Tom and Debbie's Mission Blog

We finished our fifth block of institute classes this year. So far, we have taught in the Pacific, Brazil, Asia, Utah, and Europe and we just began teaching in the Middle East this block. Our classes have varied in every way possible, in culture, in size, in day and time, and in the age and gospel experience of the students. The primary constant has been that we have facilitated all of the classes on Zoom from our computers in our Condo and we have fallen in love with our students wherever they reside. In this process, we have become witnesses of the Gathering of Israel that is occurring right now.

With this part-time mission, we still have time to spend with our family whenever and wherever possible. We have been back to Fargo, North Dakota for our grandson's baptism on his birthday, three days before his family moved to Pennsylvania. This was nine days after our second great grandson was born in Chicago, Illinois. We were able to attend the Syracuse Temple as our granddaughter received her endowment before leaving for her mission and saw her set apart as a full-time missionary. We enjoyed a summer family activity in Idaho, an extended family Saturday reunion at the park and just completed our annual Family Halloween party.

Our Church Service mission, facilitating institute classes to Pathway students around the world:

In 2026 we started teaching "The Eternal Family A" in the Pacific Area and then taught "The Eternal Family B" in Brazil. In the third block we taught "The Divine Gift of Forgiveness A" in Asia and then taught "The Divine Gift of Forgiveness B" in Utah. Then we taught "Teachings and Doctrine of The Book of Mormon A" in Europe. In Block 6 we are now teaching "Teachings and Doctrine of the Book of Mormon B" in the Middle East. During Block 4 I was also able to teach "Foundations of the Restoration B" in Portuguese to a class in Brazil.

Our standard week during our gathering includes preparing our lesson plan from Saturday to Monday, sending out preparation assignments (a question to come ready to discuss in our gathering) and then a reminder the day before our gathering (usually on a Wednesday or a Thursday). We then have our gathering on Zoom and then spend the rest of the week until Saturday reviewing and making comments on their Reflection assignments. We also send several reminders for any missed gatherings or assignments.

In this process we usually are able to get to know the students quite well over a 7 week term. Many of them open up quite a bit in their assignments and others share with us during or after the gathering. I will use as an example a little of the things we learned in our last class held in Europe. First of all, of the 36 students enrolled in the class, we found that they were living in 16 different countries and some of them had moved from 12 other countries. giving us an amazingly diverse class. At least three were not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when we began the course. Quite a few were baptized into our Church in the last few years. Others were life time members but some of them had left Church activity and then returned. Fittingly, our last week of this class, the topic was the Gathering of Israel. As we prepared and taught this lesson, the Lord showed us that the Gathering of Israel was occurring right before our eyes, in this class. Each of their stories are different and inspiring. We share a few comments about some of their stories. Our class included:

A returned missionary in Turkey that joined the Church five years ago at the age of 16, converting from the Muslim faith. He is now in the branch presidency upon returning from his mission to London, England.
Two young ladies from Ukraine, one living in the UK and one in Poland. The one in Poland was recently baptized thanks to the help of volunteers in Ukraine during the war who were members of our Church that reached out to her. She recently left Ukraine because the constant bombing has disrupted life and the economy negatively in Ukraine. Her writing ability is amazing as she expresses her feelings about life, agency, and seeking for personal growth and improvement.
A man who left Sudan as a refugee in Uganda and because of assistance from the Church has now ended up in Portugal. He is using his training and English language to find a life for himself, his wife and a new baby which is arriving soon. He is a Muslim and loves the increased opportunities that he has in the "western world". He loves learning more about Jesus Christ who he has always considered as a prophet. His desire is to earn money sufficient to be able to help rebuild his homeland.
Two members of the class, living in the U.K. and in Germany, that encountered the Church in Europe after leaving Zimbabwe. One has not yet been baptized after three years in the Pathway program but shares profound understanding and testimony of the gospel and tells us that his baptism will be soon.
A new member from Albania who, with her husband, chose to remain in Albania to strengthen the Church there.
A student from South Africa who has met the Church through Pathway and is now working with missionaries in Cyprus to become a new member of the Church.
A member from Haiti, who spent a few years in Cuba without the Church and now is living in France, active in the Church, and striving to communicate in English in our classes, her fourth language.
A new member in Germany from Ghana who shares his testimony with others as he seeks to help others. One that he shared his testimony with, was just baptized a week before he shared his experience in a devotional thought in our last gathering. His joy in helping others is contagious and his thought became the core of our lesson about the Gathering of Israel.
Two young adults from Venezuela who have left from a corrupt nation and are now strengthening the Church in Germany and Spain.
A new member in Germany who was a drug addict for many years and was able to stop his cravings for drugs after an experience with the Savior in a dream. He is now an enthusiastic member of the Church who just visited the two temples in Germany for the first time to do baptisms, including baptizing another on behalf of his grandmother.
Others with strong testimonies from Argentina, the Philippines, Mozambique, the United States and many more who have grown in their original countries and who have strong testimonies. Several of these have shared difficult challenges in their lives that they have overcome to become the examples that they are today.

