Our Tirp to Papillion

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

A recap of the Last Three Weeks

I can’t believe it has been three weeks since I wrote on my blog. We have had an eventful three weeks. The first week we just went to Apple and exercised. Then Friday we went to Grace to see my mother-in-law. We stayed there until Sunday afternoon. We also went to Soda Springs to visit with my sister, Joy, her husband, one daughter, and four grandchildren. Sunday, we went to church with Mom. Then next week we went to Utah on Thursday and got back at midnight. That was really late since we had 9:00 church the next day. While we were there, we stayed with Michael & Tanya. It was good to be there again and get to know the little girls more and they us. I went walking Friday morning with Natasha. And we had a very nice visit. She also talked with me about two hours the first afternoon we were there. I think that is the most she has ever talked to me. I really enjoyed it. Friday afternoon we went to see Mama in American Fork and then Kim and Kimberly in Orem. Altho’ we got back too late to play Pinochle, we enjoyed the visiting with them all. Saturday morning we did have time to play Pinochle after Michael got home from his private counseling job. It was a very unusual game. I took one round taking everyone of the tricks. Michael & Karl got double Pinochle, and by the time we finished (altho’ Tanya and I went out first) both teams ended up with the same amount of points. We all said we probably wouldn’t see another game like that. We were late for the family reunion, but they started late. We just had to finish that game! Uncle Earl & Aunt Beth and their daughters put on the reunion. Uncle Earl wouldn’t let anyone help pay for the Pavilion. When I stopped to remember that he was one of the vise-presidents of the Chevron Corp., I knew he could handle it OK. It was so good to see everyone who was there. Michael came and brought all four of his children to the lunch only. Kim & Kimberly and their three were there at the church. At the church Jenny, one of Uncle Earl & Aunt Beth’s daughters, had gotten photos of all of her dad’s siblings and their children and grandchildren. It was very interesting to see all of them and how they had changed. I hadn’t seen many of my cousins for 20-30 years or more. It was very good to see them. Some said they didn’t recognize me. It had been four or five years since I had seen everyone but my mother, sister and her husband and my own children. Since then I had my surgery and got my health back. Week before last Richard & Téa got us here on Wednesday with Anya. Richard had brought the other five children up Tuesday to Téa mom and then left and went back down to get Téa and Anya left the hospital. We met at Gang Plank and had a lovely visit. Anya had been in the hospital since Saturday afternoon with SRV. The season for that is usually over by April. She suddenly got dusky then gray while they were visiting a friend in Orem. Richard told me when I talked to him Sunday night that if they had been anymore further from the hospital than two to three blocks that she wouldn’t have made it. Téa also mentioned that they (and I too) were very thankful that she didn’t get into trouble at night while they were traveling. They couldn’t have seen the change of color while it was dark and it would have been too late when they found her. SRV causes a cold in adults and older children but in tiny babies it can be fatal if it is untreated. Karl & I were visiting after we found out about Anya. He asked if it was a new disease or the medical profession didn’t have a name for it. I got to thinking that when Michael got pneumonia after having the croup really bad and then Karen got it too; they both ended up in the hospital. Karen responded to the treatment; she was in an isolette with oxygen and she sounded terrible when I brought her home. Bryan was the only one of our children who didn’t get sick. Michael was only 2 ½ and Karen only eight months old. Michael didn’t respond to antibiotics and they just about lost him. He had been down in Spanish Fork with my parents ( all three of them were) because I had had my gallbladder out two weeks before. We brought Karen back to the hospital in Ogden (we were living in Roy at the time). Bryan didn’t get sick at all for which we were very grateful. Anyway, when I tho’t about it I tho’t I bet they had SRV. They just didn’t know what to call it. We left the next Thursday for Utah. We were able to see Richard & Téa and the children on Monday. We saw them again Thursday night at Anya’s blessing and Cheanna’s baptism then met them at Arctic Circle just before they left town for Phoenix on Saturday. We are thankful that we got to see them as much as we did. Cheanna’s baptism and program was really special. She was dressed in a beautiful white dress and looked so clean and pure. Anya also had an all white dress on. Richard gave them both beautiful blessings. Karen & Kylie came up from Blackfoot and Shani, Jon and Macie were there too. Bishop John officiated. Duncan gave the talk on baptism and did a fabulous job. His parents said that he wrote most of it himself with a suggestion here or there. Most of it he had given at his friend’s baptism a few months ago. We sang three songs, Cheanna’s favorites. After Richard baptized Cheanna, and after they were dressed, Karl, Kylie, Karen then I gave talks on the Holy Ghost and how he has helped us. It was all so very nice. Afterwards, we had a luncheon in the multipurpose room at the church. I am so thankful that they were able to come up here to have those ordinances done. Yesterday was just a laid back day. Today at 4:30 pm our bishopric issued new temple recommends to everyone. They said that the church is going with a bar code on the recommends now because some people were lending them to other people so they could go, some even trying to sell them on e-Bay. It is uncomprehensible that people would do that. Since our recommends were only 11 months old, they just had to sign the new ones. President Fulks was also there from the Stake Presidency. They said that they would be activated tonight or tomorrow and we should/ could use them this coming week. The people of the church have six months to get their new recommends signed. I guess it is another sign of the times. It is another testimony to me that the Lord knows what is going on in this world and how he moves and gives President Hinckley the revelations that we need to keep us on the straight & narrow. We will start back to work at the FHC this coming Wednesday and then Saturday. Altho’ we have been busy these three weeks, I’m looking forward to returning to the FHC.

Vacation Time ?

