Last Big Week #66

Just another old week -- or was it.  A lot of it was as usual -- the office work, the Visitors' Center, the morning devotionals, etc.  But there were some unusual activities as well.

On Wednesday, Sister Smart, along with Sister L. Taylor hosted a trek group from the Nibley 12th Ward.  Sister Smart really enjoys these and she does such a good job leading them.  The next three pictures are from this trek.

Program at Dan W. Jones Amphitheater

Leaving Amphitheater

Leaving Martin's Cove

Since we spend a good amount of our time in the office, we caught this picture of Elder Smart leaving President and Sister Pace's Office.

Another of  our assignments is to staff the Trek Center.  Here we send off treks on their experiences.  We welcome them by showing a video about what happened here.  We have them sing "The Fire of the Covenant," and we do a little presentation on conditions here when the handcarts arrived here on November 4th, 1856.  We also do a short vignette on Patience Loader and then send them off.

Since most people have not heard of the song just mentioned, we'll say that the first verse is about the saints that left England to immigrate.  The second verse is about the rescuers who came from Salt Lake to rescue these struggling pioneers.  The third verse is about the youth of today and the future.  Great song!

When the treks finish there treks, they come back to the Trek Center and we show another video called "Remember."  Its objective is to send them off with the encouragement that they remember the way they felt during the time they spent with us.

When we sent off the Aurora, Colorado Stake we notice a number of Tongans in the group.  Elder Smart welcomed them back with the traditional Tongan greeting and they loved it.  They asked if they could have their picture taken with him.

Tongan Youth with Elder Smart

Another great event this week was the visit of Elder and Sister LeGrande Curtis of the Seventy.  He was here to tour the mission and give the missionaries instruction.  Needless to say, we had some great meeting with them, including a nice Friday night dinner.

Dinner with the Pace's and Curtis's

Elder Curtis Addresses Missionaries

Once again, we'll end by saying how much we love our mission and the opportunity of serving.  We also dearly look forward to seeing family again.  Guess it won't be too much longer.  President walked out of his office and into ours.  We were surprised to have him give us a release date!

Our love to all of you,

Grandma & Grandpa, Mom & Dad, Sister & Elder Smart, Annie & Paul