Week 15

April 30, 2017

 

 

Dear Loved ones,

This has been an amazing week! Tuesday my brother, Winston and his wife Shirl, dropped by on their way home from Salt Lake. It was so fun to see them, unfortunately, I was about to leave for a meeting, so we didn’t have long to chat.

My meeting was some sort of Multi-Stake Public Affairs council that I was invited to attend because I am the mission representative to Just Serve, the church website for community service projects. The Mayor of Pocatello was our guest speaker.  He talked about Pocatello being chosen for a new temple.  He commented on all the talk about where the temple will be built.  He reminded us that the most obvious place may not be it.  He told about the people in Twin Falls being certain that their temple would be built on a large piece of land that the Church already owned.  Then President Hinckley came to visit.  He asked to be driven all over Twin Falls.  He saw a large green area and asked about it; he was told it was a golf-course.  He then had them drive him down into an area near a small waterfall where he looked up onto the golf-course and said, “that is where the Lord wants his temple.  I have seen it there.” Therefore, the mayor counseled us all to not waste time speculating where the temple will be built.  We will all know when the church announces it. 

At the end of the meeting the Mayor bore a powerful testimony of Jesus Christ.  We had a 7^th Day Adventist there to tell us about a community event they are hosting, he raised his hand and said how grateful he is that our city government is run by someone who truly understands and loves the Savior.  It was an amazing meeting and I was grateful to be there.

The housing couple that I work with in the office are coming to the end of their mission.  Monday, their replacements will come in for training.  We wanted to have special office good-by, so Thursday we stayed in the office for lunch.  Sister Christensen brought chicken salad and croissants, Sister Parkin brought a vegetable tray, and I brought cut-up fresh fruit.  The Balls, the couple that are leaving, brought us strawberry pies. It was a fun time to just chat and enjoy each other before things change. Afterward, the Christensens and the Balls left, so the office was quiet when I had I great surprise, my brother Robert and his wife, Linda walked in.  They were on their way to Idaho Falls to see their Grandson, James perform in his final Ballroom Dancing competition.  It was so good to see them.

Thursday night was Relief Society.  My Ward only meets every 6 weeks, but they had an amazing Evening. The round tables were all set up for us with a good supply of water-color pencils, brushes, and we each had a piece of art paper, and a cup of water at our place.  An artist in the Ward then spent a little time talking about the 5 shapes that make up everything: spheres, cylinders, pyramids, cubes, and cones. She also explained the “Law of thirds” and then told us to draw a circle on our paper not in the center but applying the “law of thirds”.  She then sat at a small table in the center of the room and had us gather around and watch her do that.  We each went back to our table and followed her example. She then gave us many small steps in the same manner. When the evening was over we all had an amazing picture of an apple on a shelf. Plus, we all had ample time to visit with each other as we worked.  She walked around between steps and encouraged each of us. It was such an enjoyable evening.

Friday, was Mission Leadership Council in the building, so it was my turn to work in the office alone.  I also got to go down and help we the lunch and eat with President, Sister Hancock and the missionaries with leadership assignments. Such a wonderful day.  I will attach a group picture.

Friday evening, Brother and Sister Kunze in my Ward invited me to go with them to a concert on the Idaho State University campus. They had tickets to “Elijah”, but Mendelsohn. A community choir of over a hundred singers performed with their local orchestra.  Soloists were brought in from around the country. The music was so powerful and I loved having the words projected so you could follow along. Afterwards, we went to a buffet put on by one of the sponsors for the performers.  Brother Kunze is an emeritus member of the board, so we were included.  It was such a delightful evening.

Saturday, I was thrilled to have Emily come up and visit me.  I drove her all around Pocatello and she took me to dinner at Sizzler’s.  I wish she could have stayed longer, but realize that her family needed her to go home with them.

Congratulations!! To my amazing grandchildren, Alden Funk and Amy Hancock, for Graduating this week from BYU.  I am so proud of the hard work accomplished and hope the next chapter in your life will bring you joy and success.

