Week of November 6, 2016

Monday we had just one class so I spent the afternoon doing research. I got quite a bit done. I’m doing more in Sweden again so I need to be at the library for that. It is much easier to follow than the Finnish work. I’ve been trying to get the sources in that I had already collected, so I’ve slowed a little on the research.

Tuesday we had two classes. Neither one required much assistance so I got more research done. We attended the temple in the afternoon and I really enjoyed it. In the evening we listened to the election returns until I couldn’t stay awake any longer. I hope our country survives the next few years.

Wednesday we had two classes. Elder Barber taught a class on familysearch sources in the morning. He definitely covered it. Ted taught in the afternoon. We only had two ladies in the class and he did an excellent job. He really related well to them. I went walking with Sister Tauzin then invited her to come for dinner afterward. I had made some soup and it was good on a cold evening.

Thursday we didn’t have class until afternoon so I spent the morning working on research and got quite a bit done. I continued to work during class then reviewed a handout Elder Barber had prepared for another class before I went home.

In the evening I reviewed my lesson for Friday. I am teaching Descendancy Research and as I went through the lesson I reviewed some of the people that I found in the tree and there is so much to do that it was tempting to do some of it instead of saving it for the lesson. There is so much that needs to be done.

Friday I taught the class on Descendancy Research using the landscape view to descend rather than the descendancy view. It went well. I had about 10 students plus the other trainers, none of which do research this way. Elder Barber told me later that he thought the tracking was easier in this view which I took to be a compliment. Sister Barber received some favorable compliments from students as well. That is really the best indicator—whether she thinks it goes well. I helped a lady during the time that I gave the students to try it out. She was floundering a bit so I helped her get started. We found someone that had some sources that needed to be attached. She didn’t seem to know how to attach the sources, so we attached three censuses and found an additional spouse for a child. She was thrilled. I was surprised that she wasn’t able to do some things. I need to make sure that when I teach this again I walk people through the process of finding a good starting ancestor then getting out to the end of the line people.

In the evening we went to dinner at Olive Garden. They offered a free meal to Veterans. I had to pay, but I thought that was a wonderful thing for them to do. There were several restaurants in the area that provided this service. I am grateful for Ted’s service and that of so many others. Our veterans are really unsung heroes.

Saturday I caught up on things around the apartment. I did a bit of family history in the evening and prepared for Sunday. It felt good to get things done.

Week of October 30, 2016

Sunday Pres. Cecil Samuelson of the Salt Lake Temple spoke to our branch. It was really uplifting. We helped with Preach My Gospel. It was a bit of a zoo due to some new missionaries that weren’t on the list. When we were finally assigned to some elders, we had a very quick lesson and were done in 5 minutes. 

Monday we had our first Tree class since the previous couple went home. We had only a couple of students. We expected the numbers to be lower because we are not registering people or sending repeated emails to students to remind them. The classes are also taught stand-alone and not as a series any more. I think some of the missionaries came to get one class and had to attend all 6 to get the 1 or 2 they wanted. This is a better approach, but it will take some time to stabilize again. 

Tuesday I taught Basic IrfanView. We had a full class with just a few empty seats. It was a good group and we were able to cover all the material in good time and give them time to do a project using most of the things we had taught. It went well and I felt good about it. In the afternoon we had a class on merging. It was a really good class and I know the students learned something. 

Wednesday I taught Correcting Relationships in Family Tree. I hadn’t taught it before and there wasn’t a presentation already prepared so I put together a few slides to introduce the topic. We had the students sign into Beta so they could practice without messing things up royally. A couple of students couldn’t get into Beta and that was a concern. I think the students grasped the concepts and learned something, but I would change things a bit if I teach this again. 

City Creek Canyon

I stayed at the library after class to work on some personal research. I need to get back to the Swedish records while I have access to the library facilities. I can do most of the Finnish families at home. It all ties together, but the Finnish records are not as complete. 

Thursday I did some research during the morning and afternoon classes because the students didn’t need any help. After class Sister Barber wanted to get an idea of what I would be teaching for Descendancy Research next week so I walked her through the plan. I gave her a copy of the handout so she could review it to see if it makes sense. She was hesitant about my using Landscape view to do the research, but I think I convinced her that it gives people another option. 

