The Stories - A Labor Of Love

We greatly enjoyed being full time servants of the Lord as missionaries in The Bahamas in 1996-97. We taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and helped train leadership in our church's congregations in Nassau. The people we met and the experiences we had abundantly blessed our lives. 

1996 at the Missionary Training Center, Provo, Utah

After we returned from our 15 month mission we felt impressed to collect the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in The Bahamas. We consulted archivists and librarians at the Church History Department and Brigham Young University - Harold B. Lee Library to make sure our finished product would be acceptable to archives and researchers. The church was formally organized in The Bahamas in the late 1970s. All the pioneers were still alive and full of memories and stories. In 1999 we conducted our first oral history interview. Throughout the next decade we traveled all over the country and made numerous trips to The Bahamas to conduct 130 interviews with 198 people.  All in all, we interviewed 

            100 locals – Bahamians, Jamaicans, Haitians

            19 American expatriates

            27 mission presidents & wives

            37 senior missionaries

  14 missionaries (young)

              1 lawyer for the church

You might ask why this matters. Why is the material important and useful? First of all, people's stories need to be preserved. In addition, from the very beginning, the church in Nassau has consisted of people from a variety of nations, languages, races, educational backgrounds, and cultures. This makes it an interesting and instructive story on many levels.

We started this project with the goal of writing "the book" on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in The Bahamas. As we talked with people, we realized it was very important to collect stories while the people were still alive - and able to remember their experiences. We wanted the materials to be transcribed and organized in a way that they could be readily accessed and understood by researchers. Our focus switched from writing the book to collecting and transcribing as many stories as we could. 

Here's what we accumulated - 5 file drawers and 4 bins of papers; memorabilia; audiotapes; VHS tapes; print, digital and slide images; and hundreds of digital files.

Along the way we made presentations at national conferences to share insights and stories. We met wonderful people throughout this almost two decade journey. 

Through fundraising we collected money to hire two transcribers. Our transcribers were excellent but without a thorough knowledge of the people, the history, and the Bahamian dialect, it is possible for errors to creep into the transcripts. So we are listening to each interview and checking it against the transcript. About 1/3 of the transcripts are finished. It's going to take a while to finish the other 2/3s. 

It's now 2014. It's time to revise our definition of "finished." We are not going to live forever. We do have some other big projects we want to work on. It's time to admit that someone else will have to write the articles and "the book." Our job is to finish auditing the transcripts and to turn over wonderful, deep, rich, research-ready material.

The last week of December Clint Christensen, a friend and archivist with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came to the Seattle area to interview us and several other people. He also went through our files to see what kinds of things would be appropriate for the Church Archives. 

Clint loaded over half our collection into his red van to take back to Salt Lake City. It was a very strange feeling to see the van drive off with our materials. We are thrilled that someone wants them, that someone feels they are of value to the historical record, that someone feels they will be of use to researchers and writers. On the other hand, we were filled with thoughts about what we wished we'd done better, done more of, made time for ...... - all those thoughts you have when a much loved project comes to a major transition point. 

At our place the Bahamas project now fits into 

3 file drawers (down from 5) and 0 bins (down from 4).

That's quite a change. 

In January I was in Salt Lake City for a genealogy conference. 

While there I met with Clint Christensen. 

When I walked into the work area outside his office I saw this - 

our Bahamas materials spread out waiting to be processed

The archives are part of the Church History Department 

 in the Church Library building. 

This marquee says it all

The story does live here 

- and in the hearts of the men and women who lived those stories 

- and in the souls of those of us 

who are blessed in the process of collecting their stories. 

We're Not In Ohio Anymore

Coming home - 

flying over the mountains and the water 

reminds me that we're not in Ohio anymore!

Here's Mount St. Helens

One little detail we missed in our research before we moved out here - we're smack in the middle of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, an area with numbers of active volcanoes. If you look closely at the photo above you can see two volcanoes to the left of the wing (the larger one is Mount St. Helens) and one just to the right of the wing tip. Mount St. Helens is considered an active volcano. I don't know about the other two. 

 

Flying into the Seattle airport you are reminded of all the water - ocean, sounds, lakes. Take a look at a map and you can see how this land came apart at some ancient point in time. Seattle is the red A on the map. Kirkland is across Lake Washington, east of Seattle and north of Bellevue.

This is a beautiful place to live - 

even if it is in the middle of the Cascade Volcanic Arc!

Joyful Noise Unto the Lord

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: 

make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Psalm 98: 4

I love the Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. I love the history of this beautiful old building. When I am in it, I can feel the faith of the people who built it and who have been worshiping and praising the Lord in it since it was completed in 1867. I love the music made by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. 

