The Latest

Sister Hunt has been discovered again for Navajo translation.  She will be helping in translating and interpreting for upcoming General Conference.  She helped with the Women's Conference where she reconnected with other Navajo translators: Shirley Clarke, Rosemary Jakubs, Susie Preston and Leo Platero.  Sister Hunt said that it was very exciting and wonderful to have renewed her kinship with them.  She loves translating.

We are still waiting for our visas.  The good news is that we received email from the Finnish Consulate that they received our visa application, payment, have confirmed our identities, and is being processed.  We believe that is good news.

We are enjoying our mission at the Family and Church History Headquarters Mission in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Thank you all for your love, prayers and support in every way.  Also thank you to all who have visited us here.  We love you all and pray for you.

We have been very busy with Women's Conference and weekend with our family.  Here are some pictures of those events.

Here we are with Tara & her kids and Margo & her kids & us at Tara's house.

Just the grandkids and us no dog.

         Gathering of beautiful sisters for Women's Conference at the Conference Center 

not far from the temple.

Sister Hunt at the entrance to the translation stairway with fallen autumn leaves all around.

Visitors

We had some dear friends visit us: Norman & Marge Lyman from Blanding, UT.

It was so good to see Norman & Marge.  

We took our souvenir photo with them at our work site.

Our report on this blog is to tell you about our activities on Labor Day and after.  We were visited by our dear friends and family at our work.  Norman and Marge Lyman came and visited us on Tuesday. Our other visitors since coming to Salt Lake City are Jon and Jackie, Jeanie, Idonna, Billy and Karen, Margo and Dan, and Jay Redd, Jeanne's son who is a dentist is St. George.  We are very grateful for their visits it helps us stay closely connected to our family. 

We worked all day Saturday from nine to five at the Family Search Center.  It was slow in the morning, but from noon on it was very busy til closing.  There were some guests who wanted to stay and keep working on finding their ancestors.  There were also others wanting to get in at closing time. We just invited them back next week after the Labor Day holiday.  We were closed on Labor Day.  

Sunday morning we left for Heber City, Utah  to visit Margo and her family.  We attended church with them.  Their ward is very friendly.  They are enjoying their new ward.  They moved from St. George about two months ago.  Margo invited us for the holiday to teach her about the FamilySearch program.  We worked on it for a few hours on Sunday after church.  Monday we dedicated the whole day to work on FamilySearch.  Margo was blessed abundantly in her husband's line with a lot of names of ancestors that built their family tree .  Our granddaughters, Brynn and Sadee are also very interested in doing genealogy along with their Mom.  We were very successful in working on genealogy with Margo's family.  She plans on working on it regularly.

It was so exciting to help Margo with what we have been learning in FamilySearch on our mission.   We are very grateful for the hours of practice she has given us.  It is fun and exciting to read the stories and see pictures of our ancestors.  We get to know who they are through their stories.  They had hardships and challenges of their time that we can learn from.  

We are also grateful to those who have called us with their family search questions.  We may not know all the answers but we do our best to find the answers.  We hope we can still go to Finland where we can teach the things we've learned in FamilySearch.  We love the things we have learned and continue to learn many more things.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is true.  We are all God's children and He wants us all to return to live with Him again.  We love attending the temple.  

We love our mission.  Thank you for your interest in our welfare.  Thank you for your love and prayers.  May the Lord bless you in all you do.

Still in SLC

This is the Joseph Smith Memorial Building where we work on the main floor.

     

This is where we work.  It is a FamilySearch computer lab available for any visitors who come by and would like to find an ancestor they may have an interest in .  Ellis Island pictures are taken from the souvenir photo sign.  Then it is emailed to you.  We do our best helping our guests.

The day after Labor Day holiday we are back at work in the Family History Center helping guests find their ancestors.  It is fun to go into the FamilySearch program on the computer and find an ancestor. Just today Elder Hunt has helped a couple from Canada and Sister Hunt helped two brothers from Massachusetts.

The couple from Canada had less than 30 minutes before they were headed to the airport to catch their flight.  They wanted to find her great-grandmother.  They had her name and a death date and wanted to find what her birth date was.  They clicked on the search menu and then from the global they clicked on the country of Canada and it brought a pull down-menu with all the names of the provinces.  They knew which one she lived in and we clicked on it.  They put her great-grandmother's info in and clicked "Search".  Her name came up near  the top of the list.  They clicked on her name and it showed a death record from the indexed record with her date of birth and the country she migrated from.  She said this is so exciting I think I am going to cry and she did.  They wanted a copy of the record so they printed it.  They were so excited and happy about their find and how quickly they found her great-grandmother that they said they are going to sign up on the free account in FamilySearch as soon as they get home.  Elder Hunt was very happy for them because now the couple will continue their search for ancestors as they build their family tree.