Emily and I spent time talking about the reunion and Thanksgiving, I will send out attachments.  Please let me know ASAP how many of your family members will be there either Thursday or Friday night to go to the Pickleville Playhouse. I need to know how many 3 to 11 year-olds because they are cheaper. The tickets are going so don’t delay.  I will order as soon as I hear from each of you.

Looking forward to spending some time with you at the reunion.  I am grateful you agreed to come within my mission boundaries so I can be part of it.

Love,

Mom/Grammie/ Sister Shill

Week 14

Dear Loved Ones,

Last week was full of Temple talk.  All of us, in the office, are excited about the prospect
of a temple here in Pocatello.  All of the other couples working in the office are Church
Service Missionaries.  Most of them were working in the Idaho Falls Temple before it
closed for renovation, so they are thrilled to have it opening again. All of the young
sister missionaries are helping with the open house that began this weekend.
There is lots of speculation going on as to where the Pocatello Temple will be located.
The church has recently annexed a large lot behind my Stake Center and there are
many in my part of town think the Temple will be there.  Others think it will be near a
new exit from the freeway.  Time will tell.
Tuesday, I went to water aerobics. Sister Parkin gave me a free pass for a week.
Water aerobics are every Tues and Thursday evening at 5:30 p.m. I went alone on
Tuesday night because the Parkins had tickets for the local musical theater. Thursday,
I couldn’t go with her because I worked again at the Baptist Food Pantry. Tomorrow
night I will probably miss because I have a “Just Serve” meeting and I can’t see how I
can get dressed and hair dried in time for my meeting at 7:00. I do want to keep going
because I really enjoyed being in the water and exercising.
Today was a rainy day so we saw more missionaries than on regular p-days. Sister
Logan brought back a skirt and a dress she lengthened for a Sister Missionary and she
did a fabulous job. She found a print that matched the skirt and then trimmed the
pockets so it didn’t look like just an added-on hem. She is amazing.
Well the best part of the week was the arrival of Lori and Will’s beautiful baby girl!! So
glad that she made it safely into this world. The long labor kept us all on pins and
needles. Marsi is beside herself with joy.
Did I tell you that I had Easter dinner with the Kunze in my Ward. They have invited me
to go with them Friday night to the University to hear Mendelsohn’s “Elijah”. I am
looking forward to that and to Saturday when Emily’s family will come for a visit.


Love you all,

Grammie/Sister Shill

Week 13

16 April 2017

Dear Loved ones,

It’s been a great week! I already wrote you about the Walk with Christ that I attended on Tuesday.  It has made this whole week a reflection on the things I saw and heard there -- making for a meaningful Easter week.  Wednesday night, David Linford’s niece invited me over for dinner at their place.  I love being around their 4 little girls that remind me of my own family.  The two oldest played their piano pieces for me and the two youngest are taking classes that teach them to sing the Do Ra Me method. I will attend their recital the first week in May,  I am anxious to see more of what they do.

I think I have already told you about my being the mission representative on the Just Serve council here in Pocatello.  Wednesday, a couple of our missionaries helped unload a truck load of food for the 1st Baptist church food pantry. Their food pantry is open on Thursdays from 3:00 until 7:00, so I went and worked there.  I can see that is not a good fit for our missionaries that have dinner appointments at 5:00 and teaching appointments in the evenings.  I think I will pursue the Food Bank which is where the Baptists get their orders filled.  It is sad to see so many people whose lives are dependent on others. Some look like they have recently fallen on hard times, others appear to have grown up in a culture of neediness, others are victims of their addictions, but they all have lost the ability to meet their own needs.  I couldn’t help wonder how they were going to put a meal together with the mix match of things that we had for them.  I worked with some great people among the Baptists and another LDS women who has worked with them for quite a while. They are loving and caring individuals that are genuinely concerned for the people they serve.

