Eye Problems, Lots of Office Chairs, Saratoga Springs Temple, Bangkok Temple Dedication, Thai Interpreter? 

We had a very nice Mission Zone Devotional Monday morning. The US/Canada Zone presented. Their musical number was a BEAUTIFUL piano duet medley. It was very moving. The talks were all good. The Zone leader shared a Mystery Missionary. He presented clues about his life and at the end we were to guess. He shared some very interesting facts about President Homes. It was very fun. 

I spent most of the day working with Sister Sapp. I gave her instructions on sending out a thank you email to the supporting staff for General Conference. I reserved the missionaries for myself, and I also sent it out to the kitchen staff. 

I added instructions to the operations manual and reprinted it for them. If they decide to send out Thank Yous at the next conference, hopefully the instructions will be helpful. I’m not holding my breath that it will happen. I don't think they sent them out before Eunlan was in charge of General Conference. She and I came up with the plan. She is no longer in charge so I think it may disappear.

After that, we headed to the Eye doctor. It was Steve’s annual appointment. He was having some trouble with his eyes. His cataracts are changing. They are not bad enough for surgery because they can still be corrected by glasses. But he may have to have surgery when we get back from our New Zealand mission. My eyes are doing OK. They were a lot dryer than the last visit. Doctor Masihdas put some contacts in my eyes with a solution. I needed to keep them in my eyes for three days. He gave me different drops to use at least twice a day. My eyes were very blurry for the next three days. I actually had to wear my glasses again, all the time, just to see. It was very frustrating.

We had a very nice Family Home Evening. The Ipsons led our game. We played a General Conference recap. It was hard for us, because we had only heard two talks by Monday, so we weren’t much help to our team. Luckily for us we had GREAT people on our team. We won!!!

Tuesday started with our Zone Devotional. I didn't go to the Wellness Center when I went to the office because I had some work to do. I turned the minutes of our Team meetings over to Sister Sapp. They will be different than the way I did it, but that is OK. It is her job now. Our team meeting was fairly short because Baptiste was in France. I was all set to go home early since we didn't have much to do when Eunlan contacted me with 9 PLUNET jobs she wanted created. So, Steve went to the store, and I stayed and worked until 5:30. 

Wednesday was very slow. I spent most of the day working on our final Zone Devotional that we will give next Thursday. I don't know why I am having so much trouble trying to decide what to do. I think it will come together before too long. After lunch we went to the 7th floor to test out office chairs. They had 10 different chairs that we were supposed to evaluate. We got to use all the levers and play with the chairs. We also had to fill out an evaluation form for each chair. It took about an hour. It was fun. Shortly after that we went home early. 

After our Zone Devotional Thursday morning I had a meeting with Elder Williams. I turned over all the stuff I have been doing to maintain our Zone SharePoint site. I think he will do just fine with that. It feels good to offload some of the things I have been doing. Of course, I still have PLUNET, probably until the last day we are here. LOL After lunch we went back to the eye doctor. He took out the contacts and I could SEE again. YAY. I need to do a better job of using my drops ore during the day, so I don't let them dry out so much again. After that we went to the Bountiful Temple to do some initiatory work. We haven't done that in a while. It was nice. The best part of the day was when we called Joey so we could sing Happy Birthday. I can't believe Joey is 17-years-old. We had a wonderful talk and enjoy our time very much.

We actually took Friday off (sort of). I did a little work in the morning and at the end of the day. We spent most of the day in Saratoga Springs going to the Temple. It is about an hour away. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful session. We had a great day. I did a little work after we got home. 

Saturday, we did some sorting to think things out before we start packing. I spent much of the afternoon working on HawkSoft. We showered early and got ready to go to the COB for the Bangkok Thailand Temple Dedication. We are doing 11 languages for this dedication. 6 of them are in country, and 5 are here in Salt Lake. We flew in 4 interpreters from California, Arizona, and Florida for this event. Since the native language of the Temple is Thai, there were several talks that were done in Thai rather than English. All the Thai interpreters were in Thailand. For our interpreter here to hear the English interpretation from the Thai Interpreters, I had to sit in the Thai Interpretation booth and flip the relay buttons so we could hear their English interpretation. I got to be the SLC Thai Interpreter for the Dedication. Hahahaha. It was pretty easy, but I was a little nervous at first. It all worked out perfectly. The Dedication started at 9:00 PM and didn't end until 2:00 AM. It was two different sessions for 1.5 hours a piece with a 2-hour break between the sessions. I got to do the relay for both sessions.

It was hard to get up for Church Sunday morning since we were so late on Saturday night. I felt we needed to be there because we sort of set up Elder and Sister Bailey to be the speakers. I thought we should support them.  As it turned out, the counselor got a different missionary couple to speak. They are visa waiters waiting to go to Mexico. They did an amazing job.

I had an amazing experience this morning during the Sacrament. As I closed my eyes in prayer, I poured my heart out in gratitude. I felt like I recalled hundreds of different things I am thankful for, all of which pertain to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I find it interesting that this was the first quote I focused on in my Scripture Study today.  

Here are some of the things I am thankful for in no particular order: 

• My body. I am healthy enough to serve missions. 

• Forgiveness. No matter how many times I mess up and make the same mistakes, I can repent and be forgiven. I can still return to live with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. 

• The Sacrament. I can renew my covenants each week and start fresh again. 

• The scriptures. Whether they are paper or electronic, the scriptures are a tremendous blessing in my life. They are the WORD of God. They teach me what I must do to return to my Father. They teach me HOW I can be more like my elder brother, Jesus Christ. I love the scriptures. 

• Temples. I love the Temple and the saving ordinances that can only be found within their walls. 

• The Priesthood. Without the power and authority to act in the name of God, we would not have the saving ordinances of the Gospel. We couldn’t have priesthood blessings. We couldn’t have Patriarchal Blessings or blessings to heal. I love the Priesthood. 

• A living Prophet. We would be as lost as the world is without a living Prophet. He communes with God every day and teaches us what we should do. I love President Nelson. 

• General Conference. Every six months we get to hear from our leaders. We are given instructions and love. The love they have for us transcends time and space. We can feel it weeks, months, and even years later as we watch or listen to a Conference talk.  

• Modern technology for our videos, talks, messages, trainings, conferences, Temple Dedications, and countless other opportunities to receive blessings from God. 

• Prayer. And answers to prayers. It is our way to communicate with Heavenly Father. 

• The Holy Ghost. He gave up having a body so He can dwell with us and be our constant companion. He comforts, teaches, warns, guides, and so much more. 

• Of course, the Savior and His Atoning sacrifice. Without His Atonement we would be cut off forever. He provides a way for us to return. 

• Heavenly Parents. I look forward to the day when I will return to them again and see them and feel their arms around me and see how familiar they are to me.  

The list can go on and on. I am just so very grateful for EVERYTHING. 

All our Love and Prayers,

Mom and Dad

Grandma and Grandpa

Great Grandma and Great Grandpa

Steve and Leslee

Elder and Sister Wilcox