The Sights in Utah are wonderful!

There are so many fun things to do in Utah and many sights to see. One of those is the rock quarry where the saints came and cut the granite for the Salt Lake Temple. We took quite a few of the sister missionaries up there. It is up in the canyon. We had a gentleman come who is an expert on this quarry and he told us so many interesting stories of how they cut the granite and carried it down to the valley on carts pulled by oxen. It took many days to get each cart load out of the canyon and down to the site of the temple. It's no wonder it took 40 years to build. After listening to the history of the quarry we all walked around the area. I found a rock that I wanted to bring home but it was too big. It actually had the mark on it where they drove the nails to break it apart.

There are many huge boulders where the marks of the nails are still visible. Mike is pointing one of them out. No, this is not the rock I wanted to bring home with me. It was actually about the size of a basketball but it was partially in the ground and we couldn't get it out.

THIS IS THE ROCK I brought home with me!!! That's not too big is it? We had such a great time at the quarry. I made us appreciate the temple even more than we already do to hear stories of the sacrifices the saints made to build it and to bring the qranite down to do it.

Here is the monument marker for the quarry. It at the mouth of the quarry and you walk down a trail to get to the actual quarry. It was a cold day but we had a great time.

Here is one of the underground tunnels we use to walk home if the weather is not good. We usually go down underground just outside the South Visitors Center and walk over to this tunnel that goes under State Street to get us to the other side. It saves us a lot of outdoor walking when it's snowing or raining or extra windy. We come up out of the tunnell in the parking structure of Eagle Gate apartments and walk across the street to our apartment. It makes it very convenient at times.

THIS IS THE PLACE!! We decided to go and visit this site. We had been there many years ago and wanted to be reminded of what it was like. I don't remember it much so it was a good trip to take. It is only about 15-20 minutes away from where we live. It was a fun trip and the weather was great.

I love this monument titled "Journeys End". After crossing the country with a wagon or handcart I think I'd be very thankful to be at the end of the journey too. This is a beautiful depection of a family reaching the end of their journey.

I found this extremely handsome man up at the monument so I decided to take a picture of him so I could keep it with me always!! He only gets better looking with age don't you think!! We had a great day together and a trip that reminded us of the sacrifices that were made to find a place where people could worship as they choose without fear of torture, rape or even death. Its a beautiful place to go to look over the valley too.

Wednesday, March 11th we were invited to go to Shaylas birthday dinner. It was a lot of fun. Every year Chris and Amber take the birthday child to dinner at the restaurant of their choice. This time Shayla choose IHOP. We had not been to IHOP since before our mission so it was a great choice. Dad and I actually picked her up at her house so we were able to spend a little time with Jesse, Levi and McKindy too. Shayla was so excited to go. We met Chris, Amber and Shelby there. We had a great time and had the best waiter. As we talked to him throughout the dinner I finally asked if he was from around there and he said "yes" and then he asked where we were from. After telling him we were from California and we were here on a mission to Temple Square he said "I was at the Salt Lake Temple this morning". We mentioned that we had been there too. He said "I thought you looked familiar. Were you at the 9:00AM session?" We said yes and he said that was the session he was in too. What a small world. Here we were in Riverton and of all the restaurants in SLC Shayla choose that one and of all their waiters and waitresses we got him. He was soooo nice and fun. Shayla had a great time with her hot chocolate and milk shakes and pancakes. He made sure she didn't run out of whipping cream on her pancakes too.

Shayla, Chris, Amber and Shelby
Shayla

Grandpa, Shayla, Chris, Grandma, Amber and Shelby

Shayla and Grandpa - what a cute pair!!

Fun With Friends

It's always fun to have friends come and visit us while we're here on our mission. I just thought it would be fun to do a blog on some of those who we have been able to spend time with. When we were up in Park City Sharee and Ed Peterson and their kids came up and we spent a lot of the week with them. Sharee was a missionary in Chico in our ward and we became wonderful friends. We just saw her last Friday when she came to Salt Lake City to attend the temple sealing of Sister Rushton (Hollie Ziegler now) who was her companion when she was in our ward. We were able to go and see her there too alsong with Sister Dawn who was also serving in Chico. What a great reunion. I don't have those pictures yet so I'll have to add it later.

Don and Sue came up and we had a great 3 days together (when we were not working on the square). It was so much fun being together. I can hardly wait for them to come up again.

Diane and Wally Sonntag came and saw us several times. One time was when we were in Park City. We always had so much fun with them. They own a condo in Holiday and have children living in the area so they come out often. We convinced them that Temple Square is a perfect place to serve a mission so they sent in their paper and are now serving here with us. It is so wonderful seeing them on a consistent basis.

