Week of April 17, 2016

Sunday at church I saw a friend from the Monte Cristo Ward in the congregation and visited with her. Strange that our two families would have children in the same ward so far from Las Vegas. I spent time with Nathan showing him some things he could look at to help the Spanish branch do more family history. I also spent a few minutes showing my grandchildren the program. It rained very heavily in the evening so the ditch in front of their home was a small river. The rain gutters ran very full and all the plants got plenty of water. It was fun to watch, even with the lightning. After we went to bed there was a really strange thunder that went on for several seconds and sounded like a bowling alley at full operation the entire time. It was weird.

Monday we got to the airport and found our flight had been cancelled. Houston was flooding and most of the flights in and out had been cancelled. The airline was able to book us on a flight out through Dallas on Tuesday. Nathan came home shortly after we got there so we were able to spend time with him and had a good visit. It rained most of the day but it actually quit and got sunny in the late afternoon. We were hopeful to be able to get out on Tuesday.

Tuesday everything looked good. When we got to the airport the clerk told us the flight was overbooked and we did not have assigned seats. He said they would ask for volunteers to give up their seats and we would most likely get out. That is a sinking feeling. As it turned out, our friend from home was on the flight out heading home to Vegas. We had another good visit and heard a little about their mission in Kenya.

At the last minute the agent called our names and we got on the flight. There was actually one seat left. We sat on the very last row, but we were together and I was just grateful to be on the plane. We got to Dallas and were able to get to our next plane with a few minutes to spare. (We changed airlines so we went from one end of the airport to the other, a fair distance in Dallas.) We were able to sit together on that flight as well, on the next to last row. Again, I was just grateful to be on the plane.

I was so glad when we finally arrived in Salt Lake and were able to feel like we were home again. I found I was teaching in the morning. Fortunately, I was semi-prepared and did a quick review before going to bed.

Wednesday we met our full-time missionary class and they are a very quick bunch. They notice things that most of us never do. It was a challenge to stay ahead of them. I spent some time at the library with another missionary who showed me her technique for doing descendancy research that is very effective at finding both temple and research opportunities. Later I went for a walk with my friend and had a good visit. I did a quick review of the class I would teach on Thursday then went to bed.

Thursday I taught the Partners class and did the second half of a research exercise we are trying. We have the class research a family using just FamilySearch one day and on the second day they continue with the same family using just Ancestry.com and MyHeritage.com. It went really well and they were totally engaged both times. In the evening we drove to the Draper Temple for a session. It is really a nice temple, very simple but clean lines and beautiful. After the session one of the workers pointed out a few of the special features. It was really sweet of her.

Friday I collected the Word documents for all of our class handouts for our leader. He is trying to help us get more organized. We had our inservice meeting in the afternoon. Our departing leader had made each family a “Families are Forever” wood carving—very nice. Our discussion in the meeting centered around the “Find, Take, Teach” program. This is based on a talk by Elder Cook as the goals for helping people become involved in family history. We will be changing some of our classes so we can teach this to departing missionaries. I was asked to develop a class based on descendancy view and using the hints. I’m not sure what will happen, but I am looking forward to the process.

After we finished I did some more on the Swedish lines. It was a little frustrating at some points, but I found many new records. Some of the lines just seem to disappear into nothingness. I need to scan through the records one at a time to find them again, but that is not a good prospect. I found the critical dates so I decided to move on. When I got home, we went for a walk on the West High track. It is about a block from our apartment and is very nice for walking. It was really pleasant outside so it was a nice way to prepare for sleep.

Saturday I had several things that needed catching up on at the apartment so I worked there most of the day. I really felt driven to do more Swedish research, so about 3:30 I finished everything else and hurried over. I was able to get a little bit done—not much, but enough to make it worth the trip. I think I am nearly finished documenting one of the families and I’m ready to move to the next generation. The records are quite good for at least the 1800s, so I should be able to find what I need for the family.