Happy Birthday to my Dear Daughter! 31 January 2017

My dear oldest daughter, who kept me more or less sane until I learned the Gospel of Jesus Christ, turned 50 today.  Happy Birthday, dear One!

My day started out nicely talking with my Sweetheart.  At the Library in the morning I needed to make a tweak to the in-service PowerPoint by including a slide with a definition of Browse. Throughout the day I actually made several changes to the in-service, incorporating things which I noticed as my co-Trainer presented the lesson, which was on several aspectes of searching FamilySearch.

We are a little over half-way through the lessons on the new training, and today at the certifiers meeting I learned that with the help of curriculum specialists, the training will definitely be changing over time. Still, I continue to get positive feedback over my presentations, and I think I will be able to continue to use them even when I get back to Missouri as I am sure my Sweetheart and I will continue to be involved in family history, both for ourselves and for others.

I realized this morning that I had not taken a picture of a death record that I need.  I was not sure how I would find out which person it was, as it had been sometime last week or the week before when I was researching that I missed it.  However, a few minutes ago I remembered that I should have a different record for her--and there it was. That wil cut down a lot on the time it will take fo find the record.

This afternoon's in-service presentation was a bit different, as the computer which was displaying the PowerPoint decided to shut down a few minutes after we got started. I was able to have the class go through the procedures on the individual computers, The blessing was that the sister from the Ukraine found a record from her family as she was practicing the search!  That was an Elijah moment for sure!

When I finished at the Library I went to the temple, which has been closed for two weeks for the semi-annual cleaning.  It was nice to be back.  My good intentions had been to go to one of the other temples nearby, but mostly due to weather issues I did not do it.  Saturday morning I will go again for my temple day, and in the affternoon I will attend the sealing of the couple from our zone who will be getting married!

Soon my Sweetheart will call for our evening talk, and then I will  retire for the night. We did actually get to Skype last night quite late when his internet service was restored. That was a treat.

Disappointment in Connections. 30 January 2017

I was glad to get to talk with my Sweetheart this morning as I left the Joseph Smith Memorial Building where the Mission Devotional was held to the Library to start my work there.  Even a short chat is a good start to the day.

Last night I found which film I needed to access to try to prove my connection to Sister Camilla Eyring Kimball, the wife of President Spencer W. Kimball who was the prophet when I joined the Church.  I took some time during my lunch hour, which was early, and looked at the christening dates of the forefathers in question.  I did find the relevant dates--but when I evaluated what was actually in my line as opposed to what the Relative Finder tool had proposed, there was not a match.  My Hedinger line seems to descend from Peter Hedinger [b 1534] of Birnsdorf, Zurich Switzerland, rather than from Andreas Heiniger [b 1522].  The records available so not go back that far, so the farthest back I can prove is Anderas Hedinger, christened 7 August 1569, with Peter Hedinger as his father. I thought initially I was back far enough, and I noticed that I was not all that excited--so I was not extremely surprised that my finds did not connect me, and, in fact, made the connection to Sister Kimball less likely.

Since I spent several hours in various floor positions today, I was able to help a variety of guests.  That was a nice change.  Most of the time I do not get that opportunity.

The last hour was my Skill Development time.  I attempted to complete a study guide for Czech Republic archives, but was not entirely successful. I asked another missionary for help, but she had no experience with these records either.  Tomorrow during study group I will present what I found, and perhaps with five of us working on it we will figure it out!

In the Trainers meeting I found out that a sister I had recommended as a Trainer had agreed to join us.  She will be taking over at least one of my duties--conducting reviews of Level 1 training with new missionaries.  I have no idea who will be assigned to prepare in-service lessons.  I have done enough to get through March, and two weeks into April.

This evening my Sweetheart and I had another disappointment in a different kind of connection. We have set Monday night as our time to video chat--but his internet service is out.  What a blessing that he had bought a prepaid phone and plan last spring, as we were able at least to talk and pray together.  I think I will invest in one of those phones as a back up also. We sure do not want to miss a day of talking for at least a few minutes, and praying together also.

Two Concerns Solved with One Phone Call! 29 January 2017

This evening I got a phone call which solved two concerns for me.  One concern was finding my own replacement for coordinating the Young Elder Dinners.  Because we are a missionary branch now we do not have official callings.  Rather, we have assignments. And even though my co-coordinator was the one who got the word that we needed to find our own replacement(s), this has been on my mind.  When I interrupted a call with my youngest to take the call from my co-coordinator I did not know she had figured out a replacement--but she had, and it turned out to be someone I talked with in the last few days that I almost asked if she would be interested in helping with the program!  So we probably have our replacement, she already indicated to the other sister that she would like doing this, and she will be here for many months!  Perfect!

Since I am handling the Young Elder Dinners on my own, the co-coordinator said she would be glad to help with anything I needed--so I took the opportunity to request her help with something totally unrelated to the YE Dinners.  I will be earning a pass to 3 days of Roots Tech, the huge Family History technology conference coming up next week by stuffing goody bags for 8 hours this Thursday. I have worked out a schedule to get the time off from my usual duties in the Library by working evenings all next week, and splitting up my P-day. [Yes, I will probably be exhausted!]. But I got to thinking that I had my 2 hour certification shift in the middle of opening day--and I did not want to ask the staff member in charge to find a replacement for me.  So I asked my co-coordinator if she would be willing to do that certifications shift, and she agreed!  She is a much better certifier than I am, so I am just delighted.

Early this morning I tried to call my Virginia granddaughter, but got no answer.  A little later I got a call from her mom's cell phone--they were traveling to pick up my grandson from the farm on which he has been working since about September.  His mom's birthday is Tuesday, and he will spend a week with the family before heading to the West Coast, and then to Hawaii, where he hopes to learn more about farming in a tropical climate. When I was his age I could have been right there with him in those dreams! Back a ways in my family there were others who enjoyed finding new places to go, and new things to do--including, of course, our ancestors who immigrated from Europe. I hope my grandson will enjoy his adventures.

As I talked with my daughter I learned that my son-in-law is trying to figure out how to come to Missouri for my wedding!  I was glad to know about that. We will probably have wall-to-wall people in my house, but that will be fun.  With my granddaughter's family also coming I will get to meet my newest great-granddaughter, too!

I enjoyed getting to know a sister from Washington state as I was going this morning to the Tabernacle for the broadcast.  She was visiting one of the other missionaries for a few days. The message today was about showing love by being there for one another--very touching.

One of the talks in our sacrament meeting today was by a brother who told his conversion story.  As a young adult he had prayed consistently to receive an answer from God, but without success.  Then, when he was about to give up, he met a teenage girl to whom he was attracted.  She asked him if he would come to the Mormon church--and he did.  When the missionaries taught him, they told him he needed to get an answer for himself, and during a testimony meeting that is exactly what happened.  He finally had his answer to his long-time prayer.  He and that girl have now been married for a long time, and are serving a mission here in the Library.

Now that we do not have a branch choir, I am able to take more time to do indexing.  I did a couple of Gernan batches today--blessedly they were pretty easy to decipher, not like the documents I tried to do yesterday at the Library.  This evening I was doing some cleaning up in Family Tree and decided to check out my line that goes back into Switzerland to see if there were microfilms available for the area.  I was pleased to learn that there are, indeed, films going back into the mid-1500s, which means I should be able to get sources for the ancestors through whom I am connected to Camilla Eyring Kimball and several other leaders in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It will be a couple of weeks before I actually get to do that research, but I hope the records will be not too difficult to read.

My Sweetheart was to give a talk in sacrament meeting today,  I enjoyed reading it and I will enjoy hearing about how it went.

More work on Eppingen than anticipated. 28 January 2017

Our schedules did not mesh, so I have yet to talk with my Sweetheart today.  We will talk in a little while, and that will be happy.

I got to the Library a few minutes early this morning, so I began working on my Eppingen records.  This afternoon was scheduled as my research day, and during that four-hour block I intended to work  in the microfilms on my surname line.  Best-laid plans and all that!!!

I spent the first hour as Greeter, during which time I was able to add or find some records in my Family Tree, all from Eppingen.  Then I kept working on them for part of the next hour, but I did get to help a guest with a pretty simple problem that one of the Young Elders knew how to fix.  My part in the help was to say, "Elder, could you help us with a CD-Rom problem?  The link does not work."  That was after we tried to get help from the Access Services people.  The Young Elder had this solved in about two minutes!  He told me it was not so much a matter of computer knowledge as it was that he had learned a day or two ago how to load CDs from the FS Desktop.  Right now I know how to do that--but will I remember down the road?  Hard to tell.

