Happy Groundhog Day! It's 53 degrees and windy here today so who knows what season it is.
We started off the week feeling overwhelmed by all the things floating around and needing to get done. Once we got them all written down it became much more manageable and the week ended better than it started. It's not that we have too much to do, just that there are several different things we're in charge of, and trying to corral them all is tough. But, after spending one morning this week doing nothing but going through the to do list, things feel much more under control.
We had a bit of a miracle day on Wednesday. We had 10 interviews scheduled with most of them being two students at the same time so we could each interview one. Then, Gary woke up sick and I ended up needing to do all but one of the interviews. Miraculously, everything worked out with some students being ready early, some needing later times and all the connections working. I even found that I had some of the best discussions I've ever had with students even though I was really feeling rushed to get through each interview. I love when we are blessed with time stretching to fit what we need to get done!
Friday we went with the Smiths to the Deseret Peak Temple in Tooele. It was a great drive out past the Great Salt Lake. The temple is beautiful and it was so good to be out in a more open area.
Deseret Peak Temple with Elder and Sister Smith
On our way home we noticed that the south side of the Tabernacle and the Assembly Hall in Salt Lake City was open. It has been closed for over a year so it was very exciting to see it opened back up. We went for a walk later in the day and loved seeing all the progress and changes.
Priesthood restoration statues on the south side of the Tabernacle
Still lots of landscaping to do but progress!
The fences will be much more open from outside Temple Square instead of solid walls
We enjoyed watching them get this rather cumbersome load ready for the crane
And off it goes
If you look closely you can see the Christus statue in the visitor's center
It's so fun to have these times when all of a sudden you see lots of progress. Then we go back to lots of weeks where it seems nothing is getting done. But, it's getting there!
In our ward today we had a man who is incarcerated bear his testimony. He got permission to get out for two hours to come to church and he was so happy. He talked about how much joy he is finding in his life as he is making the changes he needs to align himself with the church.
We just got back from our monthly Break the Fast with all the missionaries from our apartment building. It's so fun to sit by different people each month and get to know a bit of their stories. We sat by a couple from LeGrand Oregon today. The wife is from Singapore and they met when the husband was on a business trip there. She is the only member in her family and talked about how she is working to track down the family members who are from China. It sounded a bit like our lines when we run into issues connecting to the British ancestors. Family history is fascinating!
From Gary: In case you were wondering, I just had a 24-hour tummy bug that cleared up quickly, so that was good. We still got a lot of good work done this week. We are still loving our assignment with BYU Pathway Worldwide!
It has always been fun to be at Church Headquarters and get to hear a lot of things that most do not get to hear. This week we heard that President Nelson still goes to work almost every day and fully is planning on being here for the completion of the work on the Salt Lake Temple! We love and sustain him!
It really is eye-opening to talk to the other missionaries in our mission and hear about their assignments and the experiences they are having as they build the Kingdom in their areas. The work that happens here and around the world is so awe-inspiring and amazing that it expands our view constantly!
We are loving our Come Follow Me studies about the early restoration activities. I get pretty excited to meet some of my ancestors who were involved early in this work and get their stories in a much more complete version! I would love to see what Joseph Smith is doing today in the continuing process of the restoration and would also love to know more about what his role will be as the second coming arrives! Aren't you curious? We truly are involved in a "marvelous work and a wonder!"
We did a "Relatives Around Me" in the Family Tree app activity with those missionaries that live in our apartment complex and found out that one of the new missionaries is my third cousin! He comes down through Lorenzo Hill Hatch just like I do! He has never been to the museum in Franklin Idaho and see the house of Lorenzo there, so we are going to do that together when the weather gets warmer! I have found many fun cousins here on a mission with us!
Also, we are now in the middle of Chinese New Year if you missed the memo! We celebrated by getting some Dim Sum at a fun restaurant here in SLC! And yes, Sylvia always lets me eat the chicken feet without help from her! And I got to speak Chinese with some of the workers there who found it quite entertaining to hear me speaking their language!
We love this work!
Have a marvelous week!
We love you all!
Elder and Sister Pack
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