I have consulted Miriam Webster on multiple occasions and been comforted, assailed, supported, devastated by learning the correct useage of words. Comforted in that my perception of the meaning of the word in question was correct. Assailed in that the useage of the word has changed from what I thought it was and I stand corrected. Supported in that the power of the chosen word was magnified by the definition in Webster. Devastated is where I am with this computer language that we have been exposed to in this Missionary Training Center.
For example, in the Glossary, Minim is defined as a downward vertical stroke in handwriting. When I was taking music lessons as a child, minim was a musical note that had two beats. Does Miriam Webster know about this change of useage?
Degradation is defined as: In image science, a loss of information (someties called a loss of signal) caused by a particular process such as lossy compresison or digital sampling. In my world, degradation refers to the damaging effect of light on the dye lots in fabric or the destruction of the fabric by the effect of certain glues and chemical laden fabric sprays and marking pens etc. that destroy the quilt over time.
Algorithm: a process or set of rules (often implemented in computer software) for solving a particular problem.
This last one I have heard of before. Not because I heard it in a math class or something, but because I used to watch the TV show "Numbers" in which one of the characters is a math genius and he used algorithms to solve crime. Yes, it left me scratching my head at times too.
In the handout, we have 8 pages of these new terms to become familiar with, and add to that an appendix that announces that it is "proposed image technical metadata elements" that runs for four pages.
Lets not forget the page of end notes that prop up the preceeding 34 pages of explanations.
The teacher lets the 34 pages of information and strange sounding terms (along with their defintions) roll off his tongue as easily as I can allow the term "Hohenselchow, Kreis Randow, Germany" roll off my tongue when talking about my Great Great Grandfather's birth place.
All I really want to do is to capture images on a digital camera that will then be available to people to research their ancestors.
The 47 page 'Digital Image specification" and 78 page "dCamX Camera Operator Training Manual" has to become an integral part of my vocabulary to do it. Think of me in your prayers!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
David, our beloved son, bitten by a bug.
David came to us when he was 9 1/2 months of age. He had not rolled over, could not sit up, showed no interest in his environment but we took him and loved him and he is now 34 years of age. He lives in a group home in Mesa, Arizona, and from time to time he gets a bug in his bonnet and threatens to move.
The BUG has bitten him again.
His life has not been a storied existence that would make headlines, but he has lived a charmed existence. I say charmed because he was adopted by us, sealed in the temple, has had the best medical and psychological care we could afford and has had us to look over him and care for him for 34 years. I say care for him because our prayer over this boy is that no predatory person have power over him. He has had some women in his life who have been predatory at the outset, but he has managed (with our help sometimes) to extricate himself from their clutches. Seems like all they want is for him to sign over his SSI check and then they are happy as clams.
Yesterday we got a frantic phone call from the group home asking that we do our best to dissuade David from moving out. He wants to move to the Heber/Overgard area in Arizona to a group home there. He thinks that he will have much more freedom to have his girlfriends come and stay over with him there, but he is sadly disillusioned - the Group homes do not allow overnight visits or extended stays of any kind for girlfriends. It should be noted that the Group home will not answer our questions about David, when we have them regarding his medicines or doctor visits, but they are extremely fast to call us for help in dissuading him from moving out of the group home. They decline our requests for information on the grounds of PRIVACY. Well, I have a few thoughts on that one but cannot write them here.
In reality, the Group Home does not want David to move out because he brings in the most money for them. He is title 19 and the State of Arizona pays well for this group designation to be cared for in group homes. They would lose a lot of income - oh they would find someone to fill his spot, but probably not be as big a money earner for the group home as David is at title 19. No wonder they enlist our help.
When we got the phone call yesterday, I must say that it was not unexpected. Each time we leave Prescott whether it be for a week with Sara and family or to go on a vacation somewhere, David takes the opportunity to act up in some shape or form and either runs away from the group home or creates a ruckus by wanting to move out. You see, David always sees the grass as greener on the other side of the fence, but unfortunately for him, the green grass is usually growing lush and inviting and is over the septic tank. He has had his share of "septic tank experiences" as he has run away from other group homes. This one threatens him (and us) that if he runs away or moves from this group home, he cannot go back. Our response is to laugh at the situation, albeit it is a nervous laugh. David has done this so many times that we realize that we are powerless to do anything about it and that David has to end up shouldering the burden of his choices, no matter what they are.
We are grateful that the group home is diligent in preserving their income status with him there and that they will work as much as they can to discourage him moving. However, consequences are consequences, and David is responsible for himself and is his own guardian and life is hard when we make wrong choices. At least, this time he gave us 10 days before he decided to put a tsunami in his life pond. Ripples we can handle but Tsunamis caused by David have to be handled by the Group Home as best they can.
And so Bugs bite, salve is put on them, problem solved?..............but this one threatens no solution that we can impact from this distance.
The BUG has bitten him again.
His life has not been a storied existence that would make headlines, but he has lived a charmed existence. I say charmed because he was adopted by us, sealed in the temple, has had the best medical and psychological care we could afford and has had us to look over him and care for him for 34 years. I say care for him because our prayer over this boy is that no predatory person have power over him. He has had some women in his life who have been predatory at the outset, but he has managed (with our help sometimes) to extricate himself from their clutches. Seems like all they want is for him to sign over his SSI check and then they are happy as clams.
Yesterday we got a frantic phone call from the group home asking that we do our best to dissuade David from moving out. He wants to move to the Heber/Overgard area in Arizona to a group home there. He thinks that he will have much more freedom to have his girlfriends come and stay over with him there, but he is sadly disillusioned - the Group homes do not allow overnight visits or extended stays of any kind for girlfriends. It should be noted that the Group home will not answer our questions about David, when we have them regarding his medicines or doctor visits, but they are extremely fast to call us for help in dissuading him from moving out of the group home. They decline our requests for information on the grounds of PRIVACY. Well, I have a few thoughts on that one but cannot write them here.
In reality, the Group Home does not want David to move out because he brings in the most money for them. He is title 19 and the State of Arizona pays well for this group designation to be cared for in group homes. They would lose a lot of income - oh they would find someone to fill his spot, but probably not be as big a money earner for the group home as David is at title 19. No wonder they enlist our help.
When we got the phone call yesterday, I must say that it was not unexpected. Each time we leave Prescott whether it be for a week with Sara and family or to go on a vacation somewhere, David takes the opportunity to act up in some shape or form and either runs away from the group home or creates a ruckus by wanting to move out. You see, David always sees the grass as greener on the other side of the fence, but unfortunately for him, the green grass is usually growing lush and inviting and is over the septic tank. He has had his share of "septic tank experiences" as he has run away from other group homes. This one threatens him (and us) that if he runs away or moves from this group home, he cannot go back. Our response is to laugh at the situation, albeit it is a nervous laugh. David has done this so many times that we realize that we are powerless to do anything about it and that David has to end up shouldering the burden of his choices, no matter what they are.
We are grateful that the group home is diligent in preserving their income status with him there and that they will work as much as they can to discourage him moving. However, consequences are consequences, and David is responsible for himself and is his own guardian and life is hard when we make wrong choices. At least, this time he gave us 10 days before he decided to put a tsunami in his life pond. Ripples we can handle but Tsunamis caused by David have to be handled by the Group Home as best they can.
And so Bugs bite, salve is put on them, problem solved?..............but this one threatens no solution that we can impact from this distance.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Circle the Wagons, we are inundated
Yesterday, all day, there were people trundling packed luggage around campus. The air was festive and hopes high as the missionaries prepared to leave for their field of service. Much like Indiana Jones, their challenge is to step out into this "void" and hope that the path will appear. Filled with faith and hope they launch out of the cocoon called MTC and their destiny is in their hands.
Monday seems to be the day that the Senior Missionaries arrive. Last night at dinner, they appeared, all spiffy in their best clothes, nylons, mid calf skirt length, appropriate jackets and newly dyed hair for the ladies and brand new suits, white shirts and ties for the men. It should be noted that the men usually have graying or white hair but the women have shades that range from Jet Black to Bright Lucky Copper Red hair. For me as a cosmetologist, this is amusing.
One of the things they talked about last week in one of the myriad meetings we attended, was the necessity of taking your medications. It seems that some people thought that it was unnecessary to take the meds because they were in the service of the church and so they were protected from the ravages of body degradation and therefore no need of meds. I dutifully counted out my Synthroid into a container to bring with me. I was to be here for 14 days and obviously I cannot count to save myself - I have 6 tablets left and only 3 days left here on campus. And they think that I am capable of filling a senior mission? Can't count accurately for medications so how can I be expected to count accurately for the images we are being sent to capture?
