September Salt Lake

24 names of Christ, 6" oil paintings

Squeezing in a bit of painting has really been good for me, I actually accomplished my goal of a painting a week and posting them on Instagram - if you ignore the hiatus when we had moving-covid-Louisiana trip sort of all in a row. It's a 24-letter alphabet - I think it would be too much of a stretch to find a name of Christ for Q and Z - plus 24 makes two nice sets of 12 that can be vertical or horizontal. Not sure if I will re-do the ones I know how to improve, start something new, or just experiment. (Feel free to make suggestions, or tell me which letter you like best) We've had several extremely busy weeks at the office so maybe as it calms down I can decide what's next on the creativity front. We hear the co-worker who has been gone will return and we will give back her load, so ours will go from too much to maybe not enough to keep going all day.

. 

We finally made it to a live Music and the Spoken Word - on the day they probably had a record-breaking audience because The Piano Guys came and joined in. I learned that the opening and ending aren't just a recording plugged in but live every time. And we got to stay and hear a recording session for the Piano Guys' Alleluia Chorus mash-up - watch for it on YouTube.

We keep saying we are in a construction zone and it keeps getting even more so. Not sure when we will be able to enter from the front.

street view in early September

The building is going keyless, it meant a new door and for some reason they had to cut and take up carpet for it even though there is a pretty big gap under the door. At least we had a rug we moved from outside the door to inside to go over the concrete-like subfloor. The entry gizmo sings the Song of Welcome.

I went to the BYU Museum of Art with my sister and saw how BYU is also a construction zone.

One of the paintings I liked from the BYUMOA

 

Of Souls and Sacraments: Symbol and Context in Christian ArtThrough July 13, 2024

Prophets, Priests, and Queens: James Tissot's Men and Women of the Old TestamentThrough December 31, 2022
I liked the Old Testament illustrations enough to look up buying the bible they were used in (several hundred paintings!)- a falling-apart one was "only" $200 or so, but a good condition one more like $975, so maybe not....
Mission Devotional with Elder/Brother Bonnet - Temple Renovation He has presented information to groups all over, Jewish, Muslim, on campuses, etc. Always includes the doctrinal foundation of temples and audiences have the opportunity to feel the confirmation of the Spirit. Covenants help us receive Him more fully therefore know Him better. Joseph Fielding Smith said the temple is the vessel to life-giving nourishment. Enoch - Moses 7 " a right to thy throne" we should ponder this-The "entrance declaration": "The House of the Lord; Holiness to the Lord" --every time he reads that as he enters the temple it is a spiritual experience. He takes off his hard hat when going into the Celestial Room, few workers are allowed in, it is still a sacred and protected place, they whisper.Pres. Faust - "Holiness is strength of the Lord" or something like that - should find reference -On the grounds will be sculptures of Christ, key events in His life. When we heard from him a year ago it seemed like they wanted all the renovation to focus on the temple but now it adjusted to focus on Christ-Visitors Centers south of the temple will have smaller scale examples of rooms in the temple (in the larger underground portion, even a baptistry - not full -size but big enough to enter, if I understood correctly.)The East Plaza (the one I watch) should be done in NovemberThey found they could not use an auger to clear the dirt as they install the large metal pipes under the foundation (too much vibration, I think) so it all has to be dug out by hand, then they install a web of re-bar and the concrete.All the weight will be transferred from the old foundation to the new one, as Christ accepts the weight of our sins.They removed about 6,000 stones (carefully numbered) from the towers to do the work of adding structural steel - they drill all the way through from top to bottom as part of tying the entire structure together . Sensors will pick up movement of 1/16 an an inch (not just for earthquakes in the future, but as they work - they have to drill very precisely to put big steel rods all the way through the stones to foundation. The North addition underground greatly expands total sq footage - bottom floor 3 below has dressing rooms, training and break rooms, laundry; 2 down has 2 baptistries, initiatory, sealing rooms small and large -- he talked about "covenant couples" not "married" but the term covenant couple - 1 floor down clothing issue, brides room, marriage waiting room, entry.Recommended studying the SLC temple dedicatory prayer, much to learn -109:21Requested prayers for the workers and the work as they are getting to some very delicate operations.
The next day was our group temple trip, to Bountiful this time and we used a route my sister recommended and liked it very much - 89 to Quick Quack Car wash roundabout to E. Eagle Ridge which becomes the road the temple is on! simple and not full of traffic, great views across the valley instead of freeway slow-downs. 
We also had another mission devotional "fireside" the same week due to our Mission Tour - a general authority visits every mission periodically (one of the things I do is send their reports to the proper IFR who works with that mission). The secretaries down the hall help arrange mission tours for the authorities they assist. I mean, the administrative assistants, sorry, not many are "secretaries" anymore. Our visitor was Elder Evan A. Schmutz, General Authority SeventyI think these notes are from that night --- Jacob 2 - It supposeth me...Average age in our mission 68.4Colesville Branch - Section 59 for them - they kept building up and moving - King Follett - Joseph Smith's last discourse (I didn't realize that!)Intelligence is the capacity to learn truth and understand, and can grow and increase through diligence and obedience, see 76:5?, 76:58Never lose a sense of awe and gratitude nor be casual about the great expansive atonement of the Savior

We should have thought of a photo when there were sister missionaries all over, I knew I couldn't do it.

