The Lion House Pantry - A Great Place for Homemade Rolls

This is the west entrance to the Lion House Pantry
(the rolls they serve are to die for)

On Monday we walked to the Lion House for lunch since Monday is missionary discount day and all you have to do is show your badge and tell the cashier “missionary Monday, 20% discount please” and you get 20% off your meal. While standing in the line Byde turned around to tease the men behind us to ask if they were going to take a pie back to the office. The one man laughed and said no, then said, "you look really familiar to me." The man was Kent Kohlhase who lives here in the Salt Lake area but is originally from Mesa and Byde knew him from the days when he worked with Kent's father, Chuck Kohlhase at Kohlhase and Associates. Life’s daily experiences continue to manifest that it is a very small world indeed.

It has been fun to watch all the preparations that have been going on around Temple Square in preparation for the Young Women's Conference that was held at 6 pm on Saturday March 30. 

Banners on the left are on the West side of the Conference Center,
the ones on the right are on the South side of the building

This week we decided to go the “Dollar Store” near us to buy a gallon of milk on our way home from our missionary assignment. I wanted to go by our apartment and change into non-missionary attire but Pam convinced me to just go to the store on the way home, hence we were still wearing our missionary badges (we don’t normally wear them when we wear jeans). The milk in the case had already passed the expiration date so we had to drive a bit further to the “big” grocery store. As I was walking around the store a man, seeing my missionary badge, walked up to me and said, “I see that you are a missionary. Where are you from?” I told him that I was from Mesa, Arizona and asked where he was from. He indicated that he was from Kalamazoo, Michigan which was quite a surprise since our first grandchild, Jaylee Cox, left February 27 to serve in the Michigan Lansing mission and has been assigned to a ward in Kalamazoo. We learned that his name is Andra Robinson and he serves in the university branch presidency in Kalamazoo. Brother Robinson said that he felt confident that he would eventually meet Jaylee and would give her any assistance she may need. He took our picture so he could show it to her when he returns home. We exchanged phone numbers and email addresses. We know that the whole timeline and “chance meeting” was a special tender mercy from our Savior. That is the only time in the month we have been here that anyone has approached us because of wearing our missionary badges to ask us where we are from and that person is from the only town where our granddaughter is serving a mission; it was a very sweet experience.

We continue our training in the British Zone and are learning how to be better detectives as we use census records and other online databases to complete pedigree charts to verify family relationships. We learned that people in the 1700 and 1800’s typically had a child every couple of years, hence, if that pattern is interrupted a child could have died or some other event and may “fall off” the census records. At that point, more research needs to be done to determine why the child is not found. The genealogy world refers to that as doing a rolling census study. We are learning so many exciting things about the proper way to do genealogy and hope that enough of it will "sink in" so that we will be able to help not only the patrons who come to the library but our own families as well.

Flower bed on the east side of the
Joseph Smith Memorial Building

Flowers always make a picture better -
notice no heavy coats - YEAH!

Last, but not least some little daisies begging to show off

Lansing Michigan Missionary

Our first grandchild to serve a mission, Jaylee Cox, left to serve a mission the same week as we did.  She is serving in the Michigan Lansing Mission and is enjoying getting used to the snow. (She is the third child in the Cox family.)

President and Sister Peterson (we are the two in the middle)
He is the president of the Family and Church History Headquarters Mission 

This has been an amazing week as we had our first full week training in the British Zone; that means that we are working in the Family History Library in the second level of the basement (for those of you who know me well know that I worked in the lower level of the hospital) so we feel right at home in the basement. In our first two weeks as we were learning the basics of documenting and citing sources we had a one-on-one trainer. In the British Zone we have mentors who are not by our sides constantly but are assigned to help us with any of our questions (they are very helpful and we are grateful for their expertise). 

We are working with a notebook full of “story problems” to teach us how to work with and help library patrons.  An example would be: “where should you direct a patron who is looking for his ancestor, Elizabeth Rogers, who was born around 1845 in Penzance, Cornwall?” In England they did census taking different than in the United States so there is quite a bit of background information one needs to know to even begin looking for someone. It has been exciting and challenging to begin to discover the ins and outs of what we need to do.

We were also able to attend a guest lecturer who was here from England for the Roots Conference

We were excited last Sunday to get a call from two friends from our ward in Arizona, Wendy Pugmire and Doris Prince, who were in town and came and went to church with us. They had come to Salt Lake for business purposes and we enjoyed a nice visit with them. They also attended a special fireside that night given by Todd Knowles who works for the church as a consultant on the British Floor; he specializes in Jewish family research. As a specialist in Jewish research he travels as a guest lecturer all over the world and had such unbelievable stories to tell about "finding" Jewish ancestry.

