Tom and Debbie's Mission Blog: April's Menagerie: Family, Mission, Easter and a Wedding

This past month, we have tended two groups of grandchildren while their parents were out of town and watched our grandson (Joshua) receive a mission call. We celebrated the Easter season, beginning on Palm Sunday and then welcomed a new son-in-law into the family as our daughter, Beckie, was married and sealed to her eternal companion. We also finished up our first term as institute teachers in our Church Service Mission and had many other interactions with our children and grandchildren. In all this we continue to see the hand of the Lord each and every day.

Beckie dancing with Eric at the reception, the new family unit outside of the Draper Temple

Beckie's Wedding:

Let's start with the wedding. Beckie and Eric were able to get their clearances to be sealed in the temple in late March. They immediately scheduled their wedding/sealing for April 19, the day before Easter. They had a reception the night previous to the wedding in the Social of the Eagle Gate Apartments. They then had a beautiful sealing ceremony in the Draper Temple, where Eric had worked as an ordinance worker. Both the reception and the sealing ceremony were filled to capacity with so many friends and family. This is a completion of Beckie's journey of the past few years that has been totally guided by the hand of the Lord. It has included a divorce, a sale of her house, and a courtship filled with miracles.

As we attended the reception, everyone that knows Eric confirmed what we had already learned. He is an exceptional person and a very dedicated son of God. Beckie now has her eternal companion that she has so much desired. We couldn't be happier for her. Her children have also fully embraced Eric. In her farewell talk to their ward, McKenzie identified Eric as the most Christlike person she has ever known!

Debbie and Beckie in front of the Draper Temple.

Debbie and Beckie at the Reception

Three generations of beautiful women, Abbie, Debbie, Beckie and McKenzie at the temple

Eric and Beckie exiting the temple

Eric and Beckie dancing at the reception

A few weeks prior to the wedding, Beckie and her kids spoke in sacrament meeting, each giving their farewells to the only ward that her children had ever known. This ward family has been such a support to them and helped each of them to have the faith needed to continue on their journey forward. We were able watch on-line while waiting for our stake conference meeting to begin. It was a special and memorable occasion. We were especially impressed by the testimonies born by each of the children and Beckie's beautiful talk about her journey of faith and submission to the Lord.

A collage of on-line screen shots from their sacrament meeting talks. Beckie's tears represent the tears of each of them as they gave their farewells and shared their faith.

A mission call:

On our first day of tending Jared's children, our grandson, Joshua, received his mission call. Unfortunately we were not able to be there in person, but were able to join by Zoom. This was a very emotional moment for us. Joshua is a very dedicated young man and an example to us and others. He has studied German in school and expressed a desire to serve in Brazil. However, he was always willing to go wherever the Lord called him. His call is to serve in the Harare Zimbabwe mission in Africa, beginning August 11, 2025. We were delighted. This will not be an easy mission but he is ready to do whatever is asked. I personally am a bit jealous. I love the African Saints and believe that he will receive many blessings and have great experiences that will teach him life long lessons.

Watching Joshua reading his mission call

A look at the many others who were watching on-line, including Aunt Gina and Cousin McKenzie

Tending Grandkids:

Jared arranged for us to come and watch his kids some time ago so that he and Melanie could get away for their anniversary. This was a Monday night through Saturday assignment, the week preceding General Conference. It was also spring break, so our three granddaughters were home all week. With help from Aunt Amy, we took a break on Wednesday, going back to South Jordan for a missionary reunion with our Palmyra temple president and matron. She helped again on Friday morning as we took Ashton and Ellie to the Brigham City Temple for baptisms for the dead.

These tending assignments are a lot more work for aging grandparents, but they give us the opportunity to get to know our grandchildren much better as we go through meal times, Come Follow Me study, bedtime routines and day to day interactions. Although nothing is ever perfect, these granddaughters are pretty amazing and taught us a lot and gave us a lot of love.

