Eva and Djeryd at the
Bountiful Temple

MTC Devotional, Thanksgiving, White Friday, and Surprise Saturday

This Monday started a little different. We didn't have our normal Mission Devotional. It was moved to Tuesday this week so we didn't have our normal Zone Devotional. And because of Thanksgiving, we didn't have a Zone Devotional that day either. We did have a fun Family Home Evening. The Burgoynes were in charge and we had a wonderful discussion about how women have access to Priesthood power even though they don't hold the Priesthood. After our discussion we played a very fun game called This and That. Once again we all laughed so hard as we learn fun things about each other. I love our Family Home Evening group.

Eric, our engineer for the 
MTC Devotional

Work for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday was pretty light. I mainly worked on cleaning up my list and making it match the statuses that are in PLUNET. My next project is to bring in all the Area interpreters into the list and match those up with PLUNET. I think once everything is in the list and updated, it will be easy to teach new missionaries how to maintain the list for the future.

Wednesday night around 10:45 Djeryd and Eva arrived. I had sent Steve down to the lobby to watch for them so he could let them in the garage. About 11pm Djeryd called me to ask if we knew they were there even though I texted him that I was sending Steve down to let them in. I tried calling Steve to let him know to go open the garage door but there was no answer. He left his phone on his nightstand. Hahaha. So I called Djeryd back and told one of them to go to the front door and knock on it as he was in the lobby waiting (not looking of them, but reading the advertising flyers everyone throws away in the trash when they pick up their mail.) Finally they arrived at the apartment!!! After some quick hellos and hugs all around we headed for bed because we had to be up very early Thursday morning.

Our MTC Devotional Breakfast

The only event we had the entire week was our Thursday morning MTC Thanksgiving Day Devotional. We had 18 interpreters agree to participate. Four interpreters were in country so we only had 14 in the COB. Well, make that 13 as one couldn't make it. We also had our supervisor, engineer, and of course the Linfords and Djeryd and Eva to help out. Sister Linford and I wanted to do something special for these wonderful Interpreters who volunteered to serve people around the world on Thanksgiving morning. 

Yummy Food

So, we spent the last two weeks preparing. We got Thanksgiving table cloths and napkins. We even got the plastic SILVER ware to make it look more elegant. We wrapped the utensils in the napkin and I created a napkin ring that had all 9 languages on it that we were interpreting for. It says, "Thank you for all you do" in each of the 9 languages. I found a Thanksgiving quote that was printed on a beautiful background and printed those for our Interpreters. We rolled those up and put another version of our 9 language napkin ring around the "scrolls". We borrowed some beautiful Thanksgiving pilgrims, Indians, wooden turkey, and basket of plastic, sparkly fruit to use as center pieces down our very long table. We also found some silk Thanksgiving leaves that we spread down the center of the tables. It looked so beautiful and festive. In addition to that we made up yummy goodie bags filled with candy. And I made a simple little ornament they could hang on their tree and remind them that they interpreted for the 2022 MTC Thanksgiving Day Devotional.

That was just the decorations. We had borrowed griddles and waffle irons from our wonderful missionaries so we could make them breakfast. We were supposed to get waffle irons from the cafeteria, but found out late Wednesday afternoon that they had loaned them out someplace 10 months ago. So we scrambled last minute to get a few. Our fabulous missionaries came through again!!!

So Thursday morning we all arrived at 7:00 am to get things set up. We had the cafeteria pre-cook sausages and bacon for us. They also provided us with a fruit tray as well as berries and whipped cream for toppings for waffles. We bought 6 dozen eggs and waffle mix, milk, cheese, and brought some oil from home. We were all set. The Interpreters started to arrive and we started heating up the bacon and sausages. We mixed the batter and started scrambling eggs. All of a sudden all the frying pans, griddles, and waffle irons died. We flipped the circuit breakers that our extension cords were plugged into. So we took a couple griddles and waffle irons off the line and tried heating things up in the 2 microwave ovens that were still turned on. Then one of those flipped off. So then we moved some of the waffle irons to other areas of the cafeteria where we were set up; and, low and behold everything worked. We managed to keep everything hot and ready and the Interpreters LOVED it. They couldn't believe we went to all that trouble just for them. It was such a sweet experience. I will never forget it. It was so worth the effort to make it special for them. 

