Family History Mission Week 12

Merry Christmas;

It has been an exciting week here in Salt Lake City.  We have been busy at the Library with only a half day schedule.  Each day we find new opportunities to serve others.  This past week I even had the opportunity to speak some Portuguese.

We spent Christmas evening and morning with Erika and her family, then Christmas afternoon and evening with Chrissy. It was fun to see the grand children getting so excited over their Christmas presents.  By far Charley got the most unusual gift, a balance beam. She and EVB are in gymnastics and a balance beam of their own was pretty cool.

We finally got some snow, it came on Christmas Day. When we arrived back at our apartment, we opened our small presents.  We were totally surprised by the gift from the cub scouts in our ward. We should have opened it the 1st of December but it was wrapped as a gift for Christmas Day so we delayed opening it. Then we found all these wonderful decorations to go around the apartment. So we spent Christmas evening redecorating the apartment with great decorations. The cub scouts did a wonderful job and we enjoyed reading all their notes.  We especially liked the note, "not to drink the water". Great!!!  Thank you Sister Gamette and cubs.!! You made a great day even better.

We then worked both Friday and Saturday at the Library. Last night we had a social with our entry group of missionaries, it was a fun evening. We are looking forward to a busy fun new year week.

Merry Christmas to all

E/ S Waller, Chuck & Sharon, Mom & Dad, Bama & Bampa

Family History Mission Week 11

                                                          Temple Square Nativity

Merry Christmas;

It is an exciting and uplifting time of the year, as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Here in the mission we have been surrounded each day with musical groups, who sing of His birth and life. We have had the opportunity to greet our guest with cheerful hearts, hoping to make their day a little brighter.

The lights around Temple Square remind us that Christ is the light of the world, and that "His is the only name under heaven whereby men can be saved". The message of Christmas is to follow His example and serve our fellow men.

“We all have the opportunities to render service to others. That is our calling and our privilege. In serving the needs of others, we are mindful of the words of the Savior; “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40).” Spencer W. Kimball

There are many opportunities around us each day to offer service. It might be a smile, a warm Merry Christmas, a gift, or any action that shows that we care. Sharon has been busy baking and making Christmas delights for those around us and we have received many cards and letters, that remind us of friends and loved ones. The warmth of Christmas comes as we give of ourselves to show love for others.  The Star of Bethlehem guided the shepherds and wise men to the Savior, may the light of His example guides us to those who need our service. 

“ May we give as the Savior gave. To give of oneself is a holy gift. We give as a remembrance of all the Savior has given. May we also give gifts that have eternal]l values, along with gifts that eventually break or are forgotten. How much better the world would be if we all gave gifts of understanding and compassion, of service and friendship, of kindness and gentleness.” Thomas S. Monson

Sharon and I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Love to all,

Elder/Sister Waller, Mom & Dad, Chuck & Sharon, Bama & Bampa

Family History Mission

Week 10

Hello to everyone;

This has been a packed week. We started with a Branch dinner Monday evening in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  We had a great dinner and then the West Jordan High School Madrigal Choir performed for us, they were a talented group of young people.  We said goodbye to about 30 people, who are leaving our mission this month.  We are losing a great group of people, many from our zone. Elder and Sister Shaffer, and Elder and Sister Kirtland serve as assistant zone leaders in our hosting zone. They will truly be missed.  Unfortunately there are few replacements.

This is candy making season and Sharon has gotten together with Erika to make some caramels and fudge.  They are planning on making some peanut brittle in the near future. With all these tempting goodies around it is hard not to be continually eating something.

While Sharon and Erika were having fun in the kitchen on Wednesday, I took the opportunity to get out and play some golf. The weather was great and the course was sitting there, just waiting. Hard to pass up the temptation. I had great missionary luck !!

