October Happenings

The month of October is a very friendly autumn month this year. It is also a month for children when they eagerly dress up in their Halloween costumes and go on an adventure treat-collecting evening with their parents driving them around through out the neighborhood. Trick or Treat is the sweetest phrase on Halloween night when Grandmas sit by the door and hand out candy to their little goblin visitors. Happy Halloween everyone!

We might not have any tricker treaters this year but we have a very happy jack-o-lantern out on our deck to greet everyone who walks by.

Elder Hunt had a birthday on the 22nd. We were at our dear friends in Provo for a doctor's appointment and Serena cooked a delicious birthday dinner. We enjoyed it so much that we forgot to take pictures. We remembered when we got to the dessert. Then we played penny dominoes.

                            

              

On Temple Square there is much activity going on in the gardens besides people of all cultures walking around the grounds. The flower beds that were so beautifully planted with all kinds of colorful summer flowers were pulled out and replaced with pansies of all colors and flower bulbs that will bloom in the spring. Youth volunteers from different wards come out to help. It's heart warming to see the youth working with their hands and shovels in the dirt. They seem to be enjoying yard work. It's a good service project for all who help. Thousands of flowers are planted throughout the year according to their season. They come from the Church's greenhouse. We learned that not a flower is wasted after it is replaced. It is used for mulch for all the gardens on Temple Square. The place is always clean and beautified with trees, bushes, and flowers. Most of the trees are now decorated with Christmas lights but are not lighted because they are not all decorated yet. We are told that they will turn on the lights in November on Thanksgiving day. It will be beautiful.

         

This is a story about this special 68 year old tree that is planted on the east side of Temple Square.

In 1947 a young Cedar of Lebanon was brought on an airplane by a traveling lady. She had the tree wrapped up and she kept it on her lap during the flight. She brought it to Temple Square and planted it and has been nurtured all these years. It is now a beautiful tree, all most as tall as the temple, Its boughs are very soft to the touch. This is one of a few times that it has been decorated because it is very sensitive to the heat from the electrical lights. Now that LEDs are used it will be safer for it to be lighted this year. It took over two months (August to early October) to fully decorate it with red Christmas lights. It will be very Christmasy when it is lighted for Christmas. We love walking by that tree every day as it seems to greet us to have a good day.

We have had three months of wonderful experience of serving and learning here at The Family and Church History Headquarters Mission.  We love our mission and all the missionaries that we serve with. We love working in the Family Search Center in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. We enjoy helping guests from all over the world find their ancestors names in the Family Search program. We still hope that our visas will come, but we will continue to faithfully serve our mission for the Lord here in Salt Lake.

Thank you for your love and support in every way.  We love you and you are in our prayers daily.