Week of April 23, 2017

Sunday when we went to the Tabernacle Choir broadcast we sat in our old place on the front row. They have closed the front off the last few months. It was so much more enjoyable. It was much better sitting close and I’m glad we got to do it one more time. We’ve enjoyed attending the broadcasts while we’ve been here.

After church we had a couple over for dinner. They were our home teachers before the branches were realigned and home teaching was discontinued. We really enjoyed having their visits. There was a fireside in the evening so we didn’t chat after dinner. The fireside was presented by a missionary who helped document the women of the first 50 years of Relief Society. She told us about the project and some of the experiences of the sisters. It was great.

Monday we had the mission devotional where they introduce the departing missionaries and sing “God Be With You”. There were several of us that sat as a block so it was obvious that several were going home. It was sad to think we are leaving. Time has gone so fast and we have had such wonderful experiences. I didn’t let myself cry while we were singing, but after the song I did. It helped to take off my glasses so I couldn’t see any faces clearly. Several missionaries came up afterward to give us hugs. We have made some good friends.

After the devotional I went to the library to print Ted’s fan chart. I wanted to see the difference in his that we have made doing the research we’ve done. We added 21 new ancestors to the chart. I can’t count the number of children and spouses we have added as well. I then worked on a couple of fixes for my class on Swedish Research. After our inservice meeting we were invited to share our testimonies. There are six missionaries leaving this week or next. After that we had a farewell luncheon and it was fun to visit.

Our group taught an enrichment class in the afternoon. We did not attend. I did a little personal research, but it was totally unproductive, so maybe the Lord was telling me I should have been in the class. We had our farewell interview at 2 pm with Pres. and Sister Tate. They are really good people. It was really just a visit, but Pres. Tate said it brought a thump to his heart when he saw us to know we are his cousins. After the interview we came home and did some cleaning and packing. I think almost everything is done. I can’t believe it’s here already.

Tuesday we met the zone at the Utah State Capitol Building for a tour. It was really interesting. We were able to see the House and Senate chambers and where the Supreme Court works. It was raining all morning so it was a little damp getting in and out of buildings, but the tour was fun. My feet were cold and wet which cannot be good for my health.

After the tour we drove to the Huntsman Cancer Institute to deliver some chemo hats I’d made. The lady that gave me directions gave me directions to the John Huntsman Center which is a basketball stadium. Fortunately, Garmin was able to get us to the right place. It took several minutes of walking in the rain to find the correct location to leave the hats. We then went to my cousin’s home to say goodbye so she could sign our book. We had a brief but good visit.

From there we drove to my uncle’s home to have lunch. We got there about half an hour early. My cousin was not home—her sister was in the process of getting her house ready for moving and they were helping. When my cousin came home to fix us lunch, we went back with her to help. It seemed this was far more important than lunch. We hauled a couple of loads of things to a friend’s garage for storage until they find a place to live. We were able to get everything cleaned out and the house quickly cleaned before we returned to their home for a quick lunch.

Ted dropped me at the temple then took the car home to park it and run back. I was the first person in the chapel so we were right on the front row. It was a nice last visit. After we returned home, I reviewed my lesson for tomorrow, organized a few things, and went to bed. It is supposed to rain tomorrow so I’m hoping we can get most of the stuff in the car before the rain starts. It was no fun helping my cousin with the rain coming off and on the entire time.

Wednesday I taught my class on Researching Sweden. It went well and several people asked for additional help if needed. Even a missionary who always asks challenging questions wanted to stay in touch “in case I have questions or need help”. We hurried home after class to pack as much of the car as we could before the rain started. We were able to get the trunk almost completely packed and empty out most of the apartment—at least the big things like boxes and bags. I am always surprised at how much our trunk holds. I was very concerned that we wouldn’t get it all in so it was nice to see this much already packed. We hurried back to the Joseph Smith Building for the Appreciation Luncheon with the departing missionaries and the mission presidency. It was nice and we enjoyed it. It is always hard for me to say goodbye, even when there is a possibility of seeing people again.

Thursday we were up early to get ready and get the car packed. When all was said and done, we forgot a few things. It was difficult removing the parking sticker from the back window after the car was all packed, but that was the final step. We put all of our discards in the Swap Meet sheds and hung the key inside so we were done. Everything fit into the car in a fashion, piled as high as the back window without blocking it. My sweet sister met us in Orem at a gas station just off the freeway to give us a hug and some snacks for the road. It has been fun being a little closer to her and getting together occasionally.

We stopped in Beaver to say hi to a former missionary. She had just moved into her new home and it was very nice. It made me a little envious to see her settled and in a nice home. We got into Las Vegas about 5 pm and went to our daughter’s. We enjoyed a good dinner then went to the Stake Center to meet with Pres. Gutierrez and get released. He never made it—he got tied up in a meeting. His counselor had a meeting later but came an hour early to visit with a friend. The counselor received authorization from Pres. Gutierrez to release us. As we were visiting the other counselor who was our bishop at one time came in and gave us hugs. He actually offered the prayer at the end of our meeting. It is sad to think our mission is over.

Week of April 16, 20017

Sunday was just a typical day. We attended the Tabernacle Choir broadcast. The Relief Society lesson gave me much to ponder. She took excerpts from the Elder Maxwell talk that I used for my lesson a couple of weeks ago on being consecrated. Her theme was “Because of Jesus Christ we can . . .” In the evening we went to tour the Conference Center with my cousin who hosts there. Since we’d been there before, she focused on the art work. They have some amazing pieces.

Monday we had a very nice devotional for Easter. I worked on my Swedish Research class the rest of the morning and had the opportunity to help one of the new missionaries so that was a good change. I did some personal research in the afternoon.

Tuesday we started our Capstone class and it went well. We had a little more time so it wasn’t as rushed as last week. In the evening we went to dinner and enjoyed it. When it was time to go home we discovered it was raining fairly hard and Ted’s umbrella couldn’t be found. The coat rack area had been torn apart for remodeling and we couldn’t find where it had been put.

Wednesday we had a staff meeting. I will miss this group of missionaries and the opportunity to be with them and serve here. I taught Descendancy Research in the afternoon Capstone class. I used the landscape version of the tree to do the descendancy part and it seemed to go much more smoothly. I had a few reservations about it since all the documentation shows the Descendancy View. It was much easier for us when we were helping others and it seemed to be easier for the class members to use. I was impressed with the work many of the missionaries were able to do. This is a good group.

Thursday a missionary came to get help scanning and editing some documents. It was fun. She had a relative that gave her a bunch of records and told her she was counting on her and her daughters to create the story of their ancestors. She had one ancestor that was a Quaker at the time of the Civil War. All his neighbors, who were also Quakers, told him he needed to get a gun to defend their property. He was on his way to buy a gun when he heard a voice tell him if he was to use carnal methods, he would have to rely on that for his protection. He took his family and moved away rather than buy a gun. When the war was over he returned to find nothing had harmed his property. Quite an amazing story.

I had planned to help a new trainer go over a lesson she’ll be teaching next week, but she got there late and I finished late with the missionary I was helping. We were able to spend about half an hour and I think we were able to cover everything. We went to the COB cafeteria for lunch one more time before going home. We visited with several missionaries we knew and almost didn’t get back in time for class.

The preparation of lesson plans went well. We had a few who didn’t quite understand, but overall it worked really well. At the end I shared my testimony, a little tearfully because this was my last to the general missionary population. I am so grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to be a part of this work and to have the experiences I’ve had. It’s been a good experience over all.

Friday the husband of the lady I helped yesterday came over to scan and edit some documents so I was able to help him. Our Capstone class went well except that the missionary that was substituting in the recording audio memories class barely mentioned the audio app. At the end our leader suggested everyone try recording the stories they’d just written to use the app so they had that experience. In the evening I went to the library to get some help and got involved doing some research I haven’t been able to do for the last couple of weeks. In the evening I did a little packing.

