Glorious Meetings and More Meetings

We had  many marvelous meetings this past week, Last Monday I received a call from Security downstairs telling me I had a visitor here to see me. He gave me a name that sounded familiar; but since I wasn't expecting anyone I couldn't quite place the name. As I rode down the elevator to escort the person up to our floor I thought about the name. I finally remembered who it was. She had given her married name so it took a little while to place her. When I walked out of the elevator I was pleasantly surprised to see Jodi Bean Clark waiting to visit me. She made my day. As it turned out she just started working at the Church Office Building part time and that was her first day. We hope to have lunch together sometime in the future. I took her upstairs and gave her the grand tour. Steve was surprised to see her too. Such fun.

On Tuesday we had our weekly department meeting. At the end of the meeting, one of our missionaries informed everybody that I had a birthday the previous Friday so they all sang to me. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir they were NOT. lol. I was so surprised. Then we had a "floor" meeting for lunch for just our missionaries. Steve and I went down to the cafeteria to pick up lunch. On our way back upstairs to our surprise we met Elder Cook and Elder Gong. We got to ride up in the elevator with them and had a pleasant conversation. That same day we also saw Elder Soares from a short distance but did not have a conversation with him. We had a nice lunch but I was surprised we didn't talk anything about our work. Then, Sister Petty disappeared for a few minutes and came back with a pan of cupcakes and a bouquet of flowers. They all sang Happy Birthday to me again. I was so surprised.

On Wednesday as we got into the elevator in the morning a young man came up to us and said, "you're from Oregon aren't you?" He then proceeded to tell us he knew us and told us he is Craig and Linnell Mikkelsen's son. He works on the 25th floor and was just coming back to the office since Covid over a year ago. We had a pleasant visit with him on the ride up. Steve saw him again on Friday while he as changing elevators on the 25th floor. We have to take two different elevators to get to our floor. We take the express to the 25th floor and then go down a different hall to get to another elevator that just goes from the 25th floor to the 28th floor.

Thursday started our "normal" meetings. I was very excited to participate in the Mission Leadership Seminar where new Mission Presidents get trained. It was a massive Zoom meeting that we provided in 8 different languages. A couple languages were done in country but on Saturday we had all eight in Salt Lake City. Our meetings went from early morning until the end of the day on Thursday, Friday, and almost all of Saturday. We got to hear a few of the talks; but we were quite busy through most of the seminar. We provided two meals a day for up to 56 people. We also provided a wide variety of snacks for three breaks each day. It was a lot of setup and clean up and boxing up left over food so the interpreters could take it home with them.

Each day a different member of the First Presidency spoke. Their talks were powerful and sometimes I felt very personal to me. The Spirit was strong and I heard the messages Heavenly Father had just for me. For example President Nelson spoke on Thursday morning about the Prophet Joseph Smith. He shared many facts I did not know and instilled in me an even greater love for the Prophet of the Restoration. President Oaks spoke on Friday morning. I didn't get to hear all of his talk as I was very busy, but what I heard I enjoyed very much. On Saturday morning President Eyring gave the opening talk. He shared how the Mission Presidents were called, but it is not just Mission Presidents it is ALL missionaries. During his talk I again received an overwhelming confirmation from the Spirit that we are where we are supposed to be and we are here at this exact time because we have a work to do. We are not just another body filling a spot, but we are here for a reason that is unique to us.

We also heard from Apostles and other members of the Missionary Executive Council. Elder Holland's message particularly touched me. I needed to hear what he had to say. But then again, I could say that about every single talk I heard. Like I said, I didn't hear a lot of them, but the ones I was able to here were so powerful.

Thursday after we finished lunch, Steve had to run over to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. We get there through the underground parking. While he was walking he saw Elder Bednar going to his car. With all the construction going on, the General Authorities parking has been moved to just outside the Church Office Building, which is why we have been able to see so many General Authorities lately.

We finished up around 2:30 on Saturday after Elder Uchtdorf's closing remarks. We cleaned all the interpretation booths that were used, restocked water, pencils, paper, and anything else that may be needed in the booths. And since it was the weekend we also had to empty all the trash. We left about 3:00.

One the things that amazes me the most is the incredible work our interpreters do. All of the speakers had to post their talk in advance to be translated into the 8 different languages. Every time they make a change it had to be uploaded again and the changes needed to be translated. Some of the speakers went through 12 and even 20 different revisions. As long as it is early enough it goes through the translation department and the interpreters can just read the new translation. HOWEVER, when the changes are given the night before or even the morning of, as was the case every single day of this conference, the interpreter is responsible to make those changes in their copies. Minor changes are no big deal. HOWEVER we had at least one speaker (but it think it was two speakers) who ended up changing their entire talk the night before. The only thing they kept was the title. In that case the interpreter can either try and translate the new talk before they are to give it or, sometimes it is just easier, to interpret the talk on the fly as they speak. I am in awe with all that our interpreters do.