Some of my favorite moments are watching the three girls with their Oma.

This includes helping with food preparation,

On Thursday we gave Debbie a break and I took the kids down to feed the goats at a little farm near their home. Aunt Amy and two or her boys also came along.

We stopped at the playground on the way back

One of my favorite photos as their swings lined up perfectly for a unique photo of five grandchildren and Amy

A great photo of Owen on the swing

And Emilie with the speed of her swing impacting her hair

Thursday night ready to hold our Zoom Institute Class with our makeshift office

Friday morning at the Brigham City Temple

We invited them to watch General Conference with us on Saturday morning, using a Taki for each time that they recognized the "word" in a talk. Emily and Ellie enjoyed this for the first few talks.

Then Olivia joined in later in the session

Dan and Amy's kids:
The next week, we returned to Hyrum, to take care of Dan and Amy's kids while they went to Rexburg, Idaho for Amy to graduate from BYU Idaho. This was just Thursday until Saturday. Once again we did our institute class, this time from Dan and Amy's bedroom. Owen and Dawson went to school on Friday, but Ashton was off so he and I went treasure hunting in Thrift Shops and Deseret Industries, looking for Goosebumps books. We only found one but found other treasures. Friday we watched the graduation ceremony for their mom. On Saturday we went to a special Petting Zoo for baby animals and we were joined by Michael, Serenity and Poppy. Then their parents came home. Once again we enjoyed doing Come Follow Me with the kids each night, played games and figured out meals together.

Another set up in the bedroom for our Institute Class

Picking up Dawson and Owen at the bus stop.

Dawson and his Lego creations

Playing games together

Watching the Graduation Program

Amy, walking for her graduation

Cheering for their mother!

Dan and Amy at BYU-I

At the Petting Zoo:

Owen and Poppy on the ponies

In the pen with the calf

Petting a baby goat

Petting a bunny

Climbing Turtles

Poppy by Poppy the Skunk

On the Wagon Ride

Waiting in line for the train, we ran out of time to ride it

Teaching Institute:

We just finished our first 7 week term, teaching Jesus Christ and His Everlasting Gospel Part A. Once things settled down we had 15 students. It was amazing to see how attached we got to these students during this course. Some had illness, another went to the temple for the first time, one had a new son, another is getting married this week. We went from a 17 year old high school senior to a few 45 year old mothers of 4 or 5 kids. We sent announcements out several times a week and communicated with emails when they had challenges. Each week we review their "Reflect" assignment about what they have learned, grade it and leave comments for them. Each week we facilitate a gathering meeting on Zoom. Our challenge is to keep them as involved as possible in the gathering, encouraging them to share their thoughts and insights. Through all of this, we feel like we got to know them well. We finished last week and 14 of the 15 passed with flying colors. One missed too many gatherings to get credit. The following is their scores for the course (no names shared here for confidentiality).

Next week we will begin a new term. We have been asked to teach two classes each week, so we'll have to work harder to stay on top of things.

They get graded on their study, their attendance, and their "Reflect" assignments. If they miss more than one week on any of them, they fall below 75% and do not get credit for the class.

Easter:

We have been encouraged by the Leadership of the Church to celebrate the Easter Season, not just Easter Sunday. We started out by celebrating Palm Sunday with an interfaith fireside in the Tabernacle (connected on-line) and by attending the "The Lamb of God" performance in the Institute of Religion at the University of Utah. We had seen a preview by a few of the soloists in our Institute Inservice meeting. We watched the Tabernacle performance from our phones before and after the "The Lamb of God" performance. As they told the story, different soloists represented Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of Jesus, Peter, John, Thomas, and others. They chose to have a cellist represent the Savior, playing wonderful songs while a narrator added the words. We arrived early, got a parking spot and a seat while thousands came to attend. It was pretty inspirational.

