Ensign Peak - Pam Made it! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

We have a mission devotional every Monday morning in the Chapel in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  This last Monday when we were about 10 minutes in to the meeting the alarm sounded stating that "There has been an emergency reported in the building, please evacuate." There were probably at least 500 people in the meeting and the Chapel is on the 2nd floor so we began to evacuate using the stairs (an emergency and the elevators no longer work). Excluding the young elders, the average age of those evacuating was probably 72-75 so you can imagine that the exit did not occur rapidly; in fact, to quote one of the young elders, "We were surrounded by dozens of old people trying to slowly shuffle their way down the stairs."  He looked at his companion and said, "If there truly is a fire then we are going to die." When we were almost to the bottom of the stairs we heard the overhead announcement that the emergency was over and we could return to our meeting. As it turned out, the bacon had been burned in the Nauvoo Cafe which is on the ground floor of the building.


Other than the evacuation it has been a business-as-usual week going to the library each day but we were able to attend 2 concerts at the Brigham Young Historic Park.  On Tuesday night we saw Octapella, an international award-winning a cappella vocal band men's group. On Friday night we heard the Utah National Guard 23rd Army Band perform a patriotic program and popular band music in honor of Flag Day. Thursday night we attended a lecture by Jay A. Parry, entitled "My Mother Was Always Praying:  Latter-day Saint Women in East Germany during World War II." The lecture gave me a whole new gratitude for the great blessing and opportunity it is to be a citizen of the United States and enjoy the freedoms we do. AND, on Saturday night we went to the Assembly Hall to listen to the Orem Chorale conducted by Sterling Keyes.

On Tuesday we were warm at the park and on Friday night we had to wear coats. Apparently the weather in Salt Lake City just doesn't know which way to turn. However the little birdies think it's spring as we have a mommy quail and about 10 baby chicks that are running across our patio and Byde is putting out food for them.
 
In addition to the quail, for the last 2 days this little bird has been camping on our patio. When we walk outside he doesn't fly away.  and I walked all around him to take pictures and he just seemed to pose for me.  We haven't really seen him fly so don't know if he has a problem or not.  We'll keep feeding him.

 

Zoomed in view of SLC from the Peak

On Saturday I hiked Ensign Peak with 3 other sister missionaries. According to the reviews I read about the difficulty of the hike, it was classified as "Easy," I will strongly disagree with that rating. (At least for old, arthritic bodies).  My feet and knees were screaming at me by the end of the day and though I'm so glad I had the opportunity to do it this one time, I'll not be doing it again.  Byde chose to do a session at the Salt Lake Temple while I went hiking. (A very good choice I learned).

SLC Zoomed in a little closer

 

Pam , Melinda, Jo, and Sharon - at the top!!

Ensign Peak is a prominent small mountain peak at the north end of the Salt Lake Valley, above the State Capitol building. From the top, you have marvelous views out over the Salt Lake Valley and Great Salt Lake.

Two days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young and seven other pioneer leaders climbed the mountain to survey the valley. From its summit they laid out in their minds the city they intended to build. A small monument now sits on the summit.






Saturday afternoon we were able to go to the movie, Ephraim's Resue, produced and directed by T. C. Christensen. We highly recommend the movie. It is a true story about the heroic efforts of Ephraim Hanks in the rescue of the Saints in the Martin Handcart company.
The movie trailer states the following: "Follow Ephraim as his adventures lead him to join the LDS Church and ultimately to one of the most heroic rescues in American history. With a unique desire to help and strengthen others, Ephraim learns that each choice we make can prepare us for what lies ahead. He discovers, through it all, that decisions determine destiny."