We had the privilege of  sitting with different interpreters during several of our meals together. It was so nice to visit with them and learn about them. We had Saturday lunch with the Fung family. They interpret Cantonese. Their whole family is part of the team. they have two boys so usually it is the father, mother, and one of the boys. But when it is just brethren then it will be the father and both boys. They have lived in the United States for 18 years. They are AWESOME.

This is a picture of the 26th floor ballroom where we had our meals on Saturday.

This is a picture of the Fung family. Father: Man Yiu Richard Fung, Mother: Man Han Berinda Tsang, and Son: Deric Fung.

They are a delight!!!!

 Blessings, Blessings, and More Blessings

We had another very full week and also a little more relaxed weekend. After working  nearly seven straight days, including a long Saturday and Sunday, we finally had a day off last Monday. I kept my slippers on the whole day! I didn't know what to do with myself so I worked on HawkSoft stuff for part of the day, hahaha.

Tuesday started with a bang. It started with us finally getting our computers. We still didn't have all the authority we needed to do our work; but, at least we had computers. We attended our department meeting via Teams. We had lots of last minute changes (we seemed to have lots of last minute changes all week!). And we ended the day by participating in an event that evening. An event is usually a video that requires interpretations into other languages. We help the interpreters get setup up and if they need anything during the meeting. If all goes well, we get to watch the event while it is occurring (sometimes we even get it in English if the Engineer sends the right feed. lol). Tuesday night we got to watch the Hill Cumorah Pageant that will be broadcast publicly in July. There were a few other events going on at the same time; but we watched the Hill Cumorah. It can get a little crazy.

Wednesday was another busy day followed by another couple events at the same time. We usually facilitate meals for these events so that is both fun and a little stressful. It is fun because we get to mingle with the Interpreters. We meet people from all over the world. Lucky for us they all speak English but some have very strong accents. (In the picture the Sister in the front speaks Cantonese, the Brother in the middle speaks Spanish, and the Sister at the end speaks Tongan. The Brother in the mask also speaks Cantonese. The couple behind him are Elder and Sister Hansen. They are our trainers. They are talking to Curtis who is the Supervisor for the night and I'm also in the group. (The picture is actually of our Thursday evening event.)

Wednesday night we didn't actually hear the event. It was in Spanish with an English interpretation; however, they had trouble sending us the English interpretation. Soooooo, we spent the evening talking with Curtis. He is fascinating and knows a lot about a lot of things, including some of the software we are using. Needless to say I asked a lot of questions and thoroughly enjoyed myself and felt well fed!

Thursday was just insane! We had cancelations from some of our Interpreters so Supervisors were scrambling to get replacements. We were scrambling to make all the changes in the software so they can get paid. Steve and Sister Hansen were scrambling to make adjustments so the meals were still going to be OK. We enjoyed a wonderful meal and great company before we headed up for the events. We had 6 different events going on at the same time with 17 languages. Some of the languages were repeated but we needed separate interpreters because they were different events. Also, some of the languages were done in country and not at Salt Lake so that made things a "little" less crazy. To make matters worse, that particular night the Engineers had trouble getting the sound right. The interpreters for the same language couldn't hear each other so they didn't know when they could speak. We try to match the interpreters with the gender of the speaker. There is always a slight delay as they interpret so the next speaker needs to here when the first interpreter stops speaking before they start interpreting. They finally got it all straightened out, however, they never did get us any sound so we didn't get to hear any of the events. That was OK because Curtis was there again and kept us entertained. Actually with that many events we had all but one of our supervisors there that night.

Friday was a more relaxed day. We only worked until 1:30. We didn't have any evening events. WOW. And we didn't have any local events scheduled for the weekend because of Father's Day. We did have a couple oversees events, but all we have to do for those is enter them in the computer.

So Friday started our holiday. We had a relaxing afternoon before going to Thomas Bever's wedding reception. It was so fun to see people from home. We enjoyed a nice visit with the whole family at different times throughout the evening. And I got to see and hold Emily's baby. She is so cute!!!

After the reception we met up with Laila and Tyus for some frozen yogurt. We had a wonderful visit with them. It sure made my birthday special! I can't believe we didn't take any pictures with them. I'm not sure we will get to see them again before they move back to Oregon. They are leaving next weekend and we have the biggest event of the month next weekend from Thursday through Saturday all day long. It is the Mission Presidents Training Seminar. I'm excited to be able to watch that.