The FHC is now officially closed for three weeks. I hope we can keep busy and accomplish much while it is closed. We need to clean our carpets and pick out and possibly get a new bathtub put in. The one we have is leaking down between the tub and the wall and Karl has put a wastebasket down stairs to catch the drips from it. I hope we can get that taken care of during that time. We also need to get some vertical blinds in the living room. We looked into getting some right after the first of the year. We first went to Home Depot and couldn’t get anyone to wait on us. After almost 15 minutes after someone told us that they would get someone to wait on us, we left and went to LOWE’S. We had the same experience there. However, we didn’t wait quite so long there. Tomorrow I need to call the Blind Man to have him come out and make an estimate. Our windows are not the conventional kind so they will have to be custom made. There are two or three places in the yellow pages that all give free estimates. I may call them all….who knows? Richard and Téa are supposed to get here next week and be here and in the area for about two weeks. It is nice that we won’t have to work around the center to do things with them. And we need to go to Utah some time to see our children, grandchildren and my mother also. We were talking about going this week but Mama told me last week that there is a Hurst Reunion on June 20 there in Orem and with gas sooo expensive, we may wait and go then. I'll call Richard tonight and see what their plans are...I hope they know or will know soon.
Last Wednesday I helped four different people at FHC. One was my husband, Karl; another was a new missionary who has worked in genealogy for many years. She asked me for help on the Temple Ready program. I was able to give it to her. The other two were patrons who came in. When I didn’t know something I knew who to ask which is the thing to do. The first thing I asked on (a patron had come in and put her own file thro’ Temple Ready herself but didn’t print out the first sheet that gives us the numbers we need to record of the ordinances that need to be done.) I was able to help someone else later without having to ask anyone else. It made me feel good that I was able to remember it. The second patron that I helped after helping her find out that her grandmother, born in Brazil, had had her temple work done for her, I helped her get registered for familysearch.org so she find these things out at home. The message that came back suggested that she had all ready registered. She couldn’t remember doing so; sp I went and got Brother Mondock. He has the authority to get into the system and see if she had registered before. She had done and he was able to show her what her username had been and how to retrieve her password. I later helped Karl retrieve his password since he had put it in wrong and wasn’t sure about it. Karl was able to finally get thro’ his PAF file and got it all cleaned up so we ran it thro’ Temple Ready Update files. He only got about six updates on that so the next step is to use PAF Insight and get the ordinances from there. After that then you can use either Family Searcher or just go to the IIGI at FamilySearch..org and find out what other work has been done. By doing this we prevent duplication of the work. I found out last week why I didn’t feel anything when Johannes Rufener the son was baptized. His work had already been done. I had checked it before but the system was being worked on in SLC and it didn’t come thro’ as already having been done so it was done again. Karl went thro’ for his endowment a week ago. And it had been done too. He could have gone thro’ for Samuel, whose work hasn’t been done. He will have to wait for three more weeks. The temple is closed the same three weeks as the FHC is. That is disappointing to me. It has been harder to get to the temple since we have been spending two and three days at FHC. We did intiatory work last Tuesday instead of going thro’ a session or Samuel’s work would be done. He had been baptized many years ago but no endowment could be found. We had a summer picnic Friday afternoon with the people who work at FHC. They had hot dogs, fancy ones, and salads and cookies. This counted for our zone meeting for both June and July. Sister Hendricks told us Wednesday that we needed to register as consultants on FamilySearch.org by the end of the month. We will be helping to teach people about the new program that will be coming out later this year. She said that it is already being used in one temple district in Utah. It is where people will be able to make their own cards to take names to the temple. They will no longer have to go the FHC and get a floppy disk and take it to the temple to have their cards run off. There is also supposed to be a better system to prevent duplication. It sounds like a wonderful program. I am excited to learn it and be able to teach others about it.
I went to see Dr. Baird a couple of weeks ago for my annual check up since it has been two years since by bariatric surgery. His scales were broken so I couldn’t get a weight or print out of my fat %, or muscle % etc. He asked what I had weighed that morning. I told him 160#. I am up 20# from my low. I told him that I had gained 12 # muscle since then and that had to count for something. He agreed but said that some of it had to be fat too. I agreed with that too. He said he wanted me to get down to a BMI (body mass index) of 25. I was only down to 26 when I was 20# lighter. I am now @ 29. He suggested that I see the dietician, Sandy with the New U program. So I went to see her a week later. She told me that everyone bottoms out even and even if they are doing everything right, they gain 10-20#. She took my weight and I had gained 13# muscle from my all time low. Since muscle weighs more than fat and since I still fit into my clothes, she said that I’m doing just fine and have nothing to worry about. BUT I shouldn’t go above where I am now. I should have a five # margin between 157 # and 162 # and not gain above that. I have lost four # from last Sunday. But, I have really been exercising too. We exercised six days last week. Did water aerobics four times and did the walking class two days. I am encouraged that I have lost that little bit. Some of it is water since I went off my Actos, one of my diabetic pills, last Sunday. My feet have been swelling more and someone told me that he had lost 20# after going off of it. I called and talked at the nurse at Rocky Mountain Diabetes Center and told her I had gone off of it and asked her to tell the doctor and if he didn’t like the idea that I would like him to call me. He didn’t so….I can imagine him saying, “We’ll just wait and see what her next A1c is.” We go in again next month on the 24th. My fasting blood sugars have been between 81-96. I hope it works out OK. I’m still taking 500 mg metformin for diabetes twice a day. I’d rather go back to 1000 twice a day instead of going back on the Actos. Time will tell.