Djeryd and Eva washed the gridles, skillets, and waffle irons while the rest of us cleaned up and packed food. It didn't take too long. The Linfords left right after breakfast as they were going to visit their son for Thanksgiving dinner and Sister Linford still had things to get ready. We stayed to support the event. Djeryd and Eva got to see what the Interpreters do. Elder Wilcox took them to the engineering both and they let Eva listen to the Japanese interpreter since she served her mission to Japan. They enjoyed that. We all got to watch a wonderful Devotional with Elder and Sister Cook. A fun part of the Devotional was when Sister Cook taught the missionaries a Thanksgiving song that they then sang in a round. 

We got home around noon. I dropped off the griddles and waffle irons we borrowed along with 2 free tickets for the Christmas Devotional next week. There was a drawing but none of us got tickets so it was nice that our department got a bunch. We had given each of the Interpreters 2 tickets and then I grabbed 2 tickets for each of the missionaries that helped us. They were so happy. After we put everything away everyone took a nap...except me. I worked on my continual cleaning up of my list. Hahaha.

Around 4 or so we started warming up the Thanksgiving meals we bought from the cafeteria on Tuesday. There was no way I was going to be able to cook a turkey and work the devotional that morning. It turned out delicious and was so easy. We even got pumpkin pie from the cafeteria. Later that evening Sister Beech brought over some left over pecan pie they had after the big Thanksgiving dinner they provided for the missionaries who didn't have other plans. She said they had about 40 or so in attendance. After they boxed up the remaining food into meals they delivered those to a homeless shelter. She said it was an awesome experience. I love being on a mission. Serving other is the best!!!

Friday we slept in. Around noon we headed to the Bountiful Temple for our White Friday. We did an endowment session and then did sealings. It was so cool when we did sealings as we had two complete families. Normally when sealing children to parents it is done one at a time. However, if there are siblings in the same group they can all be sealed at the same time. We joined two other couples so we had enough people to seal one family of four siblings (2 boys and 2 girls) together. Then we did another family of just 2 boys. Lastly Elder Wilcox was able to serve as proxy for his brother and he was sealed to his parents with Djeryd and Eva acting as the parents. Such a beautiful experience.

After we fixed and ate dinner,  we headed to Lehi, UT to a place called Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point to see their Luminaria show.  They decorated the dormant gardens in thousands of lights and electronics.  The result is a beautiful and fascinating show of lights and even pyrotechnics.  They had a show called Fire And Ice that included a beautiful light show and bursts of fire that was both impressive and WARM.  Since it was a cold night the heat was most welcome. Once we got home we enjoyed some yummy hot chocolate and pecan pie. 

This is a picture of different skin tones from 
pictures of many different people to make
up the collage of these hands depicting
our hands doing the Lords work.
It is entitled "To Do His Work"

Saturday was our lazy day.  We hung out at home until 3. We headed to the City Creek Mall to meet up with one of my Temple Sisters I used to work with in Portland.  Dayna White served as one of my assistants. To our surprise,  Dayna's parents were also there.  They served in the Temple Presidency while we were there. It was so fun to see them.  Dayna moved to Utah about 2 weeks before we left on our mission.  Dayna had lots of family visiting with her. They had come to Salt Lake City to see the Christmas lights.  We left them at the food court to eat while we went to the Church History Museum with Djeryd  and Eva.  We wandered around to see the art exhibit that is on display now.  After about an hour we left Djeryd and Eva to finish the museum and then go home and pack while we went to meet up with Dayna's family again so we could give them a tour of where we work in interpretation. We had a lot of fun and they really enjoyed seeing what goes on behind the scenes.  Just before we met up with them we ran into President and Sister Parker.  They were released a few months ago from our mission presidency.  Such fun! 

The rod of iron to the 
Tree of Life.

