Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission

June 23, 2014

Another week has passed us by and now officially it is summer.  We know that it is summer by the number of visitors to Temple Square.  It appears to us that more people are vacationing than ever before and are all coming to Salt Lake City.  We have had busloads of people this week from all over the world asking a myriad of questions.  We are realizing more than ever how misunderstood we really are as a church.  Sometimes I just have to wonder what people think of us by the questions they ask.  But, it is great to get misconceptions cleared up by our answers.

Taggart has still not received an MRI as yet.  He tried on Friday to have it again with the aid of morphine, but again he was in too much pain to lie for twenty-five minutes.  Consequently, he will try again with the administration of a general anesthetic.  He needs to have this diagnosed so they can recommend a treatment. So as of right now, he continues to suffer.  The one thing we know for sure is that the Lord wants us here so he will bless him.

Also this week, we had an opportunity to visit with a longtime friend, Dee Dee Cox.  She was a friend from high school and college days.  She lived in New Mexico for years until her husband died and then moved to Arizona recently.  After forty plus years of not seeing her, it was fun to visit.  We were thrilled to hear that she is going on a mission to Australia. 

We had an opportunity to see an apostle this week.  As we were waiting outside the Lion House for a Hospitality Tour, Elder Russell M. Nelson came out of the Church Administration Building.  He had been Taggart’s stake president when we were engaged and he had interviewed us for our forthcoming marriage.  We reminded him of that event and he said that he was glad that we were still married.  To see these apostles face-to-face is really remarkable and something that may never happen again.

Sisters Pipe and Marquez in front of the Temple

On Saturday two lovely sisters, Sister Pipe and Sister Marquez, invited us to be baptized for their ancestors.  It was quite the experience being with them and learning more about these people who were significant in their lives and being baptized for them.  It had been a while since I had been baptized for the dead and I forgot to hold my nose and got water in my throat.  The two sisters were crying and when I started to choke and cough, they started to laugh.  It was a great experience and we are so grateful to be given the privilege of doing these sacred ordinances.

The Day of Avery's Baptism

Finally we were able to go to our granddaughter’s, Avery, baptism in Washington this week.  We were given permission to leave the mission for twenty-four hours and celebrate this wonderful event in her life.  What a special time this was for her and us.  We were asked to give a talk on the Holy Ghost, but before our part on the program Avery sang.  Needless to say, our hearts were touched and tears were shed even before we started to speak.  How grateful we are for the gift of the Holy Ghost and our little granddaughter, Avery.

Our Beautiful Avery on the Day of Her Baptism