A Good Week @ FHC

Saturday, I helped my first real patron at the FHC. Elder Cornwall, our supervisor, had told me that morning that if anyone came in that needed help he wanted me to help them. He said, “You know as much as anyone else here and will do fine.” I told him that it wasn’t very comforting to me if no one knew more than I did. He reiterated what he said before then added, “We work by the Spirit here and the Lord will bless you.” From 1:00 to 3:00 I was supposed to be at the desk, greeting patrons as they come in, answering the phone, taking papers out of the printer, etc. About 1:10 a man came in and as he signed in I asked him if he needed any help. He said not right away but he may later. Elder Cornwall was right there and heard him say that. He told me that if he came and requested help, that he would take over the desk so I could help him. A few minutes later the man came back and said that he needed some help after all. I went over to where he had plugged his lap top computer in. He wanted to make ged.com files of five different families, place them on a temple submission disk so he could take them to the temple to have their work done. I told him how he to go into Temple Ready for Windows on his PAF. I told him how to collect each family individually. He was trying to transfer these to his thumb drive he had plugged into his lap top. We had collected all five families and he was checking the work and one time it took only three of a family of six and the next time took only one person who wasn’t even in that family altho’ she had the same last name. I went and got help. Since this was the first time that I had actually helped someone and altho’ I had done temple ready for window twice for my own ancestors, I wasn’t really sure if I had done everything right. The two missionaries that I consulted didn’t know what it wasn’t transferring right either and didn’t know what to do. I suggested transferring his PAF file on his thumb drive so we could plug it into one of our computers. He wasn’t sure if his thumb drive was big enough to hold all of it. So Sister Carl, went and got one of hers and he used that to transfer it. We collected the families he wanted, (I learned that you can select one family and then another and another without clicking OK each time.) I was able to help him with Sister Carl’s help and we also enlisted Elder Higgins to help us figure out what cities were in England and which were in Wales. Anyway, it was 3:15 by the time we finished with him. I felt really good about it all.
I gave the thought and prayer both June 2 and June 6. The entry about Arnold Stevens I gave on the June 2 and the one about Anson Call I gave on the 6th. I tho’t I would put them in my blog to keep a record of what I gave.
In one of the classes we learned how to Google people. I googled some of my ancestors and would like to tell you about one of them. I have excerpts from his autobiography. In places I will use the word “darn” because I don’t use the kind of language that was quoted here.
Anson Call is my great, great, grandfather. He was born 13 May1810 in Vermont. He moved to George County Ohio when he was seven years old. In his small autobiography he states, "I was sent to school in early life but after removing to Ohio there were but little opportunities for schools owing to the newness of country." (Call, Anson, "Autobiography of Anson Call", p. 1). The autobiography contains Anson's conversion story from his personal journal:
Their preaching created much excitement in our town but had little effect for nearly three years. I[t] (sp?) was a constant annoyance to my feelings. I became dissatisfied with all denominations and myself. In the Elders passing through our country they frequently stopped at my house, and in discussing with them upon the principles of the gospel they would cuff me about like an old pair of boots. I came to the conclusion that the reason of my being handled so easy was because I did not understand the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I resolved to prepare myself for the conflict by investigating the two books. I accordingly furnished myself with the Book of Mormon. I then commenced the Book of Mormon and the Bible. Compared the two and read my Bible from Genesis right through, praying and searching diligently for six months. When I finished the two books I became a firm believer in the Book of Mormon. I was then taught by the Spirit to obey the principles of the gospel. My feelings were not known by any but my wife (Who was Mary Flint. I was proud and haughty and to obey the gospel was worse than death. I labored under those feelings for three months, becoming at times almost insane. To be called a Mormon, I thought, was more than I could endure. I lamented that my lot was cast in this dispensation. My dreams and my meditations made me miserable. I at last covenanted before the Lord that if he would give me confidence to face the world in Mormonism I would be baptized for the remission of my sins; before I arose from my knees the horrors of my mind were cleared; I feared no man, no set of men. The next day I went to the Methodist meeting and declared unto them the truth of Mormonism. I told them I should obey it as soon as I could get to Kirtland. I accordingly went immediately there and was baptized by William Smith, Joseph's brother. My wife accompanied me. I was confirmed in the Kirtland Temple by David Whitmer . . . After moving to Kirtland I was ordained to the Quorum of Seventies in February, 1836 by Zera Pulsipher and Henry Herriman. (Call, pp. 2-3)
He recorded in his journal:
I have forgotten to say that shortly after I joined the Church I was administered to for my stammering of speech from which I was reviened (sp?) [relieved?] (Call, p. 5)


On the 14th of July, 1843, with quite a number of his (Joseph Smith brethren, he (Joe) crossed the Mississippi River to the town of Montrose to be present at the installment of the Masonic lodge of the 'rising sun, A block school house had been prepared with shade in front, under which a barrel of ice water. Judge George Adams was the highest Masonic author in the state of Illinois and had been sent there to organize this lodge He (Joe), Hyrum Smith and J.C. Bennett, being high masons, went into the house to perform some ceremonies which the others were not entitled to witness. These, including Joseph Smith remained under the bowery. Jose] as he was tasting of the cold water, warned the brethren not to be fret with it. With the tumbler still in his hand he prophesied that the Saint would yet go to the Rocky Mountains; and, said he, 'this water tastes much like that of the crystal streams that are running from the snow capped mountains' we will 1st Mr. Call describe (sic) this prophetic scene: I had before seen him in a vision and now saw while he was talking his countenance changed to white: not the deadly white of a bloodless face, but a living brilliant white. He seemed absorbed in gazing at something at a great distance and said, 'I am gazing upon the valleys of those mountains'. This was followed by a vivid description of the scenery of these mountains as I have since become acquainted with it. Pointing to Shadrach Roundy and others, he said, 'There are some men here who shall do a great work in that land.' Pointing to me he said, 'There is Anson, he shall go and shall assist in building cities from one end of that country to the other, and you' rather extending the idea to all those he had spoken of, 'shall perform as great a work as has been done by man, so that the nation of the earth shall be astonished and many of them will be gathered in that land and assist in building cities and temples, and Israel shall be made to rejoiced'.
"It is impossible to represent in words this scene which is still vivid in my mind, of the grandeur of Joseph's appearance, his beautiful descriptions of this land and his wonderful prophetic utterances as they emanated from the glorious inspirations that over shadowed him. There was a force and power in his exclamations of which the following is but a faint echo. 'Oh the beauty of those snow capped mountains. The cool refreshing streams that are running down through those mountains gorges' Then gazing in another direction, as if there was a change and locality; 'oh the scenes that this people will pass through' The dead that will lay between here and there.' Then turning in another direction as if the scene had again changed: 'Oh the apostasy that will take place before my brethren reach that land'. But he continued, 'the Priesthood shall prevail over all it's enemies, triumph over the devil and be established upon the earth never more to be thrown down.' He then charged us with great force and power, to be faithful in these things that had been and ...??? Anson and his wife and children faced many hardships thro’ the trials of Ohio and Missouri and Illinois. His life was threatened many times and guns pointed in his face and the mobber threatening to shoot him where he stood but his life was preserved and he came to the Salt Lake Valley and as Joseph Smith prophesied helped to build and establish many cities throughout Utah, Wyoming and Arizona.

He married my great great grandmother Ann Maraih Bowen 15 Apr 1851 after he had already experienced many hardships and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. She was the second of six wives.