This week I got the news back from an important DNA test.  While in training I tried to tackle the problem of our Great Grand Mother, Augusta Garbe.  For those not aware of this problem let me give a brief explanation. Our Grandfather, George W Waller, claimed on his marriage record that he was born in Utah. That his parents were George Waller and Augusta Garbe. We have over the last 50 years not found any records. We have located a Garbe family here in Utah and they indeed had a daughter named Augusta, but they contend she never came to America or had a child in Utah. So my trainer and I decided since there were no records available a DNA test might be the solution. So I contacted a descendant in the Garbe family still living in Manti, Utah and asked if he would possibly be willing to take a DNA test. We of course would pay for the test.  So about 5 weeks ago Sharon and I traveled to Manti to meet Lewis Garbe.  The results came back this week and were positive for him being a 3rd cousin. This would make his grand father's



sister our Augusta. Yippee!! A genealogical mystery partially solved. This  gives us new direction to focus on.

This week we have had many visitors to the Library from around the world. Yesterday we had people from Tahiti, Germany, Spain, Colombia, South Africa, China, Japan, Brazil and Russia. They have all been fun to meet and get started on their research of their families.

Spiritual Thought: Elder Clark from our Zone quoted Elder Widtsoe about Temple Power

" God's definition of a temple is given over and over again in this good book, the Doctrine and Covenants.  A Temple is a place in which those who he has chosen are endowed with power from on high.  And what is power?  Knowledge made alive and useful-- that is intelligence; and intelligence is action-- that is power.  Our temples give us power--power based on enlarged knowledge and intelligence--a power from on high, of a quality with God's own power (Widtsoe, 1921, p 55).

May your Holiday Season be bright with thoughts of Christ and His perfect gift to each of us. That our lives will be filled with joy and thanksgiving for God's gift of His son to mankind.

Love to all

E/S Waller, Chuck & Sharon, Mom & Dad, Bama & Bampa

Photo above of organ in the Assembly Hall- Sharon had the opportunity of playing the organ for a Christmas devotional. Other photos of Temple Square lights.

Family History Mission Week 9

Family History Mission
7 Dec 2014

Week 9

Hello;

This has been a good week at the Library. We have been a little slow but still have enjoyed our visitors to the Library. We have had people from Virginia, South Carolina, Missouri, Texas and even Peru, and main land China, all  excited to be at the Library.

Each day in the Library we have had music groups from around the Mountain West sing. From High Schools here in the valley to as far away as Preston Idaho and Wyoming.  They have brought a wonderful Christmas Spirit.  All around Temple Square there have been performances by varying talented groups and individuals.  Plus the past week the lights came on around Temple Square. This brought droves of people to see the wonderful sight of Christmas lights.

On Tuesday we attended a special devotional and luncheon for church employees and missionaries. We started with a 1 hour Devotional in theater in the Conference Center. Elder Fallabela of the Seventy spoke of lessons from the Saviors life we need to learn. First, humility and the need to incorporate the quiet qualities associated with being a humble servant in the Lord's kingdom.  The 2nd was service to our fellowmen.  The Family Search Singers performed (employees of the Family Search Dept.) and they sounded wonderful. We were then treated to a large buffet luncheon on the main concourse of the Conference Center.  They feed 900 attendees in grand fashion. They then repeated the process the next day for another 900 missionaries and employees.

Wednesday night Sharon and I made a tour of Temple Square taking pictures of all the lights. It was fun to see all the people, mostly families around the Square. The night was unseasonably warm and so many came out.

Each day we have a prayer meeting before starting our shift and we have a spiritual thought given. I was impressed with one this week and will share the thought given by Elder Nilson ( a service missionary in our zone).

"Elder Marvin J Ashton had a small sign made and placed on the office door; " Come in without knocking and leave the same way."  " It was interesting to observe people's  facial expression as they pondered this play on words,"  Elder Ashton who served in the Quorum of Twelve Apostles from 1971-1994, said in an April 1973 General Conference address. " According to the dictionary, "knock' has two definitions: ' to strike something with a sharp blow,' and to find fault with, a harsh and often petty criticism.'  Perhaps in human relationships both of these meanings could apply.  This sign served as a reminder to me to come into the office without finding fault and to leave at the close of the day same way.  I also hoped it might help others who entered and left."

"Finding fault and criticizing others takes little effort. However. in the long view of life, there is much more that is worth praising than knocking.  We just need to train ourselves to find the positive aspects of life."