Monday seems to be the day that the Senior Missionaries arrive. Last night at dinner, they appeared, all spiffy in their best clothes, nylons, mid calf skirt length, appropriate jackets and newly dyed hair for the ladies and brand new suits, white shirts and ties for the men. It should be noted that the men usually have graying or white hair but the women have shades that range from Jet Black to Bright Lucky Copper Red hair. For me as a cosmetologist, this is amusing.
One of the things they talked about last week in one of the myriad meetings we attended, was the necessity of taking your medications. It seems that some people thought that it was unnecessary to take the meds because they were in the service of the church and so they were protected from the ravages of body degradation and therefore no need of meds. I dutifully counted out my Synthroid into a container to bring with me. I was to be here for 14 days and obviously I cannot count to save myself - I have 6 tablets left and only 3 days left here on campus. And they think that I am capable of filling a senior mission? Can't count accurately for medications so how can I be expected to count accurately for the images we are being sent to capture?
Monday, September 26, 2011
How Steep is the learning curve?
Today, Monday, we began our STEEP learning curve to try to master the camera basics to digitize the records. We were told about pixels, mega pixels, grids, shuttles, bytes and my brain is mush. We have a handout that is in "greek to me" language. And all I want to do is make images that someone somewhere can pull up on a computer screen and find their ancestor. Is that too hard to ask???????
We have to go at it again tomorrow..................and I have not even begun to understand what was done today.
The technology revolution has me spinning my wheels!
We have to go at it again tomorrow..................and I have not even begun to understand what was done today.
The technology revolution has me spinning my wheels!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Meetings, Meetings, Meetings
Ah yes we are a "meeting" people. If you are not going to one, you are sitting in one or you have just been dismissed from one.
Here at the MTC we have many reasons for meetings. For example, today was fast Sunday and we had sacrament meeting at 8am (and I thought that 9am in Prescott was quite sufficiently early). At 10am we had a Mission Conference for two hours. The highlight of that meeting was President Brown, our Mission President, introducing two investigators from his mission days whom he tracted out. They moved soon after he contacted them, and they were contacted by the elders in their new city and were baptized. They now live in the same town as Jimmer Fredette and so they bask in reflected glory. Here in the BYU realm, the name Jimmer Fredette is hailed in reverence, but I hasten to include that BYU got thoroughly beaten in football on September 17 by my alma mata, University of Utah. There was some laughter produced by comments of the rivalry between the two schools. (At a later meeting, the speaker said he had come up with an appropriate headline for the sports page following the game, "Indian Massacre". That produced lots of laughter.)
This couple stood and talked to us about their conversion and their life in the church since then. The talks were unpolished originals and quite heartening and spoke to the hearts of all present. Sometimes the polished teleprompter talks are just teleprompter talks and do not adequately speak to the heart. There is a difference between giving a talk and communicating with the audience.
We were dismissed at noon so Bill and I went back to the dorm room to rest. We later on went for a walk to the Provo Temple. In fact we walked all round it and I was surprised to see that there is a path all round the temple. I was pleased to see that new plants have been put in the garden and while some struggle to live others are flouishing. There is a beautiful rose garden leading up to the temple entrance and I took a few pictures of the blooms. I was surprised and pleased to see that in the back of the temple, there is a curved wall that has plant hangers embedded in it. I guess they put hanging flower pots on these hangers for the summer - but summer is over and fall is not kind to hanging flower pots. The hangers look quite lonely with nothing hanging from them.
We walked back to the MTC campus and we prepared to have dinner at 4.30pm. There was a farewell fireside at 5.30-6-30pm and so we attended that after dinner. This fireside was geared to saying goodbye to those of us who are leaving this week. Apparently they have one each week for all the missionaries who are leaving and in this group there are 462 missionaries leaving this week for their fields of labor.
If you think about it, this is only 462 out of the 2500 who live on the campus presently and a new group will enter the MTC this week on Wednesday. The place is like grand central station. Thinking further, there is a lot of preparation for this group to even be here in the first place, for the young elders and sisters, there is the necessary trip to the dentist for removal of the wisdom teeth, add to that the physicals, the new clothes, the goodbye parties, the spiritual preparation they have gone through, the tears their mothers shed as they watched their "baby" walk through the gate and into life. Let's not forget the myriad boy friends and girl friends who are left behind to wonder what will happen during the next phase of their lives and the life of the missionary to whom they just said goodbye. I am always interested in human interactions and the ebb and flow of life interests.
I have not had much time to talk to the other senior couples, but each of the couples have left a pile of life happenings to take care of themselves, while the senior couple goes on a mission. For us, there is our son in law with his health challenges, our daughter who is half way through her Masters Degree in Library Science and our wonderful and wonderous millennial grandchildren. At least we got to attend Ethan's baptism last December and decided to go on this mission when my husband retired. Our son is in a group home.
I really wanted to spend this fall making the grandchildren's wedding quilt tops in preparation for their marriages in the future. Yes I know that Ethan is only 9 this year and Oliver 5 and Lyla 3, but my eyesight is not so good and I wanted to get these done before it was impossible to accomplish. It is time to hire something like the elves that made the shoes for the shoemaker - looking for a few good elves to make the quilt tops for my grandchildrens future weddings. I have the fabric in my sewing room and the patterns are already picked out.
On the other hand, our mission is for one year, and surely I will have time when we come home to make the tops and then we can go on another mission if possible. Some couples have serious health concerns but with medication they are able to function. However, the scriptures promise us that as we serve, our bodies and minds will be renewed..............can't wait for that to happen.
As I looked around the elders who are going out, we have some people studying American Sign Language and it is delightful to see them all singing the songs. Their hands wave so gracefully in time together. There are missionaries in motorized wheel chairs and some walking with canes and some with crutches. I noticed a few with hearing aids and one young man in particular has some visible things implanted in his head attached to hearing aids in his ears. Tonight at the Mission Fireside, one young man who spoke, definitely sounded like he was a stutterer like Bill because he spoke using prolongation - a technique that Bill was taught last year at Eastern Washington University Stuttering camp in Cheney, Washington.
Our final meeting of the day was the Mission Fireside at 7pm - 8pm. We opted to stay in the overflow room rather than hike down the hill to the auditorium and then have to hike back to our room for the evening. The speaker was Brother Allen who is the overseer of the Missionary program along with a host of other pageants and visitors centers.............he must be very very busy. His talk was geared more to the younger missionaries and he talked about their need to be focused on the missionary work and to forget about girlfriends and boyfriends and family events they will miss when out in the field, but he pointed out to them that they have their whole lives ahead of them and there will be other occasions that they will be able to attend and that their mssionary service will influence many more people than they can ever imagine and the more particular influence will be upon their families.
So, after one full (and I mean FULL) week here, what can we distil from the experience? Well, for one, we need to use the Book of Mormon as our primary focus as we teach people. We should carry with us the concept that all mankind are children of our God and that He has prepared many of them for us to contact, invite them to come to Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel thorugh faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end.
Bill and I will be doing records preservation in the New Hampshire mission and perhaps we will be able to make contact with people on a daily basis in the area in which we will be working.
Tomorrow, September 26, we will begin learning how to use the cameras that will be available for us to do the record preservation.
The work now begins in earnest.
Here at the MTC we have many reasons for meetings. For example, today was fast Sunday and we had sacrament meeting at 8am (and I thought that 9am in Prescott was quite sufficiently early). At 10am we had a Mission Conference for two hours. The highlight of that meeting was President Brown, our Mission President, introducing two investigators from his mission days whom he tracted out. They moved soon after he contacted them, and they were contacted by the elders in their new city and were baptized. They now live in the same town as Jimmer Fredette and so they bask in reflected glory. Here in the BYU realm, the name Jimmer Fredette is hailed in reverence, but I hasten to include that BYU got thoroughly beaten in football on September 17 by my alma mata, University of Utah. There was some laughter produced by comments of the rivalry between the two schools. (At a later meeting, the speaker said he had come up with an appropriate headline for the sports page following the game, "Indian Massacre". That produced lots of laughter.)
This couple stood and talked to us about their conversion and their life in the church since then. The talks were unpolished originals and quite heartening and spoke to the hearts of all present. Sometimes the polished teleprompter talks are just teleprompter talks and do not adequately speak to the heart. There is a difference between giving a talk and communicating with the audience.
