Utah Salt Lake Temple Square Mission

April 13, 2014

It was quite the busy week filled with activities.  As we gear up for summer we will find ourselves very much occupied by a variety of events.

Senior Couple Handbook

Taggart spent hours and hours putting together a part-time couple handbook.  What a good job he did!  On Tuesday we held our first meeting with the part-time couples in which we presented information from that handbook.  The meeting was held in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building Jade Room with dinner provided by the hospitality leadership.  I think everyone meeting there that night was excited about this summer and the potential of touching so many lives through the spirit of those guiding the hospitality tours.  It will be very busy but fun and we are excited to have four new part-time couples join us.

Also Zone Conferences were held on Thursday and Friday.  Because we have temporarily taken over clean check of apartments, we were asked to speak in these meetings on this topic.  We made the presentation fun but meaningful and hope the sisters went home with a desire to make their apartments, apartments of order.  Clean checks are on the agenda for next week and we hope we can be efficient and fair.

Because of the many events we are engaged in we are unable to find and teach people like we would like.  We did talk to Diane in Brooklyn and even though her situation had not changed, her attitude had.  She wasn’t blaming God for her difficulties and seemed open to the influence of the spirit.  We challenged her to read Alma 32 and pray that her faith may increase.  Also, Taggart talked to a man named Nick who has left the church.  His heart was turned against the church because of the Book of Abraham, The King Follett Sermon and so many little things.  He is going to follow-up with a call to him next week.  We may not be able to change his heart but we can testify.

Also this week Leadership Training was held.  The President wanted a healthy snack for the sisters so I cut up mounds of fruit for them.  President Poulsen is striving to have the sisters’ exercise, drink plenty of water, eat healthy and sleep eight hours.  So far they are trying to be obedient and do as he says.

At the end of this month we have only six more months for our mission.  Incredible as it may seem our days are winding down and so we need to make every moment count. 

Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission

April 6, 2014

What a glorious conference week.  The flowers were in full bloom, however it was cold and rainy most of the week.  There were many people on the Square virtually from Monday through Sunday.  Some visitors had traveled great distances to come to Temple Square.  You could see their enthusiasm and respect for this special place and they dressed up and marveled at everything.  We so enjoyed visiting with them.

We were extremely busy through the weekend, helping with food cleanup, monitoring the Square and just visiting with people.  The Priesthood Session on Saturday night was interesting because there were a large group of women protesting because they wanted the Priesthood and couldn’t go to the Priesthood Session.  They were angry because they were excluded.  President Poulsen, our mission president, didn’t want the sisters around these “ordained women” (that is what they called themselves) because of potential harassment, so they were told to stay away from the Tabernacle.  Besides that incident everything was calm but busy on Temple Square.

Our Beautiful Sisters during Conference

We were able to go to Conference on Saturday afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed it.  In fact, the talks we were able to hear were amazing and inspiring.  How grateful we are for these men and women who give of their time and effort to this great cause, spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Kenneth Cope

As a reward for the extended hours the sisters had to work this weekend, they had a special meeting on Sunday where the singer, Kenneth Cope, held a mini-concert.  I have heard him sing on the “Sounds of Sunday” radio program but it was a thrill to see him in person.  His performance was so uplifting and inspirational.  Hearts were touched and many tears were shed.

We received some sad news this week about our former neighbors in the condo.  Matt and Sharon Kaschmitter had come from Iowa and had lived in our condo only a year but everyone loved them.  Because she was so homesick for Iowa they left Utah and moved back to their home state.  This week they had come for a short visit to Utah to see their son and friends and she accidently fell and her head struck a rock.  She experienced extreme head trauma and was brain dead.  She was taken off life support and they are just waiting for her to die.  Our love goes out to their family and we are reminded of how fragile life really is.  We really want to make every day count and love each other unconditionally.

We were able to talk to Diane this week, however, she was terribly depressed because it appears to her that her world is falling apart.  We couldn’t teach her a discussion, but tried with all our might to uplift her.  Because she is in such a bad place at the moment, our message of the restored gospel should give her hope and comfort.  Two of the conference messages we heard on Saturday afternoon could really speak to her soul.  We are going to make sure that she gets copies of them.  

 opefully they can always stay in touch because they have very similar personalities and H

 

Utah Salt Lake Temple Square Mission

March 29, 2014

This was my birthday week and I have never felt so loved.  As we came home on Tuesday at least twenty sisters came down the hall singing, “Happy Birthday.”  Our door was covered with hearts and there were cards and goodies at the doorstep.  The next day other gifts were given and many hugs.  I’ve never felt such an outpouring of love in my life.  Of course, my family remembered my birthday too.  We celebrated at Becky’s with dinner and a small cake.  On Tuesday April took me to lunch and Taggart bought a birthday cake for me.  All in all, it was quite the birthday.