The FamilySearch program also has a menu under Get Help where there are tutorials on how to build your tree and add information and other things like photos and stories.  It is a very helpful place to go to learn more about the program.

Now the story about the two brothers from Massachusetts.  They two did not have very much time to spend on finding their ancestor.  They were on a tour and the bus was leaving in a few minutes. They only had their great-great grandmother's last name and an estimated death year.  They clicked on the FamilySearch and then clicked on the Search menu and clicked on the title "all records and collections" below the global map.  They typed in her last name and approximate death year with a ten year range and clicked the search button.  There were over 12,243 records so they narrowed their search by typing in Massachusetts under residence and clicked on Search.  This time 101 names came up and they narrowed that down by typing in Massachusetts for the death place.  This time five names came up and they remembered that their mother called her by name and that name was the third one on the list and they clicked on it and it was full of valuable information like when and what country she migrated from which was her birth place.  It also gave her birth date.  They literally jumped up and down and couldn't stop shaking Sister Hunt's hand.  They also got a print out of their great-great grandmother's information.  They too said they will set up an account to continue to build their tree while their 95 year old Mom is still alive and can give names of their ancestors.

We wanted you all to know that it is so rewarding to help individuals (guests) find their ancestors at the Family Search Center where we have been assigned to work.  We are still learning a lot about FamilySearch program and we will continue to improve our skills.  We are happy to know that some of our family and friends are getting involved in doing their genealogy.  They are finding that it is fun and interesting to find stories, facts, and photos of their ancestors.  There are so many records recorded and digitized where we can find information.  It does take time and dedication to do genealogy research.  One hour a week without interruption will help in getting started.  It is frustrating at times when we can't find information we are searching for.  That is when the Get Help menu is very handy and helpful.

We are still waiting for our visas since we have reapplied.  The Lord knows where we are needed the most and that is where He will allow us to be His missionaries.  We love our mission and we love our Savior Jesus Christ.  This is His work.  Thank you for your prayers and support in every way.  We love you all very much.

                           
 To the left is the Cristus Statue at the Visitor's Center on Temple Square west of where we work.  To the right is the picture of the Salt Lake Temple.  The trees at Temple Square are being wired with Christmas lights in preparation for the Christmas festivities.  They are a sight to see and celebrate at Christmas time.

Job Shadowing at Family Search

Hello Family and Friends,
This week has been very interesting and fun at the Family Search Center where we work.  Our week consisted of regular work hours, doctor appointments, p-day, temple and research day as well as a one-day whirlwind trip to LA to visit the Finnish Consulate.

This was our week to job shadow in the Family Search Center at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  The jobs are receptionist, floor manager, helper, and greeter.  We change jobs every hour. All these jobs serve the people (visiting public) who come into the Family Search Center. The hardest job to change at the end of the hour is the helper because you don't want  to leave your guest to the next helper or alone but it always turns out okay.  There are so many things you have to know and do for each job.  When you are at your post you just have to be alert and know what is going on.  It was all scary at first but we are starting to get the hang of the different jobs.  We still both have a lot to learn about FamilySearch and other genealogy sites like Ancestry.com.

It is fun to help a guest find an ancestor that they want to find.  It is rewarding to us and our guest when they can find their ancestor.  They get so excited to learn about finding the individual ancestor who is no longer a stranger to them.  We are happy to be learning the tools from the FamilyTree program.  It is a free of charge program where you can build your family tree, pedigree chart, and other features.  It is a place where you can attach pictures, stories, documents, and any worthy material you have to share with the posterity of the person you are researching.

If your ancestor individual is already in the tree you might find interesting stories that other posterity have written and attached to them.  That is one way to get to know your ancestors.  Sister Hunt has been writing stories that she knows about her ancestors and attaching them to individuals.

We have learned so much about ourselves, the church, Family Search Center, Family Tree and about our current mission.  We thank the Lord for it all.  Remember that we love you and thank you for all you do for us.  Thank you for your prayers.

We have done a slideshow for you from some of this week's activities.

    

So far each week we have been able to take family names to the temple.

We truly enjoyed our visit
with President & Sister Jones
on Tuesday. 

  

   

     

                    

The church flew us to Los Angles to the Finnish Consulate.  We landed at LAX.  An all day event.

                                   

Behind Sister Hunt beyond the green light is the Finnish Consulate under secured locked doors with no windows.  Elder & Sister Hunt waiting for their appointment in front of the Finnish Consulate building.  

                            

   

This is the Assembly Hall on Temple Square where we have our mission conference every month. It is also a building that is most photographed by the Asian visitors.  It is a very unique building.

The Salt Lake Temple is very beautiful no matter what time of the day it is.  This is an evening view.

New Friends

A senior couple from Finland is serving in our mission.  They are Elder and Sister Aromaa.  We have enjoyed visiting with them.  They have been here for 3 months.  So, if we do get to go to Finland we will get to see them there before we leave Finland.  After they have served in the Family and Church History Mission for 18 months they will really be an asset to those in Finland who are trying to do their genealogy.

