Mission update 6/29/2025

Hello Friends and Family!

 The week started off with many interviews as students get ready to start their next term. Monday was the deadline to get into their classes and they needed their endorsement interview first for many of them. All of the missionaries helping with the interviews were doing as many as they could manage and we tried to clear them as fast as we could. The rest of the week was a little less stressful but still very busy. I think we ended the week with just about as many waiting as we had when we started. We definitely have job security here!

The mission plans to find a couple to replace us when we leave so hopefully they'll find someone in the next group of full time missionaries who come so we have time to train them. We'll see...  We also got a Pathway employee who has been assigned specifically to the Chaplains to help keep things organized. He came and spent a couple of hours with us to see what we do and we talked about some ways to automate the parts of the process that we can. 

Monday evening we got to go see our daughter in law, Emily, do a show in Provo. She has written a bunch of songs that take on serious church subjects like green jello, funeral potatoes and the scratchy wall in the halls at church. It was a lot of fun and lots of people came to hear her. 

We love Emily!

We have a choir pioneer program in three weeks and so we worked hard at choir practice on Wednesday. The songs are getting better every week but there is always a lot of stress when we're trying to get a bunch of songs ready. It's going to be a great program though so we're looking forward to it.

In other choir news, we need to get the bins of choir music ready to move to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and have been given permission to sort through the 40 bins and toss anything that won't be used. So, that's our project for any spare time we have.

Friday we got to go to the Bountiful Temple and happened to have a bunch of missionaries from our mission in the session as well. It was fun to have friends there. Afterwards, Gary and I had a hot date to Sam's Club for some shopping. It doesn't get much better than that!

Bountiful Temple

Saturday we went to Logan and did a short hike up Logan Canyon with kids and grandkids. It was beautiful and the little kids did so well. We rather like our grandchildren.

We tried to get the kids all in the picture at the Stokes Nature Center

In our Monday devotional this quote came up about enduring and I love it:

With three months left on our mission, we hope we can endure and not just put up with all that needs to be done. We would rather like to finish strong.  We are still amazed that we have already been out 20 months!

We love you all!

Elder and Sister Pack

Mission update 6/22/2025

Hello friends!

We were full speed ahead with interviews this week and yet we still got further behind. This week we'll go at a more reasonable pace because we want to still be speaking to each other at the end of the week :)  Fortunately, BYU Pathway is aware of the impossibility of getting everything done and is looking at helping the process move along faster. 

But, despite some frustration and exhaustion, we have had amazing and wonderful interviews with students who are working hard to move ahead in life and do everything they can to do good in the world. I am in awe of them! These students are such good people!

A year ago I interviewed a man in Mongolia for his endorsement and this week got to interview him again. Last year the interview was very rough because of his lack of English skills. We got through it but it was exhausting! This year was so much better, he still has work to do for full comprehension but he has made great progress. We did have a funny moment when I asked him to explain academic honesty and he explained the whole Word of Wisdom instead. Also a question we ask so all was okay. 

We had a devotional on Monday with Steven Schenk who is over the new hymnbook project. He spoke for about 45 minutes and everyone would have been quite happy for him to go on for another hour. He said that there were 17,000 submissions of songs for the new book. He showed a picture of how many hymnbooks stacked on top of each other it would take to fit all those hymns. 

Favorite quote from the devotional

We had a great day on Saturday with lunch at Hires Big H with Gary's Hong Kong mission president Garry Mitchell and another couple that served in Hong Kong and served with us here in SLC too! Then, in the evening we had a mission reunion with President and Sister Holmes. It was funny to have a mission reunion while still on our mission. There were so many current and former missionaries there along with the whole presidency. What a fun night!

Deckers (were in our mission and also he was in Hong Kong) and Garry Mitchell

President and Sister Holmes, sharing their love for all their missionaries

Today has been beautiful with cooler weather and a lovely walk up through the Avenues and down through Memory Grove. We're not going to miss living in the city but we will miss these beautiful walks!

These are new since the last time we walked the road to the top of Memory Grove

I'm a little obsessed with Hollyhocks and they are everywhere right now

From Gary:  Another busy and fantastic week!  It is hard to believe that we have just over three months to go!  We have made so many lifelong friends here and seen so many ways that the Kingdom of God is rolling forward all around the world!  In complete contrast to the worldly things that are in absolute chaos around us all right now, the Gospel is truly changing everything for those of us that believe and see!  The faith that becomes hope that then becomes charity is obvious to us as we talk to these non-member BYU Pathway Worldwide students and they tell us how their lives have changed for the better because of them learning more about Jesus Christ and coming closer to their Father in Heaven!  And yes, we talked with several this week that are preparing for baptism into the Church!