Doris took this picture of the Salt Lake Temple Sunday night
from the 3rd floor of the Joseph Smith Building

On Thursday our friend, Cindy Allen, brought up the remainder of our belongings and spent  a couple of nights with us and we were able to have her go with us on Friday night to the “Mormon Tabernacle Choir Orchestra at Temple Square Spring Concert.” The concert was entitled, “Music of Mozart, Beethoven, and Dvoriak.” There was a guest pianist who was originally from the Ukraine, Mykola Suk. His Bio stated that his first concert was when he was 8 years old. To say the least he was astounding and very entertaining in his mannerisms. When he wasn’t actually performing he would totally turn his body to watch the orchestra behind him and he was very dramatic with his hand movements, foot pedaling, and body mannerisms. He sat on a chair instead of a bench and we could see why as the concert progressed because the way he leaned back he would have fallen off a bench. (Julie, I’m sure he must have got his start in “Let’s Play Music.”)

President Uchtdorf and his wife were in attendance at the concert and it was interesting to observe the  security that was with them. 

This is the picture of Mr Suk that was on the program  (not a great picture, but you get the idea).

Saturday we made our first batch of bread in Salt Lake -  YEAH!  We were excited to be able to share bread with several of the single sisters that entered the mission in our group as well as our home teaching families.  I think the best part of making bread is sharing it with others.  (Thanks Cindy for bringing the Bosch, and everything else)!

On Sunday morning we attended the Tabernacle Choir Broadcast (this is our 4th one since we arrived in Salt Lake); I don't think we'll tire of attending the broadcast (even sitting on hard benches behind one of the columns  in the tabernacle one can enjoy the great music and spirit that is always there.) We had the good fortune to sit by a couple from London (professional genealogists) who were here to attend the Roots Conference.  There have been many people in the library this week because of the conference.

Outside the Tabernacle
3/24/2013
(Some nice man, Bro Sutton from Idaho took our picture)

Byde 3/24/2013 after the Tabernacle broadcast

We took a few pictures to show you that the flowers are struggling in the cold just to survive.

The daffodils are doing well but the others look pretty droopy.

AND, one last thing on this Sabbath Day.

Today in Sunday School we were talking about being prepared and having a 72-hour kit as well as having food and water in the trunk of our cars and to make sure the food gets rotated.  One sister in the class mentioned that she did carry food in her car trunk but when she tried to eat the food it tasted like exhaust. Now for the "Bydism" of the day said to the entire Sunday School class:  "From now on just drive faster so that you can stay ahead of the exhaust"   There were a couple of people who just about lost it at that comment.

The weather is warming up and the birds are getting bigger

We have been watching a mother pigeon and her 2 babies that are living in a window well on the south side of the mezzanine in the JSMB. The babies are getting big fast and will most likely fly away very soon.  We’ve been told by the other missionaries that most likely there will be several more sets of birds hatched over the next few months. We’ve also been watching for the “return of the falcon”. Apparently there is a falcon that returns every year to lay her eggs somewhere on the roof near the 5^th floor.

The first picture shows the mama bird setting on the nest and then this second picture you can see how big the babies are getting.  We check on them each day as we take our walk around the mezzanine floor.

The weather has been pleasantly mild and the gardens around temple square are blooming, you can almost see them get bigger while standing there. It is interesting how the flower gardens are prepared; each is covered by a white mesh cloth covering and then in preparation for April conference the covers are removed so the plants can bloom and grow. This picture has had the white covering removed and the plants are just beginning to get going.  We'll take more pictures next week to show the progress of the growth and blossoming of the flowers in this bed.

We have completed our two weeks of training and had our bread and honey butter go forth brunch and our assignment was made. We will be serving in the British Zone in the Family History Library.  The Zone Leader told us it will take us 3-4 months to really get trained. We will have a devotional on Monday morning at 7:30 and then report to our new area to start our training. We are excited about the assignment and know that we will have a lot to learn to be able to be of any service. We both have family ancestors from the British Isles so I'm sure we will be much better prepared to make progress in identifying our progenitors.

We live north of the Library less than 2 blocks so it will be a very short walk to our assignment (Byde reminds me that it is downhill which means of course that it’s uphill coming home).

Thursday night we went to the Assembly Hall and heard Julie Beck who spoke on “Faith of Latter-day Sisters: A Personal Perspective”. It was very interesting as she told about her experiences as she served as the General Relief Society President. It was touching to hear her tell about an encounter she had with a woman at a UN meeting and the woman was quizzing about how she managed to be head of such a large organization.  Sister Beck explained to her that we have a “buddy system” in the church where we look out for each other; a nice way to describe visiting teaching.  

Friday night we attended a concert at the Assembly Hall entitled, “Sounds of Music from Around the World” performed by Temple Square Missionaries (there are 191 young sister missionaries representing over 50 languages who serve there). The program was spectacular and the talent of the young sister missionaries  was amazing. It was especially touching to see them standing all around the perimeter of the building singing acapella "Called to serve". As we spoke with the Palmers afterwards (he is the son of Wanda West Palmer) we learned that most of the sisters who had major parts in performing in the program will be leaving the mission within four months and he felt they might not have that much talent together again to do such a performance. There was a John Philip Sousa piano quartet, "The Stars and Stripes Forever" that was so professionally done.  Brother Palmer told us that the rehearsals were all done on the lunch break and after hours.