The third hour I was supposed to act as floor manager, but shortly into the hour there was a need for some German translation.  The guest was very nice to me, even though I did not do very well on the legal document she had brought in for translation.  But I was the only one available at the time.  Later she was able to get help from one of our native German speakers, which was what she had needed all along.

The new missionary who had been sick one day this week came in to work on some of her training. She needed some help at times, so instead of reading microfilm for the my surname line I worked in the Training room with the Eppingen records for 3 hours until she finished what she came to do.  I am not sure if I will ever get done with the Ortssippenbuch, but I must be making some progress, considering how much I have worked with it!

Once that sister finished her work I still had more than an hour, so I did get out one of the microfilms and I found and attached a picture of my 2nd great-grandmother's birth record from 1813, and her mother's and father's marriage record from 1802. I also found a possible birth record of her mom--the Germans tended to give many names and then use part of the name, or add another one or two in various records, so I may not ever for sure know that this is the right record.

When I was getting ready to leave the Library I noticed that my Sweetheart had sent me a copy of the talk he will give tomorrow--I truly am in awe of his talks.  I feel like I am at General Conference.  I am so blessed to have him in my life.

I talked with my youngest about some things that needed to be taken care of back in Missouri.  Then I talked with my friend who writes to me each month.  I will enjoy being in the same ward with her after I marry my Sweetheart!

I think that is about all I have to write tonight.  It is rather amazing that January is drawing to a close!  Blessed Sabbath to all.

Sun at 12 noon, still light at 5:45 pm. 27 January 2017

This morning my talk with my Sweetheart was cut short by a mis-behaving connection. But at least I got to hear his voice, and that is wonderful.

I played the keyboard during the morning Prayer Meeting, but no one needed the inservice lesson at that time, so I got to work about 20 minutes on my Eppingen people.  During the first hour I was a helper, but I did not get to help any guests today either that hour, or the other in which I was on the floor.

In the Training room I had lots of opportunities to help. There were some frustrations, as one of the sisters could not find her long biography, so she had to do it over.  For us older adults, sometimes computers just are very frustrating. Two of the other trainees are moving along quite quickly, and two others are close behind.

I offered my in-service PowerPoints to those who are in the Basic Training, and they said it helped them review.  I discovered that there have been some changes in the Wiki, so I reworked several of the lessons to reflect those changes, which kept me busy during the two hours I had in the Training room in the morning.  In the afternoon, the Japanese sister who is still plowing through Basic Training asked for an explanation of "context" in evaluating records, and I was helped in figuring out how to explain and illustrate that for her.

Knowing that the car was free of snow and ice, I went to the nearby Hispanic market during my lunch hour. I was pleased, too, that the sun was shining brightly.  Although I know the temperature was fairly cold, it just did not seem that bad.  I got lots of apples, including one of a new-to-me variety:  Cameo.  I ate that as part of my evening food, and it was quite nice.  I also got some imitation crab which was quite inexpensive today, and I had some of that for lunch, and some more for supper.

At 2 pm I did a Level 1 review with missionaries who started a while ago.  They were pleased that there were many updates in the PowerPoint, made possible in large part because of their feedback. Then it was time to get ready for afternoon Prayer Meeting, and for presenting the in-service lesson to several people.

Because I had not stayed and worked through my lunch time, I stayed about 90 minutes after the end of my shift to work again on Eppingen. I wonder how many more hours of work it will take to get through my relatives from the Ortssippenbuch.  It seems like every time I work there are more descendents to find, which is not a bad thing.  But tomorrow I hope to spend my research time on Mecklenburg.

When I left the Library at about 5:45, I was astonished that it was still light out.  I wonder if  the difference here, as compared to Missouri, is the elevation, since my impression is that SLC is a bit north of STL.  However, I could be totally wrong on that score.

We Have Our Date and Time Set--Happy Day! 26 January 2017

Today was my monthly cleaning morning at the Library, so that was the first item of business today.  On my way back to my apartment my Sweetheart called, so we had a good visit.  The next item of business was to call the St. Louis Temple to make an appointment for our wedding!  I was so glad that we qualify to have a time-only marriage in the temple.  We are both widowed after having been sealed to our respective spouses. From the first time I learned it was possible to have a time-only wedding, that has been the desire or my heart, and I am so glad that my Sweetheart is of the same mind.  So, 11 a.m., 20 May 2017, we will be married in the St. Louis Temple.  Happy Day!

We plan on having a celebration in the afternoon at the St. Louis South Stake Center, which will allow many more people to share in our happiness--so save the date, if you can!

I have had some difficulty with one of the shelves in my hall closet, so I took the time to figure out how to fix it before I went to the next item on my mental to-do list which was to take my exit papers to the Mission Office.  The housing coordinator was in my MTC group, so I was glad to get to see her and her husband.  She assured me that it is OK that one of the drinking glasses got broken, and that I seem to have lost a small plate somewhere! Then the travel coordinator had me fill out other forms, even though there are a few weeks until they are due. A bonus was getting to see another sister from our MTC group.  I also got to meet with a sister who signed up to feed some Young Elders, even though her name is on the roster for the other branch.  I was really glad to know that she and her husband have been assigned to our branch--and she thanked me for coordinating the Young Elder Dinners.

There was light snow this morning, and my car was icy, so there was not any point to doing any shopping--so I spent from about 11 until 4 at the Library working on my Eppingen records.  I was very surprised to find an additional problem with a person whose records were confused with one of my relatives, but this time I was able to find evidence to prove that this second wife had been confused with the first wife, and sources to back up that evidence in a book available on the 3rd floor. While there I met another sister who is feeding young elders this week, so that was good.

There was still some confusion in the records, so I went down to escalation again, but even they could not find what I thought ought to be available.  Anyway, I was glad I chose to spend the time at the Library. I managed to get the dishes cleaned up and laundry to the laundromat before I left the apartment, so there was not much else to keep me occupied. I am grateful for this time to concentrate on Family History. And when I walked back through the apartment parking lot I found that my car was now free from ice and snow--the light snow had stopped and the temperature was warm enough to clear the mess.  I am grateful that we also are supposed to be finished with snow for a few days at least.

My youngest daughter called tonight, and one of the things we discussed was the difficulty of getting rid of things.  I will be relying on my Sweetheart to help me make some decisions about what is needed to be kept, and what I can let go of--I am hoping that will make the task much more pleasant.

Although I slept fairly well last night, after hours in front of the computer, my eyes are tired, so once i get to talk again with my Sweetheart, I will be off to bed.

More Training, Certifying, and an Unsaved Document. 25 January 2017

I began the day in the Training room.  The sister who was sick yesterday was OK today, so we had to make some ajustments, since we have only four computers for trainees, and we had five trainees.  One of the other sisters went back to get a laptop, since she also needed to bring her own flashdrive so that I could have the one I loaned to her yesterday back.  She ended up going out to one of the computers in the office area, because of issues accessing some of the sites. However, by the end of the day we had three of the trainees either fully done with Level 1, or very nearly so.  The three of them went out to shadow positions--and one of the elders ended up filling a position as Greeter! The other two sisters are not as driven to complete the training quickly, especially the sister who was sick yesterday.

This afternoon I had several people to certify, at least one of whom signed up rather late, so I sure was not well prepared to work with her. Several of the people did fine, but some I had to ask to come back later, after I went over with them the things they needed to know when they came back. I find the certifying process to be quite taxing for me as certifier, as well as for those who are trying to certify.

The last hour I spent figuring out the Young Elder Dinners--and I just discovered that I somehow saved a different document than I thought I had, so I will need to redo it.  A huge blessing is that I had printed a copy, so I was able to use it to email the host missionaries.  I guess I will spend part of P day tomorrow redoing that document.

My Sweetheart and I got to talk for a little bit this morning, and we will again tonight.  I can always count on a good end to the day!

Blessing of a Sunny Afternoon. 24 January 2017

Yesterday there was a forecast of 3-7 inches of snow. Although that would have probably equated a snow day, I was glad that did not happen. This afternoon when I got out of the Library the sun was shining and the streets were quite clear. That allowed me to go to the market for oranges at 5 pounds for a dollar, and also to another store to get notepaper and a card for my daughter's special birthday. I had not thought I would get to do that, because of the weather forecasts. I felt very blessed to have the opportunity to get that done.