Saturday I felt some concerns about the upcoming move. It seems like more stuff keeps surfacing the longer we work at getting ready. The piles of stuff look fairly overwhelming to me and I’m hoping we can actually get it all in the car. When it is time to pack the car it will be interesting to see what I can get in and what needs to be left behind.

I spent quite a bit of time packing my clothes so I am officially living out of a suitcase. I packed the food for the trip so it is out of the cupboards. I did some cleaning and we are almost ready to go. We went to lunch with friends and enjoyed a good visit. While we’ve been here it has been good to re-connect with friends from high school and college. I went over in the evening to visit a friend and ended up doing some cleaning and helping her out. It looks to me like there is still much to do. 

Week of April 9, 2017

The weather is beautiful and the flowers on Temple Square are amazing. There are many different varieties of tulips and other flowers and the gardeners do such a wonderful job of creating the flower beds. It is truly a great experience to walk through the area and enjoy the beauty and aroma of all the flowers.

Flowers on Temple Square

Monday I agreed to teach a class on Swedish Research the last day we are here. I took the afternoon to go to the library and get some screen shots and do a little research to prepare. As it turned out, the family I selected did not have great examples to use because they did not have the information some of the priests put in the records. I found another family and decided to go with them. On the way home I stopped by the Swap Meet sheds to visit with a missionary who was mopping the floor in one shed. What a good heart! She felt the floors were in need of cleaning—I’m sure the mopping has never been done.

Tuesday we started our first Capstone class. We are teaching in the afternoon and are in the JSMB Training Lab. There are only 20 computers for 30 students, so 10 people had to bring their laptops. Some forgot so we got some from the mission or from others who had them. Anyway, it worked out. We have another class next week the same size. This group has the group of missionaries we came out with taking Capstone so it’s nice. We had to really shorten Tuesday’s presentations because we had mission conference at 2:45 pm. We had reserved seats, but two of us went to the chapel to hold the seats until the others could get down. It was a good conference.

Flowers on Temple Square

Wednesday I worked on my Swedish Research class. In the afternoon I taught Descendancy Research to the Capstone class. When it was time for the missionaries to work on their project, we asked several trainers from the other group to come help. As it turned out, they did not know how we do things and it was a little confusing for the students to have the helpers not know what to do. We were able to help almost everyone. It made us aware that we need to train the trainers as well.

After we finished I thanked one of the trainers for her help and she said she didn’t really understand what we were doing. I took a few minutes to explain our method to her and help her understand our approach. She is a very sweet lady and a big help. On our way home we ran into another missionary. She told us one of the young elders had gone home. He had spinal bifida and needed to use a cane or a wheelchair. He’s been out 13 months. He is an amazing young man and I will miss having him around. He has such a fun personality and such a desire to work and help.

Thursday I spent time with a missionary who had asked for my help with several issues on her family tree. I spent a long while helping her and showing her some features she was not aware of. She is one of my most loyal students and always claims I have taught her everything she knows. She’s a good learner and usually remembers whatever I teach her. After helping her I ran into a missionary who asked if I could help her with something. I told her I could, but I suggested if she couldn’t get with me that this missionary I’d just been working with could help her because she knows everything I’ve taught her.

I taught again in the afternoon, this time helping the students develop a lesson plan from the worksheets they did yesterday. There were a couple of students that didn’t get the worksheets done so they had to have help during the class. I think everyone but one ended up with a finished plan and they were all happy with the results. It has been a good group to teach and I really enjoyed the process. When we finished I shared my testimony. It was a little sad since this is my Capstone group as well. Several came up to tell me how much they had learned and how much they enjoyed the class. It is all worth it.

Friday I worked on the Swedish Research class. I’m not sure we’ll have access to the websites from the teaching computer, so I am preparing a PowerPoint with all the screen shots. We had our last Capstone class in the afternoon. Several people suggested we need either an additional day or an additional week. It’s funny because the attendees want it to be longer and the zone leaders want it to be shorter. I know it takes good people away from already short-handed areas, but it is also good training that can benefit the missionaries.

After we finished I went to the library so I could get a few more screen shots for the class presentation and do more research. I was able to find families for a couple of children I’ve been working on. 

Week of April 2, 2017

Sunday was the last day of General Conference. We had tickets for the afternoon session, but we gave them to another family so they could all go. We enjoyed watching it from the comfort of our living room. The prophet spoke in the morning. He stressed the importance of studying the Book of Mormon daily. It reminded me of Pres. Ezra Taft Benson when he admonished us to not take the Book of Mormon casually. He also announced five new temples. He is looking pretty frail, but he appeared strong as he spoke.

Monday we arranged for a small class of Advanced IrfanView for three sets of zone leaders who had not had the opportunity to take enrichment during their missions. We had to teach at personal computers in a small area because none of the labs were available, but it worked well. The missionaries really appreciated it.

In the evening we had a potluck with our social group as a last hurrah. It was fun being together and having a brief visit with the missionaries. It was fun. I told everyone how much it has meant to me personally to know so many of them while we’ve been here, even though we don’t work in the same areas. It is just nice to know a few faces in the crowd when you walk into a room and we are scattered enough that there is usually at least one or two of us at each event. They are a good group.

Elder and Sister Roeth at Farewell Potluck with Social Group

Tuesday I wasn’t needed to help with new missionaries. Sister Thompson and I discussed some ways to change Capstone I so it flowed better and referenced both the Research Process which we teach the first day and The Family History Guide which is the main thrust of training for new missionaries. It meant cutting some classes, reordering others, and finding references to include in the booklet we pass out.

Wednesday we had a staff meeting where we discussed the changes to the curriculum. It appeared to be well-received even though some classes will be seriously modified. Now the research needs to be done to find the connections with The FH Guide. I was not needed in the lab again, so I worked on several sections that I have taught and typed it up for review. I feel a need to get some things packed, but I’m having a hard time getting started.

Thursday I had the opportunity to do an assessment. One of the new CSM assigned to our zone asked if she could shadow me if I did an assessment, so she came over and watched. She was doing the same with most of the trainers. It was National Twinkie Day so they had half Twinkies for snacks during breaks along with crackers and cheese. I did a little research in the afternoon and found some good records.

The Swap Meet is scheduled for this weekend and rain is forecast. I spent time talking with the Housing Coordinator and the new lady in charge to devise a contingency plan. The Swap Meet has not been rained out in at least 22 months. I suggested postponing it for a week in case of rain.

In the evening I went to help a sister pack. We dug some empty boxes out of her storage closet and collapsed the ones she didn’t need. We did everything we could while I was there. She has a few boxes ready to take to her friend’s where she’ll be staying until she finds something permanent. She had an operation and is not supposed to bend, lift, and twist.

Friday I woke up thinking about the Swap Meet. Someone suggested doing it at the Church and it seemed like a good backup plan. We can load the stuff in vans and haul it across the street. I talked to the Housing Coordinator and she thought that would work—she’ll tell the new missionaries that we will post the location of the Swap Meet if it changes. The new leader bought two canopies that she thought would work as covers so we could actually hold the Swap Meet at the sheds. I was a little doubtful, but we’ll see. Anyway, she’s convinced we should move ahead. I’m in agreement if we can move the stuff to the church.

After the new missionaries had their Go Forth meeting, we rearranged the teaching lab so it will accommodate the Capstone classes the next two weeks. We have 5 rows of 4 computers on 3 tables per row. The center tables have 2 computers, so we moved the 2 on the ends in far enough that each end table will accommodate a laptop. We have arranged for several missionaries to bring laptops so everyone will have a computer. I think this will work well. The rows are so far apart that the class seems really spread out, but it will be great.

