Saying Good-Bye to Germany and our Mission Blog

We made it through the toughest week of our mission, going home.  It was full of farewells, final work efforts and an amazing exit interview with Elder De Feo.  It finished with warm welcomes from our family and friends and the challenges of transitioning back.

Our Release Letters from our Mission

We started the last week of our mission with our last Sunday, attending the meetings in our International Ward.  I was able to finish the 11th week of our Portuguese My Foundations group, which would be completed the next week, after our departure.  Fond farewells were shared with different ward members and we then returned to our apartment.  We were able to make a farewell visit to the Mendes family later that day.  We had not seen them in Church for several weeks and wanted to give our good byes to them.  We had a wonderful visit with Sister Mendes and her son Wilson.  We pray that they can overcome the challenges that they encounter in their lives.  Serving them as home teachers has been a big part of our mission.

The next three days were spent continuing our transition with Elder and Sister Carroll, including video visits with many of our Self-Reliance missionary couples.  We participated in the first two together and then we joined in the others just long enough to give our farewells. We spent much of our time at our apartment cleaning the apartment and packing our bags.  We also spent the time to finish the tasks that needed our attention.  

Giving our farewell with Elder and Sister Bradshaw, in Hungary

On Monday evening we were invited to dinner with Elder and Sister Rich.  They have been dear friends with us throughout most of our mission.  The meal was authentic U.S. roast beef from the American Commissary acquired from their son who lives in Germany with the military.  The time with the Riches was even better than the meal.  We love them.  It was a wonderful evening after a very busy day.

Elder and Sister Rich serve as Area Auditors, the meal was authentic U.S. roast beef

Tuesday morning we mailed our last package home, including most of the items we had received in Paris a few weeks earlier.  Everything else had to fit into our suitcases.

Last package sent home through DHL

Later that day we had a final farewell luncheon with the Self-Reliance team.  That was followed with a meeting with with Tom King, E/S Carroll and Jennifer, our administrative assistant.  We had outlined the several tasks that were in process and shared our thoughts to the entire team.

Elder and Sister Carroll, Jennifer Laird, Tom King, E/S Rueckert

After this meeting, we had our exit interview with Elder Massimo De Feo.  What an amazing treat.  He asked us what we had learned on our mission.  We shared with him our feelings about trusting the Lord and seeing his hand throughout our mission.  He then asked us how it had changed us.  He told us that those blessings that we had seen are "not the full blessings", only the portion that we had seen.  He said that the Savior had walked with us throughout our mission, and that sometimes we recognized it and sometimes we had not.

He read Doctrine and Covenants 31 with us which was given to Thomas Marsh.  In verse 2 it said that he had many afflictions because of his family.  He likened this revelation to us.  In verse 6 it said, "Behold, very I say uno you, go from them only for a little time, and declare my word, and I will prepare a place for them."  He emphasized that the Lord will prepare a place for "them", our family.

Elder De Feo thanked us for the Lord Jesus Christ, for our service on our mission.  He again emphasized that we had only seen a part of the blessings.  He promised us that we would see blessings in our family when we return.  He said that we would recognize some of these blessings immediately, others would happen over time.  He said that we believe in vicarious blessings in the Church and that our family would certainly be blessed because of our service.  We should trust that these blessings will happen with our family.

Finally he said that we had seen the hand of the Lord so that we could testify to others, especially to our family.   He encouraged us to share this testimony often in many settings.    He then offered a prayer on our behalf, blessing us with safety, blessing our family, etc.

Elder De Feo has so much trust in and testimony of the Savior.  It is amazing.  He knows and testifies and we feel it from him!  

As we left the interview, we also had a great good-bye from Elder Paul V. Johnson, our Area President.

We left this interview in awe, overwhelmed with gratitude for the Spirit that we had felt and for the blessings that were promised to us.  We just stood in the hallway, holding each other in gratitude and appreciation.

We took some time to go to an empty office and wrote down as much as we could remember of what was said and what we had felt.  The Spirit was so strong at this time, words cannot express.

That night we finished cleaning the apartment and fueled and cleaned the car.  Sister Rueckert gave me a haircut.  With our preparations basically complete, we were able to enjoy our last day in Germany without stress.

Sister Rueckert got her hair cut on Wednesday morning and I finished recording the expenses and receipts of the past few weeks.  Finally, we went to our farewell luncheon with the senior missionaries and our Book of Mormon class.