I worked almost all day in the Training room.  We have had 5 brand new missionaries assigned to our zone, although one was sick. They are a very close-knit group, and have lots of good input on improvements to make in the training and worksheets. I learned quite a bit myself from working with them.

Study group did not happen today, as two of the five members were at a safety class, one was sick, and one came about 20 minutes late. About half of that hour I was oncall in the Training room, but for at least half an hour I got to have a gospel discussion with a guest who prompted me to share some gospel truths with her.  Although she is a professed atheist, she loves doing family history, and was very appreciative of the many tools we have for family history.  The fact that we do not charge for our services, or for the many records, and classes, etc., has made a lasting impression on her.  Not only does she utilize the Family Search Center near her home in California, but she has traveled to the SLC Family History Library each year for about the last 20 years. I expect to see her many times in the next week and I hope she engages me in another gospel discussion.

Our in-service lesson today was on Emergency preparations.  It was a fun class to do, as someone else had put it together--and I got several compliments on my presenting style--I try to make it fun, and I just cannot stand behind a podium for very long--I like being closer to the class members.

I am looking forward to talking with my Sweetheart in a little while.  Tonight was his time to work at the temple, so it will not be as long as we would like, but even a short chat and a prayer together is happy.  Three months from today we should be seeing each other again!

Sleep Issues, Long Day, Short Post. 23 January 2017

I woke in the middle of the night, read scriptures, tossed and turned for several hours, finally put on audio of the New Testament and fell asleep for a few minutes anyway.  So my new strategy is to move the Kindle Fire to the plug by my bed so I can just listen while I drift off to sleep.  Anyway, it will be worth a try.

At lunchtime I was feeling the effects of lack of sleep, so I took two short naps in the lounge by the restroom.  That got me through the rest of the day, which included two stints as Monitor/Greeter, a two-hour Trainers meeting in which it became apparent that I had missed some key elements in the in-service PowerPoint for this week.  Although I had just enough time to fix it before the Library closed, we decided to flip it with the in-service scheduled for next week on safety issues.

I got a letter from my dear friend from back in Missouri.  It is always a pleasure to hear from her.

This evening was the Hail and Farewell social for our branch.  I realized while there that the next one will be when I am getting ready to leave.  The time does seem to be racing by.

I just saw a Facebook post with the news that my youngest granddaugher broke her collarbone! I hope she recovers quickly.

This evening I got to Skype with my Sweetheart--he is not feeling very well, but he sure looks good to me!

Like the title says, this will be a short post.  A big snow was forecast, so there was the chance of a snowday tomorrow, but the advisory was down-graded quite a lot, so we are out of luck on that score, probably.  Yeah, I still appreciate snowdays!

Icy Walkways in the Morning, Sunshine at Noon, Snow by Evening! 22 January 2017

As I walked through the apartment complex on my way to the Tabernacle Choir broadcast, I thought, "It is a shame no one has built a snowman with this great snow!"  In a few minutes, as I passed Temple Square on the West side, I hit two icy patches.  I did not fall, but I slipped. [On my way back from the broadcast I saw that someone did  build a snowman, complete with a carrot nose!]

The Choir broadcast was quite touching.  Earlier in the morning I talked with my daughter about losing a loved one to death, as her father-in-law recently died.  The Spoken Word portion of the broadcast dealt specifically with that situation, and the Music, especially "Be Still My Soul", was also in line with that topic.

When I walked to church services a little after noon, the sun was shining brightly.  I was glad to see my new friend and I walked a little way with her, finding out that she is coming to the same floor in the Library that I serve on!  Then I did have to hurry on to do a rehearsal for the Double Trio plus 1 singing "May I Serve Thee" in both branches today.  All of us had been in the same branch before the mission changed, but now we were split up, so we presented the song in both branches.  I got a lot of positive feedback, so our 3 months of practice was apparently worth the effort!  I have not done much if any small group singing before, so this was a somewhat different experience for me.

In Relief Society I presented a contingency plan for the Young Elder Dinners--I asked for people to sign up if they were willing to do a dinner on short notice.  Only one taker so far, but one is better than no one!  Three sisters signed up who have not yet been involved in the program due to lack of space or finding others to do it with.  So maybe the three of them will be able to be a companionship and enjoy hosting a couple of the Young Elders.

I was able to host such a dinner myself today, and I actually need not have done any cooking!  The two sisters I invited on short notice [one of the scheduled hosts was sick] each brought very tasty dishes--the Japanese sister brought chili, and the sister from Louisiana brought a dish with shrimp and sausage and all other kinds of items, along with a berry cobbler.  I did serve carrot sticks, oranges, rice and sliced chicken breast, also. The elders ate heartily and were most pleased to take home leftovers, even though the one elder is a very good cook. We also enjoyed the spiritual thought that was presented.

On the way back from our services, the snow was falling pretty heavily, although by now it seems to have stopped.  It will be interesting to see what happens on that score tomorrow.

I enjoyed talking with my daughter and granddaughter this morning, and I look forward to a talk with my Sweetheart tonight.

Helping Guests, Checking Records. 21 January 2017

Light snow was forecast for today--so I was a little unprepared for the 6-8 inches that accummulated on my car during the day!  It was nice snowman weather, but I did not have anybody to build a snowman with.  I will just have to wait until next year!

I had forgotten that this was the one Saturday this month that I needed to present the in-service lesson--which was not a problem, since I got to the Library before anyone started to prepare for prayer meeting.  One of the assistant zone leaders was there to conduct the meeting, so I did not have to do triple duty, as I was playing the keyboard as well.  We were fairly late getting started, so I exercised the keyboard player's perogative, and changed the hymn from one with 5 long verses to one with 4 short verses. Doing the in-service was fun, as there was lots of class input.

My time as a Greeter was cut a bit short, as I was asked to help a guest.  It turned out that I got to help several people during the morning, including a woman from Germany who found a record of her great-grandfather.  That was sweet, and necessitated the supervisor finding someone to take my spot as Floor Manager. Most of the rest of the helping was in translating German.

This afternoon was my research time.  I did verify some Ortssippenbuch records by checking the microfilm.  It seems that several of my Eppingen families originated in Switzerland.  I found it interesting that one of the Kupper records was on a page that was mostly illegible--but that particular record was quite clear.

I struggled with staying awake while I was researching, even though I slept pretty well last night.  I was able to avoid sugar, but I succombed to quite a few mini-pretzels. Hopefully cleaning the snow off the car, and kicking the snow away from the front of it burned off some of those calories!

Once I got back to the apartment I did some straightening up of the apartment, as I will have company again tomorrow. I still need to do the dishes, and I look forward to talking with my Sweetheart.

Four Months Till 20 May! 20 January 2017

My Sweetheart reminded me first thing this morning that our wedding will be four months from today!  What a sweet thought!

I did not sleep well last night, but being awake in the middle of the night reminded me that one of the financial things I need to do needed to be taken care of, so I got up to do that.  I realized a couple of other things while I was trying to get back to sleep, so it was not a totally negative experience.  The one bad thing was that my brain was rather fuzzy at the Library today, and I nearly dozed off a couple of times.

One good thing that I found online today was a tutorial for a very helpful genealogical program, RecordSeek.  This free app creates source citations.  I had hoped to find enough information to build an in-service PowerPoint to use in our Level 2 training, but the YouTube video by a director of the BYU Family History Library is, I think, good enough and short enough that we could just provide a link, and remind the more experienced missionaries to view it as a refresher.  I mentioned it during the in-service lesson today, and one missionary who has been here longer than I have did not seem to know anything about it, so we may decide to just show it as an in-service lesson.

I got some scheduling changes arranged today for several things coming up.  I figured out that by splitting my P day, and taking my Research half-day on a different day, I will be able to attend all of the three-day conference called Roots Tech.  I volunteered to stuff goodie bags the week before, which earned me a full 3-day pass.  That will be an exhausting week, as I will work four nights in a row after attending the conference during the day for three of those days.  But unlike concerts and entertainments, I actually want to go to this, so I will manage somehow!

When I got back to the apartment and got my email messages I discovered that one of the hosts for Sunday's Young Elders Dinners is sick, so she cannot provide the dinner, nor the place to hold it. I will have them come to my apartment, as I already have one other sister lined up to help, and I will find another.  That did make a trip out to get a chicken part of my late afternoon, and it was a total blessing that there was neither snow nor rain to impede travel.  However, this situation will be a spur to get backup plans organized for the dinners.

Once I talk this evening with my Sweetheart I will be quite ready to try to make up for last night's decreased sleep.  He is returning to work after a little time off for his medical procedure. I hope the night will not be too difficult.