I thought this a very good thought as we enter into the Joy filled Christmas Season. May our thoughts and actions reflect an attitude of love for those around us. Remember the 1st gift of Christmas was the gift from God the Father of His son, Jesus Christ.

I pray you all will have a wonderful week and enjoy the season of celebration.

Love to all

E/S Waller, Mom & Dad, Chuck & Sharon, Bama & Bampa

Week 8

Family History Mission
2 Dec 2014

Bom dia;

Sorry I am a few days late on the blog, but we were able to spend Thanksgiving in Meridian with the family and time just flew bye.  It was such a good weekend with he children and grandchildren. Scott and Yahiza did a wonderful job on preparing much of the food, and Alisha and Chrissy did great in setting the stage.  Pies, rolls, yams and stuffing were a big hit as well.

We had a great dinner and fun just sitting around the table. The children had eaten first and were up stairs with a movie, so the adults had a bit of quiet time. I especially liked the Martenelli's sparkling apple and grape drink.

We have much to be thankful for as a family.  It has been a great blessing to serve missions for the church and the Lord. We are so grateful for the tender mercies our family has been blessed with.

We are getting use to the schedule at the Library. Truly enjoying just meeting people and helping them in their research. It has been fun to help with the scanning. People want to tell you all about their ancestors pictures. I am set this week to be trained on being the On Duty Supervisor for the Library. It is a rotated responsibility we have when the full time staff leaves at night. They assure me it is fairly easy unless an emergency arrives!

The Holiday season is full of events around Temple Square. We have groups come to each of the major buildings to sing and play music. Even in the Library there is a noon concert and 4 pm concert. Every evening we have things going on for entertainment. Plus their are a number of other functions such as, luncheons to go to. That I am excited about, because I don't have to make the lunch.

We received our first Christmas care package from the Ward.  It is under our small tree, Thanks Baldwin Park!!

Must Close for this week. Hope everyone is feeling the Holiday spirit. Love to all!

E/S Waller, Mom & Dad, Bama & Bampa, Chuck & Sharon

                                                                      Manti Temple

Family History Mission
Week 7  23 Nov 2014

Bom dia:

It has been a fun packed week here in Salt lake City, as we prepare for the Holiday season. This week we had the opportunity to attend the Tabernacle Choir practice on Thursday evening. We saw Sister Lori Bikhazi from our Cape Verde Mission. The Choir sang wonderfully and the music for the Sunday morning devotional is great.  It will be a very special broadcast.

Friday night we attended a devotional put on by the  Ensign 18th ward, they had an evening of music. We had opera singers, organ numbers and a clarinet concerto , it was great. Then topping it off we had Elder Ballard of the Twelve speak to us. His remarks were uplifting, though at times he talked of the trials we are all facing in today's society. He emphasized the need to be continually prayerful, to strengthen our foundation of faith by search the scriptures and to renew our testimony of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He spoke of the trials to come, that will test all our faith as society turns from God and His commandments. That we can have peace in our lives if we are founded on the Gospel of the Savior and His teachings.

We left the devotion uplifted only to walk by the Tabernacle and there was a concert going on, so we peeked through the window. A lady and he small daughter asked if we wanted their tickets as the daughter was to young to sit through the concert. So we got to enter and hear the Bells of Temple Square play. They were great and it was a great concert. Thanks to the thoughtful lady!

Saturday was rainy and found us working around the apartment. That evening we attended the Stage production of  " Savior of the World" at the Conference Center Theater. Wow!! Double Wow!! It was great, the cast and music did a wonderful job. I would encourage all who have the chance to see it here in SLC.

In our preparation room at the Library, people post spiritual thoughts. Here is one I found interesting. There was no Arthur given.

Eagle in a storm

"Did you know that an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks?  The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come.  When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it.  The eagle does not escape the storm, it simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm.

When storms of life come upon us--and all of us will experience them-- we can rise above them by setting our minds and our belief toward God. The storms do not have to overcome us.  We can allow God's power to lift us above them.  God enables us to ride the winds of the storms that bring sickness, tragedy, failure and disappointment in our lives.  We can soar above the storm.

