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!
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