Week of June 19, 2016

Sunday was Father’s Day. I couldn’t find the card I’d bought for Ted—it was in a really safe place. I managed to fix him a nice meal and he had calls from the kids. I made cinnamon rolls for a sick friend and left out the cinnamon so I sprinkled it on top. I think I’m losing it.

Monday we had a new group of missionaries. They are a really sharp group. We discovered a few errors in our handout for the class—I believe it is a never-ending task to get them right. Things change so fast.

Tuesday we had a full day of classes. Ted taught and did a good job. I worked on revising documents and doing a little family history research. After class we went to the temple to do baptisms. I had memories from my childhood of doing baptisms in the Salt Lake Temple. I remembered the font in the middle of a very large room, sitting on the backs of the oxen. The room with the font now is not large at all, being just big enough to hold the font and a few benches around the sides. I was really glad to have the opportunity to do these.

In the evening we walked to the Brigham Young Park to enjoy a concert. The air was wonderful and felt so good in the shade. I didn’t know any of the music, but it was a beautiful night and the walk was short and sweet.

Wednesday I taught Historical Records. It went well and the class did a good job of keeping up. I enjoy teaching this particular class and I am grateful I have been assigned to do it. (I haven’t done it for three months.) We were out by around 3:30 so I did a little research before going home. My friend and I walked to Smiths on 6^th Avenue to get some fruit. She would have walked longer, but it was enough for me. I also went to say goodbye to a lady we have home taught who leaves Thursday.So many missionaries have finished and are going home.

Thursday I taught the Partners class on Ancestry.com and MyHeritage. We had received word that MyHeritage was no longer going to have their newspaper collection unless they could successfully renegotiate their contract, but I couldn’t remember the date that would happen. As it turned out, when we did our newspaper search, we got mixed results and the missionaries were unable to find very much when they did their own searches. It turned out the newspaper collection stopped yesterday. We will need to revamp that section of the lesson. Change is the only constant.

After dinner we met a friend and went to the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle Choir presented the concert they will do on their upcoming tour of Europe. We sat on the front row and took extra bench space so our friend could rest her leg on the bench. (She is wearing a leg brace for a broken knee.) We all really enjoyed the concert and the walk home was good.

Friday we started late since the rest of the zone was on Temple & Research day and our class didn’t start until 9 am. We held the class in the Training Lab of the JSMB where new missionaries are trained. They have two different configurations on the computers so it makes it difficult to give instructions. The students needed more help than usual so I was up and down helping a lot. It was mostly navigation issues, but once a student gets lost it is difficult to get them back with the class.

The afternoon class was on Honoring Our Immigrant Ancestors. After the class the teacher provided us with a template to create our own “banner” for an ancestor. These banners are about 2” by 9” and are a very brief bio of an ancestor with name and immigration information, who created the banner, and usually a picture or symbol representing the ancestor. I used Christian Hogensen, my 2^nd great grandfather from Norway, and told about his conversion and early life in Utah/Idaho. It was fun. I stayed after everyone else had left and worked on it.

After I finished the banner, I finished organizing the research I’ve been doing in Sweden. The names have begun to be confusing to me so I am having trouble keeping track of where I am and what still needs to be done. I made a list and devised a numbering system that is not wholly satisfactory to me, but it will work. I am now able to see who I have records for so at least I can tell where I am and what still needs to be done.

We planned to attend another concert in the park, this time a Scottish bagpipe band and Highland dancers. Our friend with the leg brace wanted to go, so Ted helped us get the walker down the stairs then he went ahead to the park to get us some good seats. I walked with our friend and had a good visit. Ted found her a chair on the front row with a chair for her to rest her leg on. The concert was really nice and we especially enjoyed the wonderful outdoor air.

Saturday I slept in a long time and it really felt good. I went through my Swedish research notes some more. I think I am nearly ready to get back into revving up the research again, now that I know what is missing.