We just had our first class in the Middle East. We only have two students. One works at the U.S. embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He is a lifelong member of our Church and an amazing strength in our class. The other is a new convert in Cairo, Egypt. He was previously a Christian but sought out the Church (no full-time missionaries in Egypt) last year. This week he is going to the temple in Kenya, Africa to receive his temple endowment. After one class, we have already fallen in love with these students. Being with them this week was a spiritual experience.

Family Highlights in the past four months:

A new great grandson:

We had several significant family events this summer. On July 16, 2026 our second great grandchild was born to Sabrina and Noah. His name is Gideon Antonio Gordon. They are living in Chicago, Illinois so we haven't yet seen him in person but we love him already. Here are some photos of him courtesy of his mother:

Gideon with his parents immediately after being born

and his big sister, Ofelia

A visit to Fargo for a baptism before moving:

The next week we were in Fargo, North Dakota for the 8th birthday and baptism of our grandson, Grant. This was a special occasion and, at Grant's choice, he gave his own baptismal talk.

Grant, giving a talk at his baptism

Grant with his parents on his special day

This happened to be three days before his family left North Dakota to move to their new home in State College, Pennsylvania where Danny is beginning to teach at Penn State University. So, this weekend was also a weekend of farewells.

Taking photos of the kids and the neighbors before they move

Addie with her friends at Grant's baptism, many good-byes this weekend

The next day, Addie, Gina and Danny all gave farewell talks in their sacrament meeting. They were really good talks! Gina spoke about Faith and Danny about Hope. Gina shared her challenges of not knowing the Lord’s will in their move and the challenge that gives her difficulty because she likes to have everything planned out. But then she shared a beautiful witness of learning to trust in the hand of the Lord in her life. I was a proud father. Danny shared a story of experiments with rats who are good swimmers. When they swam in a bucket of water without any assistance, they drowned in 15 minutes. When they were taken out of the water, cleaned and dried and put back in, they swam for 60 hours, for they had an expectation that they would be taken out again. I thought this was an amazing example of the power of hope. Danny taught that our hope is based on knowing that God will care for us with eternal life after we keep swimming in mortality and that keeps us going. I felt the spirit strongly during their talks and a great feeling of love for these parents of our grandchildren. We sat there as proud parents and grandparents, with some of the other grandchildren, just soaking in these moments of appreciation for this wonderful family. After church we went to Gina’s home for dinner and games. Once again we played Dominos and Monopoly. Quinn won the game of Dominoes and Quinn and Rhylee won the game of Monopoly. Rhylee relieved Quinn when she lost interest. It was a nice afternoon of playing games and again strengthening relationships.

It was a tough weekend for them, moving, baptism, sacrament meeting talks, and goodbyes. Before they moved, they kept a promise to their kids to go to "Slick City" before they moved. Monday was their last chance to keep their promise. So we went and watched them enjoy the different slides and other activities.

Grant with his slide at "Slick City"

Rhylee coming out of one of the smaller slides

Addie, Hudson, Quinn and their cousin walking on the lighted floor

Outside of playing games with our grandkids for a few days, this finished out our time in North Dakota before we went back home on Tuesday morning. Our flight was scheduled for way early, about 5:00 am in a very small airport, so we thought we didn't need to arrive too early. In discussions with Danny, we decided that arriving at the airport one hour before flight time should be sufficient for our flight scheduled at 5:00 am the next morning, since it is a small airport and has limited flight volume. Therefore we arrived at the airport at 4:10 am for our 5:00 am flight. I dropped Debbie off and returned the rental car, which was close by. I then came back and left the keys at the car rental counter, found a wheel chair for Debbie and tried to check our bag in at the kiosk. When it wasn’t recognizing my boarding pass, I took the bag to the bag drop, It was about 4:20 am. I was told that the bag drop was closed for that flight. It had closed 5 minutes earlier. They would not take our bag for a later flight unless we were on the later flight. Even though we had time to board our plane, the bag would not go. After discussion and phone calls to Delta, we finally accepted that we would be rerouted on a 7:10 am flight going through Seattle and arriving in Salt Lake City at 4:30 pm rather than our earlier plan to arrive at 10:00 am. It was an unfortunate situation that I had caused by my ignorance. If I had know that they had this baggage drop limitation, we could have delivered our bag before dealing with the car rental return and been okay. However, all ended up okay. We even met a distant cousin and his wife returning from picking up their son from his mission in Japan in the Seattle airport.