We were dismissed at noon so Bill and I went back to the dorm room to rest. We later on went for a walk to the Provo Temple. In fact we walked all round it and I was surprised to see that there is a path all round the temple. I was pleased to see that new plants have been put in the garden and while some struggle to live others are flouishing. There is a beautiful rose garden leading up to the temple entrance and I took a few pictures of the blooms. I was surprised and pleased to see that in the back of the temple, there is a curved wall that has plant hangers embedded in it. I guess they put hanging flower pots on these hangers for the summer - but summer is over and fall is not kind to hanging flower pots. The hangers look quite lonely with nothing hanging from them.
We walked back to the MTC campus and we prepared to have dinner at 4.30pm. There was a farewell fireside at 5.30-6-30pm and so we attended that after dinner. This fireside was geared to saying goodbye to those of us who are leaving this week. Apparently they have one each week for all the missionaries who are leaving and in this group there are 462 missionaries leaving this week for their fields of labor.
If you think about it, this is only 462 out of the 2500 who live on the campus presently and a new group will enter the MTC this week on Wednesday. The place is like grand central station. Thinking further, there is a lot of preparation for this group to even be here in the first place, for the young elders and sisters, there is the necessary trip to the dentist for removal of the wisdom teeth, add to that the physicals, the new clothes, the goodbye parties, the spiritual preparation they have gone through, the tears their mothers shed as they watched their "baby" walk through the gate and into life. Let's not forget the myriad boy friends and girl friends who are left behind to wonder what will happen during the next phase of their lives and the life of the missionary to whom they just said goodbye. I am always interested in human interactions and the ebb and flow of life interests.
I have not had much time to talk to the other senior couples, but each of the couples have left a pile of life happenings to take care of themselves, while the senior couple goes on a mission. For us, there is our son in law with his health challenges, our daughter who is half way through her Masters Degree in Library Science and our wonderful and wonderous millennial grandchildren. At least we got to attend Ethan's baptism last December and decided to go on this mission when my husband retired. Our son is in a group home.
I really wanted to spend this fall making the grandchildren's wedding quilt tops in preparation for their marriages in the future. Yes I know that Ethan is only 9 this year and Oliver 5 and Lyla 3, but my eyesight is not so good and I wanted to get these done before it was impossible to accomplish. It is time to hire something like the elves that made the shoes for the shoemaker - looking for a few good elves to make the quilt tops for my grandchildrens future weddings. I have the fabric in my sewing room and the patterns are already picked out.
On the other hand, our mission is for one year, and surely I will have time when we come home to make the tops and then we can go on another mission if possible. Some couples have serious health concerns but with medication they are able to function. However, the scriptures promise us that as we serve, our bodies and minds will be renewed..............can't wait for that to happen.
As I looked around the elders who are going out, we have some people studying American Sign Language and it is delightful to see them all singing the songs. Their hands wave so gracefully in time together. There are missionaries in motorized wheel chairs and some walking with canes and some with crutches. I noticed a few with hearing aids and one young man in particular has some visible things implanted in his head attached to hearing aids in his ears. Tonight at the Mission Fireside, one young man who spoke, definitely sounded like he was a stutterer like Bill because he spoke using prolongation - a technique that Bill was taught last year at Eastern Washington University Stuttering camp in Cheney, Washington.
Our final meeting of the day was the Mission Fireside at 7pm - 8pm. We opted to stay in the overflow room rather than hike down the hill to the auditorium and then have to hike back to our room for the evening. The speaker was Brother Allen who is the overseer of the Missionary program along with a host of other pageants and visitors centers.............he must be very very busy. His talk was geared more to the younger missionaries and he talked about their need to be focused on the missionary work and to forget about girlfriends and boyfriends and family events they will miss when out in the field, but he pointed out to them that they have their whole lives ahead of them and there will be other occasions that they will be able to attend and that their mssionary service will influence many more people than they can ever imagine and the more particular influence will be upon their families.
So, after one full (and I mean FULL) week here, what can we distil from the experience? Well, for one, we need to use the Book of Mormon as our primary focus as we teach people. We should carry with us the concept that all mankind are children of our God and that He has prepared many of them for us to contact, invite them to come to Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel thorugh faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end.
Bill and I will be doing records preservation in the New Hampshire mission and perhaps we will be able to make contact with people on a daily basis in the area in which we will be working.
Tomorrow, September 26, we will begin learning how to use the cameras that will be available for us to do the record preservation.
The work now begins in earnest.
History behind the Provo Temple visit
On Saturday we went to the Provo Temple to do a session. We went with Elder and Sister Hunter who are from Canada. Sr. Hunter has a heart problem so we had to walk slowly so that she did not pass out at this altitude, especially so if we made her walk at the pace that I usually walk - got to get there you know!
In 1974 my ward in Salt Lake City (Forest Dale Ward in Granite Stake, in Sugarhouse), held a temple trip to the Provo Temple and they even hired a bus. Bill and I were slated to go on the bus, but he opted to drive there in his own car and take me with him. Prior to this he had talked about marriage but I had not replied to him or even pursued the subject. I was too busy trying to get my homework for Grad School done between going to school and his visits to me at my apartment. Not enough time to even catch my breath during this period of my life.
Well, we went to the temple and got into a session in which only a few members of my ward were present. During the session, I looked over at him and he seemed to be glowing. I was amazed at this sight and from time to time I looked at him again and saw that he was still glowing.
We progressed into the Celestial room and he said he wanted to talk to me so we sat down in that beautiful peaceful room and he began to talk to me. He seemed nervous and was dancing around the subject when finally he said , "Well, have you thought about marriage?" I was taken aback by it but asked him "Are you asking any questions?" and he said, "Yes!". So I said , "Well, go ahead and ask" and he said, "Will you marry me?" I thought about it a few seconds and decided that he had most of the qualities that I was looking for and realized that I also had some points that were probably not that great, but that we might be able to make this work, so I said, "Yes". He then reached into his shirt pocket and put a diamond ring on my left hand. I was really surprised. We had not gone looking at rings, but he said that it was ok with him if we went to the jeweler in the next few days and pick out a setting that I liked. Well, this was the first part of "tying the knot with my tongue that cannot be undone with my teeth" which is a saying of my father as a way of pointing out that some things just cannot be undone after they are tied in knots by our speech (tongue). On June 21, 1974 we completed the Knot Tying activity in the Salt Lake Temple by getting married and saying Yes, to the important question posed to both of us, and thus began our odyssey together.
So you can see, the Provo Temple figures in our life together and 37+ years ago when he slipped that ring on my finger, little did I even suspect that later in life I would once again be in that Temple with Bill and that we would be missionaries about to go out into the field.
In 1974 my ward in Salt Lake City (Forest Dale Ward in Granite Stake, in Sugarhouse), held a temple trip to the Provo Temple and they even hired a bus. Bill and I were slated to go on the bus, but he opted to drive there in his own car and take me with him. Prior to this he had talked about marriage but I had not replied to him or even pursued the subject. I was too busy trying to get my homework for Grad School done between going to school and his visits to me at my apartment. Not enough time to even catch my breath during this period of my life.
Well, we went to the temple and got into a session in which only a few members of my ward were present. During the session, I looked over at him and he seemed to be glowing. I was amazed at this sight and from time to time I looked at him again and saw that he was still glowing.
We progressed into the Celestial room and he said he wanted to talk to me so we sat down in that beautiful peaceful room and he began to talk to me. He seemed nervous and was dancing around the subject when finally he said , "Well, have you thought about marriage?" I was taken aback by it but asked him "Are you asking any questions?" and he said, "Yes!". So I said , "Well, go ahead and ask" and he said, "Will you marry me?" I thought about it a few seconds and decided that he had most of the qualities that I was looking for and realized that I also had some points that were probably not that great, but that we might be able to make this work, so I said, "Yes". He then reached into his shirt pocket and put a diamond ring on my left hand. I was really surprised. We had not gone looking at rings, but he said that it was ok with him if we went to the jeweler in the next few days and pick out a setting that I liked. Well, this was the first part of "tying the knot with my tongue that cannot be undone with my teeth" which is a saying of my father as a way of pointing out that some things just cannot be undone after they are tied in knots by our speech (tongue). On June 21, 1974 we completed the Knot Tying activity in the Salt Lake Temple by getting married and saying Yes, to the important question posed to both of us, and thus began our odyssey together.
So you can see, the Provo Temple figures in our life together and 37+ years ago when he slipped that ring on my finger, little did I even suspect that later in life I would once again be in that Temple with Bill and that we would be missionaries about to go out into the field.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
The next picture under that is of Elder William Markham and his wife Sister Beverly Markham.
The picture under that is of us pointing to where we will be going to do our missionary work.
The group picture is of all the Senior Couples in our group.