We hurried home to finish making dinner.  It turned out so good!  After a delicious dinner that Elder Wilcox made, we said our goodbyes to Djeryd and Eva.  We had such a wonderful visit with them. It was so hard to say goodbye.  They promised to come to General Conference either in April or October next year.  We are already looking forward to their next visit. 

By Saturday night we were exhausted.  We could hardly move because our feet hurt so bad.  I soaked my feet in Epsom Salts, and that helped.  I woke up Sunday feeling much better than I expected.  Church was really good today.  Our two speakers shared specific difficult trials in their lives that were really blessings. It makes me realize two things.  

1. My trials are nothing compared to some of the trials others have endured.  

Dayna's Family with President 
and Sister Ward in front.

2. I need to look at my trials in a new way so I can turn them into blessings in my life. 

This has caused me to ponder and pray to find out what the Lord has in store for me. How is Heavenly Father blessing me through my trials? What am I learning from my trials? How are my trials making we more like my Savior? How can they make me a better person? 

A child's prayer

After church we had lots of visitors before we had a very relaxing afternoon. Sister Linford brought by her son and his wife and their two Great Danes. They were much bigger than I expected and very fun to see. Of course, both dogs gravitated to Steve. He is an animal magnet. Haha. 

I am so grateful to be on our mission.  I'm grateful for the wonderful people we get to associate with on a daily basis.  I'm grateful for my wonderful family and especially that we have been sealed together for time and all eternity.  Families really can be together forever. A friend of ours who is serving half way around the world wrote exactly what we feel too. "Separation from family while here has seared into our consciousness that we have no desire to be apart for eons of time."

Have a wonderful week and share the light of Christ this holiday season.  If you are interested in how you can share your light to Light the World Follow this link.   

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/uk/lighttheworld/what-is-light-the-world

All Our Love Forever, 

Mom and Dad

Grandma and Grandpa

Steve and Leslee 

Elder and  Sister Wilcox 

 

#GiveThanks

Here is a very brief rundown of our week. 

• Monday - Mission Devotional, work, Great Family Home Evening
• Tuesday - Zone Devotional, work, Game Night and Pizza with some missionaries
• Wednesday - Great PSD Department meeting with an awesome video presentation from our Caribbean area, Team meeting, a little work, and an early evening at home
• Thursday - Zone Devotional, a little work, Section meeting and lunch where I scanned two missionary photo albums that Curtis got from previous missionaries. They needed to be returned early the next day so I scanned them through the whole meeting using my portable scanner. And last of all we went to the Temple. The Merrells were the Witness Couple and the Linfords and Venky were on our session too.
  
• Friday - Elder Wilcox's birthday, we spent the whole day putting together small gifts for both Thanksgiving and Christmas for the Interpreters that will be coming in on both of those holidays to interpret for the MTC Devotionals. We are cooking them breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. It will be so fun. Friday night we went to the Bells at Temple Square Christmas Concert for Steve's birthday. It was really nice.
• Saturday - Stayed home. Worked a little on HawkSoft. Also did some Church work. And spent some time chatting with Sara and working with her on her family history. So FUN!!!
• Sunday - Church and a relaxing day of rest
  

What I really want to focus on for the remainder of this blog is Thanksgiving. In 2020 President Nelson started a campaign to flood the world with giving thanks. He asked us to post something on social media every day up to Thanksgiving with a hashtag of @GiveThanks. He felt it could be life changing. It certainly was in the lives of those who took up the challenge. It also was for many people who read those posts. Hearts and lives were softened.

For years, I have kept what I call a "Thankful Journal". Every night I write a single sentence of something I am thankful for during that day. The blessing this has been in my life is hard to describe. Some days it is easy to see the Hand of the Lord in my life. On some of the hard days it stretches me to look for the Hand of the Lord in my life and it surprises me that I can always find something. It helps make those "hard days" not so hard after all. And it always turns my attention to the Lord. He never leaves us alone. He is always there to help us if we turn to Him. I would like to share a few of the posts I shared in 2020 of things I am most thankful for as well as some new things in my life that I am thankful for. I hope you will ponder your life and make a list of things you are thankful for as well. Then you can share them with your loved ones. It will not only bless your life and you see how blessed your really are, but it will also bless the lives of those you share them with.