Sister Rueckert sharing her testimony with the senior missionaries

Sister Keyser sharing her last testimony.  She would be going home the following week.

Reviewing our Farewell booklet from fellow senior missionaries

We spent the remainder of the afternoon completing other tasks that were still outstanding for our missions.  We were able to finish our last day serving until the end, which is what we really wanted.  That evening I took extra clothing that we were leaving behind to the Red Cross deposit.

Kleiderspende is German for Clothing donations, with our bag of clothing

German Red Cross contained for clothing donations

That evening we had time to enjoy a meal with E/S Carroll as we showed them last things about the apartment, how to use the appliances, etc.  We then spent some time in a last Zoom conference with our friends Cristian and Marianne.  We had an old laptop delivered to them so that we could continue our communications with them as we left Germany.  It took over an hour of working with them, we were not able to get a Skype account to connect.  From there we went to using Zoom and finally had success.  We are glad that we had time to complete this important contact before leaving Germany.

Marianne and Cristian Zooming with us on our last night in Germany

Finally after completing all other preparations, I was able to complete  the last level of Rosetta Stone German lessons.  Although far from fluent, I was able to finish this goal, just before midnight.  Sister Rueckert had achieved 69% fluency in Duo Lingo a few days previously.  We have not become fluent German speakers, but we have accomplished a lot of study and our understanding is so much better.   We feel like we had given it our best efforts.

The completion of unit 20 of Rosetta Stone German lessons

69% fluent and 73 continuous days of Duo Lingo success

The next morning before we left for the airport, we took our last photo with the Frankfurt skyline in the background.  This is by far our favorite view of our mission.  We then went to the airport, driven by Elder and Sister Lindsey, humanitarian missionaries.  They are the third humanitarian missionary couple that we have served with.

With the Frankfurt skyline behind us

Our living room as we left it.

In front of the airport, before checking into our flight to return to the U.S.

 As we checked in at the airport, we received one more tender mercy.  We met Sister Jenkins, who was also on her way home.  Sister Jenkins had started her mission serving in the International Ward 18 months earlier.  We had worked closely with her during the baptism of the Brazilian family over a year ago.  She had been the missionary who had received the referral of Jan Holman, who was recently baptized in our ward.  We were able to give her that good news.  She shared with us her last baptism the previous Saturday.  It was of a lady who had first came to a Self-Reliance group in the Heidelberg Stake where she was serving.  Through the Self-Reliance group she gained fellowship and testimony and is now a faithful member of the Church.  What a wonderful joy we were able to share as we were each leaving our missions.

Sister Jenkins with E/S Rueckert in the airport

Our flight was to JFK in New York where we connected to another flight to Salt Lake City.  Our second leg was delayed which caused extra wait in New York, but we finally arrived in Salt Lake City a little after 8:30 pm on Thursday, November 16, 2017.  As we arrived we found our wonderful family members waiting for us, next to Sister Jenkins family who was waiting for her.

Family awaiting in the SLC Airport, 7 of our children with their families and Tom's mother

This sign was a fitting summary of our homecoming

Photo taken by our 4 year old grandson, Kaleb, that evening in our home

The next day, we worked on getting transportation and phones resolved, not an easy task.  We also talked with 3 more of our sons who we had not seen the night before.  That night we enjoyed a Bells concert at the tabernacle.  This was a wonderful treat for our first night home, although we were a bit tired by the end of the concert.

Bells Concert at the Tabernacle

Elder and Sister Rueckert in front  of the Salt Lake Temple

 Saturday morning we were able to participate in the graduation from Nursing School of one of our daughters.  This daughter, KariLyn, lost her husband two years ago as we were starting our mission.  Now, two years later, she is a registered nurse, ready to better care for family in a self-reliant way.  One of the great family successes of our mission.

With Sister Rueckert, daughter KariLyn and Aunt LuAnn who is also a nurse

KariLyn with her four children and her Aunt who "pinned" her

Finally we had one more special moment in our first days home.  We were invited to the 70th wedding anniversary celebration of our dear friends Walter and Betsy Thomas.  They made a point of inviting us to this special celebration.  Walter has been crippled from an accident over 30 years ago and Betsy is now blind.  However, they never complain but bring joy and happiness to others around them.  As was described by one, being in their presence makes us better people.