Remember, it is not the burdens of life that weigh us down.  It is how we handle them."

May we all at this time of Thanksgiving, celebrate the many blessings that have been giving us. Be grateful for families, living in such a blessed nation, and  the freedoms we enjoy.  May our hearts be full of gratitude and thanksgiving to God for His bounteous blessings.

Enjoy the Season of Thanksgiving

E/S Waller, Bama & Bampa, Mom & Dad, Chuck & Sharon

Family History Mission

Week 6  16 Nov 2014

Hi everyone;

Well it has been a very busy week. We have been on days and have met many of the service missionaries, those who serve just a few day a week. While talking with one Elder, it occurred to me that I knew him. Back in the college days I worked in the chemistry department electric shop. Each day I would go across the hall to the machine shop on break to visit with Mr Pitts. He was from England and had a great many stores to tell about WW 11, and growing up during that time. We would swap war stories, I of Vietnam and he of England under the bombing of Nazi Germany.

Well as we were talking this week I found out his occupation and where he worked for a career. I then said " I know you". We had a great reunion. His hair is thinner and not black anymore and he has gained a little weight around the middle but other than that he is the same good man. We had quite the day  talking about old times.

That same day we met a couple on B 1 search for ancestry. They were from Sri Lanka and live in Negombo, Anusha Fernando and his family. Although we did not know them they knew some of the missionaries back in 2002, Elder and Sister Brimhall, Elder Gamble. We had a nice visit with them. They even invited us to dinner, for some hot curry!!!

Wednesday Sharon and I drove to Manti, Utah.  I had made contact with Lewis Garbe.  Lewis is the grand son of Ferdinand Garbe, whose family immigrated from Germany in the late 1800's. His grand father would be the brother of Augusta A Garbe our possible great grand mother. So we went down for a visit and Lewis had agreed to do a DNA test. We sent off the sample for an autosomal DNA test. If indeed the test comes back as positive for us being cousins; that will seal the deal for Augusta being our great grand mother and solve an age old question. So we will keep our fingers crossed for the next few weeks.

Thursday evening we attended a lecture by Sherry Dew. She spoke of the life of President Ezra Taft Benson.  She is a good speaker and we enjoyed reviewing the Prophets life. Both Sharon and I have read the book by President Benson's traveling companion following WW 11, I believe his name was Elder Babble. There were many small miracles that opened the doors for his 11 month visit to war tore Europe.

Friday night we had tickets to the symphony.  We gave them up to Chrissy and Nick so they could celebrate their 12th anniversary. We got to baby sit the kids for a few hours. They did great!  We played a Disney board game with a question video. They sure know their Disney characters and movies.

We capped off the week with a visit to the Salt Lake Temple last night. We had a very good session that was well attended. Today I have to teach the Priesthood lesson , it is a challenge when you have 50 men in the class! We will be out at Erika's house for dinner, and to visit with the grand children this evening.

This week I had the opportunity to sing with the Elders choir 3 times. We did a special devotional last Sunday. On Monday morning we sang at the morning devotional and then we sang for the Mission Zone Conference. we sang two wonderful songs " Come and Behold Him" by Nathan Howe and  " Come, Drink of the Water" by Linda Chapman and Bonnie Heidenreich. I am suppose to get and video of the performance and will forward that later.

Genealogy tip of the week. Check out the Family tree WIKI. There are many articles and links to genealogical sites. It is found under the Search tab in Family Tree home page.

Our scripture for this month is found in Doctrine and Covenants  64: 10

I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.

May you all have a great week and for those in Meridian, may the snow shoveling slow a little, and the sun come out to brighten your day.

Love to all

E/S Waller, Bama & Bampa, Mom &Dad, Chuck & Sharon

Reese with Sister Yo and Site Wu (one from Hong Kong the other Taiwan)

Sharon with Reese and Charley in front of the Christmas Box home

Family History Library Week 5
9 Nov 2014

We have had a busy week on the evening shift. We work from 12:30 to 9 pm. The Library has been host to a number of genealogical societies from around the country. They come for a week and take classes and do research.  Many make it an annual trip. They have lucked out this year and had gorgeous weather.