I spent the rest of the day doing research. I needed to have a Swedish record read for me so I went to the library for part of the day. I have volunteered to teach an inservice class on April 26, the last day we are here—the day of our farewell luncheon. I need to decide what to teach and I’ve taught everything I know so I would need to create a new class. I’m not sure what to do—forge ahead or let them find someone else to do the class.

Saturday it rained early in the morning. I was sure it would stop in time to set up for the Swap Meet, but it didn’t. We went to the sheds prepared to move everything to the church. The new leader brought her canopy and that allowed us to load the vans without too much hassle. We took 4 van loads to the church. I stayed at the sheds with the leader and the others went to set up tables and displays. They had about a third of the people we usually do. Apparently, the Housing Coordinator told the new missionaries it would be postponed if it rained. I’m really sorry there was confusion. We had a few calls asking about it and we told everyone about the change. A couple of people came when it was all over and were a little put out that they missed it, but we posted the time as we usually do. Several people came to the sheds to get things we didn’t take over like ironing boards and sheets. It worked well and I’m glad we were able to pull it off. I’m grateful that the Lord gave us a backup plan so we don’t have to do it next weekend. I've really enjoyed doing it and will miss the socializing.

Week of March 26, 2017

Sunday Ted and I walked up around the State Capitol Building so we could see the cherry trees in bloom before the rains made them lose their blossoms. There is a ring of trees bordering a path around the building so it is a beautiful walkway. There are a few monuments along the way to fallen policemen, soldiers, Mormon Battalion, and a man who developed the railway here. We took lots of pictures and enjoyed the time. 

Elder and Sister Roeth - Cherry Tree Walk around Utah State Capitol Building

I taught the lesson in Relief Society on consecration and love, based on two talks in our reading assignment for the week. There was quite a bit of participation, mostly because I asked a lot of questions. It didn’t go exactly as I had hoped—I think it’s typical of a lesson that there are always things you wish had gone differently—but I think it went OK. In the evening we attended a fireside sponsored by a singing group in Utah County that a friend of ours sings with. The theme was “Jesus Was No Ordinary Man” and Lloyd Newell was the featured speaker. He spoke of the opportunity to bear testimony of Christ, something he does not have the opportunity to do on Music and the Spoken Word. It was a good evening.

Monday was interesting. In the morning I had prayed that the Lord would help me know who needed my help. I did some research after devotional until it was time for class. After class I visited with the assistant zone leader’s wife who expressed some concerns about a new missionary who is teaching her first class in a few weeks and is quite frustrated with the assignment. We talked about ways to approach the class and she asked that I spend some time with the missionary to discuss the ideas we’d had. I did that and I think it helped.

After the class in the afternoon, I went to the library to do some research. Almost as soon as I sat down a missionary came to ask me if I was a missionary in the Nordic area. I told her I was a trainer and I remembered training her when she first came. She asked if I knew anything about Finland or Denmark and I told her I knew a little about Finland. She wanted to sit by me while she worked on some lessons she was trying to complete so she could ask questions if she needed to. She asked a couple of questions and I think I was able to help. I showed her how to translate titles so she could tell what they were about. On a search she was doing and I suggested she drop the surname because it wasn’t recognizing the letters she was typing in. She was able to find the results she needed to after that.

Tuesday we started our Capstone class. We had a full room. Ted taught and did an excellent job. Elder Curtis taught after that. He sang a funny ditty about family history and dead people. This was his last teaching assignment so he went out in glory. He really had the group entertained and involved while talking about Get Help and temple submissions, not easy to do. It was sad when we said our goodbyes.

In the afternoon I taught Basic IrfanView to a packed room. I think they followed fairly well. We had a problem since the computers in the training lab don’t get scrubbed and reset every night like they do in other labs. Most of what I was teaching had already been done on the teaching computer in previous classes so it did not demonstrate the steps very well. We need to go to all the computers and reset the files we use.

Wednesday I taught Searching Historical Records in Capstone. It went well. It always requires extra help, but I’m not sure there is a way around that. It is fairly involved and there are always missionaries that do not listen and then wonder why they can’t figure out where we are. I had a visit with a missionary who trains missionary couples at the MTC for Military Relations. He was so grateful for the classes and for the opportunity to learn. He asked a lot of clarifying questions so he wanted to apologize for the interruptions. I’m glad he did because there are always others who probably have the same questions he does.

Thursday it was raining when it was time to go home so I went through the parking garage. I got as far as the Conference Center without going outside. I then took off my shoes and stuck them in my bag. It was cold and uncomfortable on the cement. The asphalt wasn’t cold, just bumpy. When I got home I took off my sox and put on my slippers and got warmed up. I’m not sure that was a really smart thing to do.

Friday I taught Sources in Capstone. It was fairly involved and got much more so answering questions. I know there are ways to teach the material that would be simpler. We just need to rethink it for next time. I also extended the invitation to attend Capstone II, playing a couple of videos that invite the Spirit to be there. I bore my testimony and it was over. This has been a good group.

Ted taught in the afternoon. After he finished we hurried home, loaded a ton of stuff into the Swap Meet sheds, changed Ted’s clothes, and drove to American Fork for our New Mexico mission reunion. We had a pot luck planned so the senior missionaries could visit without the noise of the young missionaries. We ate then left to go to Spanish Fork to my nephew’s for a barbecue. It was fun to visit. I’m not sure we’ll see everyone again before we go so I’m glad we went.

Saturday we watched General Conference in our apartment and really enjoyed it. The talks were really great. I didn’t see the prophet, but others said he looked “fragile”. Immediately when it was over we walked to the North Visitors Center to meet a couple who were down from Idaho Falls for the mission reunion. We passed several people with sign boards stating various negative things about the Church. I was surprised. I’d heard about them, but somehow we missed them last year. We hurried to a nearby restaurant for lunch then went to the Conference Center for the afternoon session. The afternoon session was also really good. The prophet did not attend so that was disappointing. After conference we went to the Church History Museum to see the film on Joseph Smith’s First Vision which is done in a circular theater. It was very good. We said our goodbyes and came home.

Flowers are beginning to bloom on Temple Square

After we changed we reorganized things in the Swap Meet sheds so there would be room this week for the stuff that will come in. We watched the Priesthood Session at home. It was really good. The prophet came and spoke very first which never happens. I’m sure they wanted to have him speak while he was somewhat fresh instead of at the end when he would be worn out. He didn’t look really good. 

Week of March 19, 2017

Sunday we had two young elders and a single sister over for dinner. Single sisters need to have either a couple with them or two other single sisters in order to have the young elders for dinner, so we invited a sister to join us so she could participate. When we opened the door the elders flashed their reminder notice and said they’d brought their ticket for dinner. Cute.

Monday evening we had our Hail and Farewell Dinner. This time we were the ones standing up to say goodbye. It is incredible how quickly the time has gone. It seems like just a few months ago we were the new missionaries. We have about five more weeks before we go home so it seems funny to me to say goodbye. It is sort of sad to think of not being here much longer, but I am ready to go home when the time is here.

Tuesday I taught an inservice class on Descendancy Research using Landscape View. It was well received and I think several people really liked it. Afterward we went to Anthony’s Antiques for a tour for our zone. It was close enough that several of us walked over. We really enjoyed it—again. The art presented was different than last time. It was outstanding again. We had another class in the afternoon and I did more work at the library before evening.

Wednesday we had an inservice class on Ancestry tips that a trainer had picked up at Rootstech. It was really good. We then had an engineer from FamilySearch talk to us about what it takes to get memories into the system. We had staff meeting to discuss upcoming classes. It will be interesting to see how the new schedule plays out.