The interior "is so acoustically sensitive that a pin dropped at the pulpit can be clearly heard at the back of the hall, 170 feet away." source

"The original organ was made by Joseph H. Ridges in 1867 and contained 700 pipes. The organ has been rebuilt several times with the total pipe count being 11,623, making the Tabernacle organ one of the largest pipe organs in the world. ... the largest 32' display pipes in the façade are made of wood and were constructed in the same manner as the balcony columns."  source

Since 1929, the 360 member Mormon Tabernacle Choir has been presenting Music and The Spoken Word on Sunday morning. The Sunday I attended the Orchestra at Temple Square was accompanying the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. What a feast for the soul!

Here's my experience on that Sunday morning. 

The choir runs through their program prior to the broadcast. So when you walk into the Tabernacle, there's a dress rehearsal of sorts in progress. When I entered, I was immediately and TOTALLY enveloped in a feeling of love, peace, and connection with home. The Spirit was there in HUGE abundance. The choir was singing “Homeward Bound.” The music sounded Irish. The lyrics had to do with a journey and eventually returning home. My whole being was touched in a very deep way. Then they sang a song with LOTS of hallelujahs. There's nothing like the choir, orchestra, and organ with grand hallelujahs - especially that last one that hangs in the air and feels like the whole place is being lifted up. VERY, very powerful. Then the broadcast took place. The music was beautiful. The message was on "Love, Loyalty, and Belonging" - children leaving home and the bond that always ties them to family and home. 

After the broadcast Lloyd Newell, the narrator, told the rest of the story about the message he delivered that day. His son was soon leaving on a mission for the Lord. Leaving and returning home was very much on the Newell family’s mind. Then the choir sang “God Be With You Til We Meet Again.” This is one of my favorite hymns. It always brings tears to my eyes. 

I am thankful for the Spirit and for the beauty and power of music.

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Click on the Utah label to the right to see additional posts about this and previous visits. 

Salt Lake City - Tidbits

MidJanuary I went to Salt Lake City to attend the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. I studied land records for a week. Some miscellaneous tidbits follow. Click the Utah label on the right to see pictures from this and previous trips.

Salmon are a BIG deal in the Pacific Northwest. They even inhabit the floor at Sea-Tac Airport. The salmon often lead you to a water fountain. Many of the fountains in the airport make gurgling sounds - don't know if that's to help the people or the fish find the water.  

January weather in Salt Lake City is always cold. I was prepared. I took my long down coat. It goes almost all the way to my ankles and does a good job of keeping my whole body warm as I walk to the library. Mittens and a long, wide scarf protect other parts of my body. I don't travel light when I'm on a genealogy trip. The roller bag is for hauling genealogy materials to and from the library. The navy blue bag in the middle is a purse/backpack that has served me well since I purchased it to go on our mission in 1996. That beat up brown suitcase has been on many, many trips. It's missing most of its zipper pulls. 

It was snowing when we landed. As we drove to the hotel it started snowing harder. By the time we got to the hotel, you could barely see across the street. 

The view from my room right after I checked in and then later in the day. 

Here's the view on a clear day

The TRAX electric train is a very convenient way to get around downtown and around the valley. Emma and her family live in Draper, about 45 minutes south of Salt Lake City. It was easy for me to hop on TRAX. They picked me up at the station at the other end of the trip. This TRAX stop is right next to Temple Square and a block from the Radisson hotel where I was staying. The tall building in the background of the bottom picture is the Radisson. In the top picture you can see buildings on Temple Square (top left side of picture). 

Quite a bit of snow fell in Salt Lake City just a few days before I arrived

My roommate's favorite restaurant is the Melting Pot. A group of us always goes there at least once during the week. Cheese fondue is topped off with chocolate fondue. This Ying & Yang chocolate is a yummy way to finish off a meal. The long walk back to the hotel was good for our bodies after that delicious but heavy meal. 

I like Brian Kershisnik's art. With the permission of the art person at Deseret Bookstore I photographed these pictures. I especially like the artist's depictions of the help we received from people on the other side of the veil. 

This is Kershisnik's Nativity picture. Mary nurses the baby. Joseph kneels behind her. 

Heavenly hosts surround the family. 

A woman who is weighed down receives support from people on the other side. One of my favorite pictures by Kershisnik shows heavenly beings accompanying a baby into the world. I asked the art curator if Kershisnik has painted anything showing the heavenly beings helping us as we leave this world. She wasn't aware that he'd dealt with this subject. I think the artist shows what a friend calls the "thin place" - where the veil is very thin and we feel the presence of people on the other side.

For 76 years this was the Hotel Utah. After a marvelous restoration it was reopened as the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. The lobby is often filled with beautiful piano music. See the pianist on the left of the top picture. 