Corine and Howard Hurst were already serving a mission here on Temple Square when we arrived. We've always had a special place in our hearts for Patriarch Hurst because he gave 4 of our 5 children their patriarchal blessings. He is so funny and everyone here loves them both so much. They will be leaving this Wednesday after faithfully serving their mission for the last 18 months. Here is a picture of the "Paradise three-some" taken right after Sacrament meeting in the Joseph Smith Building on the second floor outside our chapel. We will miss them so much!

Doug and Sandi Anderson have come out to see us also. What great friends they are! I miss our walks and talks together and all the fun times we've had in Paradise. They are some of the busiest parents I've ever seen as far as constantly traveling to see one child or another. Their children live all over the US and it was great for them to take time to come and see us. I hope they will do it again.

We also had a fun visit from the Mains. They wanted to come out and see all the Christmas lights on Temple Square and the programs that were going on so they called to see if we had room for them. We said "OF COURSE!" It was great fun having them here. Unfortunately I came down with the flu and was in bed for part of the time so I can't say that I was the best of hosts. They were so gracious and understood completely. We'd love to see them again.

Of course our kids, Keith and Lorene Tovey, had to come out here to see "Mom and Dad". They didn't stay as long as we'd like but we had to share them with some of their biological family too. We always laugh a lot when we're together so it was so much fun having them here.

Diane Westmoreland and her friend came and stayed with us for a few days. They wanted to spend a lot of time at the geneological library. We all attended the Pioneer Day parade together and had great seats to see it. It was very hot outside but we still had a great time.

Joe and Kleina Montgomery have stopped by to see us several times. A couple of weeks ago they came by after spend the day at the history library and we went to dinner at the Lyon House Restaurant. We have many years of memories to talk over. It's great having them live here in Utah so we can see them often. The other day the Storms, Eric, Michelle and daughters came by and saw us. We didn't know they were coming so we didn't have a camera to take a picture of them but it was so fun to have them surprise us and stop by. We've also seen the Embletons, Ogdens, Marina Dobbs Shepherd, Denise Peguese, Donovan Platt, The Rich family, Jennifer Hepworth and some of her children, Dan and Sally Penman and Dan Boone and others. We hope that all of you, as our friends, will feel welcome and wanted at any time. Hint, Hint!!!

Our Visit with President Uchtdorf

Our mission president, President Holmes will be released as one of the Seventies this coming General Conference. In that calling he has become good friends with most of the General Authorities. He found out that President Uchtdorf was coming to Temple Square to help in the making of a new church film so we called him and asked if he would come early and speak to all of us. He kept is a secret until the very day. It was really exciting. Mike and I sat at the front of the theater because Mike is in the mission presidency and when President Uchtdorf and his wife entered they came directly over to us. I was on the end and so they said hi and shook my hand first. I hadn't even thought about that happening so it took me a little by surprise. His wife is very kind and fun and President Uchtdorf looked us straight in the eye when he shook our hands. He has beautiful bright blue eyes just like in his pictures. His wife spoke first and then he did. It was a great experience and the sister missionaries loved it. After they were through they shook every one of the missionaries hands and took pictures with them. They took one with the senior missionaries who were there. Some of us got on our knees in the front so that we could get everyone in the picture. It was so fun! Those in the picture from front to back and left to right are: President and Sister Chatfield, Elder and Sister Bingham, Elder and Sister Scott, Sister Griffeth, Sister Parent, Sister Sonntag(from Paradise, CA) Sister Uchtdorf, President Uchtdorf, Elder Piippo, Sister Piippo, Sister Strickland, Sister Johnson, back row: Elder Ahlstrom, Elder Griffeth, Elder Parent, Elder Sonntag, Elder Strickland, Sister Rock and Elder Rock.

Here is a picture of our mission president and his wife with President and Sister Uchtdorf. Our mission president is Michael H. Holmes and his wife is Marian. They are the parents of 12 children: 6 boys and 6 girls.

Here is a picture of the past mission president and his counselors etc. His name is D. Michael Stewart. The men in the back are: Left to right: President Palfreyman, President Chatfield, President Strickland and Elder Piippo. President Palfreyman is the counselor Mike took over for, President Strickland is the 1st Counselor and Elder Piippo is the financial officer for the mission.

Here is a picture of the mission presidency and their wifes and also the AP's who are on the right of the picture. Their names are Sister Oslund from California and Sister Trusty from Maryland. President and Sister Stewart are in the chairs in the front in case you didn't already figure that out!!! ha ha Our new mission president and his wife took over on January 17, 2009. Temple Square mission presidents serve for 2 years unlike most missions which are 3 year missions.