Sister McKenzie Hennessy:

This week we were pleased to see McKenzie set apart as a full-time missionary, the night before she began her home MTC. It has been a joy to spend some time with her in the past few months. Her glow as a perspective missionary has been so enlightening to all around her. Part of that joy has been being with her in the Syracuse Utah Temple when she received her endowment. These are wonderful moments for grandparents. We later were able to have an afternoon with her in the Jordan River Temple preceded by a luncheon together.

With McKenzie at the Syracuse Temple when she received her endowment

This past Sunday, we went to McKenzie's sacrament meeting where she gave her missionary talk. Abbie was also speaking in this meeting. Much of her extended family and close friends helped sing a special musical number together. The chapel was completely packed all the way back through the cultural hall and some even sitting on the stage. We thought that she gave an excellent talk. The highlight perhaps was her tribute to her mother. McKenzie has been at the right age to know many details of the struggles and faith of her mother over the past three years as she has been divorced and then married to a worthy man, who has become McKenzie's step father. She has watched her mother act in faith, not knowing where it would go, and she has seen immeasurable blessings to her mother and her family. In our opinion, these may be the most faith promoting experiences that McKenzie has had in recent years. For now, she is excited to leave on her mission and we are ready to support her in any way that we can.

Picture of Sister Hennessy's missionary plaque with glare from the glass

Finally we were just able to be present while McKenzie was set apart as a full-time missionary. These are some of the perks for grandparents that money cannot buy.

With our granddaughter right after she was set apart as a full-time missionary

Strengthened bonds with Ammon and his family:

In late June we went to the wedding of our nephew, James Rueckert, the youngest son of my deceased older brother. When we got there we found that Ammon, his cousin, was his best man at the wedding. We had only seen Ammon in short settings a few times over the past years. This gave us an opportunity to get more connected with his current life and his current girl friend and her son.

Ammon as the best man at the wedding (blue vest)

As we had the opportunity to talk more with Alexis, his girl friend, we joked about their possible future marriage. Alexis made it clear that she was ready, just waiting for Ammon to ask. Ammon also was sharing his new love of running, something that I have done much of in my life. All this seemed to open the door to more communication.

Then on August 7 I received a text from Ammon sharing his time in running a half marathon in San Diego, California, completing the 13.1 miles in an average speed of a 10:54 mile. I was very impressed. This resulted in several more texts back and forth about running. He said, "This morning I have fallen in love with running."

The next day he posted on Facebook that he had just got engaged with Alexis in San Diego . This resulted in more texts and congratulations. In these communications we were able to invite him, Alexis and their two sons (one from each of them) to a dinner. We finally got together on Wednesday, September 9 for a wonderful dinner together and we celebrated our grandson Tommy's eighth birthday for the first time in the past several years. The next day, Ammon asked me to help pick up Tommy to watch him run another half marathon that coming Saturday. Unfortunately that never worked out with Tommy's mother, but I was able to go there to watch him cross the finished line. Based on his earlier time of a 10:54 mile, I expected him to finish at around 2 hours and about 20 minutes. I thought I was there with time to spare.

Waiting at the two hour mark, expected a finish at about 2:20

As I waited at the finish line, Ammon did not arrive. Finally he texted me that he was already done. He had run his race in 1 hour 45 minutes, with an average time of of an 8:04 mile, finishing more than a half hour earlier than expected. There was a bit of downhill in the race, but even then his pace was magnificent for a new runner, even for an experienced runner. I was so proud of him.

This is the text photo that I received from him

With Ammon after the race

Photo including Alexis and Houston, her son

Family Reunions and Activities:

Extended Family reunion:

In July, we held a family reunion for my parents' posterity. We feel this is important to get brothers and cousins together, especially for the family of my two brothers who are deceased. We never know how many will come, but we were pleased to have more than 50 in attendance. My brother Dan drove up from California with his family. My brother Jim always cooks plenty of hot dogs and hamburgers. Even our recently married James Rueckert came with his bride and his little son, Andrew. We also had my niece, Halle, with her future husband there to meet the extended family. They got married two weeks later in our third marriage reception for a nephew or niece this year.

