenquist’s answer. She suggested that I Google “ yellow eyes” After I came home I called Dr. Zimmerman’s office. He’s my opthamaligist. He wasn’t in but his receptionist gave me the number for another opthamaligist. I called his office. The person who answered the phone put me on hold, went and asked someone about my problem. When she came back she first told me I should see my family doctor. Then she told me that some medications can cause a yellow cast to skin and eyes. I hadn’t heard that before. When I Googled “yellow eyes”, the literature there said the same thing. That with liver problems, the bilirubin is elevated and that some medications can cause a yellow cast to the skin. Since I knew my bilirubin was OK, and I have energy, I quite worrying about it.

The next day I went to water aerobics and on the way home we stopped at Hastings for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book…the seventh and last book of the series. We couldn’t find anyone to wait on us. So we put the book back and went to Wal-Mart to look for one. They were sold out. So since we had time before my appointment to get my hair cut and highlighted, we stopped at Hastings again and this time got the book. We then went to Creations where Wyatt highlighted my hair, then cut it and styled it. It looks very nice even if I do say so myself. It definitely hides the gray. I don’t look quite so blah now.

The next day we went to FHC again. This time I worked with a man going thro’ his file thro’ PAF Insight. Sister Steel asked me if I could help him. So I spent about 2 ½ hours or so helping him. During the course of the conversation, he mentioned that he was fluent in both German and French. I told him that I had this microfilm form SLC FHC and it was in German, I tho’t, and if not in French and maybe he could help me with it if he had time. After we finished his stuff…he had 269 names to go thro’ and check for ordinances done. He did find a few that would have been duplicated if he hadn’t run his program thro’ PAF Insight. Brother Higgins was there too but said that he had forgotten too much to be able to help much. But he did show me that when you have many names to do like that, you can highlight a certain number and then click search and it will go from one to the next one and the next one. I am so glad he showed me that! I went thro’ everyone of my names one at a time when I put it thro’ the PAF Insight! So it went much faster. After that, he went over and helped me look at the microfilm. He at first said it was in French then stated it was in German. He looked at it for about 15 or 20 minutes then asked when we would be back to the center. I told him Wednesday afternoon from 1-8 pm then next Saturday, 9-5. He told me he had some books that he would bring in next Wednesday which would help me. I really appreciate that. I may find something on that film yet with someone who knows the language. After going to the center we went to Olive Garden for supper. There was a line clear out down the sidewalk. We didn’t feel like waiting so we went across the way to Wendy’s. We ordered a chicken BLT salad and the baked potato with sour cream and chives and a frosty. Since the salad was $4.49 by itself we were really surprised when she told us it would be $3. 74. We told her that couldn’t be right because the salad alone was $4.49. She looked at me then said, “Oh, but we give a 50% discount to missionaries.” Boy, were we surprised! We decided that we would go there more often after serving there at the FHC when we have our name tags on. The other Wendy’s we went to once while we were dressed up and had our name tags on only gave us a 10% senior citizens discount!

Well that takes care of last week and it’s time to start another week.

Highlights of the week July 15 thor' the 21st.

2007-07-22T16:52:00.000-07:00

We had a very interesting day yesterday. Thursday Bryan had e-mailed me and asked if we would be home at 9:00 Saturday morning our time. That Jessica and Chris had gotten their mission calls that day and since Chris was working in Iowa and would come home Friday night, then they would open them then. He said that he would make a conference call with us and Helen & Al Bonneau who live in Texas and put it on speaker phone so we all can hear it. Jessica will be going to the Arizona, Tucson Mission, English speaking. Her letter said that her assignment may be changed due to the discretion of the mission president. (Chris’s didn’t say that.) Since she took Spanish in Jr. High, High School and College, even if she stays in the English part that it will definitely help her to know Spanish in that area. Chris is going to the Chile, Conception Mission. He will be speaking Spanish. I’ve been told there are many Germans down there too so he may have occasion to use the German he learned in High School. They both enter the MTC September 12, 2007. I tho’t it was so thoughtful of the brethren to have them enter the MTC on the same day since they will all be coming from Nebraska. They were very excited about their callings. We are very excited for them too. We will plan on flying to Omaha next month to see them all. It would be so nice if we could be there for when they went thro’ the temple for the first time. Bryan said even if we couldn’t be here for that we could certainly attend a session with them while we were there. When we were to the temple last Tuesday, I saw two missionaries come thro’ the veil for the first time and with their families and friends to greet them. I tho’t then it would be sooo neat if we could be there when Jess and Chris went thro’.

Yesterday at the FHC Karl and I finished putting his PAF program thro’ PAF Insight. From both my program and Karl’s we obtained 15 male names and 20 female names for Natasha & Collin to do baptisms for when their stake goes to do baptisms for the dead the first part of next month. Their were supposed to be 20 each but even with our two programs that is all there were, that was all we could find after putting everything thro’ PAF Insight.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday we took classes on doing German Research. I found it very interesting. Cindy Pack had so many neat suggestions and guides to help us in doing German research. She had word lists, and examples of both the German alphabet today as well as the Gothic alphabet, as well as other things.