We continue to serve in hosting, smiling a lot and trying in general to make every ones visit memorable. It is interesting to talk to 1st time visitor. The other day a young couple from India  came into the library. You can tell they are new, because as you look out the front doors, new people go to the wrong door at 1st. Any way they came in and I greeted them and asked if they wanted a tour. They nodded their heads back and forth. Would you like to see a short video, their heads go side to side.  It totally took us back to memories of Sri Lanka. Everyone answers question with nodding their heads side to side., is that a yes or a no!

On Monday our devotional meeting keynote speaker was Elder Hamula of the Seventy. He spoke of learning how to be in tune with our Father in Heaven. 1st we must be willing to ASK! Then we have to listen to his servants, for their voice is the voice of the Lord. We have to take time away from the world distractions to mediate and listen for answers. Because they always come as a still small voice, which can only be heard when the noise of the world is silenced. We need to turn to the scriptures  where we can find examples and inspiration as well as revelations as to our own needs. It was a great talk. Need to apply those principles more often!

This week I started in the Men's choir. We will be singing a number of times over the last week. The choir is made up of about 30 missionaries, mostly young men. Many of them have had choir in High School and have great voices.

 They each have their own challenges, whether, emotional, physical or mental. They serve with enthusiastic energy. They in general are great at computer work. They work long hours and are a tremendous asset to the mission.

"When an old man dies, a library burns" African Proverb

Dennis B Neuenschwander (CR, Apr 1999)  " A life that is not documented is a life that within a generation or two will largely be lost to memory.  What a tragedy this can be in the history of a family. Knowledge of our ancestor shapes us and instills within us values that give direction and meaning to our lives. Knowledge of their traditions and family history welds generations together. A family which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, or what it is trying to do.  We are trying to do a futile thing if we do not know who we came from or what we have been about".

Genealogy tip of the week: Take a moment and go to the LEARNING CENTER in family tree. There are multiple videos on how to in family tree, good stuff!

Last week I posted a photo  of the mural in the  lobby of the family history library. I have attached to your email a copy of the artist interpretation of the painting. Enjoy!

Have a great week.

E/S Waller, Bama & Bampa, Mom& Dad, Chuck & Sharon

SLC Temple from State Street looking down the plaza

Tree of Life Stain Glass in Conference Center

Conference Center roof top fountain

Bama, Charley and Reese  by the Council Hall and Chapel, Capitol hill SLC

Family History Week 4

Week 4

Hi everyone;

This as has been an exciting week as we have finished our training and started serving. I think Sharon is getting a little less apprehensive what we will be doing. Tuesday evening we shadowed one of the workers around and learned what we will be doing (a lot of smiling and directing people). We were trained on the scanning area, which is cool. You can scan 10 photos in about 30 seconds. So we definitely will be bring our photos in to scan and put on a flash drive. Speaking of flash drives here is the tip of the week.

The trainers recommend that you use a flash drive as your master file. Your desktop or laptop as a backup for your family files. They even recommend a second flash drive as a 2nd backup. The other thing is how you name your photo files. This is the recommended format: example,  WALLER Charles (b 19..) .......  (the .... being a description of the photo).  All photos up loading to Family Tree have to be in jpg or png format.

Monday evening we went to a special FHE with President and Sister Klopfer. He serves as the Branch President of the Ensign 3rd Branch and she is the Relief Society President. He also serves on the Churches Music committee and has for the last 40 years. They are the authors of Hymn 298 " Home Can Be A Heaven On Earth".  They are both very talented. President Klopfer has a request, which he has brought up President Packer who gave only a minor suggestion. President Packer thinks it will take at least 3 generations to make the change. President Klopfer wants everyone to stop calling the person who leads the music a chorister. They should be called "Music Director" as recommended in the handbook.  We asked what is a chorister?  The name comes from the Vienna Boys choir over 400 years ago, the boy that set the pitch was called the chorister.  So Bishop Hessing start a new trend and call Brother Gammett the music director not the chorister, change the bulletin also. President Klopfer will appreciate it. You then will be the start of a generational change!

