Steve: Last week got away from both of us, I am ashamed to say.  My goal when we started our Mission was to post each week and I am afraid that I fell far short of my goal.  However, my promise is to try harder during the remaining time we have here on our Mission.  The weeks and days are flying so fast that I fear I won't be able to do all that I have to do before we leave our comfortable apartment and, more importantly, before we leave all of new friends.  This Mission is one of the few where we you get to greet hundreds of Missionaries each week and know that we all share the same feelings.

We have had one meeting with Brother Williams who is a a staff member in the FamilySearch Department to talk about serving as Church Service Missionaries after we go home.  He is anxious to have us help with an new concept that is being developed at FamilySearch which is to create communities (groups) that will expand the collaborative efforts for patrons across the world.  We are very excited and look forward to continue to serve as Missionaries after we leave our full time Mission.  The program is in the first testing phase and we hope to expand it to the Family History Centers in Cedar City and Peoria when we get back to our homes in Utah and Arizona.

My search for family members continues to grow and so does my love for this work continue to grow more and more each week.  My efforts have been centered in Prussia as I continue to find someone new each week.  I think that, after our release, when we get get settled down  for a while  I am going to order some microfilm reels from here so that I can start putting some families together.

This past week has been very hard for Lorene.  She has had to deal with some health issues that have lingered for some months.  I am not sure that she is going to recover from all these issues before we leave here; however, I think that the trial of these problems is to allow her to have a sense of peace that our Heavenly Father is near to her and that he knows what is in her heart.  The feeling of peace can provide balm of healing  even when your health issues are not completely healed.

Lorene: Another thing that happened last week is that my good friend, Suzi Lewis, passed away on Friday, January 13th after a long battle with cancer.  I will miss her terribly!  She was a special person and a dear, dear friend.  I have had some "tender mercies" associated with this event, however.  She went peacefully, which is what I had been praying for.  Another thing  is the "miracle" that I saw the phone call come in when her husband Vaughn called to give me the news.  We were serving at the library and I had my phone on "mute."  I usually turn it on "vibrate" so that I can hear it without it disturbing others.  When the call came in, I just "happened" to look over at my phone and see it light up.  After that, I went into the restroom and sat down on one of the comfortable chairs that are in there so that I could collect myself before returning to work.  While doing so, I felt her presence and got the distinct feeling that she had come to say "good-bye."

This morning brought another tender mercy as the message on "Music and the Spoken Word" with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was concerning losing a loved one.  Lloyd Newell, who gives the message each week, said that although we miss them terribly, life goes on and we adjust, but there's always a vacancy where that person was.  We cannot fill it with someone or something else, nor should we, but that person will always hold a special place in our hearts.

I thank the Lord for tender mercies and for His love for us all.

Love,
The Walkers

Steve: It's been a cold week and we still have snow on the ground.  However, we are supposed to have rain this week, and if that happens the snow will probably disappear.  The bad part of the snow has been ice on the sidewalks, and the bad part about rain is the snow melting and flooding the streets. Some people just are never happy with mother nature.

The library has been pretty slow this week which makes the days go longer.  I think the snow and cold weather had a lot to do with it. I want to start putting on my flash drive the materials from the British Services floor that are only available on the intranet.  This material will help us to be better family history consultants when we get back to Cedar City and Surprise.

For  some time we have been been pondering how to spend our time after our  release from our Mission.  Obviously spending time with family is Lorene's number one priority and I too will enjoy time being with our grandchildren, but it isn't the only thing we want to do.  We want to make sure that we continue to do work on our family trees as well as helping others have a desire to do their own family research.  We still have a lot to learn and family members to find.  We also have considered becoming "at home" missionaries in some sort of family history facet.  Subsequently, we met with one of the staff members from the Family History Department last week and are now planning to work on the Family History Communities that are located on Facebook.  We are not completely sure what this will entail, but we'll get some training here before we are released as full time missionaries.  When we were talking with Brother Williams last week, both Lorene and got a warm feeling and confirmation that this is the right thing for us to be doing when we get home.

Lorene: We finally have a chance