Week of November 22, 2015

Sunday we attended the Tabernacle Choir broadcast. It is amazing to be sitting in the tabernacle and hear them sing live. Afterward we walked around the nativity display and took pictures of the decorations and the temple. It will be beautiful when they turn the lights on. At church a lady walked through the building pulling a suitcase with a broken wheel. The branch president visited with her briefly. It sounded like he was offering to get her a suitcase that didn’t have a broken wheel.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Apparently, she comes through every week, probably trying to get some warmth or a break from the outside. There are so many people we see every day with piles of their stuff. It is sad.

Monday we attended the first session of our zone inservice meeting that is held once a month. Part of it was a presentation by the man in charge of FamilySearch talking about the system and what they are doing. It was amazing the scope and the growth of FS. I was in awe of everything going on and the plans in the works.

Nativity at Temple Square

Wise Men and Shepherds in Nativity

We met with our zone leader just before lunch to discuss our assignment. He introduced us to Elder and Sister Newton who are the assistant zone leaders working in the Family History Library doing continuing training. We will be working in the library doing more training for the missionaries assigned there. After each group completes the two week training we just had, they have 4 more days of additional training if they are assigned to the library. We will also teach enrichment classes to missionaries on various subjects to assist in their work and classes for missionaries that are going home to make sure they are prepared to help with family history when they get home. Leaders tend to call our missionaries to be family history consultants and some don’t work in family history areas here, so we give them a crash course to help them. This will be a great opportunity and I’m looking forward to it. I’m sure we’ll learn a ton. It will also make it easier to do our own work since we will already be at the library.

After lunch we went to the library to join our class and take a tour of the library. In the meantime we had received permission to travel home for Thanksgiving since the zone wasn’t working during the holiday. All the missionaries are given half a day a week to do personal research and the training zone doesn’t get those when they are training new missionaries. They take their research days all in one week and most of them were leaving town.

Tuesday we were up early so we could be at the temple for the 7 am session. We left immediately afterward and arrived early in Las Vegas.

During Thanksgiving we took time with our family to reflect on our blessings. We have so much to be thankful for. I am grateful for family, for the gospel, for the opportunities we have been given, for the opportunity to serve this mission and the opportunity to come home, for the abundance we have been blessed with. Even things that on the surface appear to be trials and challenges usually turn out to be blessings as we look back on them. I know the Lord is blessing us very generously.

Saturday we returned to Utah. We had good weather most of the way with only a few snow flurries for a short time. We stopped at my sister’s home to pick up some things and grab a bite to eat. We came out of the restaurant we it was snowing. It made us a little anxious. We left immediately for Salt Lake. The weather cleared as we drove north, and the roads were clear, but it was really cold. We thoroughly enjoyed being home and being with family, but we were glad to be back.

Week of November 15, 2015

Sunday I worked on family history until church at 2:30. I am feeling almost driven to work on the records and get them cleaned up. My trainer told me I need to go through my first 5 generations and make sure the dates and places are all standardized then make sure there are sources.

Monday it was a little colder in the morning and the forecast was snow. It rained but it wasn’t cold enough to snow even though it was quite blustery. I always have questions for my trainer and everything we look at seems to uncover a can of worms. Today we looked at a record that had three wives with the same name, all born in different years. We began looking at the children for clues because the lesson had been on correcting relationships. We looked at a program that identifies problems in files and found that there were duplicate records for my grandmother and my great-grandfather. After working on these my mind was beginning to swim. I stayed up late researching the problems and found a few clues to help.

In the evening we had a branch dinner called “Hail and Farewell”. They have it every other month when the new missionaries arrive to welcome them and say goodbye to the ones leaving in the next two months. The young elders’ choir sang “Army of Helaman”. I was so touch when they sang, “We have been born . . . to goodly parents who love the Lord. We have been taught, and we understand, that we must do as the Lord commands.” They have some serious issues in their lives and yet each of them is dedicated and serves with distinction. They are amazing.

Tuesday we spent more time trying to fix records. I am learning a lot so I hope I can remember it all. I wasn’t feeling well due to lack of sleep and a sore throat. I went to bed early and slept most of the night.