Elder and Sister Aromaa

We always enjoy taking a picture of the temple from different locations.  We were told that this fountain that is in front of the Church Office Building is designed to represent the shapes found in the spires of the temple.  

When ever you have a chance to come to Temple Square, be sure to enjoy all the sites.  There are lots of different tours that will tell you things you never knew before.

We are still learning so much about FamilySearch.  We are learning a lot about our own ancestors.  It's fun to get to know them through FamilySearch.  We are truly enjoying our mission.

Thanks for your prayers.  We love you all very much.

Training Continues in SLC

Elder Hunt is taking this picture from our second floor apartment.

We live in a nice place with other missionaries as neighbors.  The gazebo is frequently used by senior missionaries and young missionaries.  The seniors use it for gathering to play board games or picnics. The young Elders use it for cook-outs and picnics for their districts.  Once last week Elder Hunt saw a chipmunk running from bush to bush.  Wish we could see him again, we have some bread crumbs we can give him.

It is mid-August and we have been here in our apartment for one month exactly yesterday.  We love our mission.  We've had a couple of family visitors since we've been here.  Yesterday we received some fresh garden vegetables from Idonna (Calvin's sister) who came to visit with Billy (her son) and Karen (his wife).  That was a very nice gift--gift of family and a gift of nature.  We made a wonderful and tasty veggie casserole.  They also brought some fresh strawberries.  We made yummy treats called banana-berry frozen yogurt bars made with the strawberries.  We love it when we have time to make things that taste so good.  Most of the time we enjoy whatever is in the fridge because we are always rushing off to our next assignment.

Last Monday all the new missionaries had a luncheon with our mission presidency.  We sat at the table with the first counselor Elder Oliver and his wife Sister Oliver.  We enjoyed our visit with them and the new missionaries.  These were new missionaries who came from MTC.

Tuesday we had a mission conference in the afternoon for the first half of the mission.  The next day was for the second half of the mission.  President and Sister Tate spoke to us.  Like always they were inspiring talks.

Sister Tate talked about changing hearts and gave six steps.  From Alma 5:7 "Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God...."  (1) To learn and internalize who we are by having faith and trusting in God.  (2) Be in control of our thoughts and behavior by teaching our brain that we are in control and by turning difficulties into opportunities.  (3) Make peace with our past and our attitude will change.  (4) Relationships are opportunities to grow.  (5) Be a beacon of joy and happiness by choosing to be kind and friendly.  (6) Forgive everyone for everything.  Look to yourself for change.  Look for goodness.  By doing all these things it will get you closer to our Savior Jesus Christ.

President Tate spoke after Sister Tate.  He talked about making a difference through respect and honor.  He had us all turn to Doctrine and Covenants 31 and told us to substitute our names in place of Thomas B. Marsh.  We are called to serve in working miracles of turning hearts of children to their fathers.  Like in the Book of Mormon in Mosiah where the Lord had heard the prayers of his people. He told us to exercise our faith and go forward and miracles will follow.  He encouraged us to read the Book of Mormon and it will fortify us against the evils of our day.

We have been reading the Book of Mormon.  Our mission has a challenge to read the whole book in 90 days so by the end of October we should have read the whole book.  We are promised that it will make a difference in our missionary work.  We believe it so we are reading it.

We enjoy our mission and we are happy to have chosen this time to come on our mission together as senior missionaries.  We love it!  The church travel office had us reapply for our visas so it will take at least two more months.  Thank you for your prayers.  We truly are grateful for your love and friendship.  Have a wonderful week.

Beginning A New Week At The Family History Library

Even though this looks somewhat like a European city with its cobblestone street, it's not Helsinki, Finland.  Just wishful thinking.  We are still in Salt Lake City.  Trax is turning left on South Temple.

We have started training at the Family History Library.  Today we took lots of tours and several classes.  Every morning we start our day with a 30 minute devotional.  This morning it was an hour because the new missionaries who arrived from MTC were introduced.  We are not new but we will be training with this group.  We went to our Mission Presidency's luncheon.  The mission has this event for all the arriving new full-time missionaries.  We missed it last month so we were invited to go with them today.  We enjoyed a nice fancy meal and a wonderful visit with the Mission's First Counselor and his wife, President and Sister Oliver. We sat at their table along with other new missionary couples and single sisters.

We have been walking every day to the State Capital building.  The first time we went there we went inside and looked around.  It is a beautiful building.  There are always lots of visitors there.  Elder Hunt has been to the State Capital building on number of occasions for his state meeting when he was the Vice President for Applied Technology College.

The west side of the State Capital building.

All day, every day we associate with good people.  It is a blessing to be in this spiritual setting.
We send our love.