This week has marked our 1st week of service, training is over although it is ongoing.  We have been assigned to different areas of the library, rotating every hour.  Our main concern is welcoming and assisting the guest in getting start on their genealogy. We also service the scanning area and assist guest in storing photos and journals. During the day we generally have time to do some indexing and maybe work on our own family lines. This past week and the next we are on the late shift.

We did have the opportunity to be around for "Trick or Treat" with the grand children, their costumes were great!! Erika and Chrissy went all out on the costumes. But I think after seeing the pictures from Alisha, that she gets the prize this year, for best costumes.

This is the mural in the lobby of the Family History Library. Take a moment to look at the mural and see if you can determine the artist thoughts. I will post next week her thought pattern while developing the mural.

This is our family library new missionary group: left to right, Sister Chrsitensen, Elder Stoddar, E/S Sissell, Elder Firniss, Sister Hansen (infront) E/S Rentz, Sister Rawlins, and Siter McFaddin. I missed one Elder can't remember his name. Others in our new missionary group but not assisgned to the FHL are: E/S Bang, E/S Brunt, E/S LeBaron, E/S McGill, E/S Shaltes, E/S Thomas & Sister Flake.

Joseph Smith  (HC, vol. 6, p.313) stated: "The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead."

As host at the FHL we have to continually be aware of those watching us. In other words, we need to always have a smile on our face. Mother Teresa stated  "Every time you smile at someone it is an act of love, a gift to the person, a beautiful thing." May we each have a smile on our face each day, for indeed we have much to smile about; The restored "Gospel of Jesus Christ"!

Have a great week!
E/S Waller, Bama & Bampa, Mom & Dad, Chuck & Sharon

Family History Week 3

Hi to everyone;

This week we have been training in our new assignment. We are in the Hosting zone at the Family History Library. This week we have been learning all the tricks of the trade with family tree and search in ancestry and other sites. We have learned how to do a proper search for records and then to source those searches. We have also learned how to added stories and photos to Family Tree. It has been a long week of sitting at the computer but the training will come in handy when we start serving the guest to the library.

Monday is our final day for training. We will be spending the whole on photos and IrfanView an editing program. Hopefully we will get it all down before we start our shifts. This coming week we are looking forward to Halloween as the library will close at 5 pm instead of 9 pm.

We have had one of the couples in our group struggle this past 3 weeks. Elder Thomas had surgery about 9 weeks ago for a hernia and has had to have another 2 surgeries to correct an infection that has persisted. He has been an unhappy camper the last few weeks. We hope he gets over the blues soon.

Today we attended the Primary Program at Erika's ward. It centered on families. Everyone did well. Since their ward has a small primary, the families of the children participated. The children sang well and the messages were great. Although Reese did mention a possible trip to Disneyland, which I think was unexpected by her parents. Charley and EVB both gave good short talks and Miss Mabel also had a part. Great Job everyone!! I really enjoyed the girls sing as a group.

Love to everyone
E/S Waller, Bama & Bampa, Chuck & Sharon

Family History Mission Week 2

Friends and Family;

This has been a very busy week here in the Family History Mission. First off the weather has been absolutely gorgeous. Mid 70's, clear skies and little to speak of wind. We were kept busy all week working on family names, as we learned new tricks for research and adding information to family tree. Sharon got really good at adding photos to the memories section of family tree. I got involved in two difficult case in my family tree. One was involving the Mumm family ( my uncle on my mothers side), the other involving the Dupin or Jupin family on the Cosby side of the family. Both were difficult problems to solve but with the assistance of Sister Hart we figured out the puzzles.

Last Friday, I was sick so, Sharon had our Mission Presidency interview all alone. I thought it great that they got to quiz her on where she wanted to work in the mission and not me. So it was with great anxiety that we came to the Friday " Go Forth" meeting. We have been assigned to serve in the hosting section of the mission.  There are 20 different zones in mission, dealing from world wide support, training, archiving, patron help, data quality and others.  Hosting is done over at the Family History Library. We will be involved with all the visitors coming to the Library. Getting them started in Family Tree and research, Welcoming them and directing them to special areas and many other task. We are called the " Happy Zone" must always have a smile on our face.  I told Sharon we were called to this zone cause she is wearing such nice outfits and matching shoes.. We start this Monday with another week of training in our zone. We also have the opportunity to take lots of classes on genealogy, should help. We will be working shifts. Two weeks of 8-4 pm. and then two weeks of 1-9 pm. We will work every other Saturday. We get a half a day a week to do research and then one full day a month to do Temple work and Genealogy research.