Betsy and Walter with their daughter Tony addressing the celebration

Finally on Sunday morning at 10:30 am, we met with our Stake President and were officially released from our mission.  He read to us the release letter from the Europe Area Presidency, which brought back all of the feelings of this past two years.  This has been the most amazing experience of our life.  

We have seen the hand of the Lord throughout this mission and as Elder De Feo expressed so well, we have the responsibility of testifying to others.  We testify that He lives, that He is all powerful and all loving.  If we will but open the door, he will come into all of our lives and provide us all of the blessings that we need and want, well beyond our expectations.  

We will be eternally grateful to all who have participated in this journey with us.  You have all been instruments in blessing our lives.  Thank you!

Denmark, Sweden & Austria; Next Stop USA

We spent this past week working with some of our new Self-Reliance missionary couples in Sweden and Austria.  We left with great hope for the future of the Self-Reliance initiative in the Scandinavian and Germanic countries in Europe.  This hope was fueled by committed priesthood leaders and members who want to improve their lives.  We know that our mission is coming to an end, but we pray that this inspired initiative can continue to grow and impact the lives of the saints in this Area.

In front of the original Christus Statue in Copenhagen, Denmark

Last Monday we started our last Self-Reliance trip of our mission, accompanied by Elder and Sister Carroll, who are replacing us.  We planned on visiting our new self-reliance missionary couple in Stockholm, Sweden and arranged to stop for a short visit to Copenhagen, Denmark on the way. 

Visit to Denmark

We left early and arrived in Denmark before noon.  We took a taxi and visited the site of the LDS temple in Copenhagen.  Being Monday, it was closed, but we always enjoy seeing the temple and being near it.  We had the taxi driver wait for ten minutes while we visited the grounds and took a few pictures.

Sister Rueckert on the side of the temple

Both of us in front of the temple

Elder and Sister Carroll and Sister Rueckert in the front of the Copenhagen Temple

We then had the taxi driver take us to the Church of Our Lady or the Copenhagen Cathedral.  This is the home of an ancient Church in Copenhagen, first built in 1209.  It was destroyed several times from fire and war and was most recently rebuilt in 1829.  At that time Bertel Thorvaldsen, a world renowned Danish sculptor, was commissioned to decorate the interior with statues of Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles.  Paul was included in the place of Judas Iscariot.  

Church of Our Lady, statues of King David and Moses in the front

Inside of the Church, Apostles on each side and the Christus statue at the end

We were very impressed with the beauty of the Church and the sweet spirit that we felt within.  While there we were able to hear organ music from the magnificent organ while we pondered the beauty and significance of what we were seeing.  The Christus statue has three scriptures imprinted, all of which are profound.

The scripture above the statue is from Mark 9:7, "This is my beloved Son: hear him".  On the base of the sculpture the scripture is from Matthew 11:28, "Come unto me".  Below the base are the words from Matthew 28:20, "I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world".  As we pondered these words, the Holy Spirit testified to our souls that He is our Savior and that these words are inspired.

In front of the Christus, inscriptions above, on the base and below

Close up of the Christus, very inspiring

Stephen L. Richards, a member of the LDS Church Quorum of the Twelve, purchased a replica of the Christus (he had been inspired by the original in the Church of Our Lady on a visit in 1950) and presented it to the LDS Church as an anonymous gift. Even before it was put on display at the Visitor’s Center on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, the Church commissioned another replica to be shown at the New York World’s Fair in 1964. The Church has since commissioned about 15 more replicas and has placed them in visitor centers in Los Angeles, New Zealand, Hawaii, Mexico, Japan, Iceland and other locations. Pictures of the Christus are displayed in many LDS publications and web sites and for many people the Christus has become “synonymous with Mormonism.”

The Christus statue is amazing and each of the twelve apostles is depicted with a symbolic tool in their hands.  Many are related to their death or to other facts of their lives.  For example, Peter has "keys" in his hands.  My namesake, Thomas, has a carpenter square, representing the Church that Thomas is said to have built with his own hands in India.