Thursday we worked on some revisions for the Capstone 2 book. At noon I met a missionary who had asked for help untangling an issue with an ancestor who kept changing her age. The records used two names interchangeably, so it was a little tricky, but we put everything together and it appeared that she wanted to be younger than she was because her husband was several (17) years younger than she was. Her birth certificate and the early censuses indicated she was five years older than the later records, including her death records, showed.

I had an interesting experience in the afternoon. I was teaching a class on searching records and I’d put up Isaac Brockbank’s record on the screen to illustrate some point. The missionary in charge of housing walked into the room a little late. I noticed her standing there looking somewhat confused. I asked what was up. She said, “That’s my great-grandfather!” I said, “That’s my great-grandfather!” The class went well and I felt really connected to the students. After class we visited about our common great-grandfather. She is descended from the youngest child of Elizabeth Mainwaring, the first wife; I am descended from the youngest child of Sarah Brown, the second wife. She told me there was more to the story of the family than what I knew. I’m sure there is much about our ancestors’ lives, good and bad, that we have no idea of.

Cousins

After class we got our picture taken together—cousins. Her husband was having a problem with an indexing batch that wouldn’t submit. He normally arbitrates so he hasn’t done any indexing for a while. I looked at it for him and the issue was that he hadn’t indexed the image headers. When he did that, everything went in immediately. From there I walked by the zone leader’s desk and he had a question about something and I helped him as well. I was feeling pretty good about things. The assistant zone leaders had moved to new desks. One of the computers had ArkivDigital on it so I moved to that computer. That meant I could do some of my Swedish research at my desk instead of the library. That will be nice to be able to use it during down time.

Friday we went to the Provo City Centre Temple with the Training Zone. I really enjoyed the session. We got there early enough that I was able to read some in the Book of Mormon before the session and that was nice. After the temple we took pictures then went to lunch together. It was a good experience. After we got home I went to the library to do a little more research.

Saturday we planned to meet the two new couples that have been called to the Swap Meet committee. It was raining fairly hard so it was tricky doing anything inside the sheds. Ted and I got there early and moved some of the stuff from the one shed to the other so we’d have room to at least get inside to work. The ladies went into the shed and I talked with them about what we do, then we worked at getting things more orderly for the coming week. The men had nowhere to go so they were outside in the rain until Ted decided they needed to go inside to wait for us. The new couples will be good and I think they’ll enjoy it.

At home I worked on my lesson for Relief Society and finally got it to where I think it will be ready for Sunday. In the evening I attended the General Women’s Meeting for Conference It was amazing and tied directly to the topics of my lesson for Sunday—consecration and love. I was especially touched during the first choir number, “I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus”. They sang a variation to the melody on the third verse and it really touched me. When they sang “He knows I will honor Him, give all my life to Him” it really struck me that this was exactly what consecration is—our lives are lived in such a way that the Lord knows we are on His side and He can count on us. I was very touched.

Week of March 12, 2017

Sunday we had two young elders over for dinner and enjoyed a good visit with them. I continue to be amazed at their good spirits.

Monday I spent the day doing research at the library. I have felt a real need to get more of the Swedish research done before I go home while I can use the library resources. It was a good day and I found many records.

Tuesday we started our first Capstone class. We have 60 missionaries signed up for the classes and the room only holds 40 so we are holding two sessions. Most of the group we came with were in the class. It is a little disconcerting to think we are already in the last weeks of our mission. It is starting to really hit me how fast it’s coming. The trainers were introduced as the crew of a ship—I got the role of Cruise Director. I’m not sure if that means I’m always in everyone’s face or if I should be flattered. Ted taught and did a great job. We attended Mission Conference in the afternoon with Elder Brent Nielsen who is Executive Director of the Missionary Department.

Sister Roeth receiving Library Training Certification

Wednesday I was presented the certificate for Certification at the library. I’m glad that I did that and I learned several new things. In Capstone I taught Catalog and I think it went well. We attended the temple then I went to the library for a couple of hours. I got some help and found some good records.

Thursday after we finished teaching we took a couple of group photos in the old Discovery Center. I wanted to use an experience one of the missionaries had with teaching his granddaughter family history. He had tried to record it on Wednesday, but it wouldn’t download from his email. A little reluctantly he let me record him again. We set up a garbage container with 4 reams of paper on top to prop my phone on so it would be about eye level. He recorded his experience and did a great job.

Training Zone B

Friday we started with my class on attaching sources. I needed to push fairly hard to get finished in time because there is so much to cover. We had a class on the Family History Guide that was new and that went really well. Then I closed by playing the video we recorded Thursday and it had a really strong spirit. We concluded with a video by Elder Renlund. That has such a strong spirit and always touches me because it promises a healing of our families as we participate in the work. I pray for that blessing. I shared my testimony and we were done.

I needed to run an errand then took TRAX back to the library. While I was waiting for TRAX to arrive, Steve Rockwood walked up to me. He is President and CEO of FamilySearch International. I told him I was a missionary in family history. He asked where I was assigned and I told him we had just finished our Capstone class for the month. He asked about that and I explained our dual class curriculum. It was interesting visiting with him.

We got word today that our Swap Meet replacements have been called. That will take a large burden off our backs the last few weeks. In the evening our social group went to Anthony’s Antiques for a tour. We were given a very interesting explanation of a few items then we roamed around. Everyone really enjoyed it and all were surprised at how interesting it was. 

Week of March 5, 2017

Sunday we were asked to offer the prayers in Sacrament Meeting. On Fast Sunday they always invite missionaries going home to share their testimonies first. Since we go home next month we decided to share our testimonies while we were on the stand. It was a good experience—the first time we’ve been able to share our testimonies in Church since we got here.

Monday we spent the day going over lessons and mentoring (answering questions) the new missionaries. They spent most of the morning getting things set up and doing housekeeping stuff, so I had plenty of time to go through the lessons. I enjoy the mentoring and the missionaries are an interesting group.

Tuesday I did more mentoring. There was more involvement with the missionaries as they are getting into their lessons more. Some have gone through several lessons and been assessed already while others have not completed the Basic Computer class. There is such diversity of skills and personalities that it is an interesting situation. I went to the library after we finished to do research and was able to find some additional records. I am trying to get as much of the Swedish research done while I have such good access to the records here.

It appears that we will be able to teach some enrichment classes after all. We will use the lab in the Training Zone on the weeks of inservice and call backs when they don’t have new missionaries. I am just waiting for the next change—they seem to be coming very hard and fast.

Wednesday I finished the certification assessments. I am done. I am glad I did it and I learned several new things along the way, mostly the whys, so it was worth the time and energy. I’m not sure I think it is better, but it is a fairly good program.

I was able to do an assessment today. I don’t understand the rotation for mentoring and assessment. Some do only one and others do only the other and some don’t seem to get into the rotation at all. I just walk into the lab and help until I’m told to do otherwise. The missionaries are definitely more into the lessons now and seem to be moving along well. Several are nearly done while others are just starting, but they all seem to be getting it. I went to the library again after work and was able to find a few more records. I have a stack of research forms with just a few things needed on each one, so I’m gradually chipping away at them.

Thursday I mentored again. I was able to do a little research during lunch, but I can’t access the Swedish records from the JSMB where we work now. In the afternoon we met some friends at the temple to do a session. She is blind so she needs to have someone with her when she attends. After dinner we went to dinner and enjoyed a good visit. It was a good evening.

Friday I did a couple more assessments. While I waited I did some Finnish research. As I researched one family I was trying to find records for a second wife of an ancestor. The marriage date did not seem to work with the births of the children of the other wife. I found a record that indicated the second wife and husband had a baby which I was totally unaware of. It didn’t seem to work out with the birth dates of the other wife either. Suddenly it hit me, this was the first wife. The marriage date was before the other marriage, the child was born and died before the other family, and both the child and the mother had died right after he was born. It made me very sad. I was able to put the information into the system with the documents for marriage, birth, and deaths.

