Snow Has Arrived

Does the arrival of snow mean that winter is officially here? (So far just on the tops of the mountains.) I always kind of thought it came with the winter solstice which will officially be on Saturday, December 21. BUT it was cold here this week for those of us from warmer climates. The Utahns tell us that it isn't cold but my blood disagrees.

I have probably shared before that we have a social group (the missionaries who started the same month as we did) who meet about once a month for an activity. We had a fun potluck with them here in our apartment complex social room on Sunday,  September 22.  We had homemade soup, rolls, and pie which was perfect for a rather cold day.

Missionary social group

The week at the library was great as we had fun helping the patrons as they search for their ancestors.  It is so rewarding when helping a patron and they find an ancestor they've been looking for.  We had Friday off so worked on Saturday.  I helped a couple of ladies who were only in the library for a couple of hours as they were on their way to St. George to participate in the Huntsman Senior Games.  We were able to print a marriage certificate for one of them from scotlandspeople. gov.uk.  As many genealogists know, being able to find a marriage certificate is like panning pure gold.  With that certificate this lady was able to learn the names of four grandparents which she didn't have before.  This opens up many more avenues for her to search. When you're able to participate in those experiences it is really great.

On Friday night we drove to Orem (took almost 2 hours to get there; 40 minutes to get home, BAD traffic) to attend the wedding reception of Byde's great niece, Nicole Fisher.  The mother of the bride and 2 of her sisters were there from out-of-state so we had a fun visit with them.  The bride was on the stairs when she threw her bouquet and it ended up in the chandelier.

The new bride and groom, Nicole Fisher & Justin Bell

Ida, Byde, Pam, Bea (mother of the bride), and Maria

If you look carefully you can see the bouquet in the chandelier

The annual women's conference was held on Saturday night. I had tried unsuccessfully to get tickets, but on Saturday afternoon in the library there were 3 sisters there working who had been there all day and were just too tired to go so they gave me the tickets and I was able to share them with 2 other sister missionaries.  We had great seats in Section 10 on the Plaza level. I liked the way our granddaughter, Jessica Phelps expressed her feelings about the conference: "I loved the Relief Society Broadcast that was tonight! It was uplifting and just what I needed!! I am grateful that we have loving leaders who listen to the Lord and shared the messages that they did! I know that their words will be helping many heavy hearts feel lighter. And I know it inspired me to continue working on my own rough edges and become a better person!" Thanks Jessica for sharing.

If you'd like to listen to the talks you can go to the following website:
https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/archive/general-relief-society-meeting/2013/09?lang=eng. 
I felt so privileged to be in attendance and to hear our Prophet, Thomas S. Monson deliver a wonderful message of hope.  Each of the talks from the General Relief Society Presidency were equally inspiring.

To top off our week we attended the Tabernacle Choir Broadcast this Sunday morning; what a special treat it is each Sunday for us to be able to be in the Tabernacle with the choir and watch Mack Wilberg direct.  This morning the theme was more about children and so the beautiful children's songs were wonderful to hear by the choir.  The ending comments by Lloyd Newell were as follows:
"Perhaps you've heard this saying, written by another person who made a difference in the lives of young people - a Boy Scout Leader of decades past: 'A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be different, because I was important in the life of a child.'"