Collaboration is Good! 19 January 2017

Today my Sweetheart and I had decided it would be a good day to work on our announcements--and we got to do that.  I enjoyed working with him, sending possible formats back and forth, and reworking wording and placement.  We each had things to contribute, and I think the finished product will be perfect for us.

This morning I should not have been surprised by the light snow that fell throughout the day--but I was. There was a fair amount on the ground when I went to get some laundry done. Then  I spent a couple of hours separating out what will go home with me, and what I will get rid of here. Was that the best use of my time? I am not sure--but it felt good to work on that project. Getting the exit papers has just got my mind moving in that direction. I also got the invitations sent off for the Young Elders Dinners.

Although this was my P day, I had a Trainers meeting in the afternoon. That gave me the opportunity to register for Capstone, which will be special classses in Family Tree for five half-days in March and another five half-days in April. Right now that seems a little far off, but I know the time will pass quickly.  I also got to turn in a request for a short leave of absence to visit my Arizona family.  By flipping my P days, I really will not miss any duties at the Library. I am relatively confident that my request will be approved.

I was able also to work a little over an hour on my Eppingen records.  I hope I can glean every pertinent bit of information from the Ortssippenbuch.  Things are going more smoothly now that I am not attaching photos of these secondary records.

My youngest daughter helped me e-file the Personal Property Assessment form, since we had no changes.  It was another of the miracles of modern technology.

I had planned to make flax seed crackers today, but I let the seeds boil too long, so this batch will not be made into crackers.  I hope to do more soon.

I will get to talk again with my Sweetheart tonight, and maybe even work a bit more on our Announcements project.  I think I will then be ready to sleep after a productive day.

Official Exit Papers! 18 January 2017

I maybe should not have been surprised to receive from my zone leader the manila envelope from the Mission Travel department--but I was.  There are still 14 weeks to get through until I leave the mission, but I need to get some forms sent back with in 10 days, and information on my travel companion sent in within 6 weeks, so time is flying by.

I spent some time reworking some PowerPoints today, as I had received a note suggesting that some of the images needed to be enlarged.  No one has claimed responsibility for the unsigned note--but it was a good thing to revisit the three presentations, as I found some other items that needed to be fixed.  I think, though, that I will be quite fine with letting go of this particular responsibility.

I mistook one of the access service missionaries for a sister who had signed up to feed the Young Elders this coming Sunday, but had not responded to my email.  I was glad this happened, because it confirmed something I had suspected--because it requires 3 sisters to feed 2 young elders, some of the single sisters have not figured out how to do this.  Those who live in 1-bedroom apartments actually have less room to entertain than those of us who have studio apartments, because the kitchens are blocked off from the living area--one more reason I am so glad I got a studio apartment.  Anyway, I promised the sister that I would make sure she had the opportunity to participate, and I plan to arrange for the sisters to have a way to contact other sisters with whom they could host a dinner.

I worked through my lunch time again on my Eppingen records, and then for the better part of the next hour.  I figured this hour of working on my own items was in lieu of the hour I have to take from my P day tomorrow for a Trainers meeting, which was rescheduled due to the Monday holiday.  And since I was working in the Training room, I actually did some training duties, too.

Choir practice before and after Mission Conference went pretty well.  Our choir director complimented us on how well we have learned to sing accapella.  Almost every piece we do now has at least a short section of accapella, and "Savior, May I Learn to Love Thee", which we will present next Monday, has the whole last verse without accompaniment.

This evening I talked for a while with my youngest daughter.  She had provided my Sweetheart with transportation to a medical procedure this morning, which I surely appreciated.

Then I was so glad to get to talk with my Sweetheart. In addition to learning about how his procedure went, we talked more about our wedding announcements and our family history work.  We are so very thankful to have electronic miracles that help us to stay in touch--tender mercies.

Exploring Images for Announcements. 17 January 2017

This evening my Sweetheart and I have spent some time looking at images to include in the announcements for our wedding. First we determined which of the engagement images we thought was best, which was easy.  Then we looked at many images of the St. Louis Temple, as that is where our journey together, miracles, and tender mercies began and will continue. Thanks to the marvelous electronic devices, we can collaborate on all of this even though many miles separate us.

My cell phone was not very cooperative this morning as we talked for a while before I had to leave the apartment, but when I started for the Library the call kept dropping. Still, it was very good to have a few minutes to talk.

I had not known that my morning would be taken up with checking one missionary's Level 2 work, and finding all sorts of things that need correction either in the presentation or in the answers in the worksheets. In fact, I think her concerns have also identified places in which parts of our Level 2 training is duplicating the Basic Training.  I think we will be making a good many changes.

Study group got bumped to our original little conference room.  We made the decision to go on to other countries, having spent many months on German resources.  Today we found out how to use some of the resources in Austria.  Next week we will continue with that and then move on to the Czech Republic. I have only 12 weeks left to lead the study group.  The time is truly moving quickly now.

During lunch I went down to B2 to escalation again and got two names released from temple file.  I also checked to make sure I could make some corrections in a family where two brothers had the same name, but the second brother's record had his older brother's birth date attached, instead of his own.

There was a meeting after lunch for the certifiers. Two of the staff members demonstrated a reference interview, and acknowledged that this is more of an art than a science.  Even the professionals do not really have a standard procedure.  Still, the training is valuable.  There is just a whole lot to learn.

Today was Mission Conference, and we had choir practice before the meeting.  The choir director seemed quite pleased with how we sang his favorite hymn, "Behold the Wounds in Jesus' Hands".   The speakers were our branch president and his wife.  He is also the 1st counselor in the mission presidency.

Once I returned to the apartment I spoke a little while with my daughter, and then my Sweetheart and I mostly worked on announcement things.  We will talk again and pray together in a little while. It will be a nice close to a rather long day.

A Very Nice Holiday. 16 January 2017

My day started off very nicely with a phone call from my Sweetheart. We sure enjoyed having the opportunity to talk day and night!

There was a little snow today, but not enough to interfere with a needed trip to the laundromat across the courtyard. Although several people were there, I was able to find an open machine.

It took more than an hour to set up things for the Young Elder Dinners next Sunday.  That is mostly because it has been a long time since I worked with a spreadsheet.  I think I have it figured out now, but I discovered this evening that I had missed sending one of the necessary emails, so I am glad I realized that was the case and could get it sent.  I already received responses from 3 of the 7 hosts, so we have confirmation of feeding 10 of the Young Elders already--and I am pretty sure the others will follow through also, and 22 of the Young Elders will be taken care of.  Our goal is to feed all 36 at least once a month. I think we will meet or exceed that goal easily.

I did a little cleaning up after the dinner last night, and then I set to work on family history. I have a rather bad habit of making cryptic notes on the quarter sheets of paper provided at the Library of records that need some kind of attention.  Today I was able to clear up nearly all of the records for which I had notes.  I did some merging, some attaching of sources and Memories, and even found some records I need to take to escalation.  I am glad I had this time to work on the records.

I had a fun time Skyping with my middle daughter and three of her four children.  My eight-year-old granddaughter had made some pancakes "all by myself!" which she showed me--and then I got to enjoy watching them eat some!

My littlest granddaughter wanted to show me a building toy she was playing with, so my daughter put the computer down on the floor so I could see the kids building while she and I had a very nice conversation.


This evening I enjoyed another Skype conversation, this time with my Sweetheart.  It sure is a treat to get to see him--and we are down to 99 days until we can be together!  He had taken his car in to get the oil changed, and told me about something he had seen on the TV while he was there--a program on tiny houses!  The amazing thing is that I had for many years wanted to build a tiny house, which he had no idea I was interested in.  A couple of years ago I gave up on that dream, but he has great carpentry skills, so maybe we will build that dream together! We really are pretty much like two peas in a pod in our interests and our experiences.  How blessed I am that the Lord brought us together.

Phone Calls and a Dinner. 15 January 2017

My Sweetheart and I talked a couple of times this morning both before and after he picked up Lilly to bring her back to my house.  Then I talked with the friend who kept Lilly for us.  

I did get to the Tabernacle Choir broadcast this morning.  They opened the doors early this morning, which was nice because it was a bit cold. As usual, I enjoyed the songs and the message.  

I had most things ready for the Young Elder Dinner before I left for church services.  That was a good thing, because our services went about 15 minutes late.

The couple who came to help me by being there for the young elders were very nice to be with.  The young elders work in the office that helps fix computers.  Our zone does not have a big problem with that, but the zone in which the couple serve apparently has some computers that need a lot of work, so it was fun to listen to them talk.