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Friends are so important. I want to pay tribute to some very special "best" friends. Your friends should make you want to be better than you are. They should strengthen you and uplift you. You, in turn, should do the same thing for them. These friends did that from the very first moment I met them. I wanted to be the very best person I could be around them. They made me reach for something higher in myself. I drew closer to my Heavenly Father because of them. I learned to excel in everything I did because of them. I developed Christlike attributes because of them. I wanted to be perfect because of them.

First and foremost,  my very best friend is my eternal companion,  Steve Wilcox. To me, he has been my savior on Mount  Zion. (Note the small "s" in savior.) He saved me by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with me.  That changed my life forever. I am so very grateful for him. 

I met the next one on December 28, 1972. He made me a mother for the first time. Douhet was the perfect first child as he was so good and easy to care for. Because of him he has siblings! He is a GREAT big brother and always so willing to help.

Season came along on April 18, 1975. Although he looked just like his big brother, he was much more active and sometimes even challenging. He was always trying to keep up with his brother and that sometimes-caused frustration for both of us. His heart is as big as the great outdoors. He was always thinking of things he could make for his siblings. He didn't like being told what to do; but, IF it was HIS idea he would do anything for anyone else.

Finally, on February 18, 1977, we were blessed with a beautiful baby girl. She was the first granddaughter born into a hoard of boys and so she became the princess in every sense of the word. Her name, MyLiege Elite even means Elite and Royal Lady. She delighted us with her acting and fun personality. She was all girl.

And Sierra rounded out our little family when she arrived on November 8, 1978. She was the smallest of the four and such a little angel. Her best trait is as a peacemaker. She never like hearing anyone argue and would do whatever she could to help them stop. She didn't like to see anyone sad either. I remember several times when she was little and I was so overwhelmed with 4 little children that sometimes I would be ready to explode. She would grab my hand and lead me to the rocking chair and sit me down and climb in my lap and say, "rocky time Mama". She knew that was what I needed to calm down.

They taught me what I needed to learn to become the person I am today. They continue to teach me as adults as they raise their beautiful children. They have fulfilled the definition of a true friend to help me to strive to be a better person than I am. I am better because of them and I am better for them.

Thank you all for making me who I am.

#lighttheworld2020 #givethanks

_______________________________________________

I am so grateful for my Savior and Redeemer, even Jesus Christ. Words cannot say how much I love Him. I try to show my love by being obedient to His will. I want to be like Him. I want to treat others as He would. I fall short, but He forgives me and encourages me to keep trying.

Satan wants me to be consumed with my shortcomings and failings. He is constantly in my head telling me I'm not worthy or I can never change. He emphasizes my weaknesses and tries to tell me that it is too late. That I'm a lost cause.

But, the Holy Ghost constantly reminds me that Jesus Christ gave His life for me so I could repent and be cleansed NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I MESS UP. I can start over AGAIN and AGAIN. He tells me I am of worth and that Jesus loves me more than I can possibly imagine. As I grasp on to that feeling it grows stronger and stronger. I come to KNOW that I am a daughter of God and He loves ME just as I am. He recognizes my efforts and gives me strength to continue in the Covenant Path. He reminds me that I AM good enough and reminds me of all the things I am doing right. He builds me up and tells me He is pleased with me and my efforts to please Him.

I have come to better understand the Godhead and the role they play in my salvation. Heavenly Father loves us so much He sent His only begotten Son to come to earth to suffer for our sins and die for us that we might live again and return to live with Him again. As a parent I can't imagine how hard that was to do knowing how much Jesus would have to suffer. I thank Him for loving us enough to give His Son to us for our salvation.

Jesus Christ is our EVERYTHING. I can't imagine all He had to endure to bring about the great Atonement for each one of us. I have come to realize that just as every ordinance is performed for us individually, the Atonement is also an individual ordinance. He suffered for me and for you because of His great love for us and His 100% obedience to His Heavenly Father. There are not words to thank Him enough.