Last Sunday evening was the Face to Face with Elder Andersen for the Single Adults. It was a wonderful broadcast. They filmed part of it in Ashton Gardens in Lehi, Utah in the Light of the World Garden. They have some incredible bronze statues of the life of the Savior. Well, it is only about 30 minutes from us so we decided to go see it on Saturday. There are lots of other things to see at the whole facility so we spent several hours enjoying the park. I can't possibly post all the pictures we took so I will post a few of them for you. This particular day they had three events going on. One was the Fairy Tale Festival. There were LOTS of kids dressed up in costume with so many adorable little princesses and dudes roaming around. They also had a Nature Connects Made with LEGO bricks exhibit all around the gardens. And of course the Light of the World exhibit. We took pictures of all the bronze statues and all the LEGO creations (in honor of Djeryd). We did get one of Elsa and Anna for Elle. Enjoy  the pictures!

Here are some of the LEGO exhibits.

These are the fantastic bronze statues. The attention to detail is incredible.

 Event Central

We are settling into our new positions and learning our duties. The main thing we do is coordinate interpreters for all the different events the Church sponsors. We also attend most of those events and perform different responsibilities during each event. We do have some time during the event that we get to sit down and actually watch the event as it is happening... at least for a little while.

Since we have been here we have attended all or portions of 15 different events. Now that we know what we are doing for the events we will trade off with the other missionary couple so we both don't have to attend all the events. It can get a little crazy. For example this weekend we covered the morning events for both Saturday and Sunday. We also came back and helped with the Sunday afternoon event because it was much larger and include about 40 people. Part of our responsibilities is to arrange meals for the interpreters. We have to set it up, monitor it, clean it up and we usually pack all the left overs in bags so the interpreters can take them home. We also have to clean, sanitize, and restock all the booths when they are done. We also make sure they have water, cough drops, and mints to help keep their throats clear.

The most fun is getting to talk to


and visit with the interpreters, supervisors, and any other support staff such as the engineer who makes everything work. Most of these people are from all over the world. They are so sweet and fun to get to know. We have 4 supervisors. Baptiste is from France. Eunlan is from Taiwan. Curtis is from the Netherlands. And Aaron is from the US. We also have some support staff. Sara is from Italy, but is over the Spanish and Italian teams. Jeanpierre is from France and speaks 5 different languages and can understand 6 more. They are all amazing.

And of course one of the best parts is to be able to hear and see the General Authorities speak. Since we have been here we have heard President Oaks, Elder Uchtdorf, Elder Holland, Elder Cook, Elder Andersen, Elder Soares, Elder Brad Wilcox, and a number of the Seventy and other auxiliary who I can't remember their names. I especially love when they bare their testimonies to the audience. Elder Holland especially touched me on Saturday with promises and blessings I needed to hear.

I know we are exactly where we are supposed to be at the exact right time we are supposed to be here. We have a work to do and we are excited to be of service.

Here are a few pictures from our Apartment balcony. The first one is the Conference Center. It is directly across from our apartment. 

This one is of the construction on the Salt Lake Temple.

The last one is of the office building we work in. We are on the top floor of the tallest building you see in the background. The events take place in the floor just below where we work.

The Air is Thin Up Here!

About one and half years ago we received our mission call to the Auckland New Zealand Mission. Pretty Cool! A couple of months before we were to report COVID hit and we were postponed...twice. The second time was indefinitely. To make a long story a little shorter, we were notified a couple of months ago that it didn't look like New Zealand was going to open their borders until 2022 at the earliest at which time our mission call would expire. Sooooooo, we decided to ask for a reassignment. We found out it would be stateside. We thought some Church historical site would be nice. One thing we were sure we knew we didn't want to go to Utah or serve an office mission.

Heavenly Father knows just what we need even when we don't. We have been reassigned to the Utah Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission. (You couldn't get more office than that!) We work in the Publishing Services Department in Interpretations as Interpretation Coordinators. We had NO idea what that even meant. About a day or two after our call we received a phone call from one of the supervisors named Baptiste. He is from France but has lived in the states for many years now. He explained that our job is to coordinate all the interpreters when we have an event that needs interpretations into other languages. Since we are a worldwide Church that means nearly everything the Church does needs interpreters. We learned that there is a different between Interpretation and Translation. Translation has to with the written word and Interpretations has to do with the spoken word. Did you know that?

Anyway, we were told that we were prayed here! They have been swamped ever since COVID hit since the Brethren have not been traveling. That means all the events such as Area Conferences, Face 2 Face, Training Meetings, Youth and Primary Meetings, Mission Presidents Training Meetings, Temple Presidents Meetings, and so much more are now all on Zoom and are interpreted to many different languages so it can be broadcast all around the world. Some are live events and some are pre-recorded. That means that sometimes we work very early in the morning or much later in the evening. It also means that we may work both Saturdays and Sundays. It is busy and also very exciting. We get to hear General Authorities and Church Leaders all the time as they teach and train the members around the world. Those are the blessings we receive for all the extra hours we may work. June is the busiest month of the year so we are working nearly every weekend besides during the week right now. Should slow down in July.

Here is a picture of our office team. We are replacing the couple right in front of us. They go home next week.