Draper Temple

I just can't believe how fast the time is flying by.  I know it must be for you, too.  It has been three months since I left Kansas City for my mission.  Accepting a call to serve a full time mission is one of the best decisions I have ever made.  It is amazing to me that senior members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can be called and set apart to serve missions where they ARE REALLY NEEDED and fulfill assignments that are IMPORTANT.

I have begun my training for a new assignment in Data Quality.  It is very challenging and complicated with many things to remember.  I would like to ask for your prayers in my behalf as I strive to master what I will be doing.  It is important work and must be done accurately.  My trainer is Sister Freeman who is a retired neo-natal nurse.  She worked for 32 years in neo-natal intensive care.  She has a lot of patience and is an excellent teacher/coach.

I had a very nice discussion with the Unit Manager (paid Church staff) on Friday.  He went to RIT and lived/worked in Rochester, New York for many years.  He loves Rochester (where I was born and raised) and is taking his family there the end of May as part of a two week vacation.  It was fun talking about my hometown and reminiscing about so many things that I know and love.  He told me about a menu option in several restaurants in Rochester called "a garbage plate."  Does anyone reading this know of the "garbage plate?"  I have never eaten it.  Shon can't wait to introduce his family to this "culinary delight???".

On Wednesday evening I went to the Church History Museum to "Museum Alive."  There were docents dressed in pioneer costumes at the various displays and you could ask questions and watch them work.  You could pull a handcart or experience log cabin living.  Brigham Young was walking around shaking hands with everyone and a typesetter  of the Book of Mormon explained what he was doing.  There was a woman who make pioneer bonnets and even had one that could sell for $500 in the 1800s.  It was very enjoyable and after we explored the gift shop.  So many neat items for sale.

 Pam Cox and Sister Winkie

Went to a fireside about how the Nauvoo Temple came about.  I am talking about the new one.  The fireside happened to be on the day of Charles Allyn's funeral.  He made all the windows for the Nauvoo Temple.  He was a very talented man and had been a for Bishop or Branch President in Cameron, Missiouri.  This was just prior to our moving there.

On Saturday Sister McKnight and I drove to the Draper and Mt. Timpanogos Temples.  What a wonderful day.  We attended both temples and met some wonderful people.  My old friend, Pam Donaldson Cox is an ordinance worker at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple.  She and I met up for a short time before her shift began.  She and I served in a Primary Presidency in Las Cruces, NM over 20 years ago.  What a joy it was to visit with her and get a great big hug.  We plan to meet again real soon

Mt Timpanogos Temple

We really enjoyed visiting these temples.  As you can see it was a beautiful spring day with blue sky and sunshine.  The spring flowers and blooming trees were everywhere.  I have decided that I miss my beautiful sun rises and sunsets at my farm.  I don't see them living in the city.  As you can tell I continue to do very well.  I am happy and healthy.  I did get a call from son, Wade, on the way home from the special stake conferences held in Kansas City area.  He updated me on the events and later Kathy typed up her notes and emailed them to me.  I was especially impressed when I read what she wrote about what Elder Halstrom of the 70 said.  He was speaking of reverence and said "that it means more than being quiet.  It also means to have profound love and respect for Deity.  Don't confuse reverence with being quiet.  That's part of it.  Whatever we do in our lives needs to be reflective of the love we have for Heavenly Father and Jesus.  What we say, think and do should be reflective of what we believe."  I don't know if I am quoting Elder Halstrom or Kathy's paraphrasing him but the words are very important nevertheless.  Until next week may the Lord bless you and keep in His loving care.  Love, Sister Winkie (mom/gramma)

Today is the beginning of a new week and I don't know where the last one went.  It has been incredibly busy here, for me and all of the staff and missionaries.  Tuesday the Church successfully launched the much awaited Family Tree to accompany FamilySearch.  Considering it launched worldwide in the ten core languages there were no major glitches.  I know there were issues and it is something new to learn but I know the Lord is pleased with the efforts of the engineers and other technicians who labored long and hard over it.

I thought the picture I choose depicted this world wide launch.

