Winter Wonderland

December 30, 2018

It is a “winter wonderland” here in Salt Lake, with enough snow to cover the grass and turn the foothills white. Thankfully, the snow is cleared promptly from city sidewalks and walking paths, so we still get out and walk, marveling at the snowy peaks against a blue, blue sky.

We are on the “schedule” now on the US/Canada floor. That is the true “wonder” land: we wonder how we could have already forgotten so much of what we’ve studied; we wonder when we will be “helpers” in deed and not just in title; and one of us wonders when the anxiety will subside when a patron approaches with a research challenge.

In the meantime, we continue to work our way through the lessons, most recently US Land and Property Records—the fun part of that lesson was the BLM website with a map that shows tracts of land that were homesteaded. The vocabulary in that lesson was more challenging for me than it was for Elder Challis, the engineer. Venturing across the border into Canadian records was also challenging, especially French Canadian. With each lesson, we are challenged to practice what we’ve learned by searching for our own family. So far, we’ve been successful in doing that, even finding Canadians, but we couldn’t think of a single French Canadian. 😊

On a warm afternoon before the snow came, we hiked up Ensign Peak—and got our shoes very muddy. From the “peak” (a better name would be “mound”), looking over the valley crowded with streets and buildings, it was hard to imagine what it looked like when Brigham Young planted the “ensign” there. Most certainly, the air was clearer--unless there were a lot of campfires.

The morning before the hike, we went to the Draper Temple, planning to attend the 10am endowment session, but even 15 minutes early, it was already full, so we did sealings for an hour. A beautiful temple, in a beautiful setting—an ensign.

We spent a few days at Christmas in Utah Valley with our kids who live there and also with some of Elder Challis’ siblings. We worked on a few projects with the kids, but mostly just played. Smiling, delighted children! Delicious food. Fun games, like “pie face.” We missed our Alaska family, our missionary in Russia, and our Kansas kids—so much! Not getting a children’s choir ready to sing for a Christmas program made me homesick.

Last week, it was nice to have visits from Olathe friends, the Petersons and the Bertagnoles. “The cross roads of the west” is a good place to be.

Noel called us on facetime a few days before Christmas to show us the ring on her finger. Excited cheering! She and Darrin plan to be married the end of April, here in Utah. The words, “blessings flow,” ring with truth. The blessings are flowing.

The “spoken word” from Music and the Spoken Word this morning was titled “A Year of Possibilities.” I was touched by this counsel: “We must be willing to work without knowing all the outcome…we must be willing to wait for final answers…and trust God…God grant us faith, work, patience and a little time to live the goodness of life with our loved ones…to see the eternal certainties beyond the uncertainties.” We wish you a blessed new year.