The Holy Ghost sacrificed having a physical body so He can be with us spiritually. He is a personage of Spirit so He may dwell with us. He is our constant companion to guide and direct us if we but learn to recognize His still small voice. He testifies of the Father and the Son and reveals all truth. I am so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost in my life.

I love the Godhead!!!

#givethanks

_______________________________________________

I remember one night many years ago when we were living in Ogden Utah. I was pregnant with our third child. Steve was working nights. After I put the boys to bed I was studying the Book of Enos in the Book of Mormon. It starts out with his wrestle with God. He prayed all day and all night.

I thought about that. My heart and mind were heavy and I determined that I was going to pray all night, if necessary, until I got an answer to my prayer. I had basically two questions. The first was about forgiveness. I wanted to know for sure that I had been forgiven for my sins. I wanted to know that the Atonement was real.

My second question was about the Book of Mormon. I wanted to know beyond a shadow of a doubt if the Book of Mormon was true. I believed it was. I knew parts of it were true because I had felt the Holy Ghost sometimes when I read it. But did I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Joseph Smith had translated it from the Gold Plates and that it was written for us in this day? That it was written for me?

Well, I got on my knees and began to pray. I poured my heart out. I cried. And I prayed some more. I don't know how long I had prayed but I did not get the answer I was seeking. It had probably only been 30 minutes or so even though it felt like all night. I thought about giving up, thinking God was not going to answer my prayer. Then I thought about Enos again. He poured out his heart out ALL day and ALL night. I had barely scratched the surface. I reminded myself that I was going to pray until I got an answer.

So, I continued on my knees. I continued praying and crying and talking with my Father in Heaven. I may have even dozed a time or two. Finally at some time before dawn I got my answers. I did not hear a voice or see a vision; but, I did experience a peace and joy beyond description. I KNEW my sins had been forgiven. I KNEW Heavenly Father loved me, warts and all. I knew He knew who I was and He loved me. I had been carrying baggage around with me for years and it was all washed away. I have never looked back on those sins again. They are gone forever.

I also know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ appeared to the boy Joseph Smith in a grove of trees in Palmyra, New York to usher in the last dispensation of the fullness of times. I know that a few years later the Angel Moroni appeared to Joseph and told him of an ancient record written on gold plates that was deposited in the ground near Joseph's house. That record told of the ancient inhabitants of the American continent and their prophecies about the Savior Jesus Christ. I KNOW their record is true. I know it is another testament of Jesus Christ and is a companion to the Holy Bible. I know all of this because of my wrestle with God one night many years ago because I wanted an answer to my prayer.

#lighttheworld2020 #givethanks

You too can find out for yourself the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. You don’t even have to read the whole book to know if it is true. Just read it and then pray to ask God if it is true. And He will manifest the truthfulness of it unto you! Just scan this QR code to get your own copy of the Book of Mormon and you can know for yourself if it is true.

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I would be ungrateful if I did not express my thanks for the blessings, we have received by serving a mission for our Lord and Savior. Even though we are not serving a proselyting mission where we get to teach and testify, we are still doing the Lord’s work. We are helping to provide the word of the Lord throughout the world in the native tongues of the people.

Doctrine and Covenants 90:11 says, “For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them for the revelation of Jesus Christ.” I testify that this is true, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

May you have a Blessed Thanksgiving with your loved ones and remember to whom you owe your greatest thanks: even our Father in Heaven who has given us everything, even life itself!

May God Continue to Bless You,

Mom and Dad

Grandma and Grandpa

Steve and Leslee

Elder and Sister Wilcox

The Nevada Devotional with President Nelson

This week was a little slow when it came for events for us to support. We were busy throughout the week. I spent most of the week working on two different phone apps for our supervisors to access information on our Interpreters. This will make it easier for them to get the information they need when they need it. My IT contact helped me tweak it to do exactly what I want them to do. Since I can't share any personal data, I had to use a picture from the Internet to show what it looks like. The second screen shows what happens when they click the arrow to the right. I blacked out the personal info.

