Monday we met with our new Assistant Zone Leader at a staff
meeting. We discussed our upcoming schedules and new Enrichment classes. He is
a professor specializing in gerontology so I think he will have a big impact on
the way we do things. There will be some changes in our teaching procedures as
well. I’m excited about the direction we are headed.
We met a former missionary companion and her sister from
England that are over for conference. It was so good to see them. It must have
been nearly 20 years since I had seen her. We spent time working on our classes
then worked on some Swedish research. I found a few more documents for one of
Ted’s grandfathers. I was quite excited to find the births of two of the
children, one of which was not already in the system. I also found his death
record and the death record for his second wife. I feel like the mystery is
getting cleared up.
Tuesday we began teaching a new class of Church Service Missionaries.
We have an interesting group this week—they are very congenial and love to talk
and offer comments and thoughts. It is interesting how each group has their own
personality. It makes the teaching so fun. We had an interesting challenge—we used
a different room each day. It is sometimes interesting to teach in a room for
the first time. Several things did not work as we expected, so there were a few
hiccups.
Wednesday I taught Help Center for the first time. I also
led the Applied Learning for Historical Records. We tried a new approach that I
had suggested and the students seemed quite engaged. Instead of the normal worksheet,
I gave them a sheet we usually use as a class exercise in another class. We
never get to do much with it because of time constraints. It occurred to me
that it would make an excellent exercise for searching records in FamilySearch
and then continuing on the second day by searching in the Partners. It worked
really well for the first part.
In the afternoon I didn’t feel very good and my legs were
aching from being on them teaching, so I didn’t want to go walking. When I went
by my friend’s apartment she was ready to go. She has been sick for a couple of
weeks but really felt we needed to go today. She said it would be short. Hah! A
few minutes later, we headed out, camera in hand, to walk to the Capitol
Building. It is up some fairly steep hills, but she took me a way that wasn’t
too bad and one of the streets ended in some stairs which were good to climb.
Because neither of us was really energetic, we walked slowly. The capitol
ground has a circular walkway with cherry trees on both sides—it is very
lovely. She said they would have been nicer on Sunday but she wasn’t up to it.
We sauntered and visited and took pictures. She was a little melancholy because
she is planning to go home next April and this will be her last time to see the
trees in bloom. (I believe she extended because she had told me she was going
home in July.) It was a sweet experience.
 |
| Sister Tauzin at Utah State Capitol Building |
I mentioned that my friends wanted to visit the Daughters of Utah Pioneers museum next to the capitol grounds. She suggested we stop there on our way home because she wanted to see it again and it is open late on Wednesday nights. It was fascinating. We spent quite a bit of time walking around, mostly looking at pictures. She had suggested that some of my family might be there so I started looking and had a difficult time stopping. I found a few of the Farnsworth family. Also the second piano to cross the plains was there, having been owned by a Julia Farnsworth. It was really an interesting experience. It kept us out walking for over two hours so I was even more tired when we got home, but it was refreshing and I really enjoyed the visit with my good friend.
 |
| Sister Roeth at Utah State Capitol Building--Cherry Tree Walk |
Thursday I had a discussion with our leader. He wants me to create a folder for our class objectives and handouts on the intranet. He wants to get the information synched up with what we give the students and he wants to be able to give them one packet of paper at the start of class instead of a little every day. This will require that we all use the same handout, which requires that we agree on the objectives and the content of the class. I am really looking forward to having all this in place.
As we were walking home we had a call from our granddaughter. She
asked me to give the talk on the Holy Ghost at her baptism. I am really
thrilled with the request and the opportunity. She is sweet and I am looking
forward to our visit next week.
Friday our class required pretty much full-time help from
the trainers. I am teaching the same class as an Enrichment class so it is good
to watch it being taught by someone else. We finished at noon and I worked on
the Swedish research until early evening. Ted was able to spend quite a bit of
time with a Finnish missionary so he felt like he’d been able to make some good
progress. I got a new form from a lady that does Swedish research and it makes
good sense. I didn’t make a lot of progress on any one family, but I was able
to find birth records for the children in the next generation so that will be
ready to work on when I finish the one I am on.
Saturday afternoon I worked on my classes. I am enjoying the
teaching and the expanded curriculum with having Enrichment classes. These are
open to all missionaries and are fairly flexible in their content. In the
evening we walked to a store on the other side of Temple Square. It was a good
walk and we thoroughly enjoyed the flowers. They seem to change every day. The
ones along the sidewalk of the Conference Center smell like gardenias—not sure
what they are, but the smell is wonderful.
No comments:
Post a Comment