Wednesday afternoon Sister Quigley told me that my microfilm was in from Blumenstein, Bern, Switzerland. It is the parish records from 1505 to 1785. I had really hoped to find Johannes Rufener’s birth record so I could find out who his parents are. I still was working on updating Karl’s PAF so I decided I would wait until Friday night when they had a missionary night to look at it. When I got there Friday night, I pulled the wrong card out of the file and didn’t think it was there. So I worked on updating Karl’s PAF. I guess it was a good thing tho’ because we were able to finish it yesterday and make the Temple Submission Disk to take to the temple to have the cards made up. We did that on the way home yesterday. I was able to do the STD my self. Brother Sweat had told us before how to check and make sure it was on the disk. It turned out that that disk wasn’t any good. I’m so glad that I checked it or we would have gotten nothing at the temple. I had to have Brother Sweat show me how to use the backup disk, (thank goodness that one was good) so I was able to make a new TSD. I really had a feeling of accomplishment after that. After I finished that, I went to look at my microfilm. I checked in the file again and found out I had looked at the wrong slip Friday night. I put it on the microfilm reader (I was able to do it myself) and tried to find 1780. I tho’t that I was at the end of the film and it only went to 1735. So I went back to the card catalogue from the SLC FHC and found the film that I had ordered and it said it went to 1785. So I asked Karl to go take a look at it. He found 1780. But we couldn’t find Dec of that year. Johannes Rufener was born 22 Dec 1780. It seemed to go from June 1780 right to 1781. I would think at that time most of the people there would be Lutheran and that that would be the only parish record. I was sooo disappointed. We found a Johann Rufener born in June and there were three witness listed there all with the last name of Rufener. I was so disappointed that we weren’t able to find anything. I’m not sure what to do now to find him and his parents. If I had found his birth record his parents would have been listed then I could go look for their records and his siblings. We have been told there at the FHC that if we are having trouble finding someone, we should put the child’s name on the prayer roll at the temple. They said that it really works! So I will do that next week when we go to the temple.

I think that covers the highlights of last week.

A Correction

2007-07-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

my grandson-in-law, Jonathan, Shandel's husband sent me this so I tho't I had better post it too. I don't want to spread any untruths. It is nice to think about tho'.

Renee, I'm sorry to inform, but the quote in your email about the
last days is NOT by Boyd K. Packer or any other General Authority.
This is a very common mistake that the LDS people have fallen into, so
deep, in fact, that the First Presidency sent a concerning letter to
the stakes of Zion which should have been read in all sacrament
meetings. You can read President Packer's statement online at the LDS
Church News: http://www.desnews.com/cn/view/1,1721,175001236,00.html

-Jonathan

Back to Work at the FHC

2007-07-16T17:12:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow our oldest son will be 44 years old. He is the one who made us parents. He is a fine young man, so conscientious about his work, his family, and his callings in the church. He will retire from the Air Force after 20 years this coming November. The Air Force has been good for him and he has been good for it. When he was in 2nd grade they gave the students an IQ test. His teacher told me that he scored very high—in the near genius range. I asked if he were so smart, how come his grades and school work was just mediocre. Mrs. Olsen told me that when someone lights a fire under him, he will really take off. He just sort of coasted thro’ grade school, junior high, and high school as well as college. Nothing seemed to challenge him. Until he joined the Air Force. It has been enough challenge, I think, and he has done very well with it.

Last week we started again at the Family History Center. Our first day back was Wednesday. I had a nightmare just before I became completely awake (I was aware enough to know that we were going to be at the FHC that afternoon but still not fully conscious. I call it the twilight zone.) I was at the FHC and went to help a patron and my mind went blank and I couldn’t remember anything that I had learned before it closed three weeks before. Well, I had a chance to help someone and I hadn’t forgotten everything I had been taught before. I was comforted to know that there were others there who knew more than I did when I had a question.

On Friday I finished updating my PAF with the PAF Insight program that you can go into and find out what ordinances done so they won’t be repeated. So Saturday, I worked about three hours to put it thro’ Family Searcher, another program that they suggest you check for additional ordinances. Then I put it thro’ Temple Ready update then the Temple Ready submission part. I prepared a submission disk to take to the temple tomorrow and get the cards made up for the work to be done. There were 10 male baptisms, 12 female for a total of 22 baptisms. 13 endowments for men and 12 for women for a total of 25. 13 male sealing to parents and 10 sealing to parents for females for a total of 23. And 4 for sealing to parents. It didn’t say which gender. I had really a sense of accomplishment after I had finally completed that. Brother Wolf was there to help me when I wasn’t sure what I was doing. I think after that experience, I’ll be able to help others without difficulty.

I’m now working on Karl’s line. I have perfected a system that I can do it about four times faster than he can. So I will probably do most of his too—here at home anyway. He’ll still be able to work on it at the center tho’. Natasha and Collin are doing baptisms for the dead next month there in Lehi and that’s why I’m trying to finish this so quickly. I have found three so far on his line in the first three pages I have worked on. However, they are all female.
While there Saturday, Brother Cornwall, our supervisor for the day, gave me a quote by Elder Boyd K. Packer. I think I remember when he gave that talk but Saturday it really touched me as I read it. It is:

“You were generals in the War in Heaven and one day when you are in the spirit world, you will be enthralled by those you are associated with. You will ask someone in which time period they lived and you might hear, ‘ I was with Moses when he parted the Red Sea’, or ‘I helped build the pyramids’ or ‘I fought with Captain Moroni.’ Amd as upi are standing there in amazement, someone will turn to you and aks you which of the prophets’ time did you live in? And when you say ‘Gordon B. Hinkley’s’ a hush will fall over every hall and corridor in Heaven, and all in attendance will bow at your presence. You were held back six thousand years because you were the most talented, most obedient, most courageous of us and most righteous.”

Whenever I feel down or not worthwhile I will have to remember this.