Training Continues

What a week it has been! We have had classes every day with our one-on-one trainers at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB). We have come home each day feeling brain dead from all that has been poured in, hoping that we will be able to remember what we’ve been taught to use the next day. We’re each working on our “5 generations” to teach us how to use the Personal Ancestral File (PAF), as well as how to work in a new universal program called “Tree”.

Our “campus” includes all of temple square and we have so loved just being here and seeing the beautiful buildings and enjoying the peaceful surroundings.  When we arrived on February 27 there was a great deal of snow left on the ground but it seems that we brought some of the Arizona sun and warmth with us and the snow is fast disappearing.  The coldest morning we had walking to work was 27° but we were bundled up and made it to our training intact.

We attended a recital at the Assembly Hall on Friday night presented by the Choral Arts Society of Utah. We walked there wearing our heavy coats, gloves, and carrying an umbrella to keep from getting wet. We have tickets to go to the “orchestra at Temple Square” on Friday, Saturday March 22.

We attended the temple Saturday morning, the session was really large. One of the couples in the session was the President of BYU Idaho, Kim Clark and his wife.  I guess we should have tried to get close to him to ask how Meg is doing at school.  It was interesting to observe that no one in the session even seemed noticed he was in attendance.  They must have been in Salt Lake because the faculty string quartet from BYU Idaho was performing the classic works by Mendelssohn, Shostakovich and Beethoven in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square that night.  We thought for sure that we would have a call from Meg (our granddaughter who attends BYU Idaho) and she would be coming to Salt Lake City for the performance and need a place to stay. The bed was all fixed for her arrival (and it still is).

    

We attended the Tabernacle Choir Broadcast this morning as we did last week. 

During the broadcast pictures are not to be taken but at the end they give some time for picture taking.

 At the conclusion Mack Wilberg, the conductor, turns to face the audience and then off camera the orchestra and choir sing acapella "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again." 

 It is really a great experience to be there and not only hear but "feel" the music.

Our first Sunday in the mission

It was a little colder and we had light rain for most of the day; we used our umbrellas and wore our overcoats to go to the tabernacle for the Spoken Word. We saw the rehearsal and then the live broadcast.  It was such a delight to actually be there and "feel" the music totally surround you. Interesting fact that you might not know; Lloyd Newell, the voice of the choir, actually stands in the back balcony opposite of the choir to do his announcing. Between the completion of the rehearsal and the live broadcast there was a volunteer who introduced special groups that were visiting the broadcast that day. There was a group from Libya, Jerusalem, and a Muslim group, in addition to other special groups from around the US and elsewhere, and one group who had flown in from a foreign country for a special wedding. The volunteer told us some interesting facts about the tabernacle and also gave us instructions about the importance of remaining quiet during the broadcast in addition to giving anyone who needed a minute to cough or clear throats before the broadcast started : ).   When we left the tabernacle there were sisters from all over the world who would step up to a microphone to speak in their native tongue and invite guests to join them in a tour of the temple grounds.

We walked back home in the rain (about a 10-minute walk) and put our dinner in to cook and then returned to the tabernacle at noon to attend the Stake Conference of the other branch of missionaries that our friends, Boyd and Dot Williams attend. They were excited to be singing in the choir and sitting in the same seats as the choir does.

Our branch started at 2:15 so we walked across the street and attended our block (again wearing our overcoats and gloves). Today was Fast Sunday in the branch.  To keep neither the seniors nor the young elders from dominating the meeting, those bearing their testimonies were invited to sit up front and rotate from the young to the senior missionaries. We especially enjoyed the sweet, humble testimonies of the young elders. There are about 72 young elders in the mission and about 1200 senior missionaries. The Temple Square Mission is a separate mission.

Tomorrow, Monday, March 4 will be our first day of training with a devotional starting at 7:30 am in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (affectionately known here as the JSMB).

West Temple Apartments

(Our New Home)

Byde took a picture of our apartment from across the street. 

The apartment is directly west of the conference center.

As you can see most of the most snow has melted.

The picture was taken on 3/2/2013

Trip to Salt Lake

We left Mesa on Tuesday, February 26 to drive to our mission.
I didn't take any pictures on the drive to St. George but several on the way to Salt Lake.

The weather was beautiful albeit the car thermometer showed the temperature to be -4°.

Even more snow-covered mountains as we approached Spanish Fork.

Much to Byde's chagrin I insisted we stop at the creamery in Provo AND we were handed the telephone when we got to the register to pay for our treats; the cashier told him he was a winner and the person on the other end of the line told him he would be awarded a gift card for $20 good at the creamery. We posed for a picture in front of other "winners" as you can see below.  We now need to return to Provo to redeem our gift card (and Byde is eating humble pie).

If you can read the small sign it says "Creamery on Ninth"

We went happily on our way and arrived in Salt Lake on February 27.  We have been busily "nesting" and are excited with our new apartment and the warm weather we seem to have brought along with us.  It has been a balmy 40+° since we have been here - YEAH!!