This past week I attended a Fireside presented by Daniel Rona.  It was wonderful.  He is a Jew born in Israel, immigrated to the United States with his father as a child.  He and his father were converted to the LDS Church and moved to Salt Lake City.  As a married man he and wife and three children moved back to Israel.  So his story is very interesting as a Jew, Latter-day Saint, Israelite and an American.  Wish I had time to tell  you more.

I attended a Spring Chorale Concert at the Tabernacle on Saturday evening.  It was amazing.  Especially the piece called simply "Lullaby."

I gave the inspirational thought in our prayer meeting on Thursday.   I talked about "For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."  Proverbs 23:7  Wish I had time to tell you more.  Maybe next week.

I am being trained for more responsibilities at my work and have many meetings to attend.  Life is grand and wonderful.  I am so thankful for a healthy mind and body to be able to be a part of this important work at my age.  I love the people I labor with and we have a lot of fun, too.

I am not writing very much today as I am pressed for time.  Just know that I love you all and the Lords work is rolling forth and nothing will stop it.

I pray for all of you and ask the Lord's blessings on you.  I will be going to the temple on Thursday if anyone has names for the prayer roll.  The Lord loves you and he loves me, Of that I am certain!  Sister Winkie

April on Temple Square

Hi everyone,
Just came home from "Music and the Spoken Word."  All of it was wonderful but I especially liked "The Sound of Music."  It was such a pretty rendition that induced peace and calmness.  The message from Lloyd Newell included "While music affects us very personally, it is also communal; it unites people in a way few things can.  As we sing or play together and listen together, we somehow connect on a deeper level."  I think that is very true.

What I see to the left when I come out the door
at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building
I think I love this picture most of all.
The Lord loves all His children and He wants them all to come unto Him

On Thursday I attended a lecture at the Assembly Hall presented by Joseph Fielding McConkie.  Brother McConkie spoke on the following topic: "Bruce R. McConkie; a Special Witness."  It was very interesting.  Brother McConkie displayed a great sense of humor as he talked about how it was for him being raise by this great man.  At the conclusion he fielded questions from the audience.  This part proved to be as interesting as the prepared talk.  Brother Joseph McConkie told of his being an LDS Chaplain serving in Vietnam during the war.  He was in charge of a Regional Conference for LDS service people from all over Vietnam.  It was held in a huge quonset hut, like a airplane hanger.  He was expecting Ezra Taft Benson to be the visiting General Authority.  He was at the podium conducting and speaking killing time waiting for Elder Benson.  On-be-known to Chaplain McConkie, at the last minute, Elder Benson decided not to go to Vietnam and gave his ticket and assignment to Elder McConkie.  When the big door opened at the far end of the Hanger there stood his father.  The Chaplain stood there watching his father walk through a sea of service men and women toward the stand.  He came up to where his son stood.  He gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek then he said for him to get on with the business of the conference.  Elder McConkie was first a father and then a general authority.  What a special story.

View I have when I look to the right when I exit my building
when I leave work at 4 O'clock

One day last week I took my camera to work so I could take some pictures on Temple Square.  It was in full bloom for Spring.  It was a sensory experience!  Looked and smelled wonderful.  I spent an hour taking pictures to show what I saw as I walked home every day.  I hope you enjoy my photography.  Temple square, comprised of 35 acres of ground, is seen by many as sacred ground.  Joseph F. McConkie said that he has traveled a lot in the world and had been to the Holy Land but he feels that Temple Square is the Holiest place to walk on Earth.

On Monday we had our Aloha Dinner where new missionaries are welcomed and departing missionaries are sung to.  It is a bitter sweet occasion.  It is a pot luck dinner and the tables were groaning under the weight of the tasty and appealing dishes brought by all the missionaries.  We are loosing a lot of Elders and their wives and senior sisters.  We even had entertainment of a group of Latter-day Saints that wrote and sang original songs of praise.  We all enjoyed it.