Saturday we went to a luncheon for our Zone B. Our former Assistant Zone Leaders are leaving this month and we and another missionary are leaving next month so we had a luncheon at a missionary’s home. Some former missionaries were there—they left in January—and a new missionary came as well. It was really a good time. We had a good visit and enjoyed just being together. It will be sad to see us all go our ways.

Week of February 26, 2017

Sunday evening there was a fireside with Paul Cardall. I had always wondered if Paul was related to a friend from childhood, so before the fireside started, I asked him if he was related to her. He is her nephew. We had a fun visit for about 5 minutes before others began arriving. He spoke about Emo’s Grave in the cemetery and we spoke about his grandma who I knew. It was a wonderful fireside. I expected him to play music most of the evening. He played 4 numbers and spoke nearly the entire time. He had a heart transplant and has done a couple of concerts in Slovenia to promote treating congenital heart disorders in children. He also collaborated with Elder Bednar to write a song and shared that experience with us.

Monday our assistant zone leaders called to tell us they had got us computers we could call our own—the first we’ve had on our mission. They called back shortly to ask us to get trained on mentoring and assessing the new missionaries. We studied the first few lessons in the morning. In the afternoon I taught Descendancy Research and really enjoyed it. The class was a good size so we were able to give a lot of help.

Tuesday we started to study the lessons again, but we were needed to do assessments so we did a couple each. In the afternoon we attended another class. We finished in time to get to the temple.

Wednesday we were going to continue training on the new student modules so we could be of help to the Zone A trainers. Right off they said they would need us as assessors. I did two assessments then helped mentor a couple of students. I couldn’t help the first lady because I wasn’t familiar with the lessons and couldn’t refer her to where to look for her answer. (We don’t answer the questions—we help them get back into the lessons to find the answer for themselves.) When we went to lunch, Elder Reed said something like they had just been told we would not have the East Wing lab at all, effective immediately. We would, however, have 2S as a “permanent” home. That thrilled me since it is my favorite room. Then he dropped the bomb. There would be no more enrichment classes after today. We would only have Capstone classes to teach.

Capstone was the easy problem. Since we have 2S that only seats 23 max and we already have 50 and 60 signed up for the next two months we would be holding multiple sessions each month to accommodate the missionaries. In March we will hold one series as scheduled and two more sessions the last week of the month. (They are held 4 days, 3 ½ hours each day.) Enrichment classes being cut really made me feel sad. I was looking forward to the teaching. I have struggled with this a little, feeling the letdown. I am sure this is the correct decision for right now, at least until the new missionary training gets more settled and stabilized. I am amazed at the number of changes we have seen in our zone during our 16 months of serving here. I know the Lord is in charge and I trust this is His will and that it will be for the best. I need to get my mind wrapped around how I can best serve and contribute.

My secondary concern is about doing the Swedish research. I know I won’t have as much opportunity to do research during the next two months, but there are some pieces I want to finish before I return home. I don’t have the access I need at my desk so I won’t be able to do the work I want to do during breaks and slow times. It will take some real diligence to get the work done I want to do.

Thursday we spent most of the day either mentoring or doing assessments. I was frustrated during the first part of the day. A missionary asked me a question and the checklist she was using didn’t make any sense to me. I helped her answer the question, which was more than I should have done, but I figured I just didn’t understand what was being asked because it was one of the lessons I had not done. I told the supervisor I would be happy to do whatever she wanted me to do, but I have to know what I’m doing. She had me go back to the desk and review the lessons. In the process I realized changes have been made since they wrote the documentation and it no longer works the way the missionaries were being told to do it. I pointed that out and also pointed out that my checklist had changed the requirements to omit the questionable section. I went back and told the missionary that the questions she was having were because of the changes and she didn’t need to do them.

I went to the library and spent time doing some Swedish research. I feel a real need to get all I can from the records while I am here since so many of them are only available at the library or a family history center. I need to hustle to finish before we go home.

Friday Ted and I decided we would attend the temple all day. We drove to Bountiful for the day. While I was waiting, I ran into a lady working there we had known for years. She was my visiting teacher when we first moved to Las Vegas and her husband was our bishop. When we finished we ran into our friend’s husband and visited with him for a few minutes.

It was a long day but one that was a real blessing. It was good to be in the temple for the day. When we got home we got a phone call from a man on the Swap Meet committee asking if we’d seen the flyer he sent. Their zone leader had sent them a flyer that had the Swap Meet time as 9 am instead of 11 am as my flyer said. Someone had done some obvious changes to the flyer that could cause confusion. I wanted to find out the source of the changed flyer. I tried to reach their zone leader but was not able to. I called the lady in charge of housing and she said they had told the new missionaries 11 am. Their tickets said 9 am due to a separate mistake, totally unrelated to the other issue, but they cleared it up so the new missionaries knew the correct time. I’m hoping the 9 am flyer only went to the one zone.

Saturday we were out early for the Swap Meet. We had put a sign on the shed posting the correct time and apologizing for any miscommunication anyone may have received. We had so much stuff! The weather was great except the wind gusted at times creating a bit of a challenge. A couple of vases blew off the table and broke and things needed to be weighted down. When it was about 5 minutes before 11 am we still did not have everything hung up because it had taken so much time to get to the clothes. We made it and the new missionaries, about 24 of them, flooded in and took tons of stuff. The other missionaries lined up outside and the line went clear to the covered parking and beyond, about thirty feet. I have never seen so many missionaries turn out. We got rid of a bundle of stuff. When it was time to close up I filled a garbage bag with bedding and linens from the shed that have been hanging around for a long time or just needed to move. It looks totally empty right now, but it will fill up and more by the end of the month. I really enjoy doing the Swap Meet—it is the social event of the month.

New missionary waiting for wife to shop!

After lunch I went to the library to do some research. I was able to find several records that were needed to finish documenting one family. I got most attached to the records. It was a good day. 

Week of February 19, 2017

Sunday appeared to be a normal day. As we were waiting for Sacrament Meeting to start, I looked up to see Elder Quentin Cook of the Quorum of Twelve walking into our meeting. He worked his way up the aisle, shaking hands and talking to a few people, then he took his place on the stand. When the meeting started Elder Colvin was obviously a little nervous. We had three speakers scheduled, but after the second speaker they announced that Elder Cook wanted to take a few minutes to talk to us so the third speaker would be held over a week.

Elder Cook had come to thank us for our participation in helping people who came to Rootstech have such a positive experience. Then he bore his testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. He ended by bearing testimony of Christ. I was deeply impacted by his words. I know he is a special witness of Christ and I assume he has had some amazing experiences in order to bear that testimony, but his was a clear statement of knowing the Savior. It really impressed me and I have spent much time reflecting on his words.

In the evening we attended a fireside presented by the daughter of a couple in the mission. She spoke several months ago about prayer and had a profound effect on me then. Tonight she spoke about “Sleeping through Gethsemane”. She talked about the Atonement and making it a real part of our lives. One point she made was that at baptism we entered into a covenant with the Lord that gave us the option to repent and change and lay our burdens on Him. I was very touched by her message. I know the Savior has already paid the price for my sins, so I need to give them up to Him to carry instead of insisting on keeping them to myself.

Monday we had off work because of President’s Day. I got a lot done. I was able to review the lessons I’ll teach this week. I was also able to complete three more lessons toward certification. I have learned some interesting things and I’m glad I did it. I also reviewed the “How to” guide I did and had Ted test it for me. We found a couple of things that weren’t clear. Sister Barber will also test it this week then I can submit it and have it finished.