Once the elders left I enjoyed telling the couple a little of my story.  Isn't it great that each of us can have our story of how the Lord has manifest His love for us?  I am grateful for the tender mercies I have been shown.

My daughter returned from Florida late this afternoon.  By then the ice was gone, which was another blessing. I enjoyed hearing of some of the things she did on her trip.

My Sweetheart and I brought our day to a nice close with our conversation and then prayer together.

Late Start, but Productive Day. 14 January 2017

Despite, or perhaps because of a bit of oversleeping, I had a fairly productive day. Sadly, I did not get to talk with my Sweetheart this morning, but we had a longer-than-usual talk tonight.  I was glad for a brief text conversation this morning that let me know he was safe.  The ice storm has already resulted in his church congregation's meeting being called off.

At the Library I had several hours to be on the floor before my research time started.  I was able to help several guests during that time:  I explained to a dad and daughter that she could not access his records on Family Tree because he is still living.  However, she could access his Dad's record, and once he entered death information on his Mom, she could access that.  The possibility of getting an Ancestry account was mentioned, so I turned them over to one of the young elders at that point, since he could do that much more efficiently than I could.

I was asked to help with some German research that was not typical.  The couple has their lines back well into the 1700s.  I was able to share Hansen's Map Guide for Hessen-Nassau, but I did not feel like I helped much.  However, the man was very pleased to see how the areas he is searching all fit together, but we got copies made of the relevant pages.  This man will actually be starting a Church Service Mission soon, hopefully in the Library.  Otherwise, I suggested he needs to come on a weekday when we can page a staff member to help him.  Records from Hessen-Nassau are not very accessible.

I got to translate in a general way a Konfirmation certificate, and also explain what confirmation meant in the Lutheran church.  As a former Lutheran, I have had experience with that. I did a little bit of regular deciphering of a record for another guest.

I was just a little late getting to my lunch, and then on to research.  With a short break to take care of a different duty, I was able to spend more than four hours cleaning up Eppingen records and entering more names.  I keep thinking I should be getting finished soon, but I keep finding more descendents of my ancestors.  I have made extensive use of a new Family Tree tool--"Check Your Relationship".  This tool goes back 15 generations, and has been very helpful to keep me focused on what is my own business, and not getting side-tracked.  I was able to determine that a set of parents of one of my relatives was the wrong line. I think I was able to fix that appropriately.

When I left the Library I decided to go back to the Hispanic market to get more pineaples. I also got a bag of discounted bananas to replenish the supply in my freezer.

When I returned to the apartment, I began working on food for tomorrow's dinner.  I decided to make a chopped salad with raw cauliflower as the primary ingredient.  All went well until I poured an 8-oz bottle of Intalian dressing on the salad and tasted it.  The bottle of dressing was "Zesty"! Peppery is how I would describe it!  I decided that I had better make a sweet salad for anyone who can do without Zesty! Blessedly, I had more raw Cauliflower.  So we will have two salad options to choose from.  I also decided that in addition to serving fresh pineapple chunks, I would make a Pineapple Dessert.  So dinner is pretty well ready to go.

I did not get to start this post until quite late, so I will close.

A Surprise Talk, and Taking Care of Business. 13 January 2017

I was blessed to get to talk with my Sweetheart this morning for a little while.  He reported that sprinkles had begun, but nothing major.  He still had a little ways to go, but later he texted, so I know he got where he was going safely.

I knew that I was scheduled to do the in-service lesson for both morning and afternoon prayer meetings.  As I walked into the room I remembered that I also am scheduled to play the keyboard on Friday mornings, so I began setting that up, and running through the hymn, then I played the hymn on the facing page--"Guide Us, O, Thou Great Jehovah".

What I had not been aware of until the announcements were done, and the music was to begin, was that I was also scheduled to give the Spiritual Thought!  The person who has taken over the scheduling does not, apparently, put reminders on people's lockers!  Blessedly, I can talk on just about any Gospel topic for a couple of minutes [our talks are actually supposed to just be one minute long--mine was probably about three minutes]. I used the first verse of "Guide Us..." and then told a little of my conversion story, and how grateful I am that I have the opportunity to help out in the Great Plan of Happiness that our Heavenly Father designed. Several people thanked me for the talk, so I think it touched some hearts.

In the morning I did not actually need to do the in-service as everyone who was there had already seen it. That meant we got done a little early, and I got to work for a few extra minutes on my Eppingen records. My first hour was as a helper, but we had no guests that needed help. Then I was Trainer for an hour, and began a bit of work on an in-service lesson for a nifty tool called IrfanView,  I was still busy with Training duties when another Trainer came to let me know I was scheduled to be Pager--that had changed since I looked at the schedule after prayer meeting!

Actually, I was glad to be Pager, since that gave me some time to get back into the Eppingen records.  I was responsible for paging several specialists, and then one of the new missionaries who was going to be Pager for the first time, asked for a quick run-through of the duties.  By now, after 4 or 5 months, I usually do know what I am doing with that job, but it took me a couple of months to get used to it, so I was glad to help.

For lunch time I ate quickly and worked on Eppingen.  That seems to be working out for most of my lunchtimes.  And every time I think I am nearly through with this particular project, I find another line to keep me busy.

When one of the people in training asked for some help understanding a concept in Google, I used my own name as an example of searching--and pulled up a very nice post that my grandson made after designing the logo for the 2012 family reunion I hosted.  It was really nice to read his thoughts.  I may have read that before, but I don't remember it.  Anyway, I was delighted ti find it.

Once my shift was done I headed for my car--I was glad the ice/snow had melted off of it this afternoon.  My first stop was the post office, where I had a birthday card to mail.  Then I got my hair cut--I have been meaning to get it done since about Christmas, but life and bad weather interfered, so I was glad it worked out today.  Then I drove to the big stores that often have samples--and got quite a few, before buying Vitamin C and a rotisserie chicken. On my way home I stopped at the Hispanic market for some produce.  Small pineapples were on sale, and I am very glad I read the label--"Ripe whether green or yellow". When I got home I had a delicious treat of fresh pineapple.  I may actually go back tomorrow to get another one, so that I can share some with the Young Elders and a missionary couple during our supper together.

A chat and prayer with my Sweetheart has been a lovely ending to this day.  Where he is the storm has not been too bad--but there are two more days to get through. We pray that all who much travel will be protected.

Preparations for Ice Storm in Missouri. 12 January 2017

What a blessing to have warnings of bad weather coming, and to have cell phones to be able to communicate across 1300 miles!  My Sweetheart was able to get my dog taken to my dear angel friend and get her settled in.  This evening he made preparations for the cat--putting out many bowls of food and water, as Kits will probably have to be alone for 2 1/2 days.  The animals will undoubtedly not really understand, but I am so grateful that they are cared for as well as possible in this kind of emergency situation.  I shudder to think what might have occurred had the warning not been given, and if my dear friends had been unable to provide the care the animals need. Tender mercies abound.

In what was quite an unprecedented move, the St. Louis Temple closed this afternoon and will not reopen until Tuesday.  Ice storms just cause all kinds of havoc. We are praying that the elements are tempered, but preparations for the worst are still in order.

I had quite a full day.  I got to talk with my youngest daughter this morning, to let her know that the dog was settled in, and Kits would be taken care of also.

I decided to do laundry in the late morning--and since we are having snow here, it still isn't all the way dry, which is unusual.  But the outfit I am planning to wear is dry--Yay!

I had the dental appointment to get my chipped tooth fixed, so now I am a bit more presentable.  Then I went in to the Library for a meeting.  I actually had an hour to work on my Eppingen lines--mostly just putting them in order, not adding much new.  The records are mostly there, but piecemeal.

The meetings had to do with our study groups.  I was surprised to learn that my group is actually one of the better organized groups.  I have just 13 weeks left, so someone else will need to be asked to head up the group.  One of the other sisters will be leaving about the same time I do.  The three other members are local, although the third sister and her husband are planning to put in their applications to serve a full-time mission.  So there will be some big changes in German--Slavic Study Group #2 in a few months.

My last outing for the day was to attend the 5 pm session at the Salt Lake Temple.  I saw quite a few of the other missionaries there, some for the same session, and some for the 7 pm session.

My Sweetheart and I did not get to talk long tonight, but at least we got to pray together.  I am always grateful for that opportunity.

