Church Office Building

Our first day of the second week of training began with us finding our way to the conference center parking lot and then over to the Church office building security desk so we could get passes to go to the 5th floor which is filled with Family History offices.  We met Karma Tomlinson who worked with us and another couple, the Stevens, who are going to Germany to do record preservation.  The week was filled with a great deal of training, a lot of getting to know each other, and a small measure of confidence that we would be able to do the job once we left.  The training was truly exceptional and the people we were trained by were also very nice, helpful, and encouraging.  I know that we still have much to learn once we get out in our area to serve but it is nice to know we have so many great people to reach out to when we need help.  When they took us into the room and I saw the equipment I felt a little panicky but after a couple of days my confidence grew.  I was especially proud of Scott who did a great job and seemed at home with the process.  Besides the training we received from Sister Tomlinson, we met two missionary couples.  One couple from Australia and the other from Orange County.  We also met Sister Amanda Terry who took us on a tour of the various Family History places on Temple Square.   Sister Terry's mother lives in Clovis, CA and is a friend of Alene Dahlbergs.  They both had kidney transplants.  Such a small world!  We went on a treasure hunt and played Family History Jeopardy as well.  These women are amazing at helping you feel comfortable even though my stomach was in knots all week.  One evening we had dinner with the director of the Family Search program.  He and his wife took us and the Stevens to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant.  When we left them we were able to meet Alisa and Tyler Lee and had dinner in the Garden room at the top of the Joseph Smith building. The night before we were able to spend time with Mark and Jean Whitney and got to hear about their mission to Scotland/Ireland and enjoyed a nice dinner with them at Kneaders.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 At the beginning of the week we were told that we would be going to Middlesex, Vermont to do our work at the archive.  By the middle of the week we were told that instead we will start working in Concord, New Hampshire at the state archives.  Once that was settled the mission office started looking for an apartment so we can move in when we get to Concord.

 When we finished up at the Church Office Building we went back towards Provo and stopped and had lunch at Zuppa's so we could see Rachel one more time.  We then headed to Provo and packed everything into the car, checked out at missionary housing and began again our great adventure.  Wall Drugs here we come!!