View of the twelve apostles, taken from the Christus Statue

Apostle Peter, holding the Keys

The Apostle Thomas with a carpenter's square, representing his involvement in the construction of a Church in India

I remember hearing about this Church and the sculptures from a talk by Elder Boyd K. Packer in 1995.  Boyd K. Packer relates that in 1976 he was with Spencer W. Kimball, then President of the LDS Church, at a conference in Copenhagen. President Kimball invited a small group to the Church of Our Lady to see the Christus. While standing near the statue of Peter, depicted as holding keys in his hand, President Kimball turned to Johan H. Benthin, President of the Copenhagen Stake, and told him, “I want you to tell every prelate in Denmark that they do not hold the keys! I hold the Keys!” (“The Shield of Faith,” Ensign (CR), May 1995, p. 7) 

  More details of all the images and history of the sculptures and the Church can be seen in the link below:

http://cannundrum.blogspot.de/2011/07/church-of-our-lady-copenhagens.html

As we traveled throughout Copenhagen, we were impressed by the architecture.  Most large buildings have a beautiful corner to the building with a dome to the top of the corner.  We were impressed.

Example of Danish architecture

With additional time available, we stopped to visit the Church of the Savior near the center of Copenhagen.  While there, Sister Carroll and I decided to climb to the top of the spires of the Church and see the view from the top, which was amazing.

Top of the Church of the Savior in Copenhagen.  I walked all the way to the highest point of the Church

Panorama view of Copenhagen from the top of the Church

View from high up on the tower.  Bridge connecting Denmark to Sweden can be seen in the back of the city

When we returned from climbing the tower, Sister Carroll discovered that her backpack that she had left at the side of Elder Carroll was gone.  Apparently someone had managed to take it undetected.  This started the worst part of our trip.  The backpack included passports, credit cards, cash and other personal items.  Fortunately we had a few hours before we would catch our continuing flight to Sweden and E/S Carroll spent it at a Police station filing a report and canceling all of their credit cards.

Danish Police Station where E/S Carroll filed the report of the theft

Visit to Sweden

Finally we returned to the airport and continued onto Stockholm, Sweden that night.  Since there was four of us arriving, we would not fit into the car that Elder and Sister Bell were driving.  Hence, we had decided to rent a car for this portion of the trip.  We got our car, covered with ice, and drove to the island of Lidingo, just outside of Stockholm, where we had a hotel reserved.  Traffic at 11:00 at night was quite nice and we arrived safely a little after midnight.

The next morning, the Carrolls were off to the Australian Embassy in Stockholm to try and get new passports.  We drove to the apartment where E/S Bell are living on the same island and started our training.  We were joined by E/S Carroll a little later.  We spent the rest of the day discussing the challenges and opportunities of the Self-Reliance initiative in Scandinavia.  The Bells came to their mission very well prepared and had already facilitated Self-Reliance courses in their home ward.  They had many well thought out questions that we enjoyed discussing.  

View of the ocean bay from the Bell's apartment.  Beautiful fall colors.

By the time we had discussed the doctrine, process, stake committees and their questions, it was late in the day. We did have a late lunch with them and returned to our hotel with some fruit and treats that evening, not needing another meal.

Elder Carroll picking out some treats from an impressive display of bulk candies in a small store

The next morning (Wednesday) we again went to the Bell's apartment and continued our training process. They had additional questions that generated several hours of discussion.  We also reviewed the PEF loan recipient list and the loan incentives.  We had a Self-Reliance group to attend at the Young Adult Center in Stockholm that evening, so we left for a later lunch in the city.  We lunched at high tower that allowed us to see a panorama of Stockholm.  

One of the unique things about Sweden is its position in the far north.  During our visit the sunset time was 3:30 pm.  It made for a strange feeling to be in the dark beginning in the early afternoon.  This photo was taken just after lunch, at about 2:30 pm, the sun to the south was already setting.

We then took a train to downtown Stockholm, since the parking is almost non existent.

Elder and Sister Bell with Elder and Sister Carroll on the train, crossing one of the bridges into the city

We didn't need to be with the Young Adults until 6:00 pm so we took the time to make a short visit at the Vasa Museum.

The Vasa ship capsized and sank in Stockholm 1628. After 333 years on the sea bed the mighty warship was salvaged and the voyage could continue. Today Vasa is the world's only preserved 17th century ship and the most visited museum in Scandinavia.

The ship was built on the orders of the King of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus as part of the military expansion he initiated in a war with Poland-Lithuania (1621–1629). It was constructed at the navy yard in Stockholm under a contract with private entrepreneurs in 1626–1627 and armed primarily with bronze cannon cast in Stockholm specifically for the ship. Richly decorated as a symbol of the king's ambitions for Sweden and himself, upon completion she was one of the most powerfully armed vessels in the world. However, Vasa was dangerously unstable and top-heavy with too much weight in the upper structure of the hull. Despite this lack of stability she was ordered to sea and foundered only a few minutes after encountering a wind stronger than a breeze.