Elder and Sister Roeth in training lab

Wednesday Sister Pilz took me to the Family History Library special collections to look at records. I was able to definitely clear up at least one confusing record. We had zone conference in the afternoon and talked with a lady from my sister’s ward that found an entry in a journal that added more information to our research saga. At home I worked on an assignment for Friday’s devotional. I should have gone to bed early again, but it got late faster than I could get everything done.

Thursday I had two sessions with my trainer. I started to work on a family that we had worked on last week, but she told me it was too complicated and I should work on something more straight-forward. I don’t think she realizes that I am losing sleep over some of these people and I need to get them straightened out.

Friday was a wonderful day. Ted and I were assigned the thought, scripture, and prayer for the devotional. I shared some thoughts by Elder Packer and Elder Bednar about family history and then shared some thoughts about moving forward in faith to our new assignments. After a couple of preliminary items we assembled in the chapel with Pres. Tate and the rest of the presidency for our “Go Forth” ceremony. He talked for a few minutes about being positive and looking for the good. Then the assignments began. He had missionaries stand in groups, announced which zone they would be assigned to, and had the zone leaders stand so they could see each other. I was not at all surprised on any assignments. He called our name and another couple and told us we were in the Training zone. I know I made an audible gasp and grabbed Ted’s sleeve. I may even have started to cry. All week as we were in training, I was thinking how fun it would be to be in that zone, but I felt it was presumptuous to request it. I had been praying all week that the presidency would assign me where I could be of most value and that my heart would be accepting of the assignment. I am so thrilled! Pres. Tate came down to shake hands with each missionary. He asked if we were OK and I told him how excited I was. I am so grateful for Heavenly Father’s tender mercies in my life. It wasn’t important to me to work in the Training zone, but it was something I really thought I would like. What a blessing in my life!

After the Go Forth meeting, all of the trainers and missionaries went to the temple. Sis. Pilz took us through a tunnel I had never known about before. As we were walking down the tunnel, there was a wedding party ahead of us visiting. As we got closer one of the ladies turned around—it was my sister-in-law Marci Hales in the temple for the marriage of one of her nephews. We had a good visit then her mom arrived and we visited a short while longer. What a small world!

Saturday was a busy day. I went through my notes from training to organize them. In the afternoon we attended “Savior of the World”, a musical play in a small theater in the Conference Center. The first act is about events around the birth of Christ and the second act is about the crucifixion and the resurrection. It was wonderful. After the play we invited some missionaries over for soup. We enjoyed a good visit for a few minutes. Another missionary had given us tickets for the 10^th anniversary performance of the Bells on Temple Square. It was really fun, not just to listen to, but to watch. Some of the performers had 2 or 3 bells in each hand and rang them all separately depending on whether they moved their hand sideways or front to back. It was fascinating. We have really enjoyed some beautiful events in addition to the missionary things we do. (I can’t really say missionary work since we have been in training since we entered the MTC and have not actually done anything to contribute. I’m sure that will change quickly.) This week we’ve been watching the Christmas decorations go up on Temple Square. I’m excited to see it all lit up.

Week of November 9, 2015

Monday we started early with a mission devotional at the Joseph Smith Building. We are the largest mission in the Church number-wise with about 1200 missionaries. Area-wise, we are the smallest with just the Church buildings around Temple Square included. We had a brief meeting with the mission presidency then got individual pictures taken. We will be training for two weeks and then get our mission assignments. We also had couple pictures taken with the mission president and his wife. There was an orientation meeting then a luncheon with the mission presidency. We sat next to Pres. and Sister Tate. It turned out they had graduated from the same high school as I did, the same year as my sister Cathy. It also turned out we are distant cousins with common 3^rd great grandparents. One of the other missionaries is descended from the same grandparents. Small world!

Elder and Sister Roeth - Pres. and Sister Tate

Tuesday we left early for morning devotional. It appears we will begin each day at 7:30 am with a devotional. I guess there is no more sleeping in for us. The weather looks like it could snow, but it has been fairly warm the last three days. We watched a video clip about Joseph Smith’s life. It was a very moving experience—he really suffered incredibly for his teachings.

We had a group picture taken with the mission presidency. They wanted the tallest men to be on the back row of risers with their wives. Ted was the tallest so he was put right in the middle with everyone else moving out from him. After pictures we were assigned to our trainers. We will spend one on one time with them for the next two weeks to teach us how to use Family Tree to do family history. Only half can be with trainers at one time so our group stayed in the lab the rest of the morning in classroom instruction.

