Week of March 20, 2016

Sunday we left early from Las Vegas in order to be in St. George to attend the broadcast of the Provo City Center Temple dedication. It was being broadcast throughout the state of Utah. We had a prayer with the family before we left, then we were gone. It is always so sad to me to leave, even though we’ll be back soon. We arrived in St. George and found our way to the temple. The chapel we were looking for was across the street. When I walked into the building, the first person I saw was Susan Balser Bruschke who I used to visit teach in Las Vegas before she moved to St. George. She has now retired from teaching and was just called to be Stake Relief Society President. It was such a blessing to see her.

St. George Temple

We found seats and enjoyed the prelude music and the pictures of temples that were shown on the screen. There was such a strong spirit, even before the meeting started—I felt almost overwhelmed. There were several speakers and the dedicatory prayer--it was a wonderful experience.

A few of the thoughts I wrote down from the speakers were:

We are on a quest for holiness; God is holiness.

God will provide what we lack.

We are not here by chance—we have a divine purpose.

Enter into the Rest of the Lord; the Rest of the Lord is the fullness of His Glory; not moved about   by every wind and whim that comes along, being firm in the Gospel.

After the dedication we drove back to Salt Lake City. I was glad when we arrived home. I was even happier when we had unloaded the car and put all our stuff away. I was glad to be home. It was a wonderful weekend and I feel so blessed to have been able to go.

Monday we started with inservice. Before the class we shared experiences we’d had. One of the sisters that attended our Capstone classes spoke about how much she had enjoyed the classes and how much she had learned. That was a real endorsement coming from a trainer. After the class we went to lunch with the zone and enjoyed visiting. In the afternoon I did some work on my classes, preparing and reviewing for the class I’ll be teaching, and doing some personal research.

Tuesday the two counselors in the mission presidency and their wives were came to tell us how much they appreciate all we do and to release Elder and Sister Newton who have been our leaders. They then announced the calling of Elder and Sister Barber to be the new Assistant Zone Leaders. They will be really great. Elder Barber had given the thought earlier and it was very impactful and touching. I look forward to working with them.

After the announcement we left with one of the counselors for our 4X4 interview. This is an interview after we have been out four months. They asked how we were enjoying our mission and Ted told them how much we enjoyed teaching and that we had testimonies of the work. They then asked about his conversion story and he shared that.

We then went straight to the teaching lab where Ted was the first teacher. His class went well. We only have 4 students this week so we have a high ratio of trainers to students. After classes we went to the temple. It is interesting to see how each temple does things differently. I am impressed that the temple is always so busy. The sessions are much larger than ours and every area seems to keep busy.

Wednesday we had 10 trainers to 4 students. Ted helped one lady quite extensively. She is a sweet lady who came straight from another mission. In the evening we had a dinner with our social group and enjoyed a great time. We played a few games afterward and I really enjoyed it.

Thursday I taught the class on Partner websites. It went well, but I wasn’t able to do anything extra. It is always fun to see what the students find when we turn time over to them to search the newspapers. The lady I was helping found the birthday announcement for her grandmother. Dan Valentine recognized birthdays in the newspaper in Salt Lake City.

After our classes I visited with one of the missionaries who taught her last lesson yesterday and cancelled the luncheon we had planned to say goodbye. She had some interesting insights into the dynamics of our group. She gave me her PowerPoint for teaching the internet searching class. I think that will be a big help if I ever get to teach the class. She’s an excellent teacher and will be missed.

In the evening we went to hear the Tabernacle Choir production of The Messiah. It was amazing. I had not wanted to go particularly, but Ted wanted to so we got tickets. I was amazed. I really felt the Spirit and was so touched by the music. When we arrived the line was out clear to the Temple Square gates on both sides from the Tabernacle doors. I thought we would end up in the balcony. However, we found seats on the second row. That was nice because we could see the soloists and the choir very well. It was great!

Friday we had the class on Irfanview. The teacher always pushes the limits on her teaching. She did a great job keeping the two students we had on course. It was a little tricky. I was sitting next to one lady, but the lady sitting next to her needed some extra help as well so it was a little slow. The ladies did well. There was some discussion about the scope of the course afterward that was interesting. We will see what happens.

Saturday I woke with some thoughts about upcoming classes so I needed to capture that before I forgot. The stake had a light meal before the General Women’s Meeting. Afterward I met a friend to go to the Conference Center. Our seats were fairly close to the front and we could see well. I was very touched when the entire First Presidency walked in. I haven’t seen Pres. Monson at the Women’s Broadcast in quite a while. He didn’t speak—Pres. Eyring was the Priesthood speaker, but it was good to see him there. The speakers were excellent and it was a good meeting.