Weeks of December 18 and 25, 2016

Sunday morning we had a special meeting of all the missionaries in the Little Theater of the Conference Center. There were tons of rumors flying for the last two weeks about what was going to happen. It was very interesting. Elder Craig Christensen of the Seventy presided. The change was that our mission name was changed: We will be the Utah Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission. We will have the same mission presidency. As of January 1, 2017, our two branches will be dissolved—we will no longer be organized under the stakes of the city, but we will be organized in branches based on where we serve and under the direction of the mission; the library and guest service areas will be City Creek Branch; Headquarters, Church History, and most behind the scenes services will be the Ensign Peak Branch. Pres. Larson, 1^st Counselor in the mission, will be the Branch President of the City Creek Branch, the one we will belong to. Pres. Hanson, 2^nd Counselor in the mission, will be the Branch President of the Ensign Peak Branch.

Our records will be returned to our home wards and we will make donations to those units instead of our branches here as it is done now. The mission president will be responsible for our interviews and counseling. It makes a lot of sense to me. We will continue as we are now for the next two weeks, then the new branch organization will begin in January. We have new counselors in the branch presidency and a new Relief Society presidency. I’m not sure when the new missionaries will receive their assignments or how they will handle the Hail and Farewell/Aloha dinners, but I’m sure they will have everything worked out. We are the 422^nd mission in the Church and the largest world-wide. The young elders will follow their service areas for branch attendance. It is exciting to be part of history.

Monday we attended the mission devotional. We aren’t teaching any more classes until January, so I spent the day doing family history. It was interesting because as I sat in the library and watched missionaries serve, I noted that these would be the missionaries in our branch. I also reflected on the ones I knew that would no longer be with us. It’s a bitter/sweet change.

Tuesday we had inservice with the Training Zone. A man that works on the Memories module spoke to us about why and how of memories. It was really interesting. Apparently, much of the information we have been given in the past is no longer correct. He indicated that if we tag memories to living people it keeps them unsearchable in the private space. If they are left untagged, they become searchable. His main point was that we need to put into our own memories space the documents and photos we want our children and grandchildren to know about. We need to define ourselves for them—leave them the testimony and wisdom we feel we want to pass to them—rather than letting others do it for us after we are gone.

Wednesday we had another inservice day. We began with Elder Hodges sharing his experience with Elder Jeffrey Holland and his speaking to the young elders. Elder Holland had a lapel microphone so he could walk among the young elders and respond to their questions and shake their hands. The next day he called Elder Hodges to tell him he had been so touched by the experience and the insights and spirit the elders had with them. He said it was one of the most spiritual experiences he’d ever had. We watched a video documentary about the first Christmas during World War I. Apparently the troops had ceased fighting and began singing carols. One man crawled out of the foxholes carrying a Christmas tree that he brought to the other side. Gradually many more of the troops came out and socialized with the “enemy”, eventually sharing food and a game of soccer. Some of the officers were not pleased, but many of them joined in and all enjoyed the day. The peace continued into the next day.

At noon we had a zone pot luck and gift exchange. The food was yummy. We tied a fleece quilt for a service project. We went to the mission conference in the afternoon. That’s when Pres. Tate told us we would need to wear our badges on the left side. I’m not sure why that is important but I will miss wearing it on the right side. In the afternoon it was cold and snowy.

Thursday we were up early and left for Las Vegas. The weather was clear and beautiful so we were grateful for the clear trip ahead. We stopped in Fillmore for a few minutes and there were a few flakes falling from the sky, the first we’d seen on the trip. Someone at the same stop told Ted that they were considering closing the highway in Beaver because the snow was so bad. We weren’t on the road again for very long before the snow became fairly heavy, and stuck to the road. It was melting in some spots, but it looked like it could get bad. We had a prayer for safety and kept going as best as we could. It was quite bad in Beaver and all the way to Cedar City, but it wasn’t bad beyond Cedar. By the time we got to St. George it was raining and rained the rest of the way home.

Friday was Mom’s 100^th birthday so we had a waffle breakfast with trifle for dessert. We had a good visit and played a fun trivia game about Mom that Heather came up with that was fun. We shared a few memories of Mom. It was a fun event. We stayed at Heather’s after the breakfast so I could help with some things. In the evening we went to Summerlin City Center to watch a parade. It consisted of 4 floats with snow machines above and lots of elves and princesses walking around passing out candy to the kids. It was fairly cold so I was glad when it was over.

Family Nativity on Christmas Eve

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with family. We each took turns being sick, so we didn’t get to do some of the things we’d planned on. But it was wonderful to be able to be with family and feel the love and fellowship there. We appreciate more each year the blessing of the Savior’s life and atonement and the opportunity He gives us to be together forever as a family.

After returning to Salt Lake I spent a fun afternoon helping a former missionary and her daughter-in-law do some Swedish research. It’s really much different helping someone else do research than doing it myself. It takes some effort to sit back and let them do things their way and just give guidance in what’s available to help them. We spent a morning in the Swap Meet sheds organizing things in preparation for the Swap Meet in January. It was snowing lightly and the temperature was in the 20s. I had to take off at least one glove in order to hang clothes so my hands got really cold. When we were finished, I had frozen hands and toes and was ready for a warm apartment. New Year’s Eve was spent attending the many amazing and varied performances on Temple Square. Our favorite group was Bless4, a Japanese group of young people featured on Meet the Mormons. It is truly amazing what is available so close by. It is truly amazing what is available so close by.

It’s been a good year. It’s had it’s ups and downs, it’s many varied challenges and rewards. I’ve learned so much and been able to have so many wonderful experiences meeting people and sharing what I’ve learned with others. I am grateful for the opportunity to do the family history I’ve been able to do. The fact that I’ve learned so much about Swedish and Finnish research really boggles my mind. It has been a fun adventure. I look forward to the experiences of 2017.