It again reminded me that rather than buy gold, I should continue to build up my home storage.  I wouldn’t want any of my family to be left with the option of food pantrys. Of course, the church has a wonderful program that provides enough for well-balanced meal planning, but I need my own food storage program.

Friday, Sister Kunze from my Ward came to the mission office because she didn’t have my phone number, to invite me to have Easter dinner with her and her husband. I appreciated the invitation and enjoyed a wonderful dinner with them today.  They served among the roast and potatoes, deviled eggs that tasted like Grandma Nonie’s.  It was delightful.  Just as we were cleaning up Shirl Dyer called me and told me she was on the way to Farmington, to babysit Jeff & Laura’s kids, but was about to come through Pocatello and would stop if I were home.  I excused myself from my Ward friends and got home just as Shirl was pulling up in front of my apartment.  We had a great visit, she is looking for somewhere to hold a Dyer family reunion July of 2018.  I told her about my plans for 2019 after our trip to England.

Earlier this week my cousin Cherianne and her husband Fritz Atzbach came by. They had been to their grandson’s graduation at BYU Idaho.  They stayed with Winston and Shirl but they came by to see me on their way home.  They are hoping we will do a Dyer reunion sometime soon. Their son, Eric, said the last one changed his life.

I hope everyone enjoyed this Easter and the opportunity to reflect on the magnitude of the Savior’s matchless gift to all of us. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of his reality, his love, and his endless concern for each of us. May our lives reflect our devotion to him!

Love and hugs,  Grammie/Sister Shill

Grammie Easter Letter and Pics

April 11, 2017

Dear Loved ones,

Sorry I am slow with this letter.  Sunday was fast day and that is the day I have the Elliott family over. I have included a picture of them. Shane, Shellie, and little Rosie.  Shellie and I team teach our little 4 year olds. We love those little boys, but it’s a challenge to keep them engaged. Since I have Sacrament Meeting at 8:30 in the morning, Fast Sunday is the best day to fix a big meal.  Unfortunately, instead of writing on Sunday afternoon, I took a very long nap while the pot roast cooked. It had been a busy week and I needed to catch up on some rest time.

Last week we had two Zone Conferences.  The first was in the Pocatello North Stake building. The second was in Grace, Idaho.  I have memories of my grandparents talking about a time when my grandfather was the Presiding Bishop.  While in Grace, Idaho for a conference, he had a heart attack.  I don’t think there was a hospital there.  The doctors told him to stay in bed at the Stake President’s house – his life depended on it.  After a couple of weeks, Grandma Inee insisted on taking him home, despite the warnings that the drive to Salt Lake would kill him.  Grandma had too much faith to believe the Lord would let anything happen to him.  I have no idea who drove him home, because Grandma Inee didn’t drive. Obviously, he survived for another forty some years. Three cheers for my spunky little Grandma.

I love Zone Conferences! It is so wonderful to be around these amazing missionaries. I get to hear about their own conversions. We have several missionaries who joined the church and then came on a mission. Their stories inspire me!

Thursday, I had my first meeting with the Just Serve council.  I guess I am going to be the mission’s representative. Elizabeth has sent me some wonderful reports of the work in their area and a link to a video that the church has put out about the program throughout the country. I believe it was shown on TV between Conference sessions. The program has been introduced in our area but hasn’t taken off.  President Hancock said some of the missionaries went out to the Boys Ranch and were told to sort clothes of some kind.  The both got scabies.  So there are some bad first impressions to overcome. I visited with one of the Assistants today and he is excited about the program, so maybe we can get some good things going here.