Arnold was the son of Jonathan Stevens and Lucy Adams; he was born 24 August 1802. He was the younges of their five sons. Arnold Stevens and his wife Lois Coon joined the LDS Church in 1835 in Leeds County, Ontario, Canada. In 1837 they joined the Saints in their moving and troubles. There were six daughters. As far as is known, Arnold was the only one of his father’s family to join the LDS Church. Lucy Adams, mother of Arnold joined with her son and his wife. Lucy Adams Stevens died 22 March 1845 in Montrose, Iowa across the Mississippi River from Nauvoo, Illinois.

Arnold Stevens’ name is given as one who pledged himself to assist the poor Saints to move to Missouri. He was a guard in Nauvoo the night the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum were killed.

Arnold Stevens had his endowments in the Nauvoo Temple 28 January 1846. His wife had her endowments 6 February 1846. They were not sealed to each other at that time. It was done later.

The family started across the plains with the Saints. At Council Bllufffs, Arnold enlisted in the Mormon Battalion as a 1st corporal in Company D, with Nelson Higgins, captain. He went to Pueblo with the sick. There he worked to help build houses to shelter them from the cold during the winter. On March 28 Arnold Stevens was handling a wild mule when he was dragged over some logs and hurt internally. He lingered from the 21st to the 26th of March, when a blood vessel burst and suffocated him. (I suspect he died of a ruptured spleen…that is what it sounds like it could be anyway.) He was dressed in his robes and neatly laid away in his coffin, made of what is called puncheons of cottonwood. (These are slabs split off like staves.)

His wife drove her own team to Winter Quarters, where with other soldier’s wives, she endured the hardships common to those times. Her only home was a wagon box. In the spring, she learned of her husband’s death. Being left with three children, without a home or means of support, she married Nathaniel Jordon some time in 1847. Before Arnold died, he and his wife had lost four children, Byron, Sabra Elizabeth, Arnold, and Erastus. Another daughter Rachel Matilda died 20 December 1849. His daughter, Lois Ann Stevens lived to marry Lycurgus Wilson and is my great, great grandmother.

I am so thankful for what my ancestors went thro’ that I could be born a member of the church in Utah and be raised in the Church.

It's now June!

Last week was our seventh week as Service Missionaries. We have now completed our six weeks training period so no longer have to go to the FHC on Mondays. Since it was Memorial Day the FHC wasn’t open anyway. I stayed home all day long for the first time in months! I remember when my first three children were very little, when we couldn’t take Karen anywhere because she was so susceptible because of her heart, that I stayed home day after day after day hardly ever going anywhere. I went to Sacrament meeting in the evening with three-year-old Bryan, while my sweetheart stayed home with Karen less than a year old and Michael who was two. I went to mutual for 15 minutes on Tuesday evening to play for the opening exercises then came home. That was all I went out for a whole year! Now it is a treat to stay home all day long. I can remember thinking, “Will these three ever grow up?” Well, it didn’t take very long; it seems like I just turned around three times and they had children of their own. Pm Wednesday evening I learned how to use PAF Insight to find LDS ordinances that have been done for those on my program after running my PAF program thro’ the Temple Ready update program that the center has. I did this after I had spent hours and hours “cleaning” up my program and getting rid of duplicate individuals, etc. I have 79 pages of individuals with incomplete ordinances. I’m now on page 22. I downloaded the program for $25 so I could use it at home. I do a little in my spare time. I print off a page or two at a time and cross them off as I find their ordinances. If I don’t find any, then I go to FamilySearch.org and see if I can find them. Most of them I do but there are six or seven total so far that I haven’t found any on. Yesterday, I found one man who was born in 1856 who died approximately 1915 who’s endowment was done in 1920 for him. But I couldn’t find a baptism for him anywhere. I spent a couple of hours going on the old DOS IGI they have there at the center, and going thro’ eight microfilm looking at family group sheets that had been turned in. I found a Robert Chollet born in France but I was looking for a Jules Albert Chollet born in Switzerland. I didn’t find anything so since I asked three of the missionaries there if his baptism had to be on record, and I was told that yes it did, we will have to have that one done. I now know how to use the microfilm machines very well and could show someone else how to do it. I gained that much from that experience.

Last Wednesday evening when my sweetheart tried to call his mother about 9:50 pm to talk to her for the first time that day, she didn’t answer. He mentioned he couldn’t imagine where she was; he was sure she was planning on going to the temple the next day so wouldn’t be out late…but maybe she was with Paul & ElDene and they were getting back later than usual. I stated that they are very seldom out that late and maybe we should call Crae Williams, her former bishop, who just lives down the road. (I couldn’t remember his first name at the time, but my sweetheart knew to whom I was referring.) He said no that he would try again a little later. He did about 10:30. Still no answer. I stated again that we should try to call Crae Williams. He said no that things were probably just fine. (I had tho’t out in my mind months before, what we would do and whom we could call if we were concerned about her. However, I hadn’t discussed this with Karl.) Anyway, we went to bed and got up the next morning and went to the 9:00 water aerobics class, then the Sliver Sneakers class at 10:30 and then a hair cut appointment for me at noon. An hour or so after we got home I tho’t of checking to see if there were any messages. There was one from Mom that she had left at almost 10:00 that morning stating that she just called to tell us why she didn’t answer the phone the night before when Karl had called and left two messages. I called her right then. She said that she had been in the shower and had fallen and couldn’t get up or out and had spent the whole night in the bathtub! I asked her how she finally got out and she said that when Mr. Wheeler came to pick her up to take her to the temple the next morning and she didn’t come out to the car he sent a woman who was with him in to check on her. (The only time she locks her door is when she’s leaving home for a long time.) Mom was able to drape a towel over herself and Mr. Wheeler helped her out. She said she could walk fine and felt OK. But as the days are passing she has found out that she is not only very bruised but also very sore and hard to move very fast. She has since been thinking of maybe selling her place after all and moving down to the assisted living center by Roy, Utah that she tho’t of going to earlier in the year. I’m just sorry that I didn’t call myself. But, I tho’t maybe I was an alarmist and since my sweetheart wasn’t concerned I shouldn’t be either. Next time, if there is a next time, I will look up the number and call myself!