The reunion was fantastic fun!  We got to see a lot of the missionaries that we served with before that have now finished their missions and returned to their former homes and lives.  We asked many about how that transition went, and they all said that they are plenty busy, but really miss the opportunities they have had to serve the Lord on a full-time basis.  

Packs, Johnsons, Smiths and Sister Engstrom!

Have a wonderful week!

We love you all!

Elder and Sister Pack

Mission update 6/15/2025

Hello all!

 Happy Father's Day! In our ward here, the men got candy wrapped in a paper that had Dad jokes printed on it. So useful!  And then Gary shared the candy with me!  Very smart!

We got to spend some time at Tyler and Marie's today, such a fun bunch!

We had no mission devotional this week so our week started off a bit off kilter. Part way through the morning on Monday I had to remind myself to pray for help and stop freaking out about the constant feeling of being overwhelmed that we deal with. 

On Tuesday we had to drive to Filmore for some bank stuff and it was a beautiful drive. We even managed to get a couple interviews done and have a meeting with the Pathway team all while on the road. It was good to get some work done.

I had an interview with a man from Maritius who shared with me how much Christ has helped him in his studies. He says he prays and doesn't just get the answers but is able to better figure things out and he can tell where the help is coming from. Beautiful!

In the Doctrine and Covenants sections this week there were several times where the saints were told their goal but left to figure out how to get there, who to travel with etc. I love that the Lord trusts us to figure things out on our own. Of course, sometimes I really do want that detailed map!

Friday we went to the Bells at Temple Square concert in the Tabernacle and loved it. We love sitting in the balcony up toward the front where we can look down at the group performing. It looked a bit exhausting! They are constantly trading out their bells, and their positions in the group. Lots of coordination!

Bells at Temple Square

Saturday we went to a bit of the Red Bull Soap Box Derby which was happening in Salt Lake. We only stayed for an hour but got to see several cars get down the hill in various states of survival. It was lots of fun but so many people and so hot! We were happy to leave and get back to air conditioning. 

This was early on before it became wall to wall people, it was crazy!

We got to sing with the Primary today for Father's Day and the kids and youth did so well. Next week we get to lead singing time so more fun!

It has been fun this week in our Doctrine and Covenants reading to see that the Lord has a goal for us but many times doesn't have a specific way that we need to accomplish it. Several times this week we've read about the Saints being told to go somewhere, by whatever means they want, in groups or by themselves and so on. I would love to go back and tell my teenage self to stop agonizing over every step in life, waiting for God to tell me what to do!

From Gary: Fathers Day always makes me reflect on the example of the Fathers in my life.  And then I follow up with reflection on my children and what I hope to have shown them as we gave it our best shot to raise them right.  Then I think of my children and their spouses and what I now see them doing with their own families.  It brought many smiles and deep gratitude as I did this reflection.  Then I always think about our Heavenly Father and how he must feel as he watches His children on the earth.  This leads me to reflect even deeper on the Plan of Salvation and our place in it!  We are loved unconditionally by Him and have a place with Him if we do our best to follow the Doctrine of Christ!

We are still seeing miracles every day in our mission assignment!  People are changing their lives in tremendous ways both academically and spiritually because of BYU Pathway Worldwide!  They are making a difference in their families and in their communities, which will lead to better countries, all driven by the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

We are so excited that my Brother Kevin and his wife Susan have their Mission Call!  They are going to help with the Vancouver Washington temple as Assistant Project Managers!  They leave about a week after we get home from our mission in October!  Senior Missions are wonderful!  We need more Senior Missionaries than ever before!  

Have a wonderful week!

We love you all!

Elder and Sister Pack

6/8/2025

Hello All!

 We had a day this week where we felt like there was hope of getting on top of all these student requests. Then, the next day there were 99 new requests and we're drowning again. Fortunately we also got some new missionaries doing part time help so maybe we'll make a little progress. The great thing about our mission is that lots of missionaries have down time along with busy time. So, during that down time they are able to help us with the interviews but we're not taking them away from their normal jobs. 

In reading conference talks this week I got to Amy Wright's talk, Thou Art the Christ. I loved this paragraph:

 We need to infuse the Light of Jesus Christ into every corner of our lives. If we are not testifying to the veracity of His premortal godhood, His divine mission, and His prison-bursting Resurrection in our homes and in every single meeting of this Church, then our messages of love, service, honesty, humility, gratitude, and compassion can become nothing more than a jaunty pep talk of thoughtful living. Without Jesus Christ there is no power to change, no purpose to aspire to, and no reconciliation of the travails of life. If we become casual in our discipleship of Jesus Christ, it could be catastrophic for our children.

I feel like this is what these Pathway students are learning as they take their religion classes. So many are telling us how much more they are learning about Christ. They are learning that He really is their Savior and that He really does love them so very much. They are discovering that with His help, they can change and their lives can become so much better!