My childhood and high school friend Annette came down from Farr West and we spent quite a while going all through the church art competition exhibit as we have done a couple of times in years past, then to lunch. She remembers things from our younger days that I had totally forgotten - like having a hopscotch game painted on our driveway. She is a great example who knows so much about her family's history, has a wonderful positive attitude, and does a lot of amazing things - she did costuming for the Martin Harris Pageant for years, for example.https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/museum/artcompetition/2022  then lunch :)https://www.rediguana.com/red-iguana

been watching things show up in the conference center, ground floor west area

I'm sure I have mentioned we walk through the conference center often, not really faster but cooler and we get to say hello to the sister missionaries often from other countries or learning other languages for Durk to practice on. Now there is also construction going on in there - the mystery squares around some columns are turning into display screens along with other big displays that we hear will show pictures of the life of Christ - The work is moving fast so possibly they hope to have it going by general conference which is quite soon. I assume it is part of the idea that this is becoming the main tourist information center for temple square since so much is closed by construction and there is plenty of space here to be used and enjoyed.

We've started having Sunday School in The President's Room, is that cool or what? Bet you can guess why the name.

We had a Fall Social for the entire Missionary Department. They had planned it for last year but Covid was surging again. We were able to have Bethany, Glen, Megan and Isaac join us! I hadn't realized the Loveland Aquarium has so much more than a big fishtank :)  Elder Cook and his wife were the main part of the short program (she had the kids sing "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission" in Cowboy Style while the adults went clippityclop). 

Upsidedown Jellyfish, they like to stick to the bottom

As good as a dive trip, right? or as close as I'll get to one anyway.

These are all jellyfish, from very tiny on up, they just wouldn't hold still for the photo.

We saw a couple of small leopards, a strange-looking river turtle with a pig snout that I kept trying to photograph but he would turn or move every time. Pygmy seahorses, flashlight fish, and went in the tunnel under the sharks.

I was able to go to a meeting of the Utah Calligraphic Artists - (Durk has been so awesome when I've been gone these Saturdays, he cleans up the apartment and often even does laundry!). One new young member of the group came up and said, "Oh! you are a missionary! Can I hug you?" She remembered on her mission in Japan and while teaching in Korea that senior missionaries were a "rock" they loved and relied on.They usually share homework and since I didn't have any I took my 24 little paintings and someone gave me a really good idea to do something with them that spurred me on to planning to re-do those that need it. Plus I signed up for a brush lettering zoom class on 6 Thursday nights! Creativity keeps me going... Now we just need Durk to find a group of Brazilians to hang out with and talk to so he can have fun too.

another critter from the aquarium

Wow, they got the new displays done before conference - backlit pictures of Christ that are really beautiful. I especially like the walking on water one - (I think my piece that didn't make the last round of judging for the church art competition just needs to be backlit like these) They are printed on some kind of canvas or vinyl, It looks likely they can be changed out fairly easily.

Mission Department Devotional - we only get to hear those when our mission devotional is in the evening once a month or so. Mosiah 18:8-10 "even until death" - Seek Ye First Uchtdorf - Put the Savior first and it all begins to align - you are simply doing One thing not a whole list.Tom Cavanaugh's funeral - his son prayed "bless Dad in his new calling"IFR's - Blake - as Infield Representatives, who are we representatives of?Bro Dubay(?) spoke of an elder who had to go to Virginia for a time instead of Tonga due to visa problem and there met a little 65-yr-old Pilipino to teach, 2 others that had their assignment changed met on their mission and later married, --a God of Miracles--, look for them at the end of each day, as mission president they had Facebook chat to report in each night and would mention the simple miracles they saw that day.Zone Devotional - 2 NE 27 I am able to do mine own workSpeaker; works to collect yearbooks, had an impression to stop in Junction at a little high school and just the week before the superintendent had aske how they could digitize their yearbooks. Theirs included a pilot seminary program and those involved. Yearbooks can help family history searchers home in on dates and places and fill in story of individual. Last year at least 42,000 books were added online, 220,000 images. "ADGD Attention Deficit Genealogy Disorder" find one ancestor but before you can much with it you find another then another then another.....He was able to scan 37 years of his father's work for the high school including photos of his children.Divine Nature of Service by Pres. McKay - 1921 he visited Armenia with Hugh Cannon, they had a person they knew of over there helping but no idea how to find him, were impressed to take the train instead of drive, had a delay trying to find information about a hotel, ended up at the train station exactly as Elder Booth their contact showed up and addressed them by name. Their trip to Syria would have been useless without him.(Larsen's are Senior Mission Services  - Recommendation Team (like Bonds only they do the single sisters), Johnsons are coordinators of Welfare and Self-Reliance on the 19th floor.)