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