A Wonderful Week

It’s been another busy week, but a good one. Last Sunday was our ward conference. As President Batt started speaking, he said, “What would ward conference be without calling people up from the audience to bear their testimonies.” I had the impression that I might be called. When I wasn’t I just dismissed it. Well, today, President Fulks of the stake presidency was the concluding speaker in our sacrament meeting. He asked that I bear my testimony. I did have about 20 minutes notice to think about it. He said I was to bear my testimony regarding our calling as missionaries in the Family History Center. I was impressed that I was to tell the experiences I’ve had over the last few months concerning the finding and doing the work for Johannes Rufener. So that’s what I did. I spoke probably seven or eight minutes. I asked him later if I took too long and he told me know that it was just right and what I told them he didn’t have to tell them. His talk was also on Family History which I didn’t know while I was giving my talk. It was a good experience for me. I also told them that my sweet husband was not only baptized for Johannes Rufener and his son but went thro’ for his endowments last Friday. Now I feel like that chapter is completed. He still needs to do the endowments for Johannes, the son and Samuel another son.

Last week was our last training class as missionaries at FHC. Elder Killian taught the last class of three that day and told us about Rootsweb.com which is another website where people post genealogy. After wards he asked to just say a few words concerning our missions there. There were six of us completing our training that day. He told us that our work there was very important and was part of God’s work and His plan. He also told us that the General Authorities have told him that people who work at family history centers will have a special role in the here after. He said that people will be lined up by the hundreds to have us help them get connected to their families. He got quite emotional while he was telling us this and I got emotional also. I felt a great thrill go thro’ me to think that I am part of this great work. I have had a witness many times in the last six weeks that this is what we are supposed to be doing at this time. I am so thankful that my health has improved to the point I can do this. I know that I can be instrumental in finding Johannes Rufener’s parents and his ancestors. I believe that I can also be instrumental in finding Nathaniel Bowen’s parents and ancestors on my mother’s side of the family. The people who have been researching that side of the family have hit a brick wall and can find nothing on him beyond his birth. It may take many years, but, hey, I’ve got time!

That evening at 5:00 we had our second zone conference since we started our mission. We were asked if we would take care of the music. At first Elder Killian tho’t it was Brother & Sister Carl & Kerry Robbins who was taking care of the music. We both of us over lap on Wednesdays from 1-5 so there is some confusion there since our names are so close. Sister LaRita Hendricks gave her conversion story. She was 21 years old when she joined the church. She had been raised as a catholic. She was very religious as was her husband. When he was in danger of being drafted to go to Vietnam, he joined the Navy. They both were raised in Blackfoot. The young missionary who found her in Ventura, California, was raised in Moorland, just west of Blackfoot. They were both home sick and had an immediate bonding. She wanted to learn more about her husband’s faith even tho’ she had no intension of joining the church at the time. Of course once she found out it was true, she could do nothing else. She also had Lane Harker, who was the young missionary come and speak to us for a few minutes as well. I had stayed there at the center and continued working on my PAF program, while Karl ran errands and went home and got me a half of sandwich. I was very hungry by the time he got back. We got home about 6:15. So I was there at the center for approximately 10 ½ hours. It was a long day and altho’ I was very tired, it was a good feeling. I was very glad to have been there. I also had the confirmation that by my being Relief Society pianist again, I can be practiced up and can play most any song they can pick without any advanced notice. That is a good feeling also. That is a case where preparation many years ago makes it possible to fulfill those callings now. When Brother Paul Chugg, first counselor in our bishopric, set me apart as the RS pianist, he told me that I would have the health and ability to play and do my best. That blessing has certainly come to pass already. I have thoroughly enjoyed playing this time and altho’ a play a few minutes almost every day, I don’t have to spend hours practicing before I could play well like I did when I was called to be RS pianist before when I hadn’t played the piano for many years. I’m am so thankful that my parents allowed me to and provided a way for me to learn the piano when I was young.

A Wonderful Day

I called Shonda Queen last Tuesday and found out that they have “walk-in” baptisms for the dead every day from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm and then the wards in the area do them every day from 4:30 to 6:30. We went to the temple Friday and went thro’ the 2:00 pm session. Before going to get ready for the session I took the temple submission disk to Shonda and she printed up the cards that needed work done. We had submitted Johannes Rufener’s whole family. It turns out that some of his children were done and some were not. There were two baptisms that needed to be done and three initiatory and endowments that needed to be done. All were men. It was a very nice session. My allergies are bothering me more now than they have since I was 16 years old! My eyes have been itching more this year than since then. They feel better especially in bright light when they are closed. So I closed my eyes a lot during the session but did keep awake. After the session we went down to the cafeteria and ate. While we were eating I told my sweetheart that I tho’t we should get the cards out of my suitcase and check out the baptistery and see if there were someone there who could be baptized for Johannes Rufener, my great-great- great grandfather and his son, Johannes Rufener. He said he would go with me. We didn’t know where the baptistery was or how to get there. I asked Sister Barzee whom I know from the FHC and she told me the women get there thro’ the women’s dressing room and it’s down the long hall before the cafeteria in the basement. I told Karl he’d have to find his own way, but it would probably be thro’ the men’s dressing room. I went down there looking for it. I went thro’ the door at the end of the hallway and entered another hallway with many doors on each side. I saw the baptistery but no one was in it. I went out and went up stairs and looked for Karl. I could not see him anywhere. I went downstairs again and headed down that hallway again. I saw Walt Mickelson who lived next door to us more than 30 years ago. He noted that his wife Donna was going into the women officiators changing room at the other side of a sitting area up the hallway. He told me to go in there and talk to her while she was changing. I hadn’t seen her for more than 20 years as close as I can figure. Karl has seen her a few times there at the temple but I hadn’t. I had to introduce myself to both Walt and Donna. It was sooo good to see her. We caught up on each other children and how many grandchildren we all had. Then I knew I needed to go find Karl for sure. I went back down the long hallway, saw the entryway into the women’s dressing room and peeked in but couldn’t see anyone to question. I tried the door that was next to it but the door knob was stiff and appeared to be locked. I peered into the baptistery but there still wasn’t anyone there. So I went back upstairs to see if Karl had gone back up there. I still couldn’t see him anywhere. I went back to the reception desk and told Sister Nield that there was no one down there. She said she had just talked to someone down there so she knew someone was there. She said she would walk me down. When we got down there she pointed to the door that I tho’t was locked and said to go in there. I opened the door and there sat Karl patiently waiting for me. Dorine and David Adams were the officiators who were over the baptistery. They are very good friends of Karen & Kent and were instrumental in helping Kent to becoming active in the church and going thro’ the temple. The ward who was assigned to that time slot hadn’t shown up. David said that any time he could help with baptisms there he jumped at the chance because he just loved to do them. I told him that Sister Nield had suggested that maybe they could get some of the other officiators to witness the baptism etc. and Karl could be baptized for them. Karl wasn’t too happy about getting completely undressed again but he knew how important it was to me and since Dave said that he would be glad to do the baptizing he consented to do it. Kim had volunteered to baptize Nathaniel for them but I wanted to be there and witness it so I chose to do it this way. If we end up with many names sometime then we can go that route. Anyway, it was a wonderful experience. I’m sure Johannes Rufener, born December 22, 1780 was there. I felt so emotional when Karl was being both baptized and confirmed for him and had such a warm feeling again. I didn’t feel as much as when his son was done. I tho’t maybe his work had already been done so maybe that was why. I checked on the IIGI when I got home (It had been down all week long so I couldn’t check before; I had tried that morning and couldn’t get it.)….and there was no record of the son’s work having been done. Samuel Rufener’s baptism & confirmation had been done but not the initiatory or endowment. I felt sooo good afterwards. It is such a wonderful feeling to know that his work is finely being completed. And it is sooo neat being instrumental in it. It is wonderful being part of this important work. While Karl was in getting his clothes changed, President DeMordant of the temple presidency came down to see how they were doing there in the baptistery. I introduced myself to him and told him I am an RN (I didn't explain that RN now stood for Retired Nurse instead of Registerd Nurse) and had worked with him at the hospital a few times. (He was a radiologist there at EIRMC when I was there.) He asked if I were still working. I told him no that I hadn’t worked for 6 ½ years but my husband and I were now serving as service missionaries at the Regional Family History Center here in IF. He asked me how I liked it. I told him I loved it and am learning so much. He told me that the work we are doing is a very important work and that we were serving where the Lord wanted us to serve. It was wonderful to have that confirmation again. I know that this work is very important and I know that the Church is true. I’m so thankful to be alive in this day and age.

