Week of May 8, 2016

Sunday was Mother’s Day and we had a good day. The choir sang in church and the performance went OK until we got out of sync with the organ and the director stopped us to start again in the middle. Other than that, it was nice. We had a couple of ladies over and enjoyed a good visit. After they left I visited with children which is always good.

Monday I spent the day reviewing my lesson and spiffing up a PowerPoint a bit so it wasn’t so boring. We started for home about 3:30. It was raining so we shared my umbrella—Ted had not brought his coat. As we got nearer home the rain increased and after we got inside it literally broke loose for about 10 minutes with one of the heaviest rains I’ve seen. Then it stopped. Very strange.

Tuesday I had to print a copy of my PowerPoint slides so I’d know what was coming up. I think the teaching went OK. We finished about 2:44 and thought we could make it to the temple for the 3 pm session. We walked as fast as we could and ran a little to get there. We made it but only by the skin of our teeth. I enjoyed the session, but it isn’t good to start the temple that way. Afterward I sat in the Celestial Room for quite a while.

Wednesday we heard a sister had fallen near the other apartments and broken her nose. Later in the day we heard a friend had been hurt in our parking lot. As it turned out, it was our friend that had fallen and she was hurt quite badly. She broke her nose, her knee, and a vertebra in her neck. It made me hurt just thinking about it. We wanted to visit, but we had no idea where she was. She is a good friend—one I taught to make cinnamon rolls a few weeks ago.

When we got home I realized I had left the cell phone at the library. I had received a call just at the end of class. After the call, I packed up my things and went home. I hurried back to the library so we wouldn’t lose it again. It was where I had left it—tender mercy.

We were told that our department was moving to the B2 level of the library (lowest basement). I went to see the new digs and was a little alarmed. There was a large reception area where we could use the computer. There were also two small cubicles that we were assigned. One of these would be the zone leader’s and the other would be for the rest of us if his wife was not using it. It seems so far out of the way that I’m not sure how much I will use it.

Thursday I had given my class to another trainer and I was glad I wasn’t teaching. In the afternoon I taught IrfanView and thought it went very well. Many of the students were on overload before the class because of everything we had poured out this week. I think it was a relief to do something that was not directly research related. We had a fun time with it.

The zone leader and his wife took care of the move today. We were given two different cubicles. One has two computers for them and the other will be for the rest of us with one computer with two monitors. They thought three people could sit in it, but I’m not at all sure how three people would fit since it really only has desk space for one chair. There are several other computers in the area that are more appealing to me.

After class Sister Barber and I worked on her descendancy work. I showed her how to get to a few people that needed work done. She took lots of notes and was quite excited, but she did not want to reserve any of the names we found. I wish I’d known that to begin with, but I suppose it doesn’t matter. She thought it went well.

Friday I spent the one on one time with one of the sisters in our class that was really frustrated. She really did not know how to search records. I showed her the searching methods and the catalog. I also showed her Ancestry and pointed out that it is just like FamilySearch. When we finished she felt much better about things and was ready to do more.

Ted had run into a couple yesterday and got more information on our friend in the hospital so we went to visit her. She is in pain but looks better than I had expected. Her eyes are open a little even though there is a lot of swelling around them. There is not too much discoloration from bruising and there are just a few scabs on her face. Her nose is swollen but not too misshapen. She even smiled a little. She had a few visitors with her when we arrived. When we got there she asked for a blessing so Ted anointed and a counselor in the mission presidency sealed the blessing. She was told she would be able to complete her mission which was a great comfort to all. There was a good spirit there. She is obviously in a great deal of pain, but it looks like she will be able to heal without too much residual damage. I was glad we had gone. We saw the mission counselor later in the library and he encouraged us to continue visiting so she doesn’t feel alone.

We returned to the library and Ted was able to get some help from Sister Aroma with some Finnish research. He found the family of his great grandmother Sophia Bomstrom, so that is a real breakthrough. It was late when we returned home so we ate dinner and went right to bed.

Saturday I was able to review the lesson I will present in our meeting Monday and also the lesson I will teach this week. We went for a walk late in the morning and enjoyed it. We were able to stop in the Brigham Young Park and see the various exhibits. In the afternoon we met up with my sister and her husband and attended her grandson’s wedding reception with them. We also went to the Church History Library which was amazing. I could have spent much more time there.