This past Friday evening we drove up to Kamas, Utah to help with a Young Conference. Erika and Aaron were in charge of the conference and asked us to speak. The conference was held at Aaron's family cabin. It was a beautiful day and evening. They had 6 youth and about that many adults. We spoke by camp fire and had a good time. Sharon shared the parable of the pencil we learned in Sri Lanka by Elder Gugliotti. She did a great job. After the meeting we sat around the fire and saw a huge meteorite scream across the sky, it was huge!

Yesterday we had Reese and Charley up the apartment for the afternoon. Sharon took them on a tour of Temple Square. Then we were join by Aaron, Erika, Evangeline, and Mabel for dinner. It was a good day. Tonight we are to have dinner with Cameron and Matthew and wives, should be fun. Well have a great week.

Love to you all
Bama, Bampa, E/S Waller, Chuck & Sharon

President and Sister Workman

Early Morning Sky over the Temple

Temple Square Fountain

Sister Waller and Sasine her trainer

Elder Waller  and Sister Hart his trainer

Reese and Charley

Family History Mission Week 1

It has been an exciting week, as we begin our mission. We started with the move in which actually went fair well. We have a nice 2 bedroom apartment across the street from the Conference Center. Things were really hopping this past weekend with lots of conference goers. We were able to attend the Sunday afternoon session.

We started on the 3rd of October with orientation. We each were assigned a trainer, who began teaching us the Family Search program. I was already familiar with many of the research items, but having personal training was very helpful. Little shortcuts to find distant relatives and then how to properly enter them into Family Tree.

We were up early for morning devotionals and immediately started on on one training. We enjoyed a tour of the Church Library which in truth is an archive for all kinds of Church history. The missionaries are all very friendly and helpful, many on the 2nd mission here at the center. They love working so close to center of things. They also love the association with so many other senior missionaries.

As a mission we have been challenged to memorize a scripture a month. This month the scripture is :

D&C 82:1  Verily, verily, I say unto you, my servants, that inasmuch as you have forgiven one another your trespasses, even so I, the Lord, forgive you.

I t has been great walking around Temple Square each day, see the flowers and people. I have included a few pictures of the Temple grounds.

Salt Lake Temple from our apartment

We enjoyed General Conference, and had the opportunity to attend the Sunday afternoon session. Afterward we walked back to the apartment and changed clothes to take a walk around the city. We hadn't gone far before we met someone from our Cape Verde mission. 

Brother and Sister Lopez from Florida

They are currently in Orlando serving most days in the temple. When the Fort Lauderdale Temple opened half the ordinance workers left the Orlando Temple. The Temple President asked the Lopez to stay for another year before putting in their mission papers and they agreed. It was good to see them.

We are constantly reminded by all in the mission how much new missionaries are needed and to encouraged others to put in their papers. We entered the mission with a good group: E/S Bang, Brunt, LeBaron, LIndsay, McGill, Rentz, Shatles, Sisell, and Thomas. Then Sister Christensen, Flake, Hansen, McFaddin, Parrish, and Rawlins. We then have eight young Elders also being trained.

We received the word about our new bishopric in Meridian and send our congratulations to Bishop Hessing, Brother Pugmire, and Brother Stewart.

Love to everyone,

E/SWaller, Bama, Bampa, Chuck & Sharon

Update 2014 Meridian Idaho

Memorial Day 2014:

I think it is about time I started blogging again.  It has been awhile and I need to learn all the new trick and familiarize myself with the new formats. To catch everyone up on the Waller's adventure, I will give a brief over view of the last few years.