The order to sail was the result of a combination of factors. The king, who was leading the army in Poland at the time of her maiden voyage, was impatient to see her take up her station as flagship of the reserve squadron at Älvsnabben in the Stockholm Archipelago. At the same time the king's subordinates lacked the political courage to openly discuss the ship's problems or to have the maiden voyage postponed.

The ship was 69 meters long and 52 meters high, with the masts.  The ship's masts go out of the museum.

This photo shows the masts of the ship going out of the museum.  The photo was taken at 4:00 pm, already dark

The upper portion of the ship, masts go above the ceiling

In front of a model of the ship, with the actual ship in the background

Panorama photo of the bottom section of the ship

That night we participated in a self-reliance group in the Center for Young Adults and mingled with the young adults before and after the group meeting.  Sister Rueckert and Sister Carroll attended the Book of Mormon class, as the room for the Self-Reliance group was too small for all of us.

Opening meeting of the Young Adults in Stockholm on Wednesday evening

One of the young adults in the education group was Ting, a member from Taiwan.  She shared some of her experiences in her own business.  After the group meeting, I asked her if she was aware of the Starting and Growing My Business Self-Reliance course.  She got excited and announced that she could put a group together with at least 5 or 6 individuals that she already knew would be interested.

This confirms a thought that I have been pondering all week. Doctrine and Covenants 84:112 states:

"And the bishop, Newel K. Whitney, also should travel round about and among all the churches, searching after the poor to administer to their wants by humbling the rich and the proud."

The Lord's plan is for Bishops to search after the poor to administer to their wants.  We  can't administer to their wants if we don't know what they are.  That is why it is so important to offer the different self-reliance options to all members, usually in a My Path devotional.  When we do, we discover what their wants are and we better administer to their needs.

The next day we had planned to go to the Stockholm Temple before our meeting with the Stockholm South Stake Committee, which is right next door to the temple.  However, the Carrolls needed to return to Stockholm to obtain their new passports after 2:00 pm.  So we decided to go to the  morning temple session at the temple and then have them return to pick up their passports before the evening meeting. 

The Bells, Carrolls and Rueckert's in front of the Stockholm Sweden Temple

The Bells returned to Stockholm with the Carrolls and we stayed and did some temple sealings.  We were able to seal 10 couples together.  Some were very emotional.  The first couple that we did was for Leonard and Anna Jckelsheimer.  They are my grandparents from 10 generations back, born in the early 1600s. We had both had very spiritual experiences doing their previous ordinances in the temple.  As we acted as proxy for their temple sealing their presence was so strong.  We were both in tears.  We had similar feelings for the next couple, which were Sister Rueckert's 9th generation grandparents, Jeremias Höpher and Martha Catarina Eisenhardt.  The next couple was a Rückert being sealed to a Müller, which also brought strong feelings.  We know that this work for our ancestors is essential to their being liberated from their captivity on the other side of the veil.  We are so grateful to have been able to be part of these wonderful experiences.

Evening photo (3:30 pm) of the Stockholm Temple

Sister Rueckert playing the piano in the Temple Housing room while we waited for the Carrolls and Bells to return

The Carrolls and Bells returned and the Carrolls did get their new passports which helped partially heal the pain from earlier in the week.

Elder and Sister Carroll with their new passports, issued in Sweden

We finished up our missionary training before joining in the Stockholm South Stake Committee meeting.This was a very positive committee meeting.  The entire committee was in attendance and the stake president also joined later in the meeting.   They reviewed the process of each ward and branch in the stake and outlined plans to help each of them to move forward with their efforts.  They were very open to our ideas and made very specific plans to involve Elder and Sister Bell in several next steps within their stake.  This was a very positive way to end our training visit to Sweden.

Stockholm South Stake Committee meeting with six senior missionaries in attendance (and a translator)

Visit to Austria

On Friday morning we woke up at 3:15 am to leave the hotel by 4:10 and arrive at the airport by 5:00 am for our 6:55 am flight.  We arrived in the Frankfurt airport shortly after 9:00 am and from there boarded another flight to Innsbruck, Austria shortly after noon, arriving just before 2:00 pm.   On our trip to Austria we flew over part of the Alps and saw the beautiful mountain tops.  We had hoped to try one more time to get to the top of the Alps while in Austria, but the weather was once again overcast, so that was not a possibility.