Tender Mercies! 11 January 2017

My Sweetheart mentioned a couple of days ago that my town in Missouri is due for a prolonged ice storm.  The weather has been ridiculously warm--in the 60s.  This never bodes well in the winter, because when the wind changes, the clash of warm and cold air produces storms that often including sleet and freezing rain.  That is what is due in about 30 hours.

Not only will driving be treacherous, but so will walking outside. I was concerned on several counts:  I did not want my Sweetheart to risk driving back and forth the 25+ miles to work, and I was concerned that even my dog was at risk because she could not get to lawn without passing over concrete, presenting a hazard even for anyone staying at my house.

The tender mercies of the Lord had us covered.  I called my dear friend in the subdivision, She was more than willing to have Lilly come to her house, where she will have a warm area in a walk-out  basement to stay. No one, including Lilly, will be at risk of breaking any bones when she needs to go out. My dear friend will even work from home an extra day in order to make the transfer to her house even smoother! Today she was an angel for me--and for Lilly and for my Sweetheart.

I was busy today at the Library, first checking a missionary's worksheet for Level 2.  This missionary was able to spot some errors in the answers, and also some unclear instructions.  I passed on that information and it has been corrected.  Another missionary turned in the rest of her Level 1 worksheets, so she got to shadow the floor positions, As it turned out, she not only shadowed the positions, she filled two of them!

Today I got confirmation that there is a need for me to volunteer at Roots Tech 2017.  This entitles me to the three days of the conference. I probably will not get to all of the time, but I should at least make it for some of the time.

I am looking forward to my P day tomorrow--and ready to sleep the night away!

Productive Day, and a Nice Dinner Party with MTC Single Sisters. 10 January 2017

I had decided to go in to the Library at 8 instead of 7:30, so I could talk with my Sweetheart--and that was a very happy thing to do.

I started out my day at the Library doing more work on the Eppingen lines, attaching people to their proper families.  I returned to that work during my lunch time, and also somewhat in the afternoon.

I had some time to prepare for Study Group, and I was led to review the German topics we had not fully gone over. I found a site that had a tutorial for how to use the Hessen Archives website, and saw records for some of my Kalbfleisch relatives from Merlau. I also explored the Wuerttemberg Church Records online--images on Ancestry from some of the microfilms from FamilySearch.  Some of the indexed records on FamilySearch have the images posted on Ancestry.  There is no overt connection, but it is possible to use the two sites in conjunction with one another.

The in-service lesson on Reference Interview demo was actually quite fun.  I was delayed a little after the lesson because one of the new missionaries asked how to get to know which records to recommend.  During the Trainers meeting yesterday, as we went through and refined the PowerPoint I had made, there was some focus on the Record Finder which is on most if not all Wiki pages on individual countries.  So I was able to share that information--and maybe that will become another in-service lesson.

I had just enough time to get to the temple to do just a little work, and then I hurried home to get ready to meet the other single sisters from my MTC group.  One of the sisters felt we had each invited her to meals and she does not like to cook, so she paid for our meals at a nice steakhouse.  I have to admit that the first bite reminded me of loving in love with steak the first time I ever had it when I was 9 years old. We were visiting my grandfather in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and he took us all to a restaurant and I had steak.  Yummmm!

I had not expected that our evening would be quite so long, but it was interesting to hear the other sisters tell of their experiences here on the mission, and also in their lives before.

This evening was rounded out by a chat with my Sweetheart--and now it is time to call it a night!

The Rains Came and Washed the Car Clean! 9 January 2017

Monday is usually a very early morning, and today I got out even earlier than usual.  That turned out to be a very good thing.  As I had suspected would happen, the rain washed the snow and ice off of the car.  I felt I needed to drive to the dollar store during my lunch time, so I moved the car close to the exit gate to make a quicker trip. Then I started for choir practice and was 2/3rds of the way there when I realized I did not have my music folder! I checked in the car on my way back, but it wasn't there, so I had to go all the way back to the apartment--where it was nicely on the table. I did learn something from this, which was that even though I was a few minutes late, there were quite a few people who came in even later. But I was glad I had gotten an early start so that I only missed the stretching exercise we do at the beginning of practice.

We only got to sing "Behold the Wounds in Jesus' Hands" one time, because our director wanted us to improve more on the hymn for today--"Our Savior's Love".  The goal is to touch the hearts of the congregation, and apparently that happened, as one of the sisters in my zone told me how it had affected her.  We still have two practices before we sing "Behold the Wounds" for Mission Conference next week.

After the devotional I was greeted by the sister who has been completing the work on the Young 

Elder Dinners.  She informed me that another sister and I would now be responsible for doing all of the tasks associated with feeding the young elders in our branch. I am not extremely surprised by this, and there was some time available to go to the mission offices and observe what needed to be done.  I was blessed in that the Young Elder who is the Assistant to the President for our branch, when he got my email to send me a list of the elders, also offered to receive the lists and invitations electronically.  I will be very happy to take him up on that offer. 

While I was there at the mission offices I stopped in to the nurses' office to weigh myself.  I was relieved to find that I had not put on any weight over the holidays--or that I had taken it back off by keeping away from sugar, and by not eating later at night.

At the Library I got some items ready for tomorrow's study group. Then I had some time in the Training room, and then an hour at the Greeter's desk.  I was disappointed that my iPad would not access the internet in the Library--and was worried that it was finally dying.  But it is working just fine back here in the apartment.

I was able to get to the dollar store and back during my lunch time, even though I mistakenly stayed at the Library an extra 10 minutes.  I had brought a bit of food with me to just eat in the car, so I had it pretty well planned out.  There was no active precipitation at the time, so the trip was quick and easy.

At our Trainers meeting I was very relieved that one of the sisters had figured out a scenario to use for inservice this week to demonstrate a reference interview.  Then I was able to share a couple of inservice PowerPoints I have prepared already for subsequent weeks.  

Back at the apartment this evening I have been working on cleaning up more Eppingen records.  I have taken some notes to help me figure it out, and I think that work is going pretty well.  

In a few minutes I will Skype with my Sweetheart, and then I hope to get some good sleep.

News of My New Great-Granddaughter, Freezing Precipitation and a New Missionary Friend. 8 January 2017

I received a text this morning with news that my new great-granddaughter arrived safely yesterday.  I am most grateful that both Mom and Baby are doing well.  A little later I talked with my Virginia granddaughter.  She has an orchestra concert coming up Tuesday.  I am sure she will do very well.  She is quite talented musically, playing both piano and violin.

I had a little time to begin indexing before I left for the Tabernacle. Then, as I picked my way across the somewhat frozen parking lot I noticed a sister I had not seen before, walking with a cane.  At first I just greeted her, and kept on walking.  Then maybe the Spirit prompted me to turn back and greet her properly and walk with her. She is a new missionary, serving a second mission.  She has done a lot of family history, so I suspect we will get her in the Library [assignments will be made 20 January], but probably on the US/Canada floor, not in the International Zone.

Anyway, it was good to walk with her and hear her story.  Since I can no longer sit up by the tympanii, it does not matter much to me where I sit, so getting there a little later than I usually do was not a big deal.  We actually sat right behind the control station, which was quite interesting in itself.  There is a small monitor there, but no closed captioning.

I usually do not pay much attention to the presentation between the rehearsal and the broadcast, but this time I did just enough to remember something from my pre-teen years.  I was quite the sports fan, mainly of baseball, and on Sunday morning there was a radio program about the St. Louis Cardinals and other baseball teams that I listened to--but when I turned the radio on a bit earlier, I would listen to Music and the Spoken Word.  I do not remember whether I knew it was "Mormon", and I do not remember the particulars, but I do know that something was said during one of the broadcasts that touched my heart.

Remembering that touched my heart today, and tears sprang to my eyes several times after that.  I am truly grateful for the experiences which prepared me to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

After the broadcast we were invited to exit the building rather quickly.  Perhaps that was related to the ice that was falling off the roof outside, for by that time the temperature had risen enough to impact the snow/ice cover.

My Louisiana friend [the new missionary was born, raised and joined the Church there] felt the walking was still too treacherous to go back to the apartment and come back a few hours later.  At first I thought the North Visitor's Center would be the best place for her to wait, but then I reconsidered.  We made our way to the South Visitor's Center where I was able to show her the best way to get to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building when it was time for church services.

I went back to the apartment and did a little indexing and then started working on my Eppingen line, figuring out how people in the Ortssippenbuch should be connected in Family Tree. I got a fair amount done.