Tuesday we had inservice. We got the teaching schedule for April and I was a little disappointed. I had hoped I could teach one of the classes again before going home and it was assigned to someone else. For some reason, it really hit me. I really enjoy teaching that class and it was such a disappointment to not be able to do it again. Ironically, that was the same class I was teaching in the afternoon. As it happened, I felt quite distracted. I’m sure the students didn’t realize there was an issue, but I felt like I let myself and the process down by my feelings.

Wednesday we had inservice again. The speaker didn’t show up for the class, so we played a game about family history. We had some beads with letters on them and we were supposed to make a crossword out of the beads using family history words. It was quite fun and it was a good group activity. On the way out I spoke to one of the nurses who is going home this week, called me over. She had been in the Capstone class and tried to find a family member who needed temple work. She only had her grandparents’ names and nothing beyond that. During Capstone when she went into Family Tree, there were parents for her grandmother, but she didn’t know anything about them and wasn’t even sure who had put the names in. One of the missionaries in the class helped her look at it and she sent a message to the person who had put in the names asking about it. She had received a reply from the lady who turned out to be descended from her grandmother’s brother. She had found a death certificate for her grandpa and it named his parents. She was so excited to be able to have a family name to do work for. This was the only time on her mission she had been able to find a name in her family to do work for in the temple and she would never have even looked if it weren’t for Capstone.

Thursday the engineers didn’t show again so I did some personal research. I was able to find some household records for one of Ted’s ancestors that tell me where he was for about 20 more years. I lose the trail again at that point but I’m still looking. It will just take more work to find him again.  We then went to a rare books store where the owner spent an hour talking with us. It was really interesting. He said his goal is to get one of the original Book of Commandments. Only 29 have surfaced to date, but he’s sure there are more out there.

In the evening we had three couples we’d known in New Mexico for dinner at our apartment. It was fun to catch up and hear the story of the one sister meeting her husband. It was a good evening and we were actually able to swing the seating so everyone could eat comfortably. (We only have 7 plates so that was an issue.) I really enjoy the group.

Friday we had another class in the morning and I taught in the afternoon. Before I taught I went through the entire lesson at a computer to make sure everything was working correctly. In class the computer made me sign in every time I changed screens so it was a little frustrating. It went well though and I think the class stayed with me and most of them got something out of it.

Elder and Sister Roeth - Night out for dinner!

After class we stayed at the library for a while but I didn’t find any more information. In the evening we went to dinner at a nice restaurant and really enjoyed it. As we were getting ready to leave a couple at a nearby table asked about our mission. They had just returned from a mission to Hungary and are traveling around. It was fun to visit for a few minutes.

Salt Lake Temple - View from the Joseph Smith Memorial Building

Saturday we did our week at the Swap Meet sheds getting them organized. We had a lot of missionaries go home this week and the main shed was really full. I had to move several bags outside to get some things better organized and the get close enough to hang up clothes. It was quite cold but it was dry most of the time. About 11 am it started snowing so it became more difficult to work and stay dry. We finally quit around noon. I had hung up most of the clothes, but there were still 3-4 bags of things to be hung up.

Week of February 12, 2017

Sunday was a typical Sunday. Ted and I went to the choir broadcast. It was a repeat of several selections from the Thursday night program. Dallin Bayles was soloing in a song and came on tightening his tie and singing before he got to the microphone. He had obviously been late for his cue, and the orchestra was playing well into the song before he ran on stage. Funny. In the evening I reviewed for my classes for the week. I needed to put together a Power Point for the class on Monday because I have lost several files I thought I had. It was not easy to reproduce and it is not nearly as good as the original.

Monday I taught the Memories class. My Power Point went OK. It was a good class and I think we all enjoyed it. I completed the lesson on Catalog so I’m ready to certify on Wednesday. I also worked on the “How to” guide we’ve been asked to do and got the content finished. We need to get a couple of people to test it and we should be able to turn it in. Ted got me roses. Very sweet!

Valentine Roses!

In the evening we went to a friend’s house for dinner. We knew the wife when we lived in California and our kids played together. We had a wonderful meal and a good visit. I showed them the FamilySearch Memories app and they caught fire. I’m sure they will be using it often.

Tuesday we started our Capstone 2 class. Ted did a good job with Temple Submissions. I spent the evening reviewing again the lesson for Wednesday—it is such an important lesson and it really needs to be taught with the Spirit. I also reviewed for my certification testing Wednesday afternoon.

Wednesday went well. I felt the class was with me. We teach the students how to do Find, Take, Teach by using their own family tree so they can prepare to help others. We did not find someone that was ready for temple work for everyone, but we found someone they could each use to create a lesson plan.

My certification went well. I learned later that the man who certified me is one of two that it’s better not to try than to have him as the certifier. I thought he was great. There were a couple of questions where the wording confused me, and the computer misbehaved in the middle or was super slow and I got impatient, but he said I passed with flying colors and did a great job. It made me feel good. Even then, it took nearly the entire hour to do the three units I did. He said most don’t finish in the allotted time.

Wendy Watson Nelson spoke at the Mission Conference in the afternoon. It was really good. She talked about us finding and fulfilling the commitments we made in the pre-mortal life. She had us recite a couple of quotes by Elder Jeffrey Holland. One of the quotes was a statement he made at the new mission president’s conference when he bore testimony of the Savior. The summary of that statement is that the thing that energizes the doctrine of Christ, the thing that informs the doctrine of Christ, is the Life of Christ. We should love everything He did, everywhere He went, everything He said, and everything He is. It was truly an amazing experience.

Thursday I taught the class on creating the lesson plan from the worksheet we did Wednesday. We had really positive results from the class. They did the role play well and were able to do OK with it. We had a couple of students demonstrate teaching the lesson plan and they did a great job.

In the afternoon I went to the library to do some research, hoping to find more information on a couple of Ted’s ancestors. As I walked into the International floor, the missionary at the desk called me over. She had been in our classes in December then they decided to extend their mission. She had just had her first Find, Take, Teach experience the previous weekend and was really excited about it. She was so grateful for the class and the opportunity to share with others. She went on and on about how excited she was. It really made my day.

After I had looked at things for a few minutes I asked a missionary to look at what I’d found to see if I had the correct person. He didn’t say I was wrong, but I needed to connect the birth record with the marriage record. He suggested a couple of things. I had already looked through the earliest parish household record for the wife twice because she was previously married. He suggested I look there and in another parish. There was also a large gap between when the couple married and the first child I had found so he thought there might be some missing children.

I got about half way through the parish records and found the wife. The record indicated she was married in 1787 to a man who died the same year they were married. I found his death record. They had a son born in 1788 who also died in 1788, but I couldn’t find either birth or death records for him. However, on the same page was the record for the second marriage, an indication they married, and three more children for them, two born before the first one I had. All three of these children died as infants. That was a bonanza. I still was not able to find any earlier records for either the husband or the wife, but I had the family and her previous marriage. I’ll keep looking but the records where they were living did not begin any earlier, so they must have been in another parish and I have no idea where she came from.

Friday we had a class on Memories and the missionaries got really excited about the mobile app. It is nice to be able to take pictures or record audio and have them go immediately into the gallery on FamilySearch. After a quick lunch I went to the library to meet someone for what I thought was an appointment. He didn’t show--he did not think it was an appointment so he was getting his car serviced. I did some personal research and found a couple of church records of fees the couple had paid. I still have no additional clues as to where to look for more information.