On Friday I had a wonderful surprise.  Wayne and Ilse Kuehne from Orem came to Salt Lake City to visit me.  They came to my work and got a tour of my space and met several of the other missionaries.  I took them to the chapel on the Mezzanine and showed them the presidents room.  It is a room with portraits of all 17 of the presidents of the church.  It was a special time being with these special people in my life.  For those of you reading this blog who don't know who the Kuehnes are I will explain.  In the 70s my husband, Don, and I with the four boys were stationed in Germany.  We lived in a very small housing area called Weierhof.  The Kuehnes moved there about a year after we did and they lived at the other end of our building.  Wayne was the non-denominational chaplain assigned to our little housing area chapel.  He spoke German as he had served a mission in Germany.  His wife, Ilse, is German.  We became good friends.  Wayne and Ilse are LDS.  Wayne donated some books to our little library and I checked out a book called "The Restored Church."  That is the book that led Don and I to request the missionaries on the first Sunday in January 1976. So now you understand why these people mean a lot to me.  I have been asked to train for a new job in my zone and I was feeling pretty stressed about it.  I called Wayne and asked him about giving me a blessing.  They came the next day!  He gave me the blessing in the Presidents' Room.  How cool is that?  They then took me to dinner in the Garden Restaurant on the 10th (top) floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  It is a beautiful space looking out over Temple Square and the Temple.  Good food and very stimulating conversation.  I am so very blessed for so many things.

Soon after I come from my building this Statue of a
mother and son always catches my eye and
makes me think of my wonderful sons.

The Assembly Hall with the beautiful flowering trees.

The Assembly Hall
I love the architecture of this building.

  

This is the entrance to the Family History Library.
People come from all over the world to research their family origins.
Lots of wonderful stories come from visits here.

 I will end my blog with is quote "Every family has ...valuable keepsakes.  These include genealogies, family stories, historical accounts, and traditions.  These eternal keepsakes also form a bridge between past and future and bind generations together in ways that no other keepsake can."  Dennis B.  Neuenschwander.

Please write out you stories!  They are your children and grandchildren's legacies.  Make a goal to start writing the stories one at a time.  I used to tell my clients that "...you can't do such and such all at once but you can do it one piece at a time."  Like you can't eat an elephant at one meal but you can over time - eat it one bite at a time.  WRITE YOUR STORIES AND DO IT NOW!

The First Presidency of the LDS Church
Presidents Eyring, Monson and Uchtdorf

As you know I missed writing my blog last Sunday.  I went to spend Easter with my brother, Art Henry, and his family.  They had leased a condo in Park City for a week and it was fun joining him, Maurine and the children - Tyler and Emily.  Met Tyler's fiance, too.  They will be married in Draper, Utah on May 3rd.  I will be there.  I arrived home so late and too tired to blog.  I made the decision to skip the week although it was very eventful.

I want to share something that occurred on March 28, 2013.  I went to the Church Office Building (COB) with a co-worker/sister missionary.  I had brought my lunch but I just agreed to join her so she wasn't alone.  When we exited our building into the parking garage that connects the COB, JSMB and the Church Administration Building we noticed security outside the door.  We then remembered that it was Thursday and that perhaps the general authorities were on their way back to their offices after having their weekly meeting in the temple.  Sister Arrington and I spotted another sister from our zone a few feet away and we went to join her.  We were only about 6 feet from the sidewalk where the 15 leaders of our church would walk if they indeed were coming.  We waited only a few minutes when we saw a four-seater golf like cart coming down the walkway.  Yes, it was the First Presidency with a driver.  They smiled at us as they drove by.  President Eyring was in front with the driver and President Monson and President Uchtdorf were in the back.

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Then we saw the 12  coming toward us.  First was Elder Packer in a wheelchair being pushed by someone.  Then Elders Scott and perhaps Elder Ballard in another cart.  Next was L. Tom Perry leading the remainder of the brethren.  Elder Nelson thrilled us by giving us a salute and another brother asked "Are you here to watch the parade?"  They were all smiling and some waved.  Afterward the three of us senior sister missionaries were so excited and comparing notes of what we heard and saw.  We really felt very blessed to be only a few feet away from these very special and beloved men of God.

This incident served to prepare us for us for the experience of General Conference this weekend.  I took about 50 pictures and will caption the ones I selected to share with you

Conference Center waiting for the leaders to come in and begin conference

Sister Elaine Dalton and her counselors were release from the Young Women's presidency.
 I captured them in a group hug.  That is Sister Dalton in the orange jacket.

 We weren't allowed to take pictures during conference so that is all that turned out good from inside. Missionaries are given one ticket to attend General Conference.  Our tickets were for the Saturday afternoon session.  We were all on the first floor on the far right side.  I sat about 20 rows from the front.  I was able to see all the general authorities when they came in with spouses.  Sister Monson was unable to attend but President Monson's daughter was there for him.

