Our training curriculum was supposed to change in January,
so Monday our group spent most of the day reviewing and revising some Applied
Learning exercises for the new classes. We got through two classes of the six
that will be taught and I really enjoyed the process. It was a bit frustrating
for some that weren’t as familiar with some of the processes. I’m sure we’ll
all feel better about it when we have taught this a couple of times and feel
more comfortable with the program.
Tuesday I worked on my lesson notes for the class I’ll be
teaching on Searching Historical Records. In the afternoon Ted worked with
Sisters Newton and Hanley on his Applied Learning cases. Elder Newton called us
into a mini-meeting to tell us the implementation date has been pushed back
until February because the staff has not been able to complete their part of
the preparations. My classes are very dependent on actually looking at records
and time is too short to do much else.
Wednesday we spent the entire day working on Applied
Learning for a few classes. The class I am teaching has a large number of cases
and we all felt it was too complex, but there is so much we are trying to
assess. I’m pretty sure there is a better way to do it, but I can’t think what
it is. It was a good experience for me to work with the group because we all
approach the cases so differently. I learn so much from the others and I feel I
am making a good contribution.
I fixed some soup for dinner, so while it finished cooking
Ted and I went for a walk. We ended up at one sister’s to change a light bulb
for her. She gave us some hot biscuits. We went to another sister’s to set up
her computer with the HDMI cable so she could see her computer on the TV. It
worked, but I think something needs to be tweaked to be really useful.
Thursday I ran into two missionaries in our group after
lunch. One of the sisters gave me some really positive feedback about our group
discussions. I really appreciated that. We reviewed Ted’s PowerPoint for his
lesson then went to talk with Elder Newton to get him to fix a quirk in it. We are
moving ahead with the new courses as planned so we can at least test our
Applied Learning activities and the new format.
Friday I spent the day working on my own family records and
trying to get them cleaned up. I attached some sources and did some good, but
there is much to do.
In the evening we attended a fireside given by the daughter
of a missionary couple. I was really touched by her message. She talked about
having the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. It was very good. Her main
points were that we need to recognize the fruits of the Spirit as taught in the
scriptures, pay more attention to when He is with us (when we have the fruits
of the Spirit with us) and when He is not, learn to communicate in the language
of the Spirit, and be more diligent in studying the scriptures and words of the
prophets so the Lord can use those to speak to us.
Saturday I slept in and that felt really good. At noon we
had the swap meet. I found an iron and a mixer but there were no beaters. Just
as we were ready to go home two elders asked about the mixer. They had the
beaters. As we talked, they told us we could have the beaters. They had met a
man with a bag of stuff to donate. He said there was a mixer but he was unable
to find the beaters. They turned in the sack. Sometime later the same man gave
them the beaters he’d found so they kept them. It was very sweet of them to
give them to us. It turned out they live downstairs from us so I told them they
could borrow the mixer any time.
The swap meet is really a fun exercise and there is real
truth to the thought that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. One lady
was getting ready to go home so she was picking up some new dishes. Another man
was picking up something to hang on the walls of their apartment. He said he
had a whole pile of stuff that will come back to the swap meet when they leave.
I found a bag of eating utensils that match so when we have someone over we
will have enough for everyone. There is always a lot of clothes to choose from
and occasionally I find something I can envision wearing. The good thing about
it is that it is a chance to visit with others and a good chance to laugh at
some of the things that are available.
In the evening we had some missionaries over for dinner and a
movie. We had a good time and feel we have made some really good friendships.
They had been working all day so I was glad we could help them have a more
relaxing evening. We enjoyed the time together.
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