City Creek Canyon

Friday was our T&R day. I got to the library about 9 am and sorted through my research notes so I could begin working on some of the descendant families. After lunch I began to find the records to document the families. I thought I’d get through 2-3 families, but I only got one family completed and then I only found the records—I wasn’t able to get anything into the Tree. 

Saturday we had our monthly Swap Meet. We have several people that come to help set up that aren’t on the committee. It really helps. We really moved a lot of things. At the end we took a truck full to the DI. We need to get rid of more than we did—we ended up with several tubs of clothing and we should only have about three tubs to start with.

Elder Roeth up City Creek Canyon

After the Swap Meet we walked up City Creek Canyon. The leaves were mostly gone, but there was some color left. I’m afraid we missed most of it.

Week of October 23, 2016

Sunday in Stake Conference we had a couple speak that had been serving in Belgium when the airport was bombed recently. The man had been at the airport with three young missionaries and was severely injured. He spoke of his complete faith and trust in the Lord throughout his healing. It was touching.

Monday at our morning devotional they had all the missionaries that were going home stand while we sang “God Be With You ‘Til We Meet Again”. There were a large number leaving—about half of our group plus several others who had been out longer than one year. It was very sad to say goodbye to so many friends, most of whom I will probably never see again. It was a teary occasion. I spent time reviewing for my classes on Saturday. Our stake is having a family history fair and I’m teaching two classes. I usually take two hours to teach one of the classes, so it will be challenging to do it in 50 minutes. I figured out a way to do it differently that will take less time and be easier to do. I also worked on two new classes I’ll be teaching. One is not coming together so it is causing some concern.

Elder and Sister Roeth at LDS Motion Picture Studio

Tuesday our zone went to lunch and then toured the LDS Motion Picture Studios in Provo. It was fascinating. Our guide was Pete Czerny whose name I’ve heard. We also met the director of the Meet the Mormons productions. He was a really sweet and humble man. It was really an interesting experience, not only to see what goes into making the movies, but to see how contrived everything is. Even the buildings are not really buildings—they are made of plastic. He showed us how they make some of the sounds. He had a bag of corn starch—when he walked on it, it sounded just like walking in snow. It was fascinating. He showed us the models of the Book of Mormon plates—amazing detail.

Model of Gold Plates based on description by Mary Whitmer

Wednesday we had some inservice meetings followed by our staff meeting. In the afternoon I worked on upcoming classes. I am still struggling with a couple of classes, but I was able to find a Power Point presentation for one of the classes that I hadn’t thought I had.

Fireplace used in nearly every LDS movie

Thursday we had inservice again then I worked on my classes. With the Lord’s help I was able to get all the handouts ready for the upcoming classes. One may need some tweaking, but at least it is in a format that I can use for a first run. I’m doing a class on Descendancy Research and have been struggling with how to explain what I am doing in writing. I’m comfortable with the verbal presentation, but I was finally able to put into writing something that may work. I’ll let it gel for a few days then give it another review. I was also able to put together my notes for the Correcting Relationships class. 

Friday we met my sister and her husband to go to the Vernal Temple. Roger drove and we had a good trip. The temple is beautiful. I had asked a couple of ladies what the flower was for the temple. Usually temples have a flower that forms a theme throughout the temple. Neither one thought there was any special flower. A bit later a lady came up to me that had been visiting with one of the ladies I asked. She said she had asked the assistant matron and she thought it was the Sego Lily because they were all along the hallway. I thought that was very sweet of her. She visited with me a few minutes. I also visited with another lady and told her how much we enjoyed being there and what a beautiful temple it is. Everyone was very sweet and friendly.

Vernal Temple

Saturday we had the stake family history fair. I went early to the library so I could load files onto the computers in the classroom where I would teach. I discovered the library doesn’t open until 9 am on Saturday. After I went in the back way I started copying the files to the computers and found the room was to be used for a prayer meeting for the British Zone. I went to make copies and did a couple of other things then finished copying the files to the computers. I think my classes went well. I was concerned about keeping the students together, but I mostly did it as a demonstration and told them they could follow along. Most did and it went OK. I was able to cover all the material I planned to. In the evening we went to the stake center for a stake “family reunion”, a talent show from the wards in the stake. It was fun and relaxing and I enjoyed it.