Construction continues non stop in Salt Lake and this week's adventure is the new way we get into the Church Office Building auditorium for our devotionals and choir practice. There is a door directly to the outside from the auditorium section that we have been told to never, ever use. So, of course that is the one that we now have to use while they redo the floor in the main part of the first floor. We'll see how long it lasts before the door is forbidden again. 

Meanwhile, North Temple between the Conference Center and Temple Square is going to be closed for several days to traffic so that's fun. Hopefully we'll still be able to cross back and forth and not end up in some deep hole. It is a constant adventure!

But, the gardens are lovely as always and make up for all the construction adventures.

These flower "bowls" in front of the Church Office Building are so fun

The vegetable in the Brigham Young Park is amazing this year!

We went to the Bountiful Temple with the Smiths this week and had to squeeze it in between other things but it was a wonderful respite that we all needed. 

We like how the sun showed up nicely for this 

After the temple, we went to dinner with Gary's Mission President, Garry Mitchell, and with Blaine Zwahlen, who was Gary's companion for 7 months in Hong Kong, along with Blaine's wife!  That was wonderful!

Saturday we went with Elder and Sister Haws from Wisconsin to Franklin Idaho to visit the museum and home of Lorenzo Hill Hatch who both Gary and Elder Haws are descended from. It was a beautiful drive and fun visit to the museum. And, of course we neglected to get any pictures.

But, we also stopped to see the progress on the Smithfield Temple and got pictures there:

Another lovely selfie with me squinting at the phone

From Gary:  It was a wonderfully busy week!  We are working hard to keep up with student's requests, but we continue to have amazing experiences with the students we talk to.  About two weeks ago, I talked to a young man named Isaac who was just preparing for baptism on June 1st!  Since we cannot talk to them if they are Members of the Church, I was glad I caught him before his baptism!  He then sent me pictures this week of his baptismal day there in Ghana!

Isaac is the one second from the left!

Now with more Saints baptized on June 1st

Then on Wednesday, Isaac sent me a WhatsApp message asking if I had gone on a mission as a young man.  I told him about my mission to Hong Kong all those years ago!  He then told me that he wanted to prepare to serve a mission too!  He is 20 years old, so this is a wonderful idea!  Once we find something that changes our life forever, like the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, we all just want to share the good news!

What I keep learning is that we cannot take for granted the amazing truth that we have in our hands as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!  We are so blessed!

Have s wonderful safe week!

We love you all!

Elder and Sister Pack

Mission update 6/1/2025

Hello Everyone! 

We were talking this afternoon about the rather constant state of panic we've had for our whole mission with the number of interviews that need to be done. It would be quite lovely if things were ever under control but we're sure not holding our breath on that. Also, same goes for the likelihood of any construction projects being done at Temple Square before our mission is over. We'll just call it the under construction mission :)

After a week of craziness for both us and the Smiths, we went to the Syracuse Temple open house on Friday afternoon. It was a beautiful drive there on the west corridor and the temple is perfect. I especially loved the flowers in the stained glass and how the baptistry was just as beautifully decorated as the other rooms. Sometimes the baptistry can feel a bit less fancy but not this one! 

We followed it with the mandatory post temple activity of ice cream at Thurgood's in Syracuse. When we went to pay we found out that they didn't charge missionaries. So, a beautiful temple and free ice cream. That made for a lovely end to the week of craziness.

Packs and Smiths at the Syracuse Temple

We had a couple of meetings with Elder and Sister Martinez who are in the Utah Area Presidency and we have a mission conference tomorrow with them as well. They are quite delightful and it's been great to have them around our mission this past week. I think the thing that stuck most with me was "when we are on the right path it is always uphill." So, with the way our week has been, we might just be on the right path!

Saturday we went for a drive up through Kamas and then to Mirror Lake. It was so beautiful and green everywhere. We didn't spend much time at the lake because it's still frozen but we did find some beautiful waterfalls on the Provo River and met and talked with a couple from Arkansas who were delightful.  When we arrived at the Mirror Lake turn off, the road still had snowdrifts that somebody thought they could drive through:

Mirror Lake in May, digging your car out of the snow in swim trunks

Water is so cool!  This is the Provo River Falls! 

This afternoon we're preparing for tomorrow's interviews and of course we have several students who are just frantic to get their interviews done right away. Our Whatsapp numbers and emails continue to be handed out all over Africa from what we can tell. Good thing we got more missionaries last week to help!

But first, we have our apartment Break the Fast meal which we've missed for two months. It will be fun to see who is still here and who is new. Also, pot lucks are always fun culinary adventures.

We continue to have amazing missionary experiences every day!

Have a wonderful week!

We love you all!

Elder and Sister Pack