After lunch we spent about 1 ½ hours with our trainers. My trainer is Sister Pilz who happens to have a son in Las Vegas. She is amazing. She is on her 5^th mission here and is really sharp. She had looked at my family lines and was prepared to make me work. She had me correct some dates and places on my family lines to be in standardized formats. She also showed me what to look for to find potential research hints for individuals. She gave me a list of names and I proceeded to search and add information, thinking I was working on some of her family. There was one name that looked like it might be mine that I was to work on at home, but I asked her who the other people were. She said it was someone from my family. I looked for him again at home in the evening, but I could not find any way for that man to connect with our family. As it turned out, he was related to the other person she is training and somehow he got on the wrong list.

My cousin Jane Hales Ricks is a volunteer doctor for senior missionaries. When I went by the clinic today she was in and we were able to connect and have a very brief visit on my way to training. When we finished the day and were on our way home it was cold and raining lightly. I was glad to get home to our warm apartment. Our apartment is nice. It has a living room, kitchen, bedroom, walk-in closet, bathroom, and a good-sized closet/cupboard for storage. We have a balcony and out onto the common area where there is a small gazebo. There are 9 buildings with three stories each. We have no dishwasher, but we do have a brand new hot water heater that was replaced today because we had to call twice already to have it reset.

Wednesday we had two classes and two one-on-one training sessions. Sister Pilz is really great to answer questions. I feel like I must not have known very much because there is so much I am learning. After our training we attended the temple. It was a great experience. It is fairly chilly out in the mornings and evenings so I was glad to be home after the short walk. It is really nice to have everything so close.

Thursday we had a great devotional. We had a video presentation by a former member of the mission presidency about the difference between genealogy and family history. He talked about family history giving life to ancestors and there is much we can learn even when there is limited documentation about them. After we returned home we did the wash. We have a laundry room in our apartment complex, so it’s fairly convenient. After dinner Ted and I went over some of the things we had learned to make sure we understood. It will take practice. Things didn’t always work the way I had thought they would, but that just gives me more questions for Sister Pilz.

Friday we trained on correcting relationships. It was very interesting. Every day I am more aware of how little I really understood and used the capabilities of the system. It is so flexible and can do so much that we don’t even take advantage of. At my one-on-one with Sister Pilz she showed me some things in her sources and we made some corrections and fixes in the system. It seems like the time always goes so quickly.

Near the end of our session we were called for our interviews with the president and his wife. It turned out we were also interviewed by the two counselors and their wives and by the zone leader of the training zone. It was not at all what I expected. We had just a few minutes with each while they asked a brief question or two. The zone leader asked us to tell them about our experience with family history. The second counselor asked us about ourselves and our families. The first counselor asked us what spiritual impressions we’d received about what we would like to do. I’m sure the president asked us what we would like to do, but when we got to his office, he told us the other couple we are related to had made him a CD of family pictures. He also showed us a biography of his ancestor Mary Isabella Hales. He told us he was glad he’d had the opportunity to visit with us at the luncheon since our time was so short.

We enjoyed visiting with several missionaries at lunch. We all discussed the interviews and it was very interesting to me to hear what each of them hoped to be assigned to. None of them were the same and most were very strongly inclined to one area or another.

Saturday was a great day! I was able to get so much done. I was able to get things more organized so I can function better. I spent time visiting with my sister Cathy about a family line that is really messed up. She gave me some information and we will reconvene in a week to try to sort it out. Someone incorrectly merged at least two people and they need to be separated. We did some real grocery shopping then attended a Utah Symphony concert that Sister Pilz gave us tickets for. Fantastic!

Week of November 2, 2015

Monday morning we were up loaded the car, and drove to the MTC. The in-processing was much smoother than last time. We checked in, dropped our luggage and some elders helped us carry it up to our room. We stopped at the bookstore, the cashier to pay for our meals then went to a brief orientation before going to the cafeteria for lunch. At 1 pm we had a general orientation and were separated into districts. We are in the same district as Thom and Kathryn Christensen who are going to Moscow, Russia to be Associate General Counsel. The other two couples in our district are going to Zambia and Romania. There are 48 missionaries going to our mission—the largest group they have had in a long time. Our MTC group is the largest all year. In the evening we were able to attend a viewing of a Christmas devotional by Elder Bednar called “Character of Christ”. It was really uplifting and thought-provoking. I really enjoyed it.