The second app has a similar front screen but it is designed for the multi-language coordinators so they can keep track of things like availability and skill levels.

For our Mission Monday Evening Devotional we heard from Sister Eubank. She used to be the first counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency. She was released in August 2022. At that point she was called as the director of Latter-day Saint Charities. She shared a lot of information about all the good that Latter-day Saint Charities does. We hear a lot about what they do from our dear friends, Larry and Debbie Draper who are serving as Directors of Humanitarian Efforts in Montenegro for the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. Each week we receive a wonderful newsletter telling us the wonderful work they have done the previous week. It is amazing.

Tuesday we started with our Zone Devotional. After a day of work, we got to support our Monthly MTC Devotional. Elder Bednar and his wife were the speakers. I love hearing from Elder Bednar. He not only has a great message every time, but he also has a wonderful way of presenting his messages. He usually gets chuckles out of the audience. Sometimes it is a great way to get his point across. As usual, it was a wonderful devotional. We also love visiting with the Interpreters during our meal. We have been here long enough now, that visiting with these wonderful Interpreters is like visiting with wonderful old friends. We have made many lifelong friends during our mission.

Wednesday was fun. I got to attend a virtual "anniversary luncheon" for HawkSoft. On December 29th, I will have worked for HawkSoft for 14 years. I am so grateful that I still get to do some work for them even while on my mission.

Wednesday afternoon we had our regular Team meeting. We got to see some great pictures and videos from Curtis' vacation to Tahiti. He went to pick up his son from his mission and stayed for two weeks. He had some incredible pictures of swimming with  whales. It was really cool. 

Thursday was a short day as we left early to go to the Temple. I love going every week. It is always so good to be rejuvenated by our attendance. It was also fun to see other missionaries we know as we were leaving. Elder Wilcox got to see our previous Mission President who was serving as an ordinance worker at the veil next to the one he went through. That was a fun treat for him.

Friday I got to work with Jeff, my IT guy. He helped me put the finishing touches on my two phone apps so I got to end the week very satisfied with what I accomplished. It was nice to go home a little early. I think we left at 4:30.

Saturday we both stayed home ALL day. We spent the morning doing some scripture study with a new commitment to do a better job of DAILY scripture study again. It is easy to let it slip when things get busy, but we need to make it a priority.

Church was good on Sunday. Elder Hiltbrand spoke. He and his wife are leaving this week. We will miss them. I'm so grateful we got to know them. The second hour was Relief Society. The mission presidency wives spoke to us; however, I had to leave early since we had an event. 

We got to support the Nevada Devotional with President Nelson. Elder Wilcox ordered food from Panda Express and everyone loved it.  He also ordered a sheet cake. I think he was doing it because he knows he probably won't get a birthday cake on Friday. lol Aaron brought his daughter to the event. We have seen Emily several times. She is a great girl. 

The devotional was broadcast to 4 different Stakes in Nevada that actually covered people from California and Arizona. They showed a nice video of the growth of the Church in Nevada. President M. Russell Ballard spoke as well as Sister Wendy Nelson and President Russell M. Nelson. Sister Nelson commented how special it was that we got to hear from two presidents named Russell. She then shared a true experience about speaking at a women's conference. When she walked into the building there was a poster that said the speaker would be Sister Wendy Nelson, wife of President M. Russell Ballard. Everyone laughed. She said people get confused sometimes. She then talked about the Weightier Matters in the midst of all the other things we have to do. If we do everything else first we will not have time to do the weightier matters. However, if we do the weightier matters FIRST we will always have time to do all the other things on our to do lists. That hit me hard. That is the EXACT problem I have been having. I have been so busy with every thing else that I do on a regular basis and I never have "time" to do my scripture study. I am going to working on doing the "weightier matters" first! 

Have a GREAT week. Start counting your Blessings and name them one by one. Then share you list with your family on Thanksgiving Day!

All Our Love,

Mom and Dad

Grandma and Grandpa

Steve and Leslee

Elder and Sister Wilcox

Beehive House and Luz De Las Naciones

Monday started with a Mission Devotional. We don't normally have a devotional on the 5th Monday, but President Holmes wanted to talk to us about the two talks he asked us to read the week before. I don't remember exactly what he said; but, I do remember how it made me feel. 