 

 

What's that on Elder Frost's nose?

On Tuesday Taggart had surgery on his nose.  He had a cancerous growth and it had to be removed.  There was cutting and scraping, but the doctor felt he had gotten it all.  His wound looks good but it will take time to heal.  Until then he has a bandaged nose and because of that he gets a lot of sympathy.

On Friday I said goodbye to the sisters in my twelve week English class.  I really feel that they progressed a great deal but need to continue to learn.  We had such fun and I will miss our lively conversations and activities.  It is still uncertain if I will have a new class because the President wants to do something different with the English classes now.  Hopefully I will know something more next week.

opefully

We had a great visit with Diane, our investigator in New York.  As was mentioned before, we thought we would drop her from our teaching pool, however, her responses were more promising as we talked to her on Thursday.  She seems to have a desire to know if the Book of Mormon is the word of God.  We really have been praying for her and hope the spirit will be with us as we prepare for the next lesson.  Our other investigator, Jason, was unable to meet with us again.  He is always so apologetic for missing an appointment but seems to always be busy on Saturday.

General Women’s Conference was held on Saturday.  Initially we had gotten tickets to go to the event, however, some sisters needed to be there so we gave up our tickets.  But the story is not over yet.  Divine intervention occurred when we received tickets from Sister Stephens, first counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency.  Sister Curtis and I sat up front and had a view of everyone, including the First Presidency.  It was a terrific conference and as always tears were shed.

Cesar on the day of his ordination to the MP

Taggart was able to ordain Cesar to the Melchizedek Priesthood on Sunday.  What a thrill it was for him to become an Elder.  He has been going through trials of late, Satan is eager to lead him astray, but he is holding fast to the iron rod.  Taggart gave him his Priesthood Session ticket for next week because he is eager to attend conference.  He is continually thirsting for knowledge.

Utah Salt Lake Temple Square Mission

March 23, 2014

It is now officially spring although some days it feels more like winter.  As we walk around Temple Square we are filled with such joy with all the daffodils, pansies, tulips, crocus, and the deep scent of the hyacinths blooming.  Our souls are filled with appreciation for the beauty of God’s creations.

Luckily, I was at full force this week even though in going to the doctor on Monday he found that I still had a head and nasal infection.  So, I am again on antibiotics, but it feels great to actually talk again and even sing.  Speaking of health, Taggart needs to have surgery next week.  A little growth appeared on his nose and it was found to be cancerous.  He will go through a process of having it cut out and hopefully he will not need plastic surgery.

This week we had mission training from those in the Missionary Department.  As Conference approaches our interactions with members may be a little different than before.  At the last Conference we were encouraged to get as many referrals as possible.  The Missionary Department wants us now to encourage members to do missionary work and think of someone they could teach rather than giving us the name of that individual.  Apparently the referral system has not been working too well.  The sisters seem to really appreciate this new approach to their teaching.

Since Hospitality Tours are fast approaching, we are looking for some new part-time senior couples to help with this activity.  Brother and Sister Ken Burton, from the Malan’s Peak Ward, came to mind as a potential part-time couple.  As we called them to see if they might be interested, we were thrilled when they said they would be anxious to serve in this capacity.  These new senior couples need to know how to handle these Hospitality Tours and Temple Square so the Curtis’ and Frosts’ are putting together a handbook for senior couples.  Hopefully it won’t take us too long to complete this project

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We had another celebrity sighting this week when we saw President Uchtdorf.  We were leaving the Church Office Building through the parking lot when we saw him get into his car.  As he passed us he waved and made the first gesture.  Also we heard back from Sheri Dew and she will be speaking to us in Relief Society on May 15^th.  What a thrill it will be to hear from her on the topic “Women and the Priesthood.”

It was an unexpected surprise today when Taggart started to have chest pains while at “Music and the Spoken Word.”  Because it was so much like the pain he had experienced before when he had to have heart stints, we went to the emergency room.  After a number of tests, including a nuclear stress test, he was released and sent home.  We are just waiting for the results of this stress test to see if there is something to be concerned about.  We are keeping our fingers crossed.