MTC Senior Missionaries - 4 more groups of the same size

Tuesday we divided up to meet with our morning trainers. Our group is really fun and very lively. It was suggested that our MTC experience should be called EFOP—Especially for Old People. After lunch they took pictures of the senior missionaries—it took five different groupings to get everyone in a picture. I am amazed at the people we are meeting. Today we met a couple that just arrived because her mother had passed away on Sunday. They are in the middle of planning the funeral for Saturday. After our class ended this afternoon we walked (very quickly) to the Creamery with the Christensens for ice cream before dinner. In the evening we attended a devotional with Elder Richard Maynes. I was very touched when the choir sang “Be Still My Soul” which I considered a tender mercy. Steven had encouraged me to read the words of the song frequently and they are very touching to me and very comforting. 

Wednesday we had our first teaching assignment. There was a good spirit there and we enjoyed the experience. There was nothing scheduled in the evening, so we spent time studying and preparing for our second teaching experience tomorrow. Our house had fallen out of escrow two weeks ago. We received 4 offers by the time we entered the MTC. We countered on three of the offers and received our counter offer back from one of our potential buyers, so we are once again in escrow. I really pray it will go through this time.

Thursday we had another teaching assignment. It was a really good experience. After lunch they had an optional class on using Gospel Library apps. It was fun and we learned some good things. In the evening we did our wash and packed so we could load the car before we start in the morning. It is the last day.

Roeths-Salt Lake City; Majorans-Romania; Sister Frandsen; Salmons-Zambia; Christensens-Moscow, Russia

Friday we were up early to load the car. We had another teaching opportunity that was a good experience. Right after we finished we had to leave for Salt Lake. We met Heather and Scott at a restaurant in Lehi and had a brief visit. It was fun to see them. Too soon it was time to leave. We dashed to Salt Lake and arrived about 2 minutes before our meeting was supposed to start. We got our apartment keys and a brief orientation. We parked our car right outside the gate next to our apartment and were able to unload our car in a fairly short time. While we were unpacking a young woman came over to introduce herself. She was the daughter of the couple whose mother had passed away and she was here for the funeral. She lives in College Station, TX and Nathan had spoken in her ward recently. She was impressed that he found a way to express his individuality even having to wear scrubs. He wears unique socks. I told her he also wears unique scrub hats Caroline made for him. After unloading the car we began to unpack. I was surprised how much we had—I shouldn’t have been since I packed it all. We were able to get almost everything put away fairly quickly. Ted got the internet working. It feels so good to be in place finally.

Saturday I slept in. When I got up to shower, it turned out we had no hot water. Someone came to reset the water heater then we waited for the water to heat. Things are not perfect—we do not have palatial accommodations—but it is comfortable and it feels good to be here. In the afternoon the missionaries had a swap meet—everything is free. Missionaries going home donate what they can’t or don’t want to take and missionaries here pick up what they want. New missionaries had a 20 minute early start so we were able to get a few things. They do this once a month and it’s a fun thing. After we knew what we still needed we went to Walmart and Costco to get food. The trick is not to get too much since there is not much storage space but enough to sustain life. Tricky.

Sunday we went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Broadcast. It was amazing. The Orchestra at Temple Square and the Bells at Temple Square were also there. They did a special patriotic presentation for Veterans and asked all the vets to stand up after. The music was incredible and after the broadcast they talked to us for a few minutes then sang “God Be With You”. It was very moving.

Church was at 1 pm and it’s just across the street. (Next week we move to 2:30 meetings.) The branch is huge. The Relief Society fills a room about 4 times as big as ours at home. They have runners with microphones in the meetings so people can participate. There are 100 young elders in our branch that are all disabled in some way and unable to serve in other missions. They are amazing. There are two with spina bifida, some with asbergers, and many that are autistic. They have a great spirit about them. One elder played a special musical number that was really great and he didn’t use any music. We were told that several of them have amazing talents. We were so impressed with their comments during Sunday School—they had incredible insights. It should be a great experience.