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!!!!