Photo of the extended Rueckert Reunion

One more photo

Family Summer Activity:

This year we had our kids plan and organize our family activities. Dan and Amy provided dinner for all and Jacob and Deb coordinated the location and activities for an overnighter at Hull Valley Camp in Idaho. Unfortunately, we had some conflicts from family members, including sickness, work conflicts, family conflicts, and a flooded basement that greatly reduced the number of people participating. Some came Friday night for dinner, others came on Saturday for the activities. In total we had 23 participating, including 13 that stayed overnight.

At first we were disappointed in the challenges in getting everyone together. However, we recognized the need to adjust our expectations and enjoy the time with those who were able to be there. In this process we had some really special miracles. First of all, Karilyn's husband had to work, so she came up just with Serenity. However, all of her older children came with significant others overnight. In an unplanned situation, she was able to have all of her biological children together without spending time with many of her siblings that were not there.

Kari with all of her children and their significant others, an unplanned hand of the Lord for her

We had also made arrangements for our son Ben to come with us. Ben lives alone and lets his limitations limit his involvement with others. He had not been to an overnight family activity for more than 20 years. With limited number of people, there was an opportunity for Ben to be involved in all of the activities. We saw a new Ben who was an amazing marksman at Archery, Tomahawk throw, and fell in love with rowing a canoe all around the lake on his own. He also came more alive in relating to his siblings and the others that were there. Ben helped organize food in the kitchen and start the campfire outside and even played games. He was a new person. As we went home we asked him how it was. He said I learned that I could do things that I had never done before. When we asked him about his feelings, he said that he really felt happy. For us, that would have been enough reason to hold the activity, if Ben was the only one that had come.

Ben rowing his own canoe

Ben and Debbie shooting the bows and arrows

Debbie even made a bulls eye

Although disappointed in the challenges that kept some away, we went home knowing that we can enjoy the activity with whoever comes and it can still bless the lives of those who are able to participate. The following are some of the photos taken at the activities, mostly by Katelyn, our granddaughter photographer:

Several at the lake on Friday

We had the lake to ourselves on Friday

And also on Saturday - Jared and two of his daughters

Deb waterboarding

Archery shooting - Friday and Saturday

Closer up views

Hatchet throwing

Success for Katelyn!

Even Serenity participated

Deb won the rock climbing race, she was the only one that made it to the top

Nik got a late start but finished at the top

Playing games after dinner

With a fire and som-ores at night

Jacob retired some of our old flags and taught us respect for the flag

retired with respect and honor

Photo of the new Smithfield Temple on the way home

Family Halloween Party - 2026:

Our family Halloween party was hosted by River (and Sunny) and Sam (and Tina). Outside of some help in communications early on, we were able to just. come and enjoy and take a few photos. We had a great meal with fun games and of course, trick or treating. In total we had 30 in attendance, mostly those who did not make it to the previous activity.

Plenty of food for everyone

Organized by Sunny

Games by Sam:

Pin the spider in the middle of the web

the blind fold really worked

Break the chocolate Frankenstein head

Little hits

and Big hits

Finally gummy treats from inside the head

Costumes:

Katelyn

Evelyn and Jasper

Tiare and Moroni

Pollyanna and her family

Serenity and Poppy

Opa and Oma

Trick or Treat:

Young

and Old

Moroni and Tiare leaving with their candy in the back behind

Other Smaller Activities:

Dinner for Oma and Opa at Katelyn's apartment

At the new Lindon Utah Temple

A day with Ben at the newly opened Temple Square

Reviewing the rotating supply of 90 flags for countries where the Church is operating (Brazil and Ireland, Ben's favorites, were not in this rotation)

Playing charades with Serenity and Poppy while Kari and Michael were at a concert

Tending Skylar and Austin while the rest of the family was at a movie

We went to a Hillcrest High School choir presentation where our grandson, Jacob, was performing. It was a Salute to America because of the 250th birthday of the Declaration of Independence this year. It was very inspiring, especially their rendition of the Battle Hymn of the Republic at the end of the concert. We were pleased to see several songs with references to Jesus Christ. (Jacob is in red in the middle on the next to top row of the photo)

Jaoob with his Oma after the concert

Working on new xeriscaping with Moroni at our trailer

Finished product

Old Model T Ford from the 1920s at a car show at the Church parking lot. I was able to turn the crank and start this car. This was cool!