The program and songs

The choir and orchestra from our second row seats

Peter, John, and Thomas singing their parts

Mary Magdalene singing her part

The Cellist playing the parts of Jesus Christ

A selfie showing the large audience behind us

Come Follow Me study for the week concentrated totally on the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the fact that He Lives today. On Wednesday morning we were able to participate in a worldwide Easter Devotional for Church Service Missionaries. There are over 30,000 Church Service Missionaries around the world. The Speaker was Elder Gary Sabin, who served in Europe while we were there. It was a tender mercy for us to see him again.

The broadcast originated from the Church Office Building. It was directed by a missionary couple who used to serve in the Jordan River Temple with us, Elder and Sister Stone

Elder Gary B. Sabin, our friend

Our Easter week included Beckie's wedding reception and sealing ceremony. On Saturday, before the sealing ceremony we attended a funeral for George Rausch, a lifetime member of Cannon Ward, where I was raised. His oldest daughter is Debbie's sister-in-law and his oldest son was my best man in my first marriage. He and his wife had 14 biological children, all who are still living. We loved celebrating his life. I am amazed at how many members of Cannon Ward come back for these funerals. We were a poor ward but very united, even more so as we have gotten older. George was born in this ward, as was my father and many others. These families have left a legacy of wonderful posterity who are faithful to the Lord and His Church. I am proud to be from this historic ward, where the apostle, George Q. Cannon lived.

George Rausch's funeral was one day before his 98th birthday. He had been blind for the past twenty years. His wife passed away 25 years ago.

This is the second year in a row that we have attended a funeral on the day before Easter. Last year it was for our son-in-law, James DeVore, in Lehighton, Pennsylvania. It seems fitting to celebrate a life of a dear person the day before we celebrate the resurrection.

For us this year, we had both a funeral and a wedding on this special Saturday.

Missionary Reunion:

President and Sister Pitts, our Temple President and Matron from the Palmyra Temple were in town this year. They hosted a get together of all the missionaries who had served with them during their three years of service. For us it was a great reason to get back together with our missionary friends and meet others. We took time to drive down from Hyrum one of the days that we were tending and then back up to Hyrum It was well worth the effort.

The entire group of missionaries attending with President and Sister Pitts on both ends of the photo

Around the table for a nice pot luck luncheon

One of the main purposes of these reunions is so that Sister Rueckert, Sister Bobo, and Sister Lamoreaux can catch up with each other.

Other Activities:

I was able to go to Jacob and Deb's new home and help with some landscaping. They did most of the work, but it is good to get down and work in the dirt. It is fun to see these two getting busy working in their new yard.

They dug up the old stone that was overgrown with weeds and rebuilt a beautiful walkway/patio in their backyard.

Aria's sixth grade class performed Beauty in the Beast in their classroom. Aria was a narrator and one of the crowd in some of the scenes. We thought it was well done by some sixth graders with minimal experience.

Aria (far right) as one of the narrators

Aria in the finale with the Beauty and the Beast

Aria with her Grandma

Hillcrest High School had their annual individual and group performances of their drama department, which included a few of our grandsons. Joshua's contemporary scene won region and is now competing in state. Jon is in the ensemble of the major scene that was very well done.

Joshua in his award winning performance

Jon (turquoise shirt) in the ensemble of the One Act play

We also watched a performance of a "Beautiful Burnout" at Hillcrest High School. Joshua was a coach of the actors in this performance:

Joshua, after the performance

Joshua is listed as an Acting Coach

Finally we watched our son, Jacob, in a performance of his Middle School Choir in a competition. We were able to watch it by on-line link:

Jacob's middle school choir performance

We also were able to watch a High School Softball game between two sisters, Taylorsville High School (Where Mckenzie plays) and Granger High School (where Abbie plays). It was fun to watch them both at the same time, they weren't as cordial at the game with each other as normal. This was one of the first games of the year. A few weeks later, McKenzie got hit in the head with a softball and had a concussion. That ended her softball playing for the year.