I sat in Fast & Testimony meeting with sisters from my MTC group. Since about half of the Young Elders are now in the other branch, several of the Senior missionaries had time to bear their testimonies. At the end of the meeting I found my Louisiana friend and invited her to participate in Preach My Gospel.  She seemed to enjoy that very much, more so than the sister I invited last week.  The two young elders who taught us were quite well prepared, and able to talk a little more in depth than some of the young elders.

Then we went to Relief Society, where the new sister missionaries had time to introduce themselves.  Then we heard from our new Relief Society leaders. At the end of the meeting, one of the Louisiana sister's MTC group offered her a ride.  I was very glad for that.  I showed them how to access the parking garage--because the building used to be a hotel, it is rather disconnected.

Now that Preach My Gospel is held during Sunday School time, I was back at the apartment by 4:30.  That will make hosting Young Elder Dinners at 5:15 a whole lot easier.  Today I just had a big apple, beans and wheat, flax seed crackers with peanut butter and honey, topped off with a frozen banana. A tiny sliver of Swiss cheese added to the enjoyment,

After supper I got the postings sent off for next week's Young Elders Dinners, and once I finish this blogpost I will probably go back to Family Tree while I wait for the nightly call from my Sweetheart--and tomorrow we will video chat!  Happy Monday!

Twice to the Temple, Swap Meet, and Laundry. 7 January 2017

By following my usual morning schedule I was able to make it to the 8 a.m. session at the Temple.  I wanted to be there at that time because I knew my Sweetheart would be in the St. Louis Temple at the same time.  Even though we have to endure this separation of 1300 miles, it is just nice to think that we are together in the Temple.

I went back to the apartment and prepared some clothing items to take to the Swap Meet. One item I had not thought of taking until yesterday--a heavy woolen coat.  Since my Totes mid-length coat has served me so well, I only once thought of wearing that other coat, so I thought someone else might well be able to actually use it.  Sure enough, someone did take it, so I hope it gets to keep someone warm.  I have noticed that except for yesterday morning when it was just bitter cold, as long as I have a barrier, the cold does not bother me too much.  I almost always wear layers--and sometimes I find that after a bit of a walk, I need to shed some of those layers.

At the Swap Meet I picked up a few clothing items, but I was mostly looking for containers to transport food items.  I was able to get several, and, in addition, I got a big styrofoam box.  In case my rolling insulated cart does not survive another 3 1/2 months, I want something for the trip back to Missouri to keep food items cool.  I am glad that the time seems to be moving quickly.

I had planned to stay at the temple longer in the afternoon, but a big session made that unrealistic.  Instead I came back to the apartment and did a load of laundry.  The laundromat was very busy, but I did not have to wait too long to get a washing machine, and since I just hang up my laundry in my big closet and my bathroom, it was not too bad.  While I was waiting for the wash to finish I went to warm up the car, even though there was no possibility of traveling anywhere.  In addition to the top of the car having at least an inch of ice on most surfaces, the wheels are still snowbound! Monday we are supposed to get rain, so maybe it will warm up enough to thaw things out.

Tonight I plan to get a bit more family history done. I will also talk with my Sweetheart. And that will wrap up one more week!

Compelling Evidence of My 3rd Great-grandparents! 6 January 2017

Today was an Allwardt day!  Again because of the training, I took a closer look, along with one of the new missionaries, at the image of the 1819 Mecklenburg-Schwerin census, that seemed to have a record of my 2nd great-grandfather--but the date was off by a month.  The record seemed to indicate that he was the child [along with 3 others] of Jochim Allwardt and Sophia Schneider, and it listed their birth dates and places.

There were definitely some reproter and indexer mistakes, but one of the native German missionaries helped me in several ways. She explained that the abbreviation "Joch." was for the name "Jochim", which is a different name than the "Joachim" my ancestor used here in the United States.determine where to look to see if records were available--and the answer was "Yes!" I was able to find the record of my 2nd great-grandfather's birth and christening record, nicely written and easy to read--with my 3rd great-grandparents' names very clearly stated!

The next round of looking was less successful.  Although the census gave dates and places of birth for all the individuals involved, I was unable to find them so far in the extensive records for the area.  I will have to keep looking. Like housework, family history is never done! There is always more to do.

This morning was the first time that I felt really cold while walking to the Library.  Apparently the temperature was about 4 above zero.  That is just plain cold, humidity or no humidity.

It had been my plan to go to the dollar store this afternoon, but what I had somewhat feared had happened.  The snow storm earlier this week was preceded by temperatures in the 40s--and rain.  The car now has a blanket of ice, so even though I was able to remove most of the snow, the ice remains.  As it turned out, I had to walk back to the Library because I had left my flashdrive in one of the computers there.  I am glad I did, because there were a couple of people looking for me, including the couple who will get married in less than a month--they wanted to give me an invitation to their temple wedding, which is quite an honor. I will be delighted to attend!

My Sweetheart called me this morning while he was warming up his car after work--Missouri is having North Pole weather also.   Then we talked again tonight--it is such a blessing to be able to communicate every day.

Half a P day due to Meetings. 5 January 2017

Someimes Blogspot does not do what I think I have asked it to do.  Hence, there are two posts identified by posting date for today. However, one of them was from yesterday!  Apparently I did not click the "Publish" button in exactly the right way last night, so I posted yesterday's this morning when I discovered the problem.  I include the date of writing in the title, so it probably will not bother too many people!

When I went out this morning to walk the steps I was greeted with very bright light--the maintenance people apparently changed the bulbs in the light fixtures!  I hope they do not choose to do that in the hallways, too.

One of my MTC group saw me doing the stairs when she came back to the apartment to get a broom to clean off her car--we did get a couple of inches of snow overnight.  She told me, " I admire you for climbing the stairs every morning."  As I told her, "If I do not do this, I just sleep."  I admit to being positively addicted to exercise.  For me it is a survival strategy.  I seem to require this in order to function very effectively.

Due to a couple of meetings I needed to attend, I only got three hours of P day today, but that was happy in the the previous two days I got to go in 2 hours late, so I got to talk with my Sweetheart all three days in the morning--plus Monday, because of the holiday.  That blessing will end tomorrow, as it is an early day.

I spent about half an hour making a big fruit salad this morning.  I also took close to a dozen oranges.  I was surprised that the oranges were all eaten at the potluck luncheon, while I got to bring half of the fruit salad back with me.  Not that I mind that situation much.  I have some difficulties with citrus, so I won't miss the oranges, and I really like fruit salad, so I am set for a couple of days with that. I did avoid the sugary desserts, although I had a small piece of nut bread with butter, which is not something I eat often. I also had a small dollop of a creamy fruit dessert on top of a helping of my own fruit salad.  That was very enjoyable.

Since this is not a day I regularly work, when my meetings were finished I was scheduled as a helper, not a Trainer.  I actually did get to help two guests with three different problems--they were all questions concerning Family Tree, not research questions, or translation.  I did help one of the other missionaries decipher a little bit of German script.

I decided to stay about an hour late in the Library in order to work on my own family history.  I am making sources out of the Eppingen records that I originally put into Memories.  Most of these early ancestors whose records are in Family Tree have no sources, so I do not feel too badly about using secondary sources from the published Town Books.  I guess this is just another evidence that I am not really a researcher.  In the in-service I am working on, the information given is that unless one has two sources with confirming evidence, a definitive conclusion cannot be reached. I am glad just to get one source for these records from the late 1500s through the late 1800s.

I just checked the local weather, and the temperature is now 8.  That was supposed to be the overnight low, so I guess it will get even colder.  Still, when I was out about 90 minutes ago to empty the trash, I did not feel extremely cold.  I like that part of low humidity, even though my skin and hair are not very happy with it!

Talking with My Sweetheart Makes Every Day Special! 4 January 2017

I slept very well last night, and I have wondered if the improvement is because I am avoiding sugar, and avoiding eating after 7 p.m. This evening it was a little difficult to avoid both  sugar and eating late, as I did not get to eat supper until about 6:30, and I would not have minded some sugar at all!  But so far my resolve has held.  I hope that will continue.  If  I am consistently sleeping better, that will be great motivation.

The start of the day was very nice, since not long after I finished breakfast my Sweetheart called. I am so glad when we get to talk in the morning as well as in the evening.

I had an idea of how to proceed with attaching sources to my Eppingen ancestors, and I began that, but I ran into records that just needed to be fixed.  Then I found that some of my fixes were not accurate, and that was quite frustrating.  I hope I can get them all straightened out.

