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
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