It's Mother's Day

It’s Mother’s Day. We had a very nice sacrament meeting with two youth speakers, a returned missionary and a one-time grandpa speak. All about mothers. It was all very interesting. I need to call my mother in a bit and I hope all of my children call me. That is one very nice thing about Mother’s Day is being able to talk to all of my children. Karen came Friday afternoon and gave me a beautiful card with a heart felt message in it. And a WillowTree figurine entitled “Chrysalis…protect and cherish and give wings to fly.” It’s a mother standing with her arm around a daughter who is almost as tall as she is. It is beautiful. We had a lovely visit. It had been a long time since she was here.

We were in our fourth week of our mission last week. I am learning so much! Good hints and becoming more confident with the PAF program so I will be able to help others. In a class Wednesday I learned that I could make a temple submission file for just Johannes Rufener (my third great-grandfather on my fahter’s side) and have his work done. I need to call Shonda Queen who works at the temple and see when baptisms are being done then I can go watch it done and then have Karl complete his work. I feel a thrill that it is getting close. We tho’t it was done toward the end of last year but, it was the wrong Johannes Rufener. I found that that is a very common name in Switzerland especially in the 1700-1800’s. I’ve been cleaning up my PAF file that we down loaded from the Ancestral File and am just about ready to go into PAF insight and get any of the ordinances that have been done since the Ancestral File hasn’t been added to anymore, I think that is 1990 or 2000 or something like that. My sweetheart spent all day yesterday formatting floppy disks. They got a big box from the temple and if they are reformatted, then they can be used again and not have to charge the patrons for them. The reformatting will also show up any bad disks. It’s something he can remember how to do and he doesn’t mind doing it. After a while I think I would be bored stiff. My first two hours yesterday were on the computers or the floor as they call it. The second of those first two hours was a PAF class. Then I was on #5 which is books, maps and death records. With the books, a section about a yard wide and ten shelves high need to be checked and made sure they are all in the right order. They all have ascension numbers, which is the order in which they were receive by the library (in a given topic). We also replace all of the books on the shelves that patrons have used. The maps there are 15 long metal drawers that have maps of the different states and countries in different eras. That took forever to count and my back was killing me by the time I finished. There were quite a few out of order; I could tell it had been awhile since they had been checked. On the books and microfilm and microfische, there are just sections that need to be done and you sign a sheet to see where the last one finished and you sign it so the next one will know where to start. I think I will make a suggestion that they divide up the map drawers that way too because it is too hard to do all 15 at once and if they don’t have a signup sheet then just the first four or five will be done all the time and the lower ones won’t be done. I had to ask my sweetheart to come and help me on the loser drawers. Altho’ I was sitting down, it was so hard to bend over to count the ones just above the floor. He helped me with the last four drawers. Some of those maps are very large…five feet by five feet or so. My next assignment was #3 which is microfilm. You are supposed to check at least one drawer, the average is four per person, and return any microfilm to the drawer that the patrons have used and put in the basket. After doing those other assigned tasks you can then go to the floor and be there available to help the patrons or work on your own line. The last two hours I was at the desk. When you are there, you have to stay close by to answer the phone, empty the printer, greet the patrons as they come in, etc. I was tired by the time I got home. I don’t feel like doing much of anything for a while. I just warmed up some leftover macaroni/tomato soup that I had made the day before and sat in my chair and rested after that for a few hours before doing anything else. I think I will have leftovers to heat up for every Saturday. It is so much better. I was tired but it was a good kind of tired. I sleep very well lately. I’ve officially caught the “Spirit of Elijah”! I feel the spirit while there at the center and even here at home when I’m working on my program. I know we are doing the Lord’s work and doing what He wants us to do. I know that the Family History Program is a very important part of the three-fold mission of the Church. It is so neat being a part of it. I’ve decided that I might as well take over the roll that Aunt Pearl had before she died of keeping track of all of the people and ordinance work in my siblings families and my children’s and grandchildren’s families. With the computer it won’t be that difficult. I learned how to make a GED.com file and send it by e-mail yesterday so now I need to write up the directions and send them to my brother and sisters and have them send me the dates and ordinances on their children and grandchildren. That will be much faster to do it that way than typing all of the data and sending it via e-mail. I love this work!

