Moving Experience

Last week in our training we studied probate, land and property, immigration, naturalization (no, we aren’t in law school), and military records.  It really is like being “sprayed with a firehose.”  The question is, how much will we remember when it’s time to help a guest.  (One of us is fretting a bit about that—next week we are on the schedule as “helpers.”)  It was interesting to find some records from our own ancestors, though nothing that we didn’t know, still interesting to see the records of the Mormon Battalion and immigrant ships’ logs.  Next, we start on Canadian records, including French Canadian (oh, boy). 

            Melissa, Christopher’s wife, had a sleepover on Thursday night so she could catch an early morning flight on Friday to Florida for a sisters’ reunion.  It was nice to have her.

            Each day, we start with a devotional where we are blessed to hear some pretty inspiring stories of faith.   On Monday, the entire mission meets together.  The other mornings, we meet as a zone.  Last week in a zone devotional, Sister Clark shared a story about a couple who were baptized and settled in Nauvoo.  They made the trek to Salt Lake and began to establish themselves there.  They were asked by Brigham Young to move to Lehi, which they did.  Because the elder had some knowledge of native languages, they were asked a short time later to move to the Iron Mission.  From there they were called to the “Muddy” in Nevada, where no one wanted to go; then finally St. John’s Arizona.  Now in his later years, the elder was walking through his peach orchard in St. John’s with his son.  He picked a peach, wiped off the fuzz, and took a bite.  “That,” he said to his son, “is the first peach I have tasted from the many peach trees I have planted.”  A moving story.  Sometimes we don’t see the harvest, but we keep planting. 

            Our daughter Jaynie and her family moved from Salem to Pleasant Grove, Thursday and Friday.  They had been half-way packed since August when their home “went under contract” the first time. The deal fell through, followed by two more last minute failures.  (Their buyers needed to sell homes, and those deals fell through.)  But fourth time was “the charm.”  We were not able to get away to help them load the truck on Thursday, but Elder Challis and his brother, Dan, helped Jakiah unload on Friday, while I helped Jaynie gather up “a few things” in Salem and do some cleaning.  It was a workout!!   But by Saturday night, the kitchen and kids’ rooms were settled, the Christmas tree decorated, the TV hung, and the van and truck wedged into the garage.   

A moving experience!