We are going to post a running total of the number of exposures that we have taken. It will help us and you understand the progress that we are making.
Names Grandma has indexed 143,855 While Grandpa is at the camera, Grandma uses her extra time indexing for Family Search. She also does this while we are traveling, in the evenings, and any other time when she could be pursuing other more self-centered activities.
Names Grandma has indexed 143,855 While Grandpa is at the camera, Grandma uses her extra time indexing for Family Search. She also does this while we are traveling, in the evenings, and any other time when she could be pursuing other more self-centered activities.
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| Salisbury Estate |
FAMILY MATTERS
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Happy Birthday Jason
January 9th
Difficult Books Completed
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| This is the second generation of a frame that Grandpa built to film the last project that was our challenge. |
In the first week of January we completed the project that gave us the greatest challenge yet. We filmed 430 books. We were glad to get this behind us. Grandpa spent almost as much time figuring out a system and building equipment than it took for us to do the filming. The Church has now discontinued all microfilming, world-wide. They are trying to get new agreements with the State of Iowa to continue record preservation here using digital imaging equipment. We will need to be trained with the new equipment, but it looks as though it will be weeks away. Until then, we have been helping the Mission Office staff with the mountain of office work that it takes to keep the mission running.
In the meantime, we are traveling to Indiana to do some filming on a project that was missed by the couple that did the original filming. The Family History Department is sending us on a 500 mile trip to a county near the eastern border of Indiana. We are happy to do this, since travel is enjoyable for us. We are sure that we will take the very last microfilm images of the Church, world-wide. There is a good article in this weeks Church News on Record Preservation. It explains what record preservation missionaries are doing across the world. We will give you some details about our trip in our last blog in two or three weeks. We will be returning home early in March.
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| The joy of filming the last page of the last book |
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| Grandma is preparing the last book by freeing the glued pages and unfolding pages. |
In the meantime, we are traveling to Indiana to do some filming on a project that was missed by the couple that did the original filming. The Family History Department is sending us on a 500 mile trip to a county near the eastern border of Indiana. We are happy to do this, since travel is enjoyable for us. We are sure that we will take the very last microfilm images of the Church, world-wide. There is a good article in this weeks Church News on Record Preservation. It explains what record preservation missionaries are doing across the world. We will give you some details about our trip in our last blog in two or three weeks. We will be returning home early in March.
While we are waiting to get back into digital imaging of historic records, President Jergensen has asked us to help in the Mission Office. Two weeks ago we attended the first staff meeting with the President and Sister Jergensen, the APs, and the Gardners and Scovilles. Grandma is now the mission Referral Secretary and Grandpa is the Housing Coordinator. After the 3 hour staff meeting, Grandma made correction in the guidelines for Assistants to the President. Last week, Grandpa and Elder Gardner went to a huge furniture store here in Des Moines. We purchase about $3,000 in furnishing for a new senior couple that will be located in eastern Iowa. On Tuesday, Grandpa and the other Elders in the office made a 6 hour driving trip to deliver to deliver the furniture in the mission van and large cargo trailer. We, also, drove a new missionary and his companion to be finger printed. One of the Elders has applied for citizenship and needs to be fingerprinted to allow him to get a drivers license. The mission office is a very busy and intense place. We will enjoy this change. It has be very enlightening to see the inside workings of the Mission.
We were told by Elder Clark of the Seventy, that 7000 new missionary applications were recieved by the Church after the change in age for missionaries. Our friends in the Oklahoma City Mission said that they are getting 76 additional missionaries. The Iowa Des Moines Mission will get 62 additional missionaries over the next 4 months. With the change in missionary ages, the initial flow of missionaries will be greatly increased. That means that arrangements, contracts, and full furnishings must be made for 30 new apartments.
We spent another busy week trying to reduce the backup of paper work critical to the operation of the mission. This has been very rewarding to us, because we both have office skills that none of the other staff possess. We have been able to help in multiple ways to improve computer processing of paper work and the flow of work. The staff greatly appreciate our skills and willingness to help them.
Loffredos
The Loffredos continue to attend church with us. We have been picking them up each Sunday and have been concerned that they need to start coming on their own. When we leave they need to come to church for themselves not because of us. So, last Sunday we decided to not call nor to pick them up. When we got to Church they were not there. But shortly after we sat down in the Chapel, they came in to sit by us.
Bob has a brother, Carl, who has been in the hospital since October. Bob has been very concerned for him. Bob asked if he and Grandpa could give Carl a Priesthood Blessing. I said certainly, then asked Bob what he wanted to do. He said he would like to give his brother the blessing, but he need some help. Grandpa reassured him. I gave Bob some instructions and asked him to prepare himself. At the appointed time, several days later, we met at the hospital. Carl is not a member so we took the opportunity to explain to him that he was receiving a blessing from his Father-In-Heaven,
Weeks ago, we asked Bob and Betty to prepare themselves to renew their long lapsed temple recommends. Two weeks ago we invited them to attended the Nauvoo Temple with us and the other departing missionaries from the mission. Last Sunday they recieved new recommends from the Bishop. We will go to the Temple together on January 29th. How sweet it is.
Bob has a brother, Carl, who has been in the hospital since October. Bob has been very concerned for him. Bob asked if he and Grandpa could give Carl a Priesthood Blessing. I said certainly, then asked Bob what he wanted to do. He said he would like to give his brother the blessing, but he need some help. Grandpa reassured him. I gave Bob some instructions and asked him to prepare himself. At the appointed time, several days later, we met at the hospital. Carl is not a member so we took the opportunity to explain to him that he was receiving a blessing from his Father-In-Heaven,
Weeks ago, we asked Bob and Betty to prepare themselves to renew their long lapsed temple recommends. Two weeks ago we invited them to attended the Nauvoo Temple with us and the other departing missionaries from the mission. Last Sunday they recieved new recommends from the Bishop. We will go to the Temple together on January 29th. How sweet it is.
