From the Crossroads of the West

It has been a while since I have updated our blog, so I decided I better get back with the program and get busy before I’m so far behind I will never get caught up. This past month has been a busy one!

We had the opportunity of attending a fireside with Sister Hinckley’s sister (our niece-in-law’s mom) with Wayne’s brother Rey and wife Carolyn

We attended a wonderful concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with Wayne’s sister and brother-in-law, Wyoma and Hank, prior to their leaving for 23 months on their mission to Germany.

Our new assignment this transfer includes serving at the Family Tree Family History center one day a week in Park City.

One night after work Natalie and Justin wanted us to go on a ride up the canyon to see the leaves. They said they heard they were beautiful. That is not even the word for it. They were absolutely GORGEOUS!!!! That does not even do them justice. The colors were just spectacular. Then a few days later, when we were coming home from Park City, we decided to come home through Guardsman’s Pass, and it was even more incredible. I have never seen more yellow quakies, ever. What a beautiful world we live in!!!!Millcreek CanyonGuardsman Pass

We have loved the visits from the kids. When Mitch and Cari came a few weeks ago, We we went to watch one of Justin’s water polo games. We were surprised to see our good friends, the Charltons, that are formerly from St. Anthony. We have not had a good visit since they have been back from their mission, so it was fun to be able to see them. Cade and Andrea had come to watch Justin play, and Charltons (Cade's parents) had come with them.With our friends, The Charltons

That afternoon Natalie, Cari, Alexa and I went to Gardner Village and had a fun time shopping.
The girls at Gardner Village which was decorated cute for Halloween!

We (minus Alexa) also had the opportunity to attend the Relief Society General Relief Society Womens Meeting at the Conference Center.
Since we moved here, Wayne and I have been trying to figure how to get out of the conference center doors that come out on the north side right below our condo. The mystery finally was solved when we came out from the General Relief Society Meeting and looked up and there was Wayne, Mitch and kids on the balcony. All three of us forgot to take our cameras to the Conference Center for the meeting, so this is after on the balcony of the condo

General Conference Weekend

We were serving at the South gate as the afternoon session of General Conference ended.

Here we are at the South Gate as the crowd is coming from the Conference Center after the Sunday afternoon session

Brett and Tiffany as they were leaving for General ConferenceRyan and Sheri were able to get tickets from their Stake for General Conference as well!

While serving at the tabernacle on Friday night last week it was rather slow just before closing, so we decided we would sing. It was awesome! The sisters do a pin drop demonstration every 15 minutes, and the acoustics are amazing. My voice is nothing special, but some of the sisters have beautiful voices, and it was incredible, just to be able to sing in there.

Justin has had a Polo tournament at Air Force Academy this weekend so Natalie came to hang out with us. We have had so much fun!! We spent Saturday morning at the Bingham Cooper Mine. That is one of the places Wayne has wanted to go since we have been here.

Looking down into the Kennecott Copper pit and standing by a tire from one of the trucks

We did miss our family last week as they were all together as Brett and Tiffany's Malorie was baptized. We would loved to have been there, but our mission president has put a limit of traveling within 100 miles. We appreciate our family for their understanding and support.

This is our latest view of the changing colors on the back of the Conference Center. We continue to have amazing experiences daily as we interact with people from all over the world.

Mission Moments

What an amazing few weeks we have had. In the short time we have been serving as missionaries, we have gained an incredible appreciation for Temple Square, missionary service, young sister missionaries, the Gospel, leaders, and our ancestors who were so dedicated and sacrificed so much. There has not been a day that we have not had a gospel discussion with people from all over the world. Most of the people who come want to know who we are and how the Church came to be. Some have never heard of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. But the one common thread we hear is "What is it that makes you people so happy?" Most are genuinely interested, but once in a while there are people who get somewhat agitated, like a man from Germany who walked away from his wife yesterday because she said she would like to go on a tour with the sister missionaries. Our main responsibility is to encourage the visitors to go on a tour . When they do that, they not only learn about the history of the buildings, but a little about the Church as well. Of course, once they are with the sister missionaries, the spirit does the work.


We have had such interesting conversations with visitors. I talked to a couple from Germany on Saturday, they were not familiar with our religion and they were so intrigued with what they had seen and felt. I saw them again on Monday, and they had spent their time seeing every video and building here. They had so many questions for which they were finding answers. They of course filled out a referral for the missionaries to visit and bring a Book of Mormon when they get back to Germany. I only wish we would be able to follow them for the rest of the story........


Tuesday we had the opportunity to have a backstage tour of the conference center. This picture is on top of the conference center with several of the sister missionaries


This morning we went with some of the other senior missionaries and a few sister missionaries to Little Cottonwood Canyon where the rock for the Salt Lake Temple was quarried. It was so interesting as our presenter told us how the rock was quarried, transported, and eventually used in the building.
This is as we were searching the rockbed for our own stones.
It is unbelieveable how the temple was built. As you can see, our days are not all work. However, the hours on our feet are long, but we are slowly adjusting. We are loving our mission!

We had a great surprise last Saturday. Mitch called to say he was at our house in St. Anthony and wondered what we needed him to get while he was there. They were planning on coming down in a couple weeks and he said it would be easier for him to get the stuff while he was there, rather than make another trip to get it. I gave him a big list to gather. About four hours later Wayne hears a knock on the door and opened it. He didn't see anyone, but then he looked down and there was Alexa and Tanner! Mitch, Cari, Natalie and Justin were around the corner. We were so excited to see them. We miss our Grandkids so much (of course we miss their parents too) but it made our day. It was so fun to see them even if their visit was short. That is one of the blessings of serving here - our kids get to visit!