We then went to our hotel and relaxed before meeting with he Bishop and his wife and the Ward Specialist and Elder and Sister Kitterman, our German Self-Reliance Couple for dinner.  The Kittermans shuttled us and the Carrolls to get to the restaurant.  The bishop helped in the rides back to the hotel after.

We had a wonderful dinner with these good local leaders.  The Ward Specialist, Anna, is amazing.  She has facilitated self-reliance groups in Berlin and now in Innsbruck.  She is dynamic and inspired.  The bishop has also taken charge of this experience and is very inspirational.  What a wonderful evening to get to know these good people better before our facilitator training and devotional the next morning.

At Friday night dinner, ward specialist and bishop on the left front

The next morning we went early to the Church to begin facilitator training for three additional facilitators, the bishop and the stake self-reliance specialist who had come from Salzburg, Austria.  Elder and Sister Kitterman did the training in German exceptionally well. They used the concepts from the non translated Facilitator Guide and adapted it to use existing materials.   We couldn't have a better missionary couple for the German speaking stakes than the Kittermans.

Facilitator training for the Innsbruck Ward

At 10:00 am we had a My Path devotional for the entire ward.  They filled 4 tables and ended up forming 4 different self-reliance groups, about 20 people joining.

My Path Devotional for the Innsbruck Ward

We had started this process with the Innsbruck Ward when we met with some of our friends on a visit to Innsbruck in July of this year.   These are people that I had known in Brazil, many years ago.  They adopted three sisters of our son Abraham.  Their family had participated in Perpetual Education Fund loans in Brazil before moving to Austria 5 years ago.  When we had visited about this, the mother had asked how they could get Self-Reliance courses in Innsbruck.  From that visit we had invited the Bishop to let us do a devotional and we planned on making it part of our training with the Kittermans as they arrived.  After a few months of planning with the bishop, it all turned out perfectly.  This shows what we have always felt, even in the German speaking wards there is plenty of opportunity, if we let the members decide what they "want".  In the end we created several groups including:

Job Search Class to be facilitated by the Bishop, including a non member invited by the bishop

Starting and Growing My Business,including our friend Ingrid (on the right) and her daughter in law who was not present

Finance Group, including non present husbands of two of the daughters of the Jäsche family, our friends.

After the devotional, we were invited to lunch at the home of the Jäsche family.  They fed us and the Carrolls and another MLS missionary couple that was helping us with transportation. The Kittermans needed to return back home to Nürnberg, since they still had about a four hour drive.

Lunch with the Jasche family

Photo outside of the Jäsche apartment, cloudy with beautiful fall colors

Four weeks ago we were in Granada, Spain and met a member who told us he had a daughter in Innsbruck, Austria.  We arranged to invite her to participate in the My Path Devotional.  Unfortunately, she had to work and missed the devotional.  However, she said she could meet with us after 4:00 pm.  We arranged to meet her at 4:30 pm before leaving for the airport at 5:00 pm.  She was delayed and did not arrive at the Church until 5 minutes before 5:00.  We were able to stay a few minutes more and met her and introduced her to Anna, the ward specialist and young adult leader, and Karin, the Relief Society president.  Hopefully this will help her to feel more at home in her ward away from home.

Melissa with Anna and Karin at the Church

It was a very busy week full of many activities in many countries.  We found that the two missionary couples that we visited were amazingly capable and responsible.  In spite of the loss of documents, credit cards and money, the Carrolls were able to participate in most of the activities and seemed to be much more comfortable in their role.  It feels like it is time for us to leave.

Next Visit to the USA (Utah)

With a few more days to prepare and transition, our next stop next week will be to our home in Utah.  We will be arriving in the SLC airport on November 16 at 7:07 pm.  

We have been advised that we will be speaking in our home ward on November 26 at 1:00 pm.  That will be at 1409 West Shields Lane (9800 So.) in South Jordan, Utah 84095.  

We will also be speaking at our previous ward where we spent most of our married life on December 17, also at 1:00 pm.  That address is 7645 S. 3200 W., West Jordan, Utah 84084.