The bottom picture is of our study group showing on the map where we are all going. Left to right, Elder and Sister Kim are going to the Korea Temple. Elder and Sister Warner are going to Kentucky to work in the mission home there. Elder and Sister Markham are Family History Records Preservation missionaries as are Elder and Sister Hunter. The Markhams are going to the New Hampshire Mission and the Hunters are working in the Canadian mission that encompasses the rest of Maine up into Canada and their mission shares mission borders with the New Hampshire mission.
Friday, September 23, 2011
The First week is over
How do you describe the first week at the Missionary Training Center? New, frustrating, fun, thought provoking, supportive, re-learning, busy, skill stretching, stride lengthening, comfortable, course correcting or paradigm shift (which ever applied),and bewildering to mention just a few situations we have experienced here.
It can best be described as a FINISHING SCHOOL for experienced members of the church. They took us in an 'As Is" condition and polished us up, gave us name tags and send us off to our field of labor. It is also a finishing school for the young missionaries as well - but they take from 3 to 6 weeks to get through it.
.
I loved the idea that someone planned the menu's, prepared the food, cleaned the dishes, put away the left overs and all I had to do was show up at meal times.
Our day began with fighting off the mattress monster. Once we had him wrestled to the ground and were pronounced 'winner!' we grabbed our books and writing stuff and set off for the Cafeteria. Usually it was crowded with the young missionaries and there was lots of noise and plenty of food. The young elders are a very happy lot of young people - ranging in age from 19 to 20 something. They seem to appreciate the food and it disappears quickly from their plates. In other words, these young people eat a lot......but then they are growing......all 2500 of them.
After breakfast we headed for the main assembly room where we were treated to some thought provoking talks and presentations. After about 45 minutes to an hour, we headed off to our class room where we practiced our people skills, listenng skills and teaching skills, until it was lunchtime. After lunch, we went to the main assembly room for more instruction before we went back to our class rooms. Our teachers were in their mid 20's and they are students at BYU and they are newly returned from their missions.
They let us out of our classes in time for dinner. After dinner we sometimes had about 20 minutes to take a nap before the evening class began. Our Evening classtime during the first week was a crash course in how to use various programs on the computer in preparation for when we will have to assemble reports on our digitizing of the records out east. I was very thankful for the class on Microsoft word. I have never had a formal class in computers so I greatly appreciated the finely honed computer skills of our instructor. Well, of course she is about 40 years my junior and has been involved in computers etc. since she was born I suspect. On another evening we had a course in Microsoft Excel and also a basic course in how a computer works and how we could make it do things for us. I think that if I had to give this particular course a name, it would be "How to approach a computer without even suffering frustration."
Tuesday night was not a computer night, it was a special treat when one of the Church Leaders came from Salt Lake to address us. His topic was the historic editions of the Book of Mormon. Obviously the production of the book has changed since the first hand written edition that Joseph Smith dictated to various scribes. Now we have the edition with all the footnotes and cross references and it is in New Roman typeset.
They have all things planned to the infinitesimal detail. The buildings are commodious and totally utilitarian in use and purpose. The larger ones can be made smaller with the folding screens and chairs set up for small groups or just for a congregation. It is the most ordered community I have ever experienced. There are language classes, PE periods, gospel study periods, intense language workouts where you cannot speak unless it is in the new language, up to the minute Audio Visual booths that can project images where needed. There is an army of cooks, bottle washers, window cleaners, vacuum cleaner operators, leaf collectors on the outside pavements, security guards, teachers, administrators for the academics necessary for language learning and retention as well as administrators for spiritual needs. There is a fully operational travel office, medical office and full medical facility, a fully operational post office, a counseling office, beauty shop, barber shop, dry cleaner and myriad office girls to keep the whole thing humming along. They even have a massive bookstore that sells everything from erasers to aspirin, from birthday cards to T-shirts and everything in between. If I had to use one word it would be "slick" to describe the operation of this campus and care of its 2500+ inhabitants.
If something goes wrong, I expect that it would be a double excederin day, but I saw no evidence of excederin use.
It can best be described as a FINISHING SCHOOL for experienced members of the church. They took us in an 'As Is" condition and polished us up, gave us name tags and send us off to our field of labor. It is also a finishing school for the young missionaries as well - but they take from 3 to 6 weeks to get through it.
.
I loved the idea that someone planned the menu's, prepared the food, cleaned the dishes, put away the left overs and all I had to do was show up at meal times.
Our day began with fighting off the mattress monster. Once we had him wrestled to the ground and were pronounced 'winner!' we grabbed our books and writing stuff and set off for the Cafeteria. Usually it was crowded with the young missionaries and there was lots of noise and plenty of food. The young elders are a very happy lot of young people - ranging in age from 19 to 20 something. They seem to appreciate the food and it disappears quickly from their plates. In other words, these young people eat a lot......but then they are growing......all 2500 of them.
After breakfast we headed for the main assembly room where we were treated to some thought provoking talks and presentations. After about 45 minutes to an hour, we headed off to our class room where we practiced our people skills, listenng skills and teaching skills, until it was lunchtime. After lunch, we went to the main assembly room for more instruction before we went back to our class rooms. Our teachers were in their mid 20's and they are students at BYU and they are newly returned from their missions.
They let us out of our classes in time for dinner. After dinner we sometimes had about 20 minutes to take a nap before the evening class began. Our Evening classtime during the first week was a crash course in how to use various programs on the computer in preparation for when we will have to assemble reports on our digitizing of the records out east. I was very thankful for the class on Microsoft word. I have never had a formal class in computers so I greatly appreciated the finely honed computer skills of our instructor. Well, of course she is about 40 years my junior and has been involved in computers etc. since she was born I suspect. On another evening we had a course in Microsoft Excel and also a basic course in how a computer works and how we could make it do things for us. I think that if I had to give this particular course a name, it would be "How to approach a computer without even suffering frustration."
Tuesday night was not a computer night, it was a special treat when one of the Church Leaders came from Salt Lake to address us. His topic was the historic editions of the Book of Mormon. Obviously the production of the book has changed since the first hand written edition that Joseph Smith dictated to various scribes. Now we have the edition with all the footnotes and cross references and it is in New Roman typeset.
They have all things planned to the infinitesimal detail. The buildings are commodious and totally utilitarian in use and purpose. The larger ones can be made smaller with the folding screens and chairs set up for small groups or just for a congregation. It is the most ordered community I have ever experienced. There are language classes, PE periods, gospel study periods, intense language workouts where you cannot speak unless it is in the new language, up to the minute Audio Visual booths that can project images where needed. There is an army of cooks, bottle washers, window cleaners, vacuum cleaner operators, leaf collectors on the outside pavements, security guards, teachers, administrators for the academics necessary for language learning and retention as well as administrators for spiritual needs. There is a fully operational travel office, medical office and full medical facility, a fully operational post office, a counseling office, beauty shop, barber shop, dry cleaner and myriad office girls to keep the whole thing humming along. They even have a massive bookstore that sells everything from erasers to aspirin, from birthday cards to T-shirts and everything in between. If I had to use one word it would be "slick" to describe the operation of this campus and care of its 2500+ inhabitants.
If something goes wrong, I expect that it would be a double excederin day, but I saw no evidence of excederin use.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Just the Girls
My hope is that when this mission to New Hampshire is finished, I will get this blog printed up so that my grandsons, in particular, will have a written record of what happened to grandpa and grandma when they went out on a mission together.
I want them to know that missionary work is the most important work they will perform when they are young and that the skills and knowledge they will gain on their missions will stand them in good stead as they progress through their lives. They will go out as 19yr old boys, and come home as 21 year old young men, matured by the challenges that come with missionary life, and be well grounded in their belief in God and Jesus and this will enable them to take their place as head of a family when they marry in the Temple.
What other church takes 19yr old boys and sends them to the far corners of the earth and asks them to invite their fellowman to come to Christ? These young men do this service for two years at their own expense and come home well rounded individuals. Individuals who will take their place in society as solid citizens.
I look forward to my grandsons going out as missionaries when they are old enough.
Return with honor, Ethan and Oliver, and Grandpa and Grandma will be eternally happy for you.
Here at the Missionary Training Center, we are surrounded by about 2,500 missionaries preparing for their labors. They are busy every day learning new languages, coping with new experiences, being homesick, checking the mail for packages from home, missing girlfriends, (the lady missionaries are missing boyfriends), missing their families, interrupting their schooling for two years, but they are happy in their new life situation. Soon they will leave for their mission assignments prepared to go to work.
What more could we ask?
our family
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Dress Standards and developed computer skills.