The day was slow so I was able to work on my list some more. It is coming along just fine. Monday evening we had a wonderful Family Home Evening. The Durrant's were in charge and we had a wonderful discussion. After the discussion we played a very fun game. Instead of the Newly Wed Game we played the Oldy Wed Game. We all laughed so hard. The Beeches won, getting nearly every question right. We managed to get three right and two others almost right. I think we were about average with everyone else.

Tuesday we started with a nice Zone Devotional. The rest of the day was about the same as Monday.  We left early so we could go to the Temple. We got to be the witness couple again for our endowment session. After our session we had a wonderful sealing session. Our sealing was so great. We managed to get all our names done. The Spirit was so strong. I love the Temple.

Wednesday was a bit unusual. It was drizzly and a little colder then it had been. I didn't check the weather before I left so I walked to work in the drizzle and got damp. By the time I got up to the 28th floor it was snowing. However, it was only snowing up high. It never managed to snow at street level. At noon I went to a lecture about Eliza Snow and Emmeline Wells. It was fascinating. Not long after the lecture we had our team meeting. It went well and didn't go too long over our time. 

Wednesday evening Sister Linford and I left Elder Linford and Elder Wilcox to support the Utah Area Presidency and Elder Christofferson - November Message - Video Recording event while we went on a tour of the Beehive House with the Relief Society. Because of the bad weather we didn't get that many sisters, but it was actually a perfect number. It had been years since I last visited that house so it was fun to see it again. They have opened up several new areas and added a lot to the tour. We enjoyed it very much. I took lots of pictures.

On Thursday we had another Zone Devotional. It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine but still very cold. We had three events that day but only one we actually had to support. That event had two sessions; one in the afternoon and one in the evening. The Linfords did the afternoon session and we did the evening one. It was called Life Resources Test. It informed 12 different Stakes about a new addition to the Tool app that will have lots of resources to different callings. Eventually it will role out to everyone.

Friday was spent like the rest of the week. I continued work on my list and helping Interpreters with their invoices. Elder Wilcox took care of things he had to do for a few events coming up. Elder Wilcox was done by 4 and went home. I didn't finish what I was doing, but decided I could complete it on Saturday.

On Saturday I worked for about 1 1/2 hours on HawkSoft before I finished up what I was working on with my list. Steve went shopping. It works out so nice because I hate shopping and he loves it. I'm happy to stay home and work and he is happy to get out and shop. It's a win win for both of us. 

He got home just in time for us to get ready for the event we had that evening. For the first time since COVID started we were able to do an in person Luz De Las Naciones event at the Conference Center. Last year was the first time I had ever heard of the event. In English it is called "Light of the Nations" and apparently they do it every year. It is all in Spanish, and we interpret it into English and Portuguese. We actually get to hear our interpreters since we get it in English. 

Last year the event was prerecorded and we interpreted the recordings as if they were live. One of the stars of the production is also one of our interpreters and he actually did the interpretation into English last year. This year, Alex was again one of the stars; but since it was live, he couldn't do the interpretation too. he sang three fantastic songs. There were lots of songs and dances. It was a beautiful event. Elder Soares was the main speaker.  It was a really fun evening.

There was another event that started just about the time we were ending. The Linfords covered that event. It went from about 11pm to 1am. It was Elder Andersen Pacific Area Member Devotional. Normally it would have all been done in country, but for some reason Samoa couldn't do it so we had a couple of Samoan interpreters come into the COB to cover the event.

Sunday Church was good. I always love Testimony meeting. After our meeting we had our monthly Break the Fast on our floor. It is kind of sad as the Hiltbrands are leaving this coming week and they have been in charge of our Break the Fast every month. We have enjoyed them very much since they had joined our family home evening group. 

I hope you have a wonderful week.

All our Love,

Mom and Dad

Grandma and Grandpa

Steve and Leslee

Elder and Sister Wilcox