Week of December 26, 2015

Saturday some of the ladies had invited us to join them for line dancing at the church. It was an interesting experience. There weren’t many there—about 10—but we had a good time. After a light supper we invited a couple of ladies over to put a puzzle together. It was a nightmare. None of the pieces would stay together. I finally ended up taping sections as we completed them so we could get it to hold together. We were finally able to finish it.

Sister Strange, Sister Day, Sister Roeth and the Nightmare Puzzle

Monday we had a long staff meeting to discuss upcoming changes and assign teachers for the next two months. I only get to teach four times in the next two months, partly due to the calendar and partly due to having so many that can teach. I volunteered to backup a sick missionary on the Photos/Documents class on Tuesday in case she is not able to come. The result was that I was a little crazy all day and spent all evening preparing to teach Photos/Documents. Two of us have been assigned to take over calendars and notices for our zone. I will update calendars and send to zone leaders and send invitations to classes. The other sister will prepare the invitations.

Tuesday morning I spent most of the morning working on calendars. I think they are ready to send, but I need to let them gel a bit before publishing them. I was glad to see the teacher I would have substituted for. She gave an excellent class and I was able to spend my time working on the calendars.

In the evening we went to the temple. It was really busy. The lady in the office told us on a normal Tuesday they might have at most 10 marriages—today they had 70. That made for a very busy temple.

Wednesday I really enjoyed listening to the presentation for “Stories”. The teacher made it very personal and, I think, stressed the imperative for us to record our memories or they will be lost. I presented the second half of the IrfanView lesson along with a review of the first half from last week. We added the class activity that will be part of the new curriculum. The students responded very positively to what was presented. I was pleased with the comments I received. Two of the sisters told me they really liked my way of presenting. They said I had such a calm demeanor. That made me feel good. I know I have a soothing voice because usually my students have trouble staying awake.

We met up with my cousin and her husband, Dianne and Duane Powell, for a walk around Temple Square in the evening to see the lights and take pictures. It was super cold. I was relieved to get back to our apartment for a few minutes. After that we drove up to my uncle’s house where we visited and had a yummy dinner.

Duane & Dianne Powell, Uncle Elliot Richards, Ted

Thursday was a research day for us. We went early to the library and I worked on my next lesson while Ted worked with a lady from Finland and was able to find 4 additional generations on his Pikkariainen line. There is apparently more on the other Scandinavian lines that he didn’t look at. I left early to take a lady shopping.

Late afternoon a French sister joined me for a walk. I left in a hurry and didn’t put on my scarf and it was bitterly cold. I put on my hood and scrunched the opening up as tight as I could and still be able to see. It helped a little, but I was really cold. We walked on to the train station then back up North Temple. About half way through the sister showed me her hands. She had left her gloves at Macy’s the day before when she was shopping so she was wearing some ankle socks on her hands. It was something but not enough. When we got back she hurried over to Macy’s to see if she could find them, but when it was time for ourgathering, she knocked at the door looking rather worn out and told us she couldn’t stay because she was so tired. She had not found her gloves, so I gave her my knit gloves I had brought. They are thin, but they are better than nothing. I felt so bad for her.

We had a few friends come over in the evening. We had a good visit, ate some, and visited some more. Anyway, we had a good evening and really enjoyed it.

Friday was New Year’s Day. In the afternoon we visited a friend I’ve known since seventh grade. She and her husband have an open house every New Year’s Day and serve several traditional Japanese dishes. I tried everything and enjoyed most. We had a good visit. There were tons of people that came and went. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the ride. After we returned home I went to visit another missionary to work on a puzzle with her.

Saturday for lunch I met the group of girls I grew up with in Salt Lake. We had a good visit for a couple of hours until everyone had to go their ways. It was fun. Afterward we drove to Provo to see the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art. I wish we’d had more time for the exhibit—it was impressive the contribution Rockwell made to American art.

Elder and Sister Roeth at Provo City Center Temple

Late afternoon we met Uncle Elliot Richards and family at the Provo City Center Temple for a tour. We spent about 1 ½ hours in the temple and very much enjoyed it. The temple was built using the remaining walls of the Provo Tabernacle after the fire in 2010 demolished the structure. It was amazing how they were able to rebuild it. The columbine was used as the theme flower in the temple and it was very beautifully incorporated. The furniture was amazing. Even the hinges and metal door panels were patterned after the tabernacle metal work. When they were cleaning the tabernacle after the fire they found a repeating pattern underneath some panels. They have used the pattern around the top of the walls in one of the rooms. This was an amazing experience.