Back on track😀 10 May 2016

I have been told by a couple of people that the tiredness I have felt since arriving in Utah was probably due to the higher altitude. Yesterday I started back to exercising in a more regular way. I live on the  third floor in an apartment building, so 14 trips from top to bottom on both sides of the building takes just about 14 minutes. I guess I have  adjusted to the thinner air because it feels really good to start back. An interesting article on the benefits of stair-climbing is at http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/top_ten_benefits_of_stairclimbing.pdf

At our first meeting today we learned about different areas a missionary could be assigned to in this mission. There are 20 zones, and more missionaries are needed all the time. There are two zones in the mission office, one of which takes care of helping missionaries with travel and housing, etc. Training is also in this zone. The people we have met so far are in this zone, except for our meetings in our branch. They have all been warm and caring, providing us new missionaries with a very supportive Atmosphere and environment.

There is a Headquarters zone which deals with medical evaluations, support in various inspects of the church, and a third group which helps with nterpreters for various church events. Fun Facts: The United Nations provides interpretation of meetings in 8 languages; interpretive services for General Conference and similar meetings are provided in 96 languages; each language has 3 interpreters assigned.

The Church History Library has 3 zones:  collections; library services; and special projects.  If you were a regular missionary and kept a journal you can donate your journals for preservation! We got a tour of the Church History Library today and learned and saw some amazing things including a manuscript page of The Book of Mormon, a scroll parchment, and the copy of The Book of Mormon spoken of in Doctrine & Covenants 135 describing the events surrounding the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum.

The Family History Department has 5 zones dealing with more technical aspects of Family  History, while the Family History Library has 7 zones, including deaf services, international services, the Family History Center where patrons do basic research to discover their ancestors, and US/ Canada and British  Services, along with access and hosting services.

Most missionaries work in the Family History Library, and all are given time to work on their own family history each week.

Today I got to work with my assigned trainer, She wanted to know about my family, not just names, dates and places, and a bit of my life story. Then I did get to play with Family Tree a bit. I have a lot of background knowledge, but I picked up a few pointers already to bring back home with me. I am very happy I got to come to this mission!