Another Busy Week

This week went by sooo fast. We started with a very nice but normal Sunday. I think that that was the only normal day of the week. This week went by sooo fast. We started with a very nice but normal Sunday. I think that that was the only normal day of the week. Monday we were at the FHC by 8:40 for prayer meeting before our missionary training classes started. We learned sooo much. It is almost mind boggling. The classes were on Computer Catalog and Books, Maps and Obituaries and Basic PAF, loading program: zip & ged.com, restore and import, etc. They were very interesting. We even had homework we had to do. I hope they let us know tomorrow how we did. We finished it last Wednesday and turned it in. We found out that they have all the cemetery records in South East Idaho and are digitalizing them to go to SLC FHC so they can be obtained from the familysearch.com. That will be so helpful. I understand that Utah has already done that. Monday night Elena, my Pilates teacher and personal trainer (I meet with her once a month for the rest of the year then I think that is enough.) called and told me that she missed me at Pilates. I reminded her that I told her the week before I wouldn’t be able to come on Mondays anymore because of our training classes. She isn’t a member of the church so I’m not sure she understands the commitment this mission call will take but I do know she doesn’t understand the blessings that will come with it. She had told me the week before that this week would be the last week on the contract and that I would need to sign a new contract. I told her that I had decided that I couldn’t work Pilates into my schedule, that I had found that the water aerobics was helping me more and more and I would get my workouts that way from now on. She more or less “ripped me up one side and down the other” and told me that I had come so far but would really regress badly if I didn’t keep up the Pilates. I tried to explain about the time element now we were spending three days a week at the Family History Center. And she just went on and on. After I hung up my sweetheart told me that I was almost starting to use my assertive voice with her. I told me that I needed to because she wasn’t listening. I felt like I had lost a friend. Thirty minutes later she called me back and apologized and said that I knew what was best for me. I felt relieved about that. When I saw her Wednesday for that last class, she acted as if nothing had happened. Tuesday, I started the day with the 9:00 water aerobics. It was a good class. Karl went to Tiebreaker Elementary School to help tutor first graders in reading. We met at 10:30 for the Silver Sneakers exercise class. The afternoon was uneventful until 7:00 when I went over to Adele Harper’s home to help the young women crochet. I got home about 8:30. Wednesday, I woke up before 6:30 on my own. I had been planning on going to the water aerobics but felt I had better get that last Pilates class over with. I hadn’t gone at all the week before to Pilates. I did work my “abbs” in the water tho’. The class was very hard for me. My back bothered me more than it had done for a long, long time. As I was walking down the stairs I felt like an old woman. I remembered that I went down so quickly the day before after Silver Sneakers. This time I had to go so slowly. I ached all over. Especially my neck and back. I knew then that I had made the right decision concerning Pilates. I went home and changed my clothes to get ready to go to the FHC. I had an 11:00 nail appointment and we had to be to the center by 12:15 for a special missionary meeting. So Karl took me to have my nails done and just read the paper and pulled weeds while he waited for me to get done. The work at the Center was very gratifying. I even was able to help a person or two and I knew who to ask when I was asked about something I didn’t know. Elder Hall (he has been there for 12 ½ years and is 81 years old; his wife died about 3 ½ years ago and even tho’ he lives in Rexburg, he seems to practically live there at the Center.) helped me re-download my father’s and then my mother’s lines from the Ancestral File. It took almost all night because he was the director from 5-9 and had other things to do. I helped Karl with things on his file while I was waiting for him. When we finally got it done, it was on two different floppy 3 ½ disks. We got home just before 9:30. Altho’I was sooo tired, I still downloaded my file to my PAF. (I was very thankful that I could do all four things. It hasn’t been too long ago that I was only able to do one thing per day so I had to choose.) With the two disks I had to put each one in three times to restore my program. I told Karl that that really got old fast and we needed to get a flash drive the next day for sure. I had talked to Bryan about them and he had sent me some info he had found online. I went to bed about 10:45. I woke up on my own before 6:30. I had plenty of time to take my shower, check out the weather on the computer and practice the piano besides drinking my protein drink before I went to the water aerobics. I had four things planned for the day, but I was still so tired from the day before that I cut it down to two. I just went to the water aerobics and then I had a 1:00 appointment with Shelley for a massage and after my last efforts at Pilates I really needed one. (My back still bothers me a little more than it did before that class.) In between, I called Wal-Mart, Office Max, Best Buy, and Circuit City to compare prices for flash drives. I found out that Office Max had a 2 Gig for $29.99. Karl strongly felt we should check that out so we did on the way home. When I found out that the regular price was $79.99, it didn’t take long to get one. I came home and stored my PAF and Karl’s PAF program to it. He says he’ll still use the floppy for now as long as it keeps working. I anticipate that that won’t be too long. It goes onto the flash drive just as fast as it does the C drive. That surprised me because it took forever with the 3 ½ floppies. Later that night at 7:00 I went to Book Club Enrichment Group. We discussed the Willa Cather book, My Antonia. I got home before 9:00. Friday, I went to water aerobics, then to the doctor’s office to get an iron infusion (this is because my gastric bypass has caused malabsorption of iron and my Ferritin levels keep dropping….if that’s the only bad result from it, that’s not too bad…I still would have done it.) I met a woman who just learned she had insulin resistance so I talked to her about that while I had the IV and then 30 minutes after it finished. I felt like I had made a new friend. (we talked of other things too.) We had zone meeting (we are a zone by ourselves—the missionaries at the FHC) at the temple and were to be in our seats by 6:00pm. Since we had some errands to run and wanted to eat supper there before the session, we left at 4:30. We had a meeting in the chapel and then went to the 7:00 session. And was it a big session! They brought in about 5-7 chairs to seat everyone. Elder Bob Anderson from the center gave the talk. He told us that each of us was meant to be there at the Center at this time in our lives. (My tho’t was “but I’ve had tho’ts about this for at least a year” wondering if I can do this. Then the tho’t came to me, “Where do you think those tho’ts came from?” It was a very nice session. I was very tired when we got home but it was a good kind of tired. Saturday, I woke up after only about 4 hours of sleep. Altho’ I would have liked to have gone back to sleep I couldn’t. ….my mind was too active thinking about the things at the Center etc. We had a very eventful day at the center. We were assigned tasks there just like all the other missionaries. We change stations every two hours. If we should finish our tasks before the two hours is up, then we can go to the computers. I was on the desk alone. I got along fine. Karl was on with Brother Anderson. I had stored by PAF and Karl’s to the flash drive. I tried to add something to it and it wouldn’t add. It came back with the message, “This is a read only file and cannot be written on. I asked Sister Carl if she could help me and when she came over she saw that it had U3 on it. This means that it keeps you from adding things to it which defeats our purposes. Anyway, Sister Carl was able to take it off. When I told her that I would have to go to SLC FHC to find the original records for my Johannes Rufener she asked why. I told her that they had special books down there for the 1700’s etc. She said but they’ve been put on microfilm and we can order them here. So she helped me fill out he order form and we got it ordered. It will be here in three to four weeks or so…hopefully sooner than later. It would be more than four weeks before we could go down, because we need to finish our training first, anyway. After the Center closed at 5:00pm, we went to Saving Center. I didn’t “let down” until after I got home. And, boy, was I tired! I was glad that we had gotten some TV dinners there at Savings Center and that’s what we had for supper. I didn’t do anything else last night, I was so tired. But it was a good kind of tired. I only got 5 hours of sleep last night and four the night before (because of going to the temple and being at the center yesterday, I didn’t get my water in earlier in the day like I had been and I had to wake up to empty my bladder.) I’m going to make sure I get my water in early in the day from now on and I should be able to get more sleep. Today, I’ve been tired but it has been a good day. The meetings were all very good and my piano playing went well. Oh, I almost forgot. Wednesday we were asked to be the official piano player and song leader for the afternoon prayer meeting. So we start this Wednesday.

