Taking in Some Local Culture

28 Oct 2017
One of the senior missionaries in our zone was telling us about an unusual name she found in her family tree the other day –The ancestor lived in England in the early 1700s, and her name is Thankful Poop. No kidding!
We’ve had a full and busy week in the mission, and spent some time relaxing this weekend at the annual Heber Valley Western Music and Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Heber City, Utah. We enjoyed a wonderful concert featuring a long-time Western band, Riders in the Sky. (Reminded us of the kind of music we used to hear performed by Gene Autry and Roy Rogers when we were kids. If you own the movie, Toy Story 2, they performed “Woody’s Roundup” on that soundtrack.) Then, we had tickets for the first session of Just Cowboy Poetry. It was also great. However, since neither us of were raised on a farm or a ranch, we have no experience with some of the more intimate tasks involved in animal husbandry, and some of the jokes went right over our heads. Of course, there were lots of vendors, western art, western wear, etc. too. We’re loving taking in the local culture! :-)
                  Riders in the Sky                           
                                           part of the Mountain Men exhibits
This morning we’re meeting our friends, Loren and Lillimor Hubbard, and going to Antelope Island, on the Great Salt Lake, for the annual Bison Roundup! This is one of the nation’s oldest and largest public bison herds. Evidently, hundreds of horsemen from around the area sign up to ride in this, and they drive nearly 700 bison from other parts of the island to holding corrals in an area near White Rock Bay.
Once all the bison are in the corrals they let them rest there for five days so they are more relaxed and “de-stressed.” Then, they vaccinate them and do health screenings.
In order to keep the herd within a size that the habitat on the island can support (given other animals that are also there, and the amount of vegetation/food supply) some of the herd are released back onto the island and others are sold at auction. Since about 100-150 bison are born into the herd each year, they try to keep the number they release to about 550.
Tonight, is a complete change of pace, as we attend the fall concert of the Orchestra at Temple Square in the Tabernacle. We're going with President and Sister Hansen, who were just released from our mission presidency this week. They go home in mid-November and this will give them time to help the new counselor and his wife get a little training before they leave. We've really loved working with the Hansens and will miss them - but, we think President and Sister Thornock will be great, too.

No Blessing Denied

21 October 2017

It’s been one of those weeks, for me, where you almost feel like you're meeting yourself coming and going. It’s nice to have the weekend – to rest up, to grocery shop, to run errands, and to find renewal at our Sunday meetings.

On another note, I'm grateful for the hope and joy that we can each have as we live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Although we all struggle with a variety of issues in this life, it is a blessing to know that there is the “peace of God, which passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) available to each of us.
This week, as part of our monthly mission conference, there was some discussion about the hope that faithful, righteous members of the Church can have, even if their life circumstances are less than what they want them to be. This included discussion of those who are single or childless despite their best efforts, and the desires of their heart, as well as those whose spouses make choices that cause them and others great pain. 

One couple in our zone served a previous mission among the Navajo in New Mexico. They said, “On our last mission, on the Navajo Reservation, so many of the sisters had lost hope of “eternal families” and many of their daughters did not marry after watching the discouraging marriages of their mothers. Most branches of the church that we worked with had 2-4 active men, and 30-40 active women.” (Of course, it's not only women who experience these things, some men do as well. And, there are other circumstances besides these that cause pain and heartache.)

There are several quotes from Church leaders that say, in essence, “No blessing will be denied those who are faithful and righteous.”  However, it’s often difficult to understand when and how it will all work out when faced with so much disappointment. Here are some of the quotes that were shared (I especially like the one by Boyd K. Packer):
We all face difficulties and challenges in this life – some, seemingly, more than others. Perhaps that is why the Lord has instructed us to “... be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."  (Ephesians 4:32) 
We all need that.

Enjoying the Fall Colors

Saturday 14 Oct 2017

With the weather turning colder we've added a blanket to the bed and have needed to bundle up a bit more for the morning walk to the office. But, we've resisted pulling out the winter coats. Adding scarves and gloves to our fall jackets has worked so far.

Seems like fall is a little more colorful this year than last. Perhaps the cooler weather is responsible for that.

Someone gave us tickets to a live performance of "An American in Paris" playing at a nearby theater this afternoon. We're looking forward to that.

The gospel is true! And, Heavenly Father loves us all!!

The Lord Has Need of Willing Hands

6 Oct 2017

I was deeply moved by the eulogies spoken at Elder Robert D. Hales funeral yesterday. It is touching to see the great love the Brethren have for each other.

Some tidbits from this week:
Between sessions of General Conference on Sunday, they showed a short, 5-minute video that tells about the preservation of records in Sierra Leone. Once these records are filmed they are sent to the Church Office Building, and some missionaries in our zone process them so that the data can be available for others. (One brother in our zone worked on some Sierra Leone records this week.) 
If you haven’t already seen it, you might find this interesting:

We also had a sister tell us that in some places where our camera capture operators are, government officials are literally taking the paper records away as soon as they’re captured and burning them! The officials are constantly going to those camera operators and saying “Are you finished with this stack? We need to burn them.” So, there’s not even an opportunity to redo something if it isn’t in focus – it’s all they can do to keep ahead of the people trying to get rid of the records! It’s hard to imagine!

On another note, one couple who spoke at our Monday Mission Devotional told us that this is their fourth mission. Then, they said they were the most surprised when they got their very first mission call letter. In that letter, they were told they were going to prison! Their calling was to serve in a men’s prison. Amazing! Kudos to them!!

We’re enjoying some beautiful fall weather and yesterday after work we explored a fun little shopping village in West Jordan called Gardner Village.