Grandma's Face Plant
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| Notice glass mash and the fat lip |
On New Years Day, President and Sister Jergensen invited us, the Gardners, and the Scovilles to see Les Meserables. It was great. Afterward we went to dinner together. It was very cold out that evening. Grandma and Grandpa arrived and parked. We got out of the car and started walking toward, what appeared to Grandpa to be a side entrance. I hurried up to the door to see if we could get in. As I got close it was clear that this was a service entrance. Grandma had reluctantly followed. As I turned back toward Grandma, I heard a scuffle and found Grandma face-down on the concrete sidewalk. She had tripped on the curb near the handicapped ramp. I rushed to her and helped her roll onto her back. Her eyes were closed in pain. She was bleeding above her lip. At this point, Elder Gardner helped me stand Grandma up. The other Sisters took Grandma to the restroom inside. They cleaned her up and made an assessment of the damage. Grandpa was busy finding a bandage. When they emerged from the restroom Grandma was holding a tissue over her lip. She would not wear the bandage. The others moved to the counter to place their orders. Grandma and Grandpa were trying to decide what Grandma could eat with her injuries. Just then the manager, appeared to ask if they could take us to the hospital. She was sincerely concerned. Of course, Grandma insisted that she did not need medical care. The manager gave us her business card, told us to call if we needed anything, then gave us complimentary meals.
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| This clearly illustrates the damage. Grandma is one tuff cookie. |
President Jergensen stood and introduced the Doctor and his family to us. Grandma stood while the Good Doctor checked out her tooth. He said he thought it would be fine, but invited us to pay a visit in the morning if we desired. He said to come in, particularly, if the tooth was hurting.
Grandma and I stayed around to talk to the Hintz family to find that his wife, Melissa, lived in Providence. The more we talked we calculated that she was either Wade's or Amber's age when she attended South Cache Middle School. We mentioned Wade. She asked if Wade was small with dark hair. We confirmed. She said, " I remember dancing with Wade at a school dance."
Grandma also asked Melissa what caused them to come to the restaurant that night to eat, since they were so far from home. She told us that they were not planning to eat there, but when they saw Fuddruckers they decide they wanted to stop there to feed their family.
Grandma fell with most of her weight on her face. The right lens of her grasses was deeply scratched. It was apparent that her glasses protected her from greater injury. This fall could have been very serious. She is healing rapidly. She came home and took a dose of Ibuprofen. She slept well. The next morning she did not have residual pain from the tooth or any other bruises or abrasions.
So what are the chances? We are both a little concerned about being released as Missionaries. Grandma now has her new glasses. This is a risky way to get new glasses.
Aunt Margaret Ann and her family completed Temple Ordinances for their deceased son, Bradley in the Logan Temple. Shaun was proxy for his brother. Grandma and Grandpa wanted to share in that experience so we attended the Winter Quarters Temple during the same time. The temple is two hours away, so we invited the Gardners to go with us.
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| We arrived early at the temple so we went to the Visitor's Center for some warmth. We found this very large gingerbread house display supplied by Wards and Stakes throughout the Winter Quarters Temple District. |
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| Grandma and the Gardners. |
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During the week between Christmas and New Years, we received a surprise call from Matt Pyne, the son of our great friends, Ivan and Jackie Pyne. It was quite a shock when he told us that he was just minutes away from our apartment. When we went to the lobby to let he and his family in, we were greeted with great hugs, two loaves of warm bread, Jackie's famous honey butter, and two jars of Amish preserves from Tennessee. We enjoyed this wonderful treat that regularly graces the home of Ivan and Jackie. We have been enjoying her bread for many years. We also have been regularly supplied with these delicious jams from the Pynes since being away from home.
Matt, Christi, Addison, and Keaton were visiting Christi's sister who lives in Des Moines. We were blessed by being able to spend a few hours with them. This family is family to us. This was as good as a visit by our own. The bread and the condiments warmed our hearts and our tummies.
The Polier Family
Last week we were called by Becky and Jesse Polier to help with some family history. The Poliers were baptized in November. They are preparing for the temple in 9 months. The Elders, that baptized them, told them to call us for help with Sister Poliers family history. They are going to the Temple on Saturday, with their ward, for the first time. Sister Polier wanted to clear her deceased father for baptism to allow her husband to be baptized for him. We worked with them, in their home, for two nights this week. We were finally successful in printing the necessary documents to allow her father to receive this temple ordinance. It was a very sweet experience. They were so very happy.
Salisbury House
The Gardners, Scovilles, and Grandma and Grandpa visited the Salisbury House in Des Moines. This is the Estate of Carl and Edith Weeks, built in the 1920s and is a model of the King’s House in England. Carl Weeks was one of the leading cosmetics designers and manufactures in the USA. Many of today's lotions and makeup have roots in Carl Week’s products. The main house contains 42 magnificent rooms. It has a huge collection of famous art. The most valuable painting is a Renoir valued at more than 4 million. It is home to a magnificent Steinway Piano which has been played by famous pianist guests. The tour guide played the Steinway for us. The quality of tone was clear, deep, and beautiful. This place was amazing.
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| The library in this house held more than a thousand rare or first addition books from around the world. We had our mission badges on, so the the tour guide made sure to point out the rare Books of Mormon. Here you can see an original first edition and a rare second edition. |
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| This is the $4m Renoir Painting |
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| A remnant Oklahoma Sunset |
HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU. UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN.
GRANDMA AND GRANDPA
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