By biggest cantaloupe grown ever came from my grow box this year!

Family History Fair:

I attended a Family History Fair coordinated by a dear friend from the past, Gail Atkinson. It was a multi-stake event with Steven Rockwood, CEO of Family Search and Area Seventy as a key note speaker. The following comes from my journal:

Elder Rockwood gave a wonderful address, updating us with Family History ejxrpeiences around the world and focusing on doctrine, which he does as he travels the world to many non members of our Church. He started with his pedigree chart, which shows God as our father and all of us as children of God, showing that we are all brothers and sisters. He then shared Ephesians 1:10 which says “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even to Him.” He proceeded to teach us that Jesus Christ is our Savior, noting that 2.1 billion people on earth believe this. However, our invitation is to all, including the 100 billion who have lived on this earth, to be choose Jesus Christ through baptism. He said that God gives us a “to do” so that we can bless a ‘to whom” , which are all of the individuals who have lived on this earth. I loved his words and the magnitude of God’s plan which he shared. He told us that every day 10,000 new people sign up for Family Search and that 99% of them are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As he talked about the future, he talked about Artificial Intelligence (AI). He told us three major benefits of AI in the world of family history. First we can now search on many more fields of information that is gathered for those who have passed on. Second, we use AI tool, such as ChatGPT to search on-line. Perhaps the most important is that so much of the data that has been gathered can now be transcribed and identified by AI and now family tree information can be formed with a high level of accuracy. He said the use of AI, which is now upon us, is a distinctive understanding of “hastening the work”. He stayed and answered many questions for the congregation. I certainly felt that being here was the hand of the Lord, to catch this vision and to understand the doctrine better.

This fair was amazingly prepared. The cultural hall was full of displays, fully staffed with individuals to explain each of them. Once was my mother’s cousin, Content Maxwell, who shared about putting together personal history stories. I had the privilege to talk to Content quite a bit and get reacquainted with my mother’s own family story. This was a delightful conversation. Gail knew of Content’s relationship to me and in fact had given her a copy of my autobiography which I had given to Gail some years ago. There were rooms full of children’s activities and other rooms with special preentations and training. I stayed for a session on “AI basics in genealogy”. I was very impressed with the presentation from a lady who has spent her career in software development and technology. She shared how AI has helped her in preparing stories about her ancestors, beginning with an obituary, even podcasts about her grandmother, all created through AI. She also showed us how to use AI to read handwriting you can’t make out, read a record in another language, get unstuck on a brick wall that you have in your research, etc. Although I have been blessed to spend a lot of time in family research and have learned while doing, I have barely touched the benefits of AI in my family history research. I am so glad that I went.

Gail Atkinson, our friend, one of the primary coordinator of this event

With my mother's cousin, Content Maxwell

She shared an exhibit about writing Life Stories

A slide from the AI presentation that taught me much

Interesting note: The following day I tried to use AI to help me find my mother's great grandfather, Samuel Bertram Hartmann. I was impressed with all the information that AI was trying to help me with. It directed me to resources instantly that would have taken me a lot of time to find. I chuckled when it quoted a family history consultant with thoughts about Samuel Hartmann. That reference from AI was something that I had written years ago in one of my blogs. Anything we put on the internet becomes available for AI to access in literally seconds.

Debbie's Health:

Debbie's health is always a concern for us. She continues to have dizzy spells. She has gone to the ear balance center several times. We now have been taught to put her crystals back into place on our own, although this seems to be a reoccurring problem.

Doctor putting her crystals back in place in his office

Of bigger concern is her heart. Before and after our mission to Palmyra, her ejection fraction (EF) numbers were very good, 47 before and 52 after (55-65 is normal). Earlier this year she had another echocardiogram and had an EF of 40 which concerned us and the cardiologist. They increased dosage on some of her medications. In late August, she had another echocardiogram an had an EF of 23, which is only slightly higher than when she was diagnosed initially with heart failure. At that time her EF was 20. They have once again doubled another medication and she will be retested in November. The good news is that she is not having any symptoms of this decrease but we are concerned about this lower EF measurement. We recognize the blessings that she received to serve our mission in Palmyra, which was a miracle all of itself. We pray that the upcoming test can reflect an improved EF, that the additional medication will make a difference.