Week 22

Happy birthday today to my great-great-grandfather Robert Grant! He would be 222 years old today. He was born in Scotland on January 26, 1798 and died sometime before 1851. I know that because his wife Susannah came to Utah by herself with her two youngest children - Thomas and Elizabeth. Thomas was my great-grandfather. Robert's name used to be recorded on the family group sheets as Robert Collier Grant, but it turns out that collier was his occupation. It was sometimes written as coal hewer - he was a coal miner, a hard worker I'm sure. The family lived in Bo'ness where Camille and I found the family graveyard. I attached a picture. Robert was likely buried here because the first marker that we saw while exploring was for his parents John and Catherine Grant. 

 

Here's another progress report on the Temple Square demolition. This week they moved the old olive tree that was on the southwest corner of the temple. If you enlarge the picture by the yellow crane you can see it. Probably all of my kids had your wedding picture taken there, but I could only find the one for Caryn & Jon. I learned the story of that tree! Apparently, it's over 100 years old and was found in Arizona. When someone saw it, they approached the farmer and told him that it needed to be at the Salt Lake Temple, so he consented to have it moved here. They moved it to the roof of the Conference Center until the temple construction is finished, and then it will be moved back to its cherished spot.

I thought you'd like to meet Sister Paul. She was born in Guyana, which is a country in South America. She came to Wisconsin and lived there before serving her mission. She taught seminary there. Sister Paul is singing in the mission's Elijah Choir and has no experience whatsoever. So every week she goes to the theory class that Sister Watkins teaches before rehearsal. Still she struggles, so she came to me for help. We clap out the rhythms and study the notes so that she can sing with the choir. I found some simple theory pages online and printed them out for her to practice on. She is the cutest sister here and I just love her enthusiasm and humility. I wish I had Caryn's experience teaching music to beginners! 

Our mission president's counselor, President Unger, gave a devotional message this week that I'd like to share with you. First, he talked about the ship that brought Lehi's family to the promised land, and he asked, "What happened to the ship?" The point was that we don't know! There's never another mention of that ship, even though it was important in getting them to their destination. It's the journey that mattered, not the ship. President Eyring said, "If you're on the right path, it will always be uphill." We have lots of challenges in this life, and we can succeed if we learn from the past. We need to make the decision to do what Jesus Christ has asked us to do. President Unger closed his message with the video of Elder Holland's talk "An High Priest of Good Things to Come (October 1999)." It's the story of when he was a young father and his car broke down multiple times with his wife and two small children. Read the talk or find the video. It's sweet, especially the tear rolling down his cheek at the end! And here's the sweetest part of all - the quote at the end which was on the wall for months when Doug was working so hard to get well. "Don't give up, boy. Don't you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead - a lot of it... You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come."

We can get through our hard times if we focus on the good ahead. I know that's true! There are many blessings waiting for us if we press forward and focus on the good things ahead.

Week 21

This week our mission president's wife, Sara Fenn, gave our morning devotional. I think I mentioned that she is Bruce R. McConkie's daughter. She brought two sets of scriptures. The first was a copy that was given to her father by his wife Amelia with a sweet note inside. 

The other was a copy that belonged to her mother, who was the daughter of President Joseph Fielding Smith, with a note from him inside.

We got to pass them around and see the marking inside (lots of it). It was really special to hold them and know who had owned them. She then talked about the project that Elder McConkie was assigned to in reformatting our current standard works, which included adding all the footnotes. President Monson was the chief editor for the project and President Packer was also on the committee. All or almost all of the chapter headings were written by Elder McConkie. I think it was Elder Packer who said that the project would never have been completed without the work of Elder McConkie. She also told of a miracle in getting the copies of the Book of Mormon printed by the start of the school year for the seminary students. This was in 1981 (the Bible was finished in 1979). It was ready to go by the end of June, but the printers took the whole month of July off as part of their union privileges. President Monson had toured the facility and knew they had four large presses that could do the printing. He asked if they couldn't keep just one press running. So they went to the unions to ask - not expecting that they would. The union reps came back and agreed to do the printing. They said they didn't like taking off in July anyway because everything was always so busy. The books got done in time.

I learned of an amazing project that is being done at the Family History Library. It has been going on for about seven years and still has work to be done. They are trying to teach computers to read Chinese characters. Can you think of the implications of that for family history and temple work? This will be incredibly valuable in inputting all the Chinese family histories so that temple work can be done for them. Apparently many years ago under communist rule they ordered the people to destroy their family records, but family was so precious to them that they buried the records in their gardens or hid them behind their walls. Now the current head of China values the family so the people have uncovered their records - some dating back more than 2000 years. The Lord is preparing a way now for these records to be digitized and read by computers, which will greatly help in getting the temple work done when the time comes that it is allowed. 

On Friday they started tearing down the south visitors center. I'm sure you all have been there at one point. It's the one with the model of the temple which has now been moved to the Conference Center along with a lot of the other displays that were there. There was quite a stir in the office as the demolition started, so we all headed to that side of the building to take pictures.