 MichaelT and I often met here. He liked to sit in the lobby

- enjoying the peace, the beauty, and the music.

*********************

I spent a special evening in the Draper Temple with our son's former wife, her father, and MichaelT's teenaged daughter. The Draper Temple is up in the hills 

and looks beautiful lit up again the dark night sky

"Latter-day Saint temples are considered houses of God, a place of holiness and peace separate from the preoccupations of the world. They provide a place where Church members make formal promises and commitments to God. ...Temples point Latter-day Saints to Jesus Christ and their eventual life with Him, their Heavenly Father and their family members on the condition of faithfulness to Christ’s teachings." source

The ordinances and instruction in the temple remind us 

that there’s much more to our lives than this time we have on earth.

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I've been going to Salt Lake City to do genealogy research for decades. I used to look at the "little old ladies" with their roller bags and wonder if some day someone would look at me and think the same thing. I do have the roller bag. I am past my mid60s. I am short. 

But I don't feel like a "little old lady!" 

That's enough for this post of miscellaneous tidbits! Click on the Utah label to the right to see more about this and previous trips.

Friends & Light

Your friendship is the light I carry with me in my heart 

wherever I wander.*

Eleanor, our neighbor and our friend

November 2, 1912 - January 29, 2008

These hurricane shades and candlesticks were on Eleanor's dining room table for decades. She often lit the candles in the evening. Eleanor's daughters gave us these wonderful reminders of our dear friend. 

Friends bring great joy and light into our lives. Eleanor was that kind of friend. We might even be related. Way back when, her family lived in Amesville, Ohio. She thought they were related to the founders of the small village. That town was named after one of our Ames shirttail cousins. 

Eleanor's husband Ed was in the service. At some point he was stationed in Florida. Eleanor moved to Florida to be with him. One of Eleanor's neighbors told her she liked Eleanor and her family but she really ought to seriously consider changing her name. The Civil War was still a "recent" memory for many in the South. Sherman/Shearman was not a beloved name!

Read more about Eleanor here, here, here, and here

Friends bring great abundance and blessings - and light - into our lives. 


*John Evelyn

picture of Eleanor - summer 1981

Anticipation

After our day trips to Whidbey Island, we drive home via Fir Island and the little town of Conway. On one of these excursions we noticed white blobs in a field. We stopped the car and realized the field was covered with snow geese. A bit of research revealed that thousands and thousands of snow geese spend the winter on the fields of Fir Island. So we took pictures and determined to return this year.

Monday we drove about an hour north of here in anticipation of seeing field after field after field covered with snow white birds.

We drove into the Fir Island Farms Reserve - the designated viewing site for these thousands and thousands of birds. Here's what we saw -

It was beautiful in the fog - BUT 

Where are the birds?

There they are!! A few flew overhead. 

Click here to see the sights we were anticipating.

Click here for a video.

As we turned away in disappointment we heard screeches. 

In a nearby pond we saw an eagle harassing a heron and ducks.

Here are some birds! These chickens and turkeys 

were on a farm next to the Fir Island Farms Reserve.

We left the reserve and were delighted to see white blobs on a nearby field. 

Birds at last! We couldn't tell if these were snow geese or swans. 

Can you see the snow covered mountain through the clouds?

These swans were feeding close to the river. 

We decided to try the small town of Conway, Washington for lunch. Fewer than 100 people live in Conway. There is one restaurant in town. None of the other businesses seemed to be open. 

There's a Sons of Norway lodge building in Conway (not pictured here). We asked the waitress about the lodge and the area's connection to Norway. She didn't know the history. We haven't been able to find any information on the Internet either. 

The Conway Pub & Eatery served fantastic hamburgers. 

We definitely will go back on our next trip through the area.

This yard was amazing. We didn't see any signs indicating the name of the artist and whether or not these creations are for sale. 

All in all, it was a fun day - even if we didn't see thousands and thousands of birds.

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Fir Island is an interesting area. On previous trips we noticed that most of the houses were built up with the first living level over an above ground "basement." We asked the waitress in Conway about this. She said the area is very prone to flooding; that's why the houses are built in this way. Fir Island is part of the Skagit River Delta. 

Snow geese and swans spend the winter in the Skagit Valley and then return to Alaska and Siberia. A reserve was created to give the geese and swans a feeding and resting area. Winter wheat is planted for the birds. Read more here and here.

This article indicates fluctuations in the number of birds are due to weather and availability of food. Maybe that's why we didn't see many birds - or perhaps they were in another part of Skagit Valley for the day. 

We've been making the transition from our Fujifilm digital camera to the camera on the iPhone. The iPhone camera takes great pictures, better than the Fuji in most instances. On this trip we discovered that any pictures needing a zoom lens should be taken with the Fuji camera.