Most of my time today at the Library was as a Trainer or as a Certifier.  I definitely prefer the training duties, so Wednesdays are typically not my favorite.  In the Training room I made progress on an in-service lesson, but it seemed like I might not be including all that was needed.  I will ask one of the other Trainers to take a look at it this coming week.

We had choir practice this afternoon, after a two-week break. We will sing "Our Savior's Love" next Monday, and "Behold, the Wounds in Jesus' Hands" for Mission Conference the following week. A week from Sunday, the double trio I am participating in will sing "May I Serve Thee".

The snow that was expected never arrived.  Supposedly there is a 100% chance of snow tonight, but the accumulation has been downgraded.  Now there should only be 1 to 3 inches instead of 4 to 8!

I was a little concerned about not having enough fruit for the Recognition potluck tomorrow, but I unexpectedly found nearly a dozen oranges to take in addition to the fruit I will cut up in the morning to make a fruit salad.  There will be plenty!

When I talk with my Sweetheart this evening I will have a good ending to the day.  Happy bookends are nice.

Butler Hill is Set--and so is My New Password! 3 January 2017

My P day is piecemeal this week because of two meetings on Thursday.  I do not mind, since Saturday is my temple day, so I will not need to go on Thursday--and that is a very good thing.  We have snow forecast for tomorrow and Thursday both! I decided to start the car late this afternoon, but I may not get to drive anywhere for a while.  The parking lot is quite snowy already, and two more days of snow will only add to the mess.  Other than not getting out to buy more apples to use for Thursday's pot luck luncheon, this is not a problem. I definitely have enough food to get by with.

Today I got to have a two-hour late start as part of my P day hours. That allowed me to have a nice talk with my Sweetheart.  This evening we won't get to talk very long, so that was the reason I asked to have my P day hours this morning. I was able to share with him that we have the Stake Center reserved for May 20! Exciting that things are falling into place quite nicely.

I got to the Library just a few minutes before Study Group was supposed to start, so I had time to call Global Support, get a temporary password, and then go in and change my password.  And it works!!! Yay!

As it turned out, we did not actually have Study Group.  One of the sisters had a different obligation, one of the elders was sick, the other elder was busy the whole hour with a guest, and the other sister arrived about 20 minutes late. Since I was not totally prepared, I was not at all unhappy with this situation.  I got to work a bit on my own things for a pleasant half hour. I figured out a puzzling situation in my line, back about 14 generations!

I had planned to stay and work on my own research during lunch time, but I ended up going to the escalation department and getting another puzzling situation resolved.  One of my ancestors was listed as both a boy and a girl--and this is not a situation I could resolve on my own, even though I had evidence that there was only a male child.  The elder in escalation showed me how this probably had happened, and began the resolution of the problem.

Once that was done I just had time to get to another meeting.  That was held up on the third floor in an administrative area I had seen but had never been in.  The meeting seemed to be quite productive. So even though it was held during a time when I was supposed to have skill development time, I thought that fit pretty well.  The next hour I worked on another in-service lesson.  The following hour I taught the currect in-service lesson.

After leaving the Library I went to the temple for a short time. After that I started the car, and got most of the snow removed--at the time I had not known that tonight through Thursday at noon we are due for yet another storm!

Here at the apartment I was planning to work on family history, but it is a little harder to do here without my resource materials at hand, so I decided to write this post.  Maybe I will tackle some family history work a bit later.

Password Problems Permit Unexpected Pursuits, 2 January 2017

This morning I diligently made my donations, and then sent emails to the people who might be responsible for scheduling the South St. Louis Stake Center facilities for our reception on 20 May.  I then dutifully changed my LDS account password, as requested in an email sent early this morning.  I am so glad I got the first items done before trying to change my password, since I now cannot get in with any password!

I had told my Sweetheart when I talked with him after I changed the password, but before I discovered neither the old nor the new password is working, that I was planning to just stay inside today and work on family history, since we did get more snow.  However, with the password problem, I had to rethink my approach to this holiday.  I recalled how I used to be glad to have a holiday when I was a school nurse, so that I could just stay home and take care of some housework that just did not happen while I was working. So that is what I did today.

I cooked my weekly wheat, and made a nice batch of kidney beans [I texted my Cuban sister to say I wished I could share them with her--I made them the way she taught me]. It was a good thing I was just staying in, because I managed to set off the smoke detector alarm with both the wheat and the beans!  There were a few which got a bit burnt, but not to make them inedible.

Then I decided to try making flax seed crackers again.  I used a brand-name of parchment paper, and left out some of the water [rather than increasing the flour, as I recently learned is apparently the usual way to deal with high-altitude baking], and the results were very good.  Then I decided to experiment with the old, cheap parchment paper AND try making a batch of sweet crackers, and the results were not quite as bad as they had been recently, but not totally satisfactory, either.

While the second batch of crackers was baking, I decided to thoroughly clean the refrigerator.  It was good that the frig is much like my frig at home, because I was not initially successful at removing some of the shelves.  But I was able to persist until I figured out exactly how to do it.  Now the frig is nice and clean, and the few items which had perished are now in the garbage bag, waiting to go outside [I decided that could wait until the morning, so that I could really just stay inside today].

I did stop to read a bit, and I ended up napping for a few minutes.  Then I decided that the stove top could also use a cleaning.  I was very relieved that the drip pans cleaned off quite easily.  I have used foil inserts almost from the first while here, and what they did not catch scrubbed off nicely.

I eventually realized that while I had cleaned the frig, I had not cleaned the freezer [but I had done that a few weeks ago]. When I just looked in to see if I really should do that too, I noticed my favorite ice cream substitute--frozen bananas!  I had forgotten that last week I was able to restock my supply when I took the Japanese sister to the Hispanic market, and got two big bags for a dollar apiece. I took a bit of a break and enjoyed that treat!

I did get the transcription I have been working on sent off to be posted--and then one of the other FairMormon volunteers offered to proof it, so I sent it off to her, too.  I also discovered that, unlike most of the conference talks, this one had the video posted! But the transcript is valuable, too, and working on it gave me a greater appreciation for The Book of Mormon. I invite everyone to check out

Finishing up the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project: An Introduction to The History of the Text of the Book of Mormon
Royal Skousen and Stan Carmack found at 

http://www.fairmormon.org/fair-conferences/2016-fairmormon-conference/book-mormon-critical-text-project

Now I am waiting for another treat--a video chat with my Sweetheart!  That, we hope, will be a Monday-night tradition until we can be together on Monday nights for Family Home Evening.

Happy New Year, Happy New Mission and Branch. 1 January 2017

Happy New Year, everyone! 2017 looks to be quite a year.  May we all thrive despite whatever opposition comes our way.

My day started out nicely, although I did not get to talk with my Virginia granddaughter. I think the family is still traveling back from the Carolinas.  But I got a couple of batches of German indexing done, although I returned the Polish batch I downloaded earlier.  I just do not trust my reading of the extra letters.  I did gain a little better understanding of what is wanted when there are extra letters in the language.  Despite the fact that the program will question the use of the extra letters, capturing those letters is wanted by the programmers.  I guess they just want to make sure the indexers are sure the extra letters are really there.

I did not get to sit in my usual spot for Music and the Spoken Word.  None of the audience got to sit in the close by sections of the Tabernacle.  However, my seat way up top at the back of the Tabernacle was nice enough.  In fact, I could hear the instructions of Mack Wilberg, the director, to the choir between the rehearsal and the actual broadcast better than from some of the other spots.

I got to talk with my Sweetheart as I was walking back to the apartment, and I expect we will talk again tonight for a bit.

I had nearly two hours between the broadcast and our church service, since the reorganization of the Mission, and the reorganization of the branches has removed our choir director, and most of our music people.  In our special joint meeting in the third hour there was interest expressed in doing a branch choir, so maybe it will happen.  Otherwise I may have an extra hour each Sunday to work on indexing or my own research.

We learned more about the changes in the Mission today.  Previously this mission has not been under the direction of the Missionary Department.  Instead it has been under the Family History Department.  Apparently this change has been in the works for a long time, and everything is now in place to help it happen.

Our branch is organized differently now, so the people we work with in the Library will almost all be together in the branch.  It is nice to be with more of our fellow workers from the International Zone. Still, there are friends that are now in the other branch.

This evening I have been working on getting pictures transferred from my tablet to Family Tree.  Some of that is going nicely.  Other parts, not so much.

Texting is a great way to keep in touch with my family.  I just learned a few minutes ago that my third great-grandchild has not yet arrived.  I will be happy when she is safely here.