View of people leaving the Conference Center after Saturday afternoon session

Conference goers.  There was so much excitement and joy as everyone felt the spirit of the messages and being with so many like minded people

I walk through this plaza everyday going to and from work.  I hope I never take it for granted.

The very beautiful Salt Lake City Temple with Conference attendees all over the place.  Many going to walk the garden paths on Temple Square and admire the beautiful flower beds.

The police had a presence there as did anti-Mormon groups.  I neither saw nor heard of any trouble.

 It is amazing how organized everything is.  The church thinks of everything and it all ran so smoothly.  With over 20,000 people filling the conference center for five times in two days it is truly amazing.  It must take 100s of volunteers to run things so smoothly.  There was even security at all doors like at an airport.  Sisters looked through all purses.  An announcement was given prior to the official beginning of conference of what to do if there was an attack of any kind.

This is a photo of the water fall that flows down the side of the conference center.

Well, what do you know?  I slipped a picture of me in here with the temple in the background.
Do I look happy?  Oh, yes, I am.

This is a picture of the mobile unit of the SLC Police Department.
The apartments on the left are called the Garden Apartments and that is where I live.

Where I walk everyone morning and afternoon going to and from work.

Same side of the Conference Center where I walk.  Wasn't it a beautiful day?

 My stake president back in Missouri, President Morgan, mailed me two tickets to the Sunday afternoon session of conference.  He said they were for me and Sister Hunt to go together.  Sister Hunt is the sister I met while doing my laundry and learned she was from my stake.  She and I did attend together and had a marvelous time.  We plan on getting together very soon.

In the two weeks that I haven't blogged I did many things.  I went to the temple a couple of times here in Salt Lake.  One time was to do the Endowment for a special lady that one of the paid staff asked for a volunteer to take to the temple.  I also went out for a marvelous steak dinner with brother Art, Maurine and her recently widowed father.  The conversation and the food were great.  It was a very fancy steak house with valet parking.  Art picked me up at my apartment and brought me home.  I felt like royalty.  I really enjoyed surf and turf.  Maurine had the same.  On Friday evening I saw the Joseph Smith movie at the Legacy Theater in the Joseph Smith Building and afterwards met a man who was roommate's with Jeff Foli from Chillicothe.  (another Tender mercy).  Sister McKnight and I explored the huge Salt Lake Public Library and  we learned of a book sale to be held in a couple of weeks.  We plan to attend.  I helped two sisters move because I am blessed to have a vehicle here.  Some of us went shopping after going out for Chinese dinner.  Life is full and busy.  Now, remember it is not all visiting and having fun.  I do work seven to eight hours every day and feel I am doing some important work.  I can tell you to read D&C 127:9 to have an idea of what we do in "the happiest zone in the church."

I have received some wonderful letters from friends and family.  The cell phone is a great blessing and I know my children and grandchildren are only as far away as calling their numbers.  Sometimes I take a picture of this, that or another thing and send it with a text message so they know I am thinking of them.

When the pioneers left home sometimes it was months and months until they received messages from loved ones.  I talked to my daughter, Kris, while I was waiting for conference to begin this afternoon.  She could feel the excitement of the event as we talked.  What great times in which we live.  I am so grateful!

Last of all I will comment on the messages of conference.  They were very timely for us today.  I feel that Elder Bednar displayed a lot of courage to give the very important talk he gave.  It came from very deep convictions and he said things that needed to be said.  I was on Facebook earlier and read many comments and quotes on conference.  People told of their favorite talks but no one mentioned Elder Bednar's talk.  I loved hearing and watching President Monson's talk.  It will long remain in my memory.  He is a natural born story teller.  Elder Holland's talk was excellent and brought out a lot of laughter.  I look forward to hearing and reading them again one at a time to ponder the meanings for me.  We are indeed a blessed people.  I know that Heavenly Father knows and loves each of us as does our Savior, Jesus Christ.  I know the Church is true and I am so grateful for Joseph Smith and the work of the restoration.  May God bless you all until next I write.

The flag flew proudly and the Lord blessed us all this weekend.