My mind immediately went to times I had been in the visitors center with my family. Made me a little sad, but I'm sure in four years we'll all love seeing the new building which will replace it.

I had a fun time last night with Alyssa and Chad! They came up to a Jazz game and wanted to meet for dinner before the game. We thought about Crown Burger, but it was insanely busy with everybody else who had the same idea. So we decided to try a place that had been recommended by a fellow missionary. It's a burger place nearby called California Burgers and Deli and is owned by a Korean family. 😃 Anyway, the food was great and especially the fries. Go figure! 

Thanks for all your love, prayers, and support! 

Moroni 7:30 - For behold, they are subject unto him, to minister according to the word of his command, showing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness. - Jon's Favorite Scripture

I'm trying to learn to be better at ministering! 💕

Week 20

It snowed last night. Not the first time, but every time it does I really miss my garage. It's so nice to just walk out to a warm garage, raise the door, start the car . . .  Instead, I have to traipse through the snow and slick sidewalks and scrape my windows. HOWEVER, I'm SO grateful that Coray taught me that I have a remote start on my key fob! I've had this car for a year and a half and never even knew that! I have wished it plenty of times not knowing that here at my fingertips was the solution! I'm also really grateful for the windshield cover I bought that at least makes it so that I don't have to scrape my windshield. Saves a whole lot of time for sure! At least when I remember to put it on the night before, or I'm not too lazy to go back out and put it on. AND I'm really grateful for dear Elder Bellos who saw me scraping my windshield because I hadn't put on the cover last week. He stopped on his way from the gym in his shorts with no gloves and scraped my car in the dark morning. 

As I'm typing this series of murmuring complaints followed by gratitude for my blessings, I'm seeing an analogy here. Anyone else see it? I guess there are any number of things we might question or complain about, especially those that we can control or prevent by one small action. I probably don't need to point those out to anyone reading this - you know what yours are. So maybe as we encounter those reasons to complain, we can look for the blessings available to us. We can listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost telling us of the resources at our fingertips. We can use those resources, especially when it's as easy as opening the scriptures or studying the words of the prophets. It might require a little more work on our part; we might actually have to do something to prevent the problems we encounter. But always - always there is Someone willing to help us when we are in need. He sees our troubles and struggles. We might have to ask for that help, but often there are His angels nearby who will step up to our aid. 

I'll probably still complain about not having a garage and having to scrape my car, but at least I know how to solve or prevent most of my reasons to complain! 

CHANGES! I thought you would like to see how Temple Square has changed already. The trees are all gone between the temple and the south visitors center and all the landscaping next to the temple has been taken away. There are metal fences put up surrounding Temple Square and there are gates closed so that people have to go around the block or across the street to get from place to place. The very old cedar tree will stay standing though! Hopefully it survives the construction.

I LOVED Abby's email this week where she wrote about Chris who "got a pain in his chest" after asking if the Book of Mormon is true. I want you to know, Abby, that I got that same pain in my chest the first time I read and asked about the Book of Mormon. We are told that's how we'll know the answer to our prayers. D&C 9:8 says "But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right."

The Book of Mormon IS "right." It is the "most correct of any book ever written," and it was translated by the "gift and power of God." I love that we are studying it this year and I'm so grateful for my testimony that it is true.

Week 19

It has been such a quiet week that I hardly have anything to write about! I guess that sounds odd with New Year's Eve and Day in the middle of the week, but I didn't really celebrate. I just didn't want to venture out with the drunks and the questionable weather, so I chose to just hunker down in comfy sweats and leftover Christmas treats. 

At the suggestion of a friend in Eagle, I'm going to occasionally share stories of my ancestors - which of course are yours too! Since I don't have a lot of news today, I'm going to tell you a little about my great-grandfather, Douglas Archibald Swan. Today is his birthday! He was born January 5, 1849, in Edinburgh, Scotland. He came to the United States with his mother and five younger siblings. His father stayed doing missionary work in Scotland and came a year later. They crossed the plains and came to Salt Lake City in a covered wagon. He was only 14 years old. After finishing his apprenticeship as a carpenter, Douglas worked on the Salt Lake Tabernacle. For the first six months he did nothing but rip 2x4s with a hand saw. Douglas married Melissa Coray, the only daughter of William and Melissa Coray.  After his marriage, Douglas was called to be a missionary to Australia, and opened the mission in Tasmania. You can read his missionary journal in his Memories page on FamilySearch. He worked for the railroad and as an accountant, and he became the cashier for the First National Bank in Provo. He also served as auditor and assistant treasurer in Salt Lake City. In his obituary it says, "His home life was ideal in every respect and his public life was beyond reproach. For many years he was prominent in public affairs, holding offices of honor at various times in banks, railroads, and in the public service. He had the respect and confidence of the people and was honored and loved by his friends." So there you know a little about Douglas Archibald Swan!

I love my sweet family! It's a blessing to fast and pray with them today. I'm so grateful for their examples of faith and testimony. I know that our Heavenly Father blesses us in so many ways and answers our prayers as we pray for each other.

Mosiah 2:41 "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it." --

Caryn's Favorite Scripture