Steve: Another week has rushed by and with it some ups and downs.  On the up side the Family History Department invited all the Missionaries in our Mission as well as  the Department Staff to a Christmas Devotional and luncheon,  The meeting which was fantastic and the food was good, too.  Three members of the Quorum of 70's and their wives were the speakers and they related some of their favorite family Christmas memories, and they also selected their favorite Christmas song that we sang at the conclusion of their talks.  We don't often hear from the wives of the General Authorities so this was a pleasant change.  We are going to miss these types of events when we leave our Mission which build us up and help motivate us to do and be better.

On the down side, Lorene spent a couple days of being sick and not workingfor a day and a half.  I hate to see how run down she gets as I know she was promised that she would enjoy good health and able to not have sleep problems.  Compared to so many others, she does enjoy good health and her body gets adequate sleep most of the time.  I think that she has done remarkedly well as she has dealt with a series of setbacks, and each time as she recovers from one or another setback she is anxious to get back to work and serve in the Family History Library.  The next couple of weeks we will be working a modified work schedule because of early closure of the library during the Christmas season. This will be good to help Lorene recharge her physical batteries.

I have come to realize over the last serveral months how much family history work means to Lorene.  While I continue to add names to my tree, I see how committed she is to correcting her tree and making sure that the right people are connected to the right families.  This past week Lorene has dug  and dug to find records for an ancector and looked high and low for missing records.  After many long hours, she found some of the records and was able to add sources that confirm her feelings about certain individuals.  As I do my own research and talk with other Missionaries, the importance of adding sources is confirmed time and time again. When sources are not included, it is very difficult to put families together that have any meaning other than a name and a place. Another frustrating aspect of the families of  Family Tree is the number of incomplete families.  Time and time again I find one or two children that are attached to a family when the records clearly show additional children which are not attached to their family.

Yesterday was bittersweet as I spoke with one of our Young Elders who is completing his Mission this week.  Elder Yowell is one of the older Young Elders (27) and has no firm plans as to what he is going to do when he goes home.  Watching him serve in the Library, it is easy to see that he has been successful during his time here in the Mission.  However, he lacks self confidence and is stymied and fearful of the future.  Apparently he also lacks support from his family, which contributes to his lack of self-esteem. I suggested that he counsel with our Mission President before he leaves this week, but that he should set out a plan for the future that the President can discuss with him.  I hope I can keep in contact with Elder Yowell after he leaves the Mission.

I am ready to move aside and let Lorene edit and add her own story for the week.  Next Sunday is Christmas and it will be a happy, sad time.  Happy because it will be Christmas and sad that it is our last Christmas as full time Missionaries and our last time with so many good friends.

Lorene: It's nice to read the good things my loving husband says about me.  I would not be able to serve this mission if it weren't for him and his support.  He does so much for me!    

As Steve said, the Christmas devotional and luncheon this week were a special treat.  I was unable to go on the day we were assigned, so I went the next day.  (The missionaries are divided into two groups so that our duties are not left with no one to do them.)  We had different Seventies come and speak--and no wives :( , but it was still very nice.  They had us do something special which they called "ornamenting the tree."  They had a Family History Christmas Tree that each of us contributed to.  We were to make an ornament (the outline of which was provided for us) on which we were to paste a picture and/or story about one of our ancestors.  It was fun to find pictures and stories about our ancestors for this project.

I'm looking forward to going home and being reunited with family.  However, I am really going to miss the many wonderful people we've met and worked with here.  Another thing I'm going to miss is the choirs, the branch and our mission choir -- the Elijah Choir.  It' been a special treat to sing with such talented people, especially at this time of year. 

Love and miss you all!
Steve and Lorene aka Elder and Sister Walker