Our Mission Call

We received our mission call two weeks ago yesterday. It was hand delivered by President Fulks, second counselor in the Stake Presidency. We were set apart the next day. I asked Pres. Fulks, "What do we do now....just wait to be contacted by the director?" He told me yes. So we waited and waited and waited and finally I called the FHC on Thursday. They told me that there was a new missionary training meeting starting Monday @ 9:00 Am with prayer meeting at 8:45. Well, we didn't know for sure how long it would take to drive there and with all the lights against us and construction going on around the building, we got there late....about 8:55. We were welcomed anyway. Sister Hendricks took us in hand and showed us the ropes. Elder Killian, the FHC director, told us that this is the best mission we could possibly serve because we are able to live at home, and keep up with our family and friends. He told us it would also be the hardest mission we ever served because we were living at home and keeping up with our family and friends. He said we would have to set boundries, because family and friends tend to forget that we are on a mission because we are living at home. We would have to be commited. We were given a binder with a schedule in it. We will have the training classes for the next five weeks on Monday morning. We were told that we are to wear our name tags every time we are wearing our Sunday clothes whether it is to go to church, the temple, a reception, or funeral. It is good advertizing and a great conversation starter. We got home about 12:30. We also were assigned that morning to the days we would work. Wednesday evening, 1:00pm to 9:00pm and Saturday 9:00am to 5:00pm. I didn't realize that they had prayer meeting before the 1:00pm shift also (I should have tho't) so instead of being ten minutes early we were five minutes late. We were on time Saturday morning.

We are learning lots. Altho' I'm comfortable with the computer and know a little around the PAF program, I am learning something new everytime I turn around. My sweetheart knows nothing about the PC nor the PAF program, but he is willing to learn and I hope is not getting too overwelmed. He spent about three hours yesterday working with Elder McCary learning to get into and out of the PAF program the FamilySearch.com site and to cut and paste. He has to keep practicing patience with himself. I'm thankful that he is willing to get out of his comfort zone and do this with me.

I've been having trouble identifing my third great grandfather on my father's side. It is my Grandma Wendel's great grandfather, Johannes Rufener, born 22 Dec 1780 in Blumenstein, Bern, Switzerland. There are only 53 Johannes Rufener born in the same place in a ten year peroid. The Johannes Rufener that my thrid great grandmother and her daughter have been sealed to (and therefore me too) was born in 1792 in the same place and I recently learned he must have died before his brother, Johannes Rufener was born in 1796. So therefore he could not possibly be my progenitor. (The one born in 1792.) Just this last Friday, I called Renda Smith in our ward to see if I could use her ancestry.com. She told me to tell her the names I was looking for and she'd look them up for me. She found Susanna Rufener who is my second great grandmother and had her parents as Johannes Rufener born in 1792 and Anna Rufener born in 1794. I felt so terrible when she gave me that information. I really felt bad. I said, "What do I do now?" Renda told me that's the way family history goes. Shortly after I had the impression to put into familysearch.com Anna's death date, 3 Dec 1822. When I did, it brought up her husband, Johannes Rufener, born 22 Dec 1780. And a death date!! 14 Jun 1848. I got the most wonderful warm feeling come over me. I was thrilled thro' and thro'. I received the confirmation that these were my progenitors and they were the ones I need to be sealed to. This Johannes Rufener will need to have his work done for him then I can call Salt Lake and have the sealing changed. I will have to take a trip to the Family History Center and look at the original records and find out the parents for my Johannes Rufener.

Last Wednesday evening, Elder Hall helped me divide my and Karl's lines onto two different programs. He took us to the old Ancesteral File and put them on our respective lines. I started out with 712 names and now have over 10,000 names! I'm not sure how many my sweetheart has but more than he started with I know. While we were in the Ancesteral file, he went in and found out who had Johannes Rufener, 1792 sealed to Anna Rufener; it was Aunt Pearl! When I was telling someone about that Friday, I got the tho't that maybe she got over there and found out she had made a mistake and she's the one who has been "bugging" me. My Johannes Rufener also may be ready now and trying to let me know too. Anyway, I am quite thrilled to say the least and feel very blessed and thankful for this oportunity to serve this mission. It is the fourth mission for my sweetheart but my first.