Tonight, was the opening night of “Walk with Christ” that one of the Stakes puts on here every year.  It is open to the public and serves as a gift to the community like the Palo Alto Creche event.  It was amazingly well done.  I took a couple of pictures before they told me I wasn’t supposed to. I will try to attach them to this letter.  One picture shows how they created a wall, and the other is the “Woman at the well”.  Who did a fabulous job of telling her story. They lead you through the church with little lights on either side of the floor in the hallways.  They begin with parts of the church video on the life of Christ and then take a group of about 20 at a time.  The first scene was the nativity.  Then we went to a scene representing his ministry and there a healed leper tells of his experience and the Samaritan woman by the well tells her story. We move on to the scene of the Last Supper and Peter tells us about the things that occurred there.  They did a beautiful job of creating a garden around a life size portrait of Christ praying in Gethsemane while a man tells of the events that took place there. Next we enter Pontius Pilates palace while a narrator reads the events there and Pontius Pilate acts his role.  We then went into a room and saw the beating and crucifixion in the Church video. Next we went to see the garden tomb and Mary Magdalene was there to tell us her experience of being the first to see the Resurrected Savior.  Then we go to a room where Thomas talks about needing to see to believe, bears his testimony, and explains Christ’s ascension into heaven.  In the last room we sat down and were shown a video of  those photos of the life of Christ that used to be on display at the Mesa Temple visitor center to the background music of someone singing “Come thou Fount of Every Blessing”.  We then end in the cultural hall for cookies. The hall is cut in half by large dividers displaying framed pictures of Christ courtesy of Deseret Book and bare branched trees strung with lights.  Notes on the table remind us to whisper so our voices don’t carry to other parts of the building. When we walked down halls that had classrooms, they filled the doorways with beautiful framed pictures from the life of Christ. There is a guest book everyone is encouraged to sign and indicate if they would like a copy of the video.  It was a wonderful evening and such a perfect way to get ready for a meaningful celebration of Easter.

I mailed candy packages to the grandkids today, but what I really would like to give you this Easter is a deep understanding of the love the Savior feels for each of you, His unfathomable sacrifice so that our worst days do not have to define our lives.  Because He lives we can keep trying to improve a little each day until we can be worthy to live with Him and with each other.  I am so grateful for the hope that brings.  I know he lives and loves us.  I love you all more than words can say.

Love,

Grammie

 

Week 12

April 2, 2017

Dear Family,

I have already written once this week because I was excited to tell you about the visit of the Bradfields from New Zealand. So there isn’t much to add.  After the Bradfields picked up their son they drove up to Rexburg. Elder Bradfield wanted them to meet people he had taught in that area.  I think they were also going to the temple there.  They came back by the office on Thursday, and I could ask about some other people that I remember from Takapuna Ward. They were excited about attending April Conference; they were given tickets to attend in the Conference Center.

Friday was Mission Leadership Council.  President said I can take my turn covering the office alone on these Fridays because there is plenty going on downstairs.  I am happy that I can take my turn covering Fridays, because originally the President said I was not to be alone in the office. I felt badly that the other couples had to come in more often because I couldn’t come in alone.  Coming the same Fridays as Mission Leadership Council means I will have a regular day to do my part. Which makes me happy! It does complicate my helping Sister Hancock in the kitchen at lunch time that day.  When I went down to help her on Friday, she had everything under control and didn’t really need me.  The office closes at 1:00 on Friday so I can help with clean up. So it all seems to be working out.

I hope you all enjoyed Conference as much as I did. I watched at my Stake Center along with about 8 Elders and a couple that was in charge of setting things up. Recent missionaries will get a kick out of the fact that as I was leaving the parking lot, I saw the car full of elders with one elder standing behind signaling the driver to back out of his parking space.  True obedience because they were the only car in the parking lot. The only thing they could have hit was the Elder behind them.  I can’t wait to report to our Vehicle couple how obedient our good Elders in my stake are. I have to say the training video they get on this subject is hilarious.  This rule and the video were put in place because of the millions of dollars it was costing the church because of the frequent accidents that occurred when missionaries were backing up.

I love you all and hope you are enjoying the start of spring.

Love and hugs,

Grammie/Sister Shill