Following the death of Gran ( which was very hard) we decided we needed to get out of the house. So we put in our application to serve a mission here in Boise. We went in to the Idaho Boise Mission office and talked to President Kent Cannon. He was very excited to have us want to serve and promised us that we would be called to his mission. We received our call to serve for 1 year in the Idaho Boise Mission office. I was made the car Czar and Sharon was put over referrals and baptism tracking, along with other office duties. We began our service with Elder and Sister Knott, who also live here in Meridian.

Mel and Marlene are from the Sacramento area transplanted up here to Meridian. They are originally from Wyoming. We could not have asked for a more fun couple to work with every day. They were great! It made a treat to go to the office daily, and serve with them and the Elders and sisters of the mission. It at times was a little stressful when there was an accident or mishap, but I weathered the storm. It is always fun to be around the missionaries and see them grow and develop, unfortunately we had to send them home.

The Knott's were released about 4 months before us ( we ended up serving 18 months) and were replace by the Osbourne's . They were also fun to work with and we enjoyed the short time we had in the office with them. We were released in March of 2013 and soon began feeling the need to go and serve again. So in April we started the paperwork. We began our medical evaluation and hit a road bump.

Sharon was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was caught very early and we had a choice of lumpectomy of mastectomy. We decided to go ahead a do a bilateral mastectomy as we felt that being proactive was the best choice. We then headed off for a June vacation back East.

We first went to Jacksonville, NC and met up with my brother Danny and his wife Di.  Di had previously been through breast cancer and this gave us a chance to go through all the treatment options she dealt with. We traveled with them up the coast to Palmyra, NY. Along the way we visited Mt Vernon, Cornell glass museum, Hersey chocolate factory.  It was along drive but it was fun. We enjoyed touring around Palmyra and the sacred grove, as well as the hill Cumorah. We then traveled to Niagara Falls. The falls were impressive but not quite as impressive as Foz De Iguaco in Brazil.

We then traveled down lake Erie to Cleveland area and visited Kirtland, Ohio. It was impressive and inspiring to visit these sites. The Temple was wonderful!! Johnson Farm also was great!  We then headed south and stopped at the Longaberger Basket factory in central Ohio; enjoying visiting and making a basket. It was then time to head south back to North Carolina. We arrived just in time to go through a tropical storm and talk about rain!! We don't see rain like that out west.

It was fun to kick off our shoes and relax for a few days in Jacksonville with Danny and Di. Sharon and I enjoyed playing golf and enjoyed some great seafood in Snead's Ferry. After about  5 days we headed south to Lancaster, South Carolina to visit with Brian and Bonnie. We got to visit a few sites there Kings Mountain and then a day trip up to the Smoky Mountains. Mike had come up from Florida to be with us and it was fun to have four brother together.

We then headed south for a visit with Mike and Lucy in Crystal river, Florida. Unfortunately we didn't get to visit much with Lucy as her mother was ill and ended up being hospitalized while we were visiting. Mike took care of us and we played golf a number of times. Mike sure knows how to scare the squirrels! Soon our vacation was over and time to head home and face the cancer treatments.

In July Sharon underwent bilateral mastectomies and started reconstruction. Her physcian was Dr. Prier a general surgeon who specialized in Breast cancer and Dr. Wigod a plastic surgeon. The fall of 2013 was spent caring for Sharon and helping her recover. She did excellent!! In December she had her final reconstructive surgery. The surgery was curative in that all the cancer was removed with no spreading to lymph nodes on either side. So this meant no need for chem or radiation therapy. She would only be taking a hormone inhibitor for the next 5 years.  What a blessing this has been. We feel our desire to serve another mission lead us to an early detection and cure. She is now coming up on a year from the original diagnosis. So we have decided we now need to serve another mission.

So we started our paper work again after getting the Doctors approval. They did recommend that we try to serve in the US where she can still be monitored. We have requested top serve at the Family History Center in Salt Lake.  This had been a trying but in the end rewarding experience. We feel the Lord has been watching over us and directing our path. With that in mind we feel it is only right that we get busy and serve our 5th mission.

So that is a brief synopsis of our last few years. I hope to be better about recording our happy adventures in the future.

Avry, Edyn, Rory and Oz at Gran and Granddads grave, Veterans Cemetery