Saturday I did something that was of significance. I started to type the personal histories I’d written years ago, before Heather was born. Just as I started typing the thought came to me that maybe I could scan the histories and do OCR on them. I tried this a few years ago, but there were so many errors that it took more time than it was saving so I put the project away. As I turned the printer on and prepared to scan I noticed one of the options was to read the document using OCR, so I decided to give it a shot. I scanned one and looked at it on the computer. There were very few errors. I was elated. I hurriedly scanned the other documents and started doing the corrections. I was able to get through all three boys’ histories in just a very few minutes and part of the time was spent adding things I’d left out previously. Some had more errors than others, but it is going to work very well and save me tons of typing.

Week of February 5, 2017

Sunday during Sunday School in the family history class I helped a missionary upload documents from her phone to FamilyZearch. The mobile app is really great to use for uploading memories.

Monday we had two classes. Ted taught in the morning and I taught in the afternoon. I think my class went well. We had about six people in the class. It seems like our classes are either packed or tiny, never just a moderate number. A lady in the class taught me something I didn’t know. When the computer says there is no image available, she has been able to find the image through the catalog about half the time. She had no idea what was the deciding factor of whether there was an image or not, but that definitely opens doors we didn’t know about.

Tuesday was a little crazy. I did the laundry first thing in the morning while Ted went to devotional. He also picked up a couple of coats at the library for the swap meet from a lady who got one from someone else. He got home in time for us to hustle to the temple. The session was huge—probably about 120 people. We thought it would be really late when we got out, but it was still right about noon. We hurried home, grabbed a bite to eat, and rushed to the library where Ted taught a class on Temple Submissions to one student. It worked really well because the man is a good learner but needs lots of help getting the concepts. We were able to take the class at his speed and give extra help when needed.

After class we went home just in time to meet my sister who is here for Rootstech. We attended the buffet and program for the missionary appreciation event in the evening. It was about like last year, with masses swarming the tables to get the food then sitting on the stairs to eat. The program was the One World Children’s Choir, which was good. We also had short talks by FamilySearch staff and Pres. Tate. I enjoyed it. We visited for a while then went to bed.

Wednesday we picked up our packets for Rootstech. There was already a long line by the time we got there, but we had a good visit while waiting in the line. In the afternoon we attended two classes and enjoyed them. We met another sister and her husband who went with Ted and me to a restaurant for dinner. We had a short wait before we were seated, but we were able to order fairly quickly. That was the end of the positive experience. About 45 minutes later we asked the waitress when we could expect our order to arrive. After several attempts to get that information, we left. It was a sad disappointment since it was now after 8 pm. They had missed two earlier trains to Provo and we still hadn’t eaten.

The rest of the week we spent at Rootstech. We thoroughly enjoyed it. We were able to learn many new things. Thursday we invited everyone to our apartment for dinner so we wouldn’t have a repeat of Wednesday night. In the evening was the opening program in the Conference Center. We had tickets for three different sections, but we were able to all sit together. The program was amazing. Oscar Hamerstein III was there to tell the story of his family and Dallin Bayless was soloist on several Rogers and Hamerstein songs. It was totally enjoyable and we were thrilled.

Friday was the cultural celebration in the evening. Saturday the keynote speaker was Buddy Velastro, the Cake Boss, and the MC was Jason Hewlett. They were both very entertaining. Jason did singing and impersonations of several popular singers. He was hilarious. It was a good experience.

Week of January 29, 2017

Sunday we attended the homecoming talk for my niece’s son who recently returned from the Philadelphia PA mission, Spanish speaking. He started by playing the piano and singing “How Great Thou Art”—I was impressed. He apparently developed his piano skills on his mission. He gave a great talk, sharing his experiences and his testimony.

Monday we had a couple of classes. I taught FamilySearch Partners. We had nearly a totally full classroom, so that makes the teaching so much more fun. We have had a really hard time recently keeping a classroom for our lessons because we have low priority. The schedule needs to be revised nearly daily. We’ll be moving to the Joseph Smith lab starting in March so we shouldn’t have too many problems, but for now we need to make a sweep of all our classrooms before every class to make sure we don’t have students that are lost. Very frustrating.

Tuesday Ted taught Navigating FamilySearch.org. He did a really good job. Our attendance has been down quite a bit so it makes some classes easier to teach, but it also seems very sad to me that missionaries can’t take advantage of the classes offered.

Wednesday we had a staff meeting to start the day. We have one new elder that transferred from the other half of the Training Zone because of their changes. The major thing we did was revise the March schedule. Our Assistant Zone Leader thought we should offer our beginning classes twice in a month, but I pointed out that our attendance in those has been quite low so it may not be worth the effort. We decided instead to offer a couple of Family Tree Workshops where students can come and just get specific help on what they are struggling with. We will also offer a workshop on Irfanview so anyone can get help with just the parts they have questions about. I think this will be a good opportunity to help missionaries with their weaknesses instead of shot gunning the teaching. After our afternoon class we attended the temple and enjoyed it.

Thursday I taught Correcting Relationships in the afternoon. The computers had been down in the morning so I went to the office and worked on the assignment we’re assigned. I got it mostly completed down to the practice exercises which need to be cleaned up. In my class we worked in beta.familysearch.org and it didn’t function the way it was supposed to on replacing relationships, but I think the students got the idea. We went over several examples and had them try several things to give them practice.

Friday was our T&R day. I went to the library shortly after 8 am and worked on trying to clean up some of my research notes. Another missionary came over a couple of times to ask about things, and I had two appointments to pass off units of the certification program. (The procedure I’m writing is for students who don’t pass certification, so I thought it would be good to do the classes.) At the first appointment I sat outside the cubicle and listened to the lady ahead of me. The certifier was very generous in helping her remember the thrust of the lessons. In mine I was given the same support for which I was grateful. I have learned a few things, but mostly I’m learning that I need to think differently than I do and not over-think the questions. I was able to clean up a few things in the research I was doing, but there are so many loose ends that I need to fix before we are done here.

Saturday was the day of our monthly Swap Meet. Rain has been forecast all week, so I’ve been praying to have it clear just from 9:30 to 1 so we could move ahead. It rained during the night but had cleared up. When we started setting things up a few drops started to fall. I told them to leave paper and clothing in the sheds for a while and get everything else out. Soon the skies cleared and we were abundantly blessed with a beautiful day. I had some hand warmers for the workers, but the weather was so warm we had no use for them. I was thankful for the Lord’s answer to our prayers and for the beautiful day. We had a great turnout and got rid of a lot of stuff. One couple that just started working with us was called to be assistant zone leaders and will be working most Saturdays so we need to find someone else. They were scheduled to take Saturday, so one of the other elders said they could do it. We work with a wonderful bunch of people.

Week of January 22, 2017

Our mission presidency developed a reading program for the next 13 weeks that is intended to focus our lives on Christ. Sunday we had our first lesson in Relief Society based on our reading program. It was really great. The teacher asked six sisters to share life experiences that had brought them closer to the Savior. It was amazing and I was very touched by the strength of the women.

Monday at inservice we had a man from the Granite Mountain Vaults come to talk with us about what they do. The young elders pull and re-file about 3000-4000 microfilms every day. One young elder alone had done about 36,000 while he worked there. Apparently, they have to climb very tall ladders to access some of the films. The man spoke very highly of the young elders and the opportunity to work with them.

In the evening we had our Hail and Farewell dinner. It was the first time for the new branch so there were many who had not been there before. At the end the young elders sang to us and it was touching, as usual. I am not sure what it is about these young men, but they have a great spirit about them that touches my heart.

Tuesday at inservice Pres. Larson spoke about the history of the change to the training zone and his testimony of the work. The training zone will be using computer-based learning from now on, starting with the new group of missionaries that come next week. They piloted the program with 7 seniors in the last group and it worked well for all ranges of experience and ability. Some of the trainers will be reassigned to other zones, some will be lab helpers, some will be checking the learning of the trainees. There will be no one-on-one training as it has been in the past. There was a good feeling during the discussion, so I’m assuming there will be a fairly cooperative spirit when it rolls out.

