Week of May 1, 2016

Sunday was our anniversary and it was a good day. At church we discovered they were short of people for Preach My Gospel so we volunteered. The elders did a good job and Ted discovered one of them was a sort of expert on Elder Russell’s method of doing research, so they struck a good friendship. We had a quiet meal and had visits with children in the evening.

Monday we had a vigorous discussion at our inservice meeting regarding our new classes for Capstone centering around the Find, Take, Teach program. One of the teachers presented her PowerPoint which was quite good. I’m not at all sure we are headed the direction we need to be going, but it is a good start. I gave my outline for the Descendancy Research class and got some additional direction. We will plan to have a half hour at the end for the students to get into doing some descendancy research on their own lines. I hope it works.

Tuesday I worked on handouts for the classes I’ll be teaching. I stayed later than usual at the library doing some research on the Swedish lines. At the devotional in the morning I introduced myself to Elder Farnsworth, a new missionary who started this week. I always think it is exciting to run into people that may be related. We connect back several generations.

Wednesday in the devotional the man giving the spiritual thought put a penny on each of our chairs. He has some real challenges in his life. At some point he began collecting pennies. Someone pointed out to him that each penny says, “In God we trust,” so he felt that each time he found a penny it was God’s way of letting him know He was looking out for him and blessing his life. I really appreciated his insights and it was a profound experience.

We have another change coming to our teaching. The new missionaries will be doing shadowing one hour every day, so our schedule will be adjusted to accommodate that. It will mean we end an hour later each day.

We had an enrichment class on Photos, Documents, and Stories. After the two hours of lecture we offer the students an hour to practice with our help. Several stayed after and I helped a few. One was in tears after we finished what she was doing. She had been able to identify her recently deceased brother in a photo and was thrilled to be able to link it up on FamilySearch. Another lady wanted to write down specific instructions to get photos off her “stick” and into FamilySearch. We went through one step at a time and got it down. She was so excited to forge ahead. She had just found out her father had another family after he left them and she had connected with some step-siblings who had given her tons of pictures. (As it turned out, when she tried to follow the instructions she got lost somewhere and still needs help.)

Thursday I spent quite a bit of time working on the lessons I’ll be teaching. I did a bit of personal research while Ted worked with a missionary on some Finnish lines. He found a book with lots of information about Finnish people in Michigan, Minnesota, and the surrounding area. We were able to get to the temple for a session in the evening.

Friday was our temple and research day. We got to the library shortly after 9 am. I did a few things to get caught up on paperwork then worked on some personal research most of the morning. I overheard a man telling someone about the Farnsworth Memorial book that he was in so I introduced myself. Elder Wheatley is descended from Reuben III through Moses Farnsworth. I come through Philo Taylor. The new missionary I met this week comes through Stephen Martindale. We all connect at the same place. Very small world!

In the afternoon I worked on Swedish research and found several records for one of the families. Ted worked on his Finnish family and was able to find what he thinks is the family of his great grandmother Sophia Bernstrom. He was so excited. It was a long day but we both felt like we had accomplished something of real value. We grabbed a bite to eat then attended a concert of the Rocky Mountain Strings, a group of very young violinists who were amazing. It was a wonderful concert and we felt grateful to have been there. They are young people between the ages of about 4 to 16 playing violin and they are incredible. Well worth the time at the end of an exhausting day.

Saturday we started early helping to set up for the swap meet. I was amazed at how much work it took to get it all ready. There was a ton of stuff. I was also amazed at the amount of stuff that was gone at the end of the hour. I found a few blouses for a missionary that has been losing weight and picked up some bowls for one of the trainers. I also got a couple of blouses for me, but I really wasn’t looking for anything. It was a fun experience and I’d like to be part of it down the road. (We have since been asked to be on the committee for the duration.)

Note: Each month the mission holds the swap meet. Missionaries going home donate things they can’t take with them and missionaries here pick up what they need. New missionaries get a 20-minute head start the first month they are here so they can get stocked. We are not provided everything we are used to—just basic essentials, so the swap meet is a fun opportunity to visit and pick up things that may be useful. It is really more of a social event than anything, but it is a good way to recycle useful things within the mission.