Happy middle of February. We had a devotional with a church historian on Monday and it was really a fun one. Keith Erekson was asked to travel around holding question and answer sessions with mostly young adults. The goal was to go as long as was needed with each session to answer all the questions that were asked. He shared some of his experiences with that, and also shared some deep dark secrets--where the answers to many of the questions are hidden. Then he helped us find a couple of places on gospel library that answer so many of the questions (hidden in plain sight). One of those places in the church history section under Answers to Church History questions and another is the list of topics under Topics and Questions. Here is a screenshot of a slide that he shared with us about some of the questions that are being asked:
Wednesday was a funny day with cold, snow flurries and lots of wind. Walking outside was an adventure! But, it was so fun to see actual snow this winter! Choir was fun that evening. One of our choir directors likes to end choir with all of us going out into the lobby of the Church Office Building, circling around the piano and singing some of the songs. The acoustics are wonderful out that and we go home feeling great.
We're really bad at remembering to take pictures but on Thursday we had dinner with the Morrises who are service missionaries in our zone. Elder Morris worked with Gary at EDS many, many years ago in Salt Lake so they had fun catching up. The Morrises get to work with the young service missionaries who help with tech stuff.
Friday we loaded up the suburban, picked up three sisters from our mission and headed north. Our first stop was the Pocatello Temple where we did a session along with the Smiths and Reeders from our mission.
Missionary Friends at the Pocatello Temple
More Pocatello Temple
Then we headed to Blackfoot where we stayed over night so we could go to the funeral for Elder Von Kunz the next day. The funeral was absolutely perfect with all of the children speaking and sharing such fun stories about their dad. Gary and I got to play prelude and postlude and all the missionaries (at least 20, probably more) sang the first verse of Called to Serve and then were joined by the congregation for the closing hymn. It was such a beautiful tribute for a man who devoted his life to serving the Lord and other people.
Elder Von Kunz Funeral Program
Today in primary we watched the latest Friend to Friend broadcast, featuring members of our ward. The kids were very focused the whole time and loved seeing people they knew.
So Fun to see the February Friend to Friend
With Members of our Whittier Ward!
Tomorrow is sort of a day off because of Presidents Day, but we're going to do interviews in the morning so we don't get too much further behind. We are planning to work from our apartment so we can get away with wearing warm fuzzy socks and just have to look "covid" official.
From Gary: We were very grateful for good enough weather this weekend to be able to safely make it to Elder Kunz's funeral. We will be forever blessed to have worked with Elder and Sister Kunz. She is hoping to return either as a Service Missionary from their home in Blackfoot Idaho or to actually come back to Salt Lake and continue to help us with these BYU Pathway Ecclesiastical Endorsement interviews! What an amazing couple and a great example to all.
I spoke to a man in Ghana this week who is 40 years old and finally able to get into a place where he can get an education through BYU Pathway. He was referred to Pathway from a friend who is a member of the Church. He has completely fallen in love with the Church through his Institute classes and the BYU Pathway gatherings! He and his wife are now attending Church along with their small children and are planning to join the Church in the next few months! We hear stories like his every week and see the hand of the Lord in moving His work forward around the world!
We are still loving our mission!
We love you all!
Elder and Sister Pack
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