In the afternoon I taught “Searching Historical Records” which I really enjoy teaching and haven’t done for several months. As I reviewed the material in preparation it occurred to me that sometimes names are difficult to find because the handwriting is hard to read so they have been indexed incorrectly. I suggested the students write some names, very quickly and very sloppily, and see how they could be misinterpreted.

Wednesday afternoon we had a class on writing stories. This was Elder Stokes last class. I spent the time trying to write and edit a story about my Grandma Farnsworth and when we used to play Rook at her home. It was a fun exercise and I think it turned out pretty well. I enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on some of my personal memories and try to get them expressed. I really need to get my personal history written or when I am gone there will be nothing of me left.

On the way home today I stopped at the swap meet sheds to put a few things away and spent some time reorganizing a few things so it wasn’t so cluttered. I was supposed to walk with my friend from France, but when she got there it was too late to walk. Instead she asked for help repacking her suitcase because she was leaving in the morning and she’d had a suitcase that was over the limits. Ted and I helped he reweigh her suitcases and rearrange a few things in them. By the time we rearranged everything, we were able to pack her picture of Christ she didn’t think she’d have room for. I will miss her and the opportunity to learn from her.

When we finished and got home it was later than hoped. I still had to finish reading my readings for the day and I still had to review my lesson for the morning. I was glad I did because I had some inspiration about what I needed to add to the teaching to make it better. I suggested that if there is a difficult name to find to think of how it may have been pronounced by the ancestor if he had a strong foreign accent and how an unfamiliar ear might have heard and written that name. Compound that with an unfamiliar eye reading the word. How might it have been said, then heard, then read.

Thursday after I ate part of my breakfast I hurried over to get the rest of my friend’s stuff before she left. I gave her one last hug, took one last walk through the apartment after she left, and turned out the lights. I went home, finished getting ready, and went to work. It was a good start to the day to be of service to someone.

At inservice we had several of the engineers from the mobile apps area come to help us learn to use the family tree app. I had trouble getting wifi on my phone so I was a little limited in what I did, but the app was great. I went to the mezzanine to pick up a different network and got connected. I sat in one of the nice chairs and looked at the app for a few minutes. I had been there about 5 minutes when a lady next to me suddenly asked, “How long have you been sitting there?” She was the hostess at the desk and hadn’t noticed me. I hadn’t noticed her either. We had a good visit but it was weird we had neither one seen the other since we were only about 3 feet apart. It was interesting and I shared with her some of what we had learned. One of the startling things the engineers had told us was that internet access from mobile devices exceeded that from desktop computers for the first time in November 2016. Incredible.

After that I worked on an assignment two of us had been given. I had received an email saying I needed to meet with the lady in charge of library training to discuss our request for access to the training material, so I tried to find her. I was able to meet with her and an assistant. They didn’t want us to take the approach we had planned on but we could have access to the training material and the certification questions. And the scope of what we are doing is much more limited than we had thought.

My class started with about 5 students, but the classroom filled almost completely before we were very much into it. I think it went well and I enjoyed teaching the class. A couple of people came up afterward and told me they had really learned a lot and appreciated the class. That is always nice.

Friday we had a late class. It allowed me to take a little more time doing things so I wasn’t so rushed. In class I was assisting an elder. The biggest problem we had was finding a source for one of his ancestors. We practiced the process being taught 4-5 times, then tried to straighten out his Ancestry.com account for which he didn’t know the password, using the email account he couldn’t remember the password for. We also signed him up for another account. He was pleased. He was a quick learner so it was fun.

I spent about 45 minutes with another trainer writing a rough draft for our assignment. I continued to work on it while she taught her class. I got it all the way to the end, very rough, but at least a basis of what we need to do. I came up with some activities that were unique for the assessment part of the assignment and I sent it to her for review.

Saturday it was our turn at the swap meet sheds. We spent a couple of hours organizing and receiving things from several people for the swap meet next weekend. I spent most of my time hanging clothes, sorting them as I went so we didn’t have to spend time doing that. I did all the clothes I found so we should be a bit ahead. Ted reorganized the second shed. People had put furniture right at the front so nothing more could get in. We were able to move quite a bit over from the first shed. He then sorted bags of stuff and was able to clear up several things off the floor. Ted went out later and shoveled the snow in front of the sheds—there is still a lot of ice left there.

Week of January 15, 2017

Sunday Pres. Tate presented our reading program for the next 13 weeks. It focuses on learning about Christ and is called Christ in You. It includes reading in the New Testament, Jesus the Christ, some selected articles, and listening to good music. We are encouraged not to read intellectually, but to read with the Spirit with the intent to be uplifted and have our testimonies strengthened. The program concludes on Easter Sunday, April 16. I’m looking forward to it.

Monday was a holiday so I spent the day catching up on things in the apartment. In the afternoon we had a pot luck with our zone at Sister Kay’s home. I really enjoy this group of missionaries and I am grateful for the opportunity to work with them and learn from them. Stokes complete their mission the end of this month and two of the group had birthdays so it was fun to be together.

Training Zone B off-duty

Tuesday we started our Capstone classes. The classes went well and Ted did a good job teaching. We finished in time to get to the 12:00 session at the temple, so Ted and I hurried over to find the doors locked. Apparently, the temple is closed for two weeks for cleaning and we were the only ones that didn’t know about it. It was a really strange feeling to be locked out of the temple.

Wednesday after classes I worked at the library for a few hours and got quite a bit done. In the evening I reviewed for my class tomorrow and reviewed my family history notes to see what more needs to be done to clean up some of the records I have. I was really excited to get things organized again, but there is more that need to be done than I had hoped.

Thursday I taught the class on Partners and really enjoyed it. This is a good group, so there was a good amount of participation. I had a couple of people tell me they really appreciated the information. After class I worked at the library to clean up some of the sheets I had. On one I found what appears to be an error on the part of the priest in his reference to a lady in the record. He referred to an entry on a page that refers to someone with her same name, but she is 30 years older than the date on the marriage record. I asked a lady for help and we looked at several things but couldn’t find any record of the family. I couldn’t find the birth record for two of the children I knew about. I did a search in familysearch.org and found 4 more children with birth, marriage, and death records for most and census records for all after they immigrated to the United States. I could not find a death record for the father. I now need to go into the records and clean them up, then go back to Sweden and see what I have there. I must have some record I’m forgetting because I have the husband’s date of birth and the birth dates of the first two children. I also had the emigration date so I need to go back to the family and find where I got the information from.

Friday we stopped between the two classes we were teaching to watch the inauguration address for Pres. Donald Trump. I’m sure he didn’t make his predecessor happy, but I really hope he is able to do the things he said he wanted to do. The big thrust is to put America first instead of everyone else in the world and to restore America’s soundness and greatness. I really hope and pray he can be successful.

I taught attaching external sources. I think it went well. It can be fairly complex, but the class stayed with me for the most part. There were a few system glitches as we went through the processes, but I think it went ok in the end. I spent the afternoon at the library and was able to find most of the records for the family I worked on yesterday. I’m not sure what the difference was in the searching that I did today because I found the information and records right where they should have been when I look before.

The day of the Snow

Saturday we woke up to about 6 inches of snow with more falling heavily. The elders were out shoveling the walks. We finally got our books for the mission reading program Friday, so I was able to read in the book and highlight the things I wanted to. It works better than reading online. They didn’t get enough from the printer when the program was introduced so we have been waiting. It snowed most of the day so I was grateful we didn’t have to go anywhere. I did some more work on the family I’d found the last couple of days. There is so much that needs to be done.

Snow at Garden Apartments