We were treated to an explanation about dress standards as a missionary. I was amused to hear that we no longer have to wear nylons, knee hi's and the like. I do remember my mother endlessly worrying about the seams in her nylons when I was a little girl. And those nylons only went up over her knee and were held up with suspenders on a suspender belt. Now, those were miserable things to wear - had to wear them myself before they invented pantyhose and those pantyhose even fell down if the elastic in the waist gave up the ghost. When that happened the panty hose ended up around your ankles..............wheww! Have we come a long way baby or what? I remember our Relief Society President giving us a lecture on being properly dressed for church with hemlines at an appropriate level and 'wear Nylons please' and all this was a mark of respect and good grooming. And now the missionary standard says you don't have to wear nylons? What is the world coming to? Well, I do note that the young sisters here (those at least 40+ years younger than myself), are not wearing nylons but rather wear peds on their feet in their shoes. Do I have to buy peds now? Well, all this means that I now have to pay extra attention to my leg grooming.................and that is another story!
Tonight we attended a computer class taught by a 20something girl who is a real whiz on the computer. Learned a thousand times more about Microsoft word in one hour than I had taught myself using the hunt'n'peck'n'crash method. Now all I have to do is to access the instruction file she loaded onto my thumb drive and then practice practice practice.
Andrea has asked me to add a picture to the blog. Well, I turned the I-phone around, took a picture of myself, loaded it onto Picasa but have absolutely no idea how to capture that picture from the Picasa album and load it into this blog. There are some things that are, as yet, beyond my primitive computer skills.
You should all stand and cheer that I figured out how to capture the I-phone pictures and put them on Picasa.
I said cheer, not roll on the floor laughing!
Tonight we attended a computer class taught by a 20something girl who is a real whiz on the computer. Learned a thousand times more about Microsoft word in one hour than I had taught myself using the hunt'n'peck'n'crash method. Now all I have to do is to access the instruction file she loaded onto my thumb drive and then practice practice practice.
Andrea has asked me to add a picture to the blog. Well, I turned the I-phone around, took a picture of myself, loaded it onto Picasa but have absolutely no idea how to capture that picture from the Picasa album and load it into this blog. There are some things that are, as yet, beyond my primitive computer skills.
You should all stand and cheer that I figured out how to capture the I-phone pictures and put them on Picasa.
I said cheer, not roll on the floor laughing!
Like being pureed in a blender.
Our first full day of classes included a spiritual setting for 30 minutes and then the teachers were invited to come and take us to our class rooms. In these class rooms we are being taught how to explain the teachings of the church to anyone who asks what we are doing as missionaries - and for Bill and I, especially people with whom we come in contact as genealogy missionaries.
It is intense - I think we are sometimes studying for the BIG FINAL. It is exacting and you have to get it right but this happens not without much laughter. The teachers are young men and women in their 20's and the missionaries (us) are all in our Autumnal Years and have much experience and are totally committed to this work in which we are involved.
In our study group we have a couple who were born in Korea but have lived in the USA for over 30 years; another couple have both been teachers in grade school as a career. The fourth couple have been in professional life and I think that they are older than Bill and I. In this small group we get to know each other pretty well and I appreciate all the life experiences these other people have had - it adds to my range of knowledge each time they speak. The only thing I am sure of is that the teacher is a twenty-something and the rest of us are at least 40-50 years older than him. There is something to be said for experience.
At the end of the day, yesterday, one of the church leaders came down from Salt Lake to address the group. The room where we meet is a multi purpose room. Yesterday afternoon it was multiple basket ball courts for the younger missionaries to let off steam, and by the evening, it had been set up as an auditorium with the bleachers being pulled out, extra chairs set up and an Organ and piano appearing from thin air (or so it seems). Elder Russell M. Nelson addressed us on the historical aspects of the progression of the Book of Mormon from the hand written first manuscripts as Joseph Smith translated it and his scribe wrote it down in long hand to the editions we have today with all the footnotes and references. It was an interesting talk.
We left the auditorium after the talk and decided that we would go use the laundry facilities. Well, the place was deserted. The young missionaries were in language classes after the event at the auditorium and we wondered if it was ok for us to use the facility. We took our homework with us and were sitting down to do that while waiting for the wash to be done and two young elders came in to raid the vending machine. One was a Tahitian from Laie, Oahu, Hawaii and the other was a Maori from Hamilton, New Zealand. Some young sisters came in looking for the peds that one of them accidentally left there. I looked in the lost and found and was amazed at the underwear, shirts and other personal items that were in the basket. How do people do that? If I lost even one article of clothing I brought with me, I would be sorely disadvantaged. I brought barely enough clothing to last the two weeks and even then I have to wash a couple of times so that I will remain fully clothed. Weight of suitcases is a real problem when we go by air.
While we were in the laundry room, the Pa system announced that it was 10.15pm and the lights out rule takes effect at 10.30pm. We grabbed our stuff and were on the way to our dormitory when we ran into a security guard.
My first words were, "Oh, We're busted!" He laughed and said, "I won't tell if you don't!" and went on his way.
It is intense - I think we are sometimes studying for the BIG FINAL. It is exacting and you have to get it right but this happens not without much laughter. The teachers are young men and women in their 20's and the missionaries (us) are all in our Autumnal Years and have much experience and are totally committed to this work in which we are involved.
In our study group we have a couple who were born in Korea but have lived in the USA for over 30 years; another couple have both been teachers in grade school as a career. The fourth couple have been in professional life and I think that they are older than Bill and I. In this small group we get to know each other pretty well and I appreciate all the life experiences these other people have had - it adds to my range of knowledge each time they speak. The only thing I am sure of is that the teacher is a twenty-something and the rest of us are at least 40-50 years older than him. There is something to be said for experience.
At the end of the day, yesterday, one of the church leaders came down from Salt Lake to address the group. The room where we meet is a multi purpose room. Yesterday afternoon it was multiple basket ball courts for the younger missionaries to let off steam, and by the evening, it had been set up as an auditorium with the bleachers being pulled out, extra chairs set up and an Organ and piano appearing from thin air (or so it seems). Elder Russell M. Nelson addressed us on the historical aspects of the progression of the Book of Mormon from the hand written first manuscripts as Joseph Smith translated it and his scribe wrote it down in long hand to the editions we have today with all the footnotes and references. It was an interesting talk.
We left the auditorium after the talk and decided that we would go use the laundry facilities. Well, the place was deserted. The young missionaries were in language classes after the event at the auditorium and we wondered if it was ok for us to use the facility. We took our homework with us and were sitting down to do that while waiting for the wash to be done and two young elders came in to raid the vending machine. One was a Tahitian from Laie, Oahu, Hawaii and the other was a Maori from Hamilton, New Zealand. Some young sisters came in looking for the peds that one of them accidentally left there. I looked in the lost and found and was amazed at the underwear, shirts and other personal items that were in the basket. How do people do that? If I lost even one article of clothing I brought with me, I would be sorely disadvantaged. I brought barely enough clothing to last the two weeks and even then I have to wash a couple of times so that I will remain fully clothed. Weight of suitcases is a real problem when we go by air.
While we were in the laundry room, the Pa system announced that it was 10.15pm and the lights out rule takes effect at 10.30pm. We grabbed our stuff and were on the way to our dormitory when we ran into a security guard.
My first words were, "Oh, We're busted!" He laughed and said, "I won't tell if you don't!" and went on his way.
Monday, September 19, 2011
A sea of white shirts with colored ties
There are 2500 missionaries in this training center as I type. When we go to meal times, all I see is a sea of white shirts and colored ties. Here and there I see a lady missionary in colored shirt or dress resembling something like a flower amidst the white of the shirts, much like a crocus emerging from the Winter snow.
Meal time is a real zoo. I cannot imagine how much food these young men eat, but they certainly put it away. I wonder what the food bill is for one day here...............let alone what it must be for a week or a month. They must bring in the food by the Tractor Trailer load.
I have been going to weight watchers for the past 18 months and have pretty much stabilized my weight. I worry about the servings here - there is no way to monitor what goes into the preparation of the food or how large or small the portions may be. It is like wandering through a gastronomical mine field.
I was wondering how they managed to keep things on track here and just how do they keep track of 2500 people in myriad language classes and other activities. If it was up to me I would color code them, but they don't keep still so it might be too difficult to do that. Instead, I found out that they have schedules that are posted and groups are staggered in their release from language study to go to meal time so that the food service people don't get over run by 2500 starving young adults all at once. Add to that around 50 couples and you have an ecclectic mix. A few of the couples have sons or daughters also serving missions elsewhere but many of the couples have "lets compare grandchildren picture" parties as they eat. My grandchildren are the cutest of them all, and I know that.Today was our first full day of instruction - the do's and don'ts and the in's and out's of checking in, checking out when we leave, the required meetings, the lessons in computer and digitizing.
I am glad I have taken on the challenge of becoming a missionary again but this time instead of proselyting I will be chasing dead people's records.
Well, talking about the nuts and bolts of being in the Mission Training Center is probably dull and boring so I will tell you of some of the things I have seen.
There was a hang glider way up in the sky on Sunday and as I was observing him, my eye was attracted to a couple of splashes of red way up high on the mountain. The leaves have changed way up there and if we stayed long enough, the entire mountain would become a blaze of colors. I imagine the leaves will be totally beautiful out east when we get there.
Meal time is a real zoo. I cannot imagine how much food these young men eat, but they certainly put it away. I wonder what the food bill is for one day here...............let alone what it must be for a week or a month. They must bring in the food by the Tractor Trailer load.
I have been going to weight watchers for the past 18 months and have pretty much stabilized my weight. I worry about the servings here - there is no way to monitor what goes into the preparation of the food or how large or small the portions may be. It is like wandering through a gastronomical mine field.
I was wondering how they managed to keep things on track here and just how do they keep track of 2500 people in myriad language classes and other activities. If it was up to me I would color code them, but they don't keep still so it might be too difficult to do that. Instead, I found out that they have schedules that are posted and groups are staggered in their release from language study to go to meal time so that the food service people don't get over run by 2500 starving young adults all at once. Add to that around 50 couples and you have an ecclectic mix. A few of the couples have sons or daughters also serving missions elsewhere but many of the couples have "lets compare grandchildren picture" parties as they eat. My grandchildren are the cutest of them all, and I know that.Today was our first full day of instruction - the do's and don'ts and the in's and out's of checking in, checking out when we leave, the required meetings, the lessons in computer and digitizing.
Tomorrow will be theological instruction and discussion in the book "Preach my Gospel" from 8am to about 5pm with a few breaks here and there. There is really not much time to do anything other than read and prepare for the next day.
The front desk is manned 24 hours a day and there are people coming and going all hours of the day - the place is like Grand Central Station. Entrances and exits are governed by the airline schedules and missionaries come here from all over the world. Some come here to learn English and to get to see the headquarters of the church and hear church leaders address the missionaries and for most of them this will be the only time they will ever leave their home countries so it is a priceless experience for them to travel to the MTC.I am glad I have taken on the challenge of becoming a missionary again but this time instead of proselyting I will be chasing dead people's records.
Well, talking about the nuts and bolts of being in the Mission Training Center is probably dull and boring so I will tell you of some of the things I have seen.
There was a hang glider way up in the sky on Sunday and as I was observing him, my eye was attracted to a couple of splashes of red way up high on the mountain. The leaves have changed way up there and if we stayed long enough, the entire mountain would become a blaze of colors. I imagine the leaves will be totally beautiful out east when we get there.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
conformity, uniformity and uniforms
We arrived at the Prescott Airport around 5.30am on Saturday 17th September 2011 and it is hardly the busiest airport in the nation at that hour, but the TSA were alive and well. Watched a TSA worker inspect our suitcase thoroughly and I wondered if she was going to get all the stuff back in that she took out. She did, and it was a miracle, because we had trouble getting it all in in the first place. Conformity to rules is a must with TSA.
They don't have a back scatter scanner in Prescott, so we passed the little "walk through door thingy" that they have there. We boarded our puddle jumper to Los Angeles that was piloted by a young man who looked to be no more than 16 years of age. He assured me he was at least 25 but I should have asked for his birth certificate just to be sure.
We did not get to see Prescott from the air.............must be a noise ordinance thing or something, but rather we flew over Chino Valley and off over the arid landscape until we reached California. The most remarkable thing we saw from the air was the cloud cover over the LA area. It looked like a carpet of some sort that had been tightly fitted to conform with the undulations of the mountains and it was hanging on for dear life lest someone loosen a corner and trip. Heaven forbid that we sue the 'keeper of the skies' for damages caused by tripping on this wonderful carpet laying job. I knew that somewhere under this carpet was LA but could not see anything until we dropped down through the clouds and there was the airport. Totally Amazing to me that we found it without so much as a hint of a visual.
LA airport is massive but we found our way to the correct terminal - right next door to the terminal where the puddle jumper had released us into the wild. They have banks of 'check-in terminals' but we had to have help checking into our slot - there has to be uniformity in the check-in process or no one would find their plane let alone their assigned seat. I wondered if the TSA were going to rearrange our suitcase again because there is no agreement between Great Lakes Airlines (from Prescott to LA) and Delta which was to be our next plane on this journey to Salt Lake City and beyond. A kindly lady helped us because we are "computer terminal challenged" when it comes to checking in at airports.
Our first order of business was to get some breakfast. So we passed up the Mexican breakfast bar and the Croissant crowded bar and settled for McDonald's. Wonderfully I found that they now serve Oatmeal and I settled for that instantly. It was pretty good, but not like at home. Nothing is as good as Home! Spoke to a couple there who are from Japan. Surprised them totally to hear a white person speak Japanese. The people of Japan believe that their language is so difficult that no one, other than a born Japanese can ever speak it and fluency is certainly not within the grasp of a foreigner. WRONG! Even after 40 years I can speak the language and it surprises the heck out of them. This couple are from Tokyo, which is where I served my first mission.
Our Delta flight to Utah was smooth until we reached the SLC valley and then it was quite bumpy. Sat next to a young man who was just returning from Australia. He is a grad student in environmental studies. Asked him where he had been in Australia and he said Yeppoon. I commented that this particular city is in Queensland, on the coast, and he was totally taken aback that a stranger knew exactly where this city was located. Well, Yeppoon is not exactly a huge bustling metropolis after all, but he said he had met some other Australians on his travels who did not even know the name of the city or where it is located. Well, I am from Queensland, after all.
My friend Jan, who is also from Australia, picked us up at the airport and took us over to see Reid and Roxhane Belnap. Reid and his first wife (now deceased) were my dorm parents at Church College of Hawaii and I have called him father since 1967. It was a great visit and he looks in good health - much better than in November last year when I visited him soon after they discovered that he had Prostate Cancer and that it had migrated to his bones.
We left there and went to Provo. What a mess the traffic was. It was game day. Not just game day but THE GAME DAY of the semester. They were playing University of Utah - the greatest rivalry in the world. When I was in Grad School the day the Utes played the Cougars (BYU), someone from U of Utah had gone to Provo and painted the BYU Cougar statue Bright RED. Well, everyone and his dog were in cars trying to find a parking spot, and all of them seemed to be taken - all that is except the $20 lot where you could easily have parked a tractor trailer and still have room for 20 more cars.
We found the Missionary Training Center with the use of Jan's Garman and we stopped at the Gate to announce that we were here, at last. The Security Guard was dressed in a crisp White Shirt and black pants and his uniform stood out from anything else in the area. We have to have uniforms if we want to look professional.
So we have had to conform to the requirements of the TSA.
Have experienced uniformity of checking in procedures to board a plane.
Experienced the uniforms of security guards.
We are totally safe with all these things in place.
They don't have a back scatter scanner in Prescott, so we passed the little "walk through door thingy" that they have there. We boarded our puddle jumper to Los Angeles that was piloted by a young man who looked to be no more than 16 years of age. He assured me he was at least 25 but I should have asked for his birth certificate just to be sure.
We did not get to see Prescott from the air.............must be a noise ordinance thing or something, but rather we flew over Chino Valley and off over the arid landscape until we reached California. The most remarkable thing we saw from the air was the cloud cover over the LA area. It looked like a carpet of some sort that had been tightly fitted to conform with the undulations of the mountains and it was hanging on for dear life lest someone loosen a corner and trip. Heaven forbid that we sue the 'keeper of the skies' for damages caused by tripping on this wonderful carpet laying job. I knew that somewhere under this carpet was LA but could not see anything until we dropped down through the clouds and there was the airport. Totally Amazing to me that we found it without so much as a hint of a visual.
LA airport is massive but we found our way to the correct terminal - right next door to the terminal where the puddle jumper had released us into the wild. They have banks of 'check-in terminals' but we had to have help checking into our slot - there has to be uniformity in the check-in process or no one would find their plane let alone their assigned seat. I wondered if the TSA were going to rearrange our suitcase again because there is no agreement between Great Lakes Airlines (from Prescott to LA) and Delta which was to be our next plane on this journey to Salt Lake City and beyond. A kindly lady helped us because we are "computer terminal challenged" when it comes to checking in at airports.
Our first order of business was to get some breakfast. So we passed up the Mexican breakfast bar and the Croissant crowded bar and settled for McDonald's. Wonderfully I found that they now serve Oatmeal and I settled for that instantly. It was pretty good, but not like at home. Nothing is as good as Home! Spoke to a couple there who are from Japan. Surprised them totally to hear a white person speak Japanese. The people of Japan believe that their language is so difficult that no one, other than a born Japanese can ever speak it and fluency is certainly not within the grasp of a foreigner. WRONG! Even after 40 years I can speak the language and it surprises the heck out of them. This couple are from Tokyo, which is where I served my first mission.
Our Delta flight to Utah was smooth until we reached the SLC valley and then it was quite bumpy. Sat next to a young man who was just returning from Australia. He is a grad student in environmental studies. Asked him where he had been in Australia and he said Yeppoon. I commented that this particular city is in Queensland, on the coast, and he was totally taken aback that a stranger knew exactly where this city was located. Well, Yeppoon is not exactly a huge bustling metropolis after all, but he said he had met some other Australians on his travels who did not even know the name of the city or where it is located. Well, I am from Queensland, after all.
My friend Jan, who is also from Australia, picked us up at the airport and took us over to see Reid and Roxhane Belnap. Reid and his first wife (now deceased) were my dorm parents at Church College of Hawaii and I have called him father since 1967. It was a great visit and he looks in good health - much better than in November last year when I visited him soon after they discovered that he had Prostate Cancer and that it had migrated to his bones.
We left there and went to Provo. What a mess the traffic was. It was game day. Not just game day but THE GAME DAY of the semester. They were playing University of Utah - the greatest rivalry in the world. When I was in Grad School the day the Utes played the Cougars (BYU), someone from U of Utah had gone to Provo and painted the BYU Cougar statue Bright RED. Well, everyone and his dog were in cars trying to find a parking spot, and all of them seemed to be taken - all that is except the $20 lot where you could easily have parked a tractor trailer and still have room for 20 more cars.
We found the Missionary Training Center with the use of Jan's Garman and we stopped at the Gate to announce that we were here, at last. The Security Guard was dressed in a crisp White Shirt and black pants and his uniform stood out from anything else in the area. We have to have uniforms if we want to look professional.
So we have had to conform to the requirements of the TSA.
Have experienced uniformity of checking in procedures to board a plane.
Experienced the uniforms of security guards.
We are totally safe with all these things in place.
Friday, September 16, 2011
The Day Before we leave
We are without many things that we have been used to having.............about 2 weeks ago the TV went off and along with that access to the internet (fixed that by buying a hotspot with the i-phone), Our landline was changed from being a bundle with the TV and internet to my number on a cell phone. Now the refrigerator and the freezer are empty as of 24 hours ago, and cleaned out, and without refrigeration we have resorted to a cooler but it is about to end at lunch time today. The pantry has been cleaned out for the most part and what food is not going to last till we get back next year, is going with us to our new digs.
The lawn has been mowed for the last time this summer, the watering system is fixed, APS came and exchanged our electric usage meter, and a few other repairs have been made along with meeting with four friends who will come into the house often to check to see how things are.
Does the phrase DEER IN THE HEADLIGHTS convey the emotion?
ALL WE HAVE TO DO NOW IS GET ON THE PLANE AND LEAVE!
The lawn has been mowed for the last time this summer, the watering system is fixed, APS came and exchanged our electric usage meter, and a few other repairs have been made along with meeting with four friends who will come into the house often to check to see how things are.
Does the phrase DEER IN THE HEADLIGHTS convey the emotion?
ALL WE HAVE TO DO NOW IS GET ON THE PLANE AND LEAVE!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
The final acts of leaving and moving on.
Commitment, commission, committed
It is now 4 days before we leave for the Missionary Training Center in Provo. Our days are hectic and harried to say the least. Decisions of what to pack, what not to pack, trying to guess the weather we will encounter and the various activities that await us. It is projected to be cooler in Provo than here in Prescott so I guess it is goodbye to the heat of the high desert in Arizona, and hello to the coolness of the high desert in Utah, further north. I wonder if the leaves have started to turn in Maine?
Our commitment to do missionary work has been an ever present condition since the day we joined the church. Our desire is that our family and friends also enjoy the spiritual peace and contentment that we have experienced these past 40 years or so. Evidence of our commitment to these principles is in the execution of our church responsibilities. For Bill this has been a constant pursuit as well as for myself. In the recent past he has been the membership clerk for 12 years and I have been the Family History consultant for the past 12 years. We have tried very hard to do what has been asked of us in these positions, among others that we have held from time to time.
We received our commission as missionaries under the hand of President Steven Campbell on Wednesday , 7th September 2011. Our lives have been forever changed as a result. It is not a monumental shift in our journey through life, but more of a course correction. A correction that will enhance our future together and it will bless our lives and the lives of our family members as we go forth to serve. The records that we will be asked to preserve, will become available online at a future date and will be a great blessing to those who seek information about their ancestors who lived in this part of the nation. Already I have personally been involved in genealogical research in the state of New Hampshire while helping Cindy Hall here in Prescott, research her ancestry over there.
We had a farewell service at church on September 11, 2011, and many friends came to join in the opportunity to wish us well as we begin this next phase of our lives. I was asked to deliver a talk on Genealogy and Family History. The difference between the two is significant. Genealogy is a collection of facts like birth date and place, marriage date and place and death date and place. This is sort of the nuts and bolts of a person’s life. However, Family History, on the other hand, is a fleshing out of the person and his/her accomplishments. I used George Eiser as my example. By the time he was 17 months old, his birth father died and by the time he was 12 years old his mother had also died and by the time he was 21, Otto Von Bismark was flexing his muscles trying to cobble together an army so that he could take over some territory. George was of the age where conscription was a reality, so he got on a ship bound for Australia – a land that has the most poisonous spiders and venomous snakes in the world and a plethora of animals that look like they were constructed from leftover pieces from another creation. The best part is that the trip from Germany to Australia is long and arduous but to his delight, a young lady who was traveling with her sister and family caught his eye and one year after arriving in Australia, they married. Such fleshing out of the story puts meat on the bones and infuses life into the person and allows us to appreciate what our ancestors endured in order for us to be here today. Bill was assigned to talk about temple work and how that gives the participants grounding and a solid base for personal as well as family growth.
So now, as we pack our suitcases and finish up on tidying up the house etc., the time has come to say that we are committed to the mission and all that it brings. The reality of that commitment will be when we step onto the plane in Prescott to begin our journey to Utah for missionary training.
Friday, September 9, 2011
How the Family History Center has changed
The Family History Center sendoff and computer growth.
My regular shift at the family history center was rather calm until 1pm when some of the workers came in to celebrate the ending of my 12 year term on the staff at the center. I cannot believe that 12 years has elapsed since I began as a staff member at this family history center. I have seen it go from a grand total of 3 used computers and a cantankerous printer on one side of the room and a very ancient computer on the other side of the room that still used cartridges containing cd’s of genealogical information, to the sleek computers and constant connection with the internet that we have today. These were very trying times because the computers were old and not up to the amount of work they were expected to do. After about 2 – 3 years of this struggle, the old computers were replaced by some very new computers donated by Brother and Sister Ira Fulton. We were ecstatic to have the new computers and we even got a new printer to boot. Sometime later the internet was available through a hookup to the Facilities Management office. It did not work all the time and when it was working, even then it did not work well and we had to charge $1.00 per hour for people to use the internet and we had to set the timer to equal out the usage of the computer time. The internet was still in its infancy and many of the search engines were not yet operational or even invented in some cases. Amid all the chaos of internet problems, updates of websites and computers and upgrades of genealogical programs, we were treated to a complete overhaul of the family history center itself. There was the agony of choosing the right kinds and colors of paint for the walls – the staff chose Mauve and it was wonderful but the Facilities Management people said that we had to paint the walls white – so someone painted over the walls with white paint and the mauve bled through so we have the most pale mauve walls and it is good. A visitor to our library commented that we have the most colorful library in the church system.
We then received 10 new computers with windows XP professional installed and a computer wizard named Dan Vester to keep them humming. They keep going in spite of the abuse that they get from the patrons. We have very little down time with the internet these days and Ancestry has restored quite a bit of their program for use in the FHC.
I am sad to leave the FHC but The Director is positive that after my mission is over, that I will return to Prescott and take over as Director of the FHC. He even took my name badge and put it in the inner office for safe keeping until I return. We do not know from one day to the next what life will bring, but I sure hope that the FHC is still in operation when I return.
I do think that when I get back to Prescott in about a year’s time, that computers will be even more advanced than they are today and possibly we will have a whole new crop of computers to help with the research of family history.
Parties to celebrate friendships and connectedness
Parties, parties, parties
Over the years I have been a member of various groups. Some of the groups have dissolved and others have formed. So there has been a series of parties Рgoing away parties if you will. The appliqu̩ group had our regular monthly get together and luncheon on the 4th Tuesday of August and it was an especially nice luncheon and the ladies signed a card with well wishes for me as I leave on this mission.
On the next day , Wednesday, I attended the beading group. I took the dessert of strawberries, dream whip and an angel food cake. I did not know that they had also brought food so we had a real party. My friend Bobbie made a booklet on Manchester, New Hampshire. It contained anything and everything you might want to know about Manchester. That was very thoughtful.
On Thursday 8th September , about 14 of my friends gathered at the Olive Garden for lunch. There was lots of laughter and remembrances, stories of the antics of children and grandchildren, adventures in genealogy research and of internet connectivity through emails that were exchanged. We ate together and bonded and life is good. Friendships are strengthened through these kinds of activities. The waitress wanted to know if this was a special occasion, and yes, I am leaving and this is my sendoff.
Monday, September 5, 2011
A sad day for all
Today we put David on the bus back to Phoenix for the last time. I did not think that it would be as emotionally draining as it turned out to be. He texted me as the bus pulled out to tell me that he was crying too. I did not want him to see me in tears but they came anyway and I am very sad. I told him I would call him tomorrow, just to see how he is doing. For 34 years I have fought with, for, and over, David. I have faced down arrogant Doctors, pompous Lawyers, ignorant people who have berated me for some thing they saw David do that upset them. I have even taken on the bureaucracy of the State of Arizona , and won! Not many people can say that now can they. There are some teachers who have earned their place in the ignoramus hall of fame, and some teachers, especially a teacher named Mrs. Weeks, who have earned a place in heaven for their untiring efforts to help David lean in school.
But, to put my boy on the bus knowing that I will not see him for one year is heart wrenching indeed.
But, to put my boy on the bus knowing that I will not see him for one year is heart wrenching indeed.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
What do the Lemmings know?
What do the Lemmings know?
We went to the Phoenix Valley to Mesa to attend the temple and get our picture taken ready for the plaque to be put on the wall at church where they have plaques of other missionaries and a world map showing their fields of labor. The photographer was a riot to work with. He had a superfast camera that I am sure was quick enough to catch not only the nuances in our faces, but also the nuances of the words that kept us laughing. Good picture taking there.
About 4pm we picked up David and took him to the nearby Chinese Restaurant. For $6.95 it was all you could eat and he did. The saving grace is that they did not have Macaroni and cheese – which I am sure he would have loaded onto his plate because it is one of his favorite foods. This particular restaurant had a marquee in front that boasted Barbecue Spare Ribs Louisiana style along with boiled Crawfish from Louisiana. Many patrons were headed like Lemmings to the Crawfish. What do Lemmings know? All I saw were bowls of exoskeletons being hauled back to the dishwasher area and it looked pretty ugly for the crawfish. I might add that eating at a place like this is like walking through a gastronomical mine field for me. At Weight Watchers we are given specific instructions what and how much we can eat to lose weight or maintain weight – and it all looked so good. How many other WW members were joining me in the Lemming run?
After we had eaten we drove to our motel for the night. Bill wanted to go to JCPenny to look for a suit to take on our mission. His favorite grey suit has seen better days and needs to be retired or bronzed or put in the Smithsonian. I went to look at the women’s clothing but was summoned by a very anxious David to return to the men’s department where both David and Bill were stressing over which tie looked good with the suit. Total agony; both ties were shades of black, white and grey and I could see no reason to stress over such items……….but then I am not one to wear ties with a white shirt and suit.
We returned to the motel and got ready to go into the pool. Each motel we book seems to offer a pool and hot tub but usually we arrive there too late to use either on the night we arrive and we leave too early the next day to use the pool, but we are prepared nonetheless by packing our swimming suits, just in case! However, in the 109degree evening, we got into the pool, that the hotel boasted was a heated outdoor pool and hot tub. Well, it was not exactly ice cold to get into and David and I occupied ourselves by splashing the crickets that were hopping all over the pool deck. They did not like being splashed and some fell into the pool and others just scurried away. I did not know that crickets can swim – these little creatures swam over to the edge of the pool and hauled their little bodies out and over the decking to safety.
David decided that he was hungry again – 9.30pm – so I gave him $12.00 to go to the Diner next door and get a snack. Turns out that the large Hamburger, fries and the drink he got were too much for him to finish and there was no change at all. He brought the food back to the motel room but he did not want to eat it in the morning so we left it there. He did go down to breakfast and filled up for the day’s activities.
We took him to church at his Ward and we met the Ward leaders. His home teacher is a man who works for a company that co-ordinates group home activities etc. and so he is very familiar with the group home scenario and was delighted to finally meet David. We hope that David takes him up on the offer to drive him to Church each week.
We left Mesa after church and headed up the highway towards Prescott. On our way down to Phoenix Valley on Saturday I noticed the stream of cars leaving the Valley and heading up towards the high country. They reminded me of Lemmings – what were they leaving? Well the temperatures in the Phoenix Valley have been around 110 degrees for about two weeks or more now and so at each chance, the Lemmings leave Phoenix Valley for the High Country – whether their destination is Prescott, or Sedona or Flagstaff, they are only too glad to get away from the heat. So I guess that is what Lemmings know.
On our trip back up to Prescott, we were also part of the Lemming migration and the speeds were fast and furious – some hot little Lemmings here.
I sat in the back seat and watched the scenery go by. It crossed my mind that I was probably looking at my last Ocotillo, Saguaro, Teddy Bear and Jumping Jack Cholla cactus plants for a year. How sad to be leaving and to not see the Saguaro standing tall like sentinels guarding the hillsides by interstate 17 for a whole year. The rugged arid beauty of the desert hills and mountains that are populated by plants that cling tenaciously to life with little moisture speaks peace to my soul and reminds me a lot of Australia. When I leave, my heart will ache for my beloved Arizona with its sturdy mountains and rolling foothills. I will not miss Prescott so much as I will the Saguaro Sentinels that seem to be marching up the hillsides and guarding the secret of the eternal desert. For one year I will be trading the soft silvery green of the parched desert plants for the bright green well watered grasses and flora of the Eastern Seaboard.
As we passed the 3,000 ft. above sea level marker on I-17, the Saguaro arms waved goodbye to us and the Cholla and Ocotillo gave way to stubby little sage like plants with a smattering of cedars. At Sunset point on top of the Mesa, there is a lone tree that is usually decorated with Yellow Ribbons for the return of our troops. At Christmas it is loaded with Christmas Decorations. It is a tradition that these decorations magically appear and no one will divulge who deserves credit for this remarkable tree. During one wild fire season, special care was taken that the fire did not jump the highway and devour the special tree. As we pass today, I notice that the tree is without ribbons. The last rogue wildfire that passed through this area has taken the grasses away and left piles of volcanic rock lying bare on the surface. I notice that the wildflowers are gone too – either eaten up by the rogue fire or just withered in the severe summer sunshine. The Landscape is patrolled by Raptors and they float lazily on the updrafts by Sunset point.
The forecast was for scattered showers, but all I see are fluffy little clouds that are white on top as they face the heavens and light grey as they face the earth. Later on we did run through a 2 minute squall as we approached Dewey. As we approach the sign that announces “PRESCOTT 2 miles”, I have to remind myself that the town of Prescott is not two miles away but rather the turnoff to Rte. 69 is 2 miles away at Cordes Junction. As we round the corner, I can see Arcosanti clinging to the edge of the bluff like a grand dame holding audience with the valley just below.
Further up Rte. 69, there are houses scattered here and there. Some people have built Victorian houses on the Desert Landscape. They smack of floor length rustling silk Day Dresses, that have been decorated with yards of fancy expensive lace, and ladies holding fans to keep cool in the heat as they bob their heads and make the ringlets at their ears jiggle in time with the fans. Victorian homes are definitely out of place in the Desert landscape. Now compare them with the single story hip roof homes of desert colors where folks sit on the porch on lazy hot afternoons watching the lizards play among the rocks. This is the image I will take with me to the Eastern Seaboard. The Lemmings can run up and down I-17 between the high country and the Valley or they can scurry across I-95 in New York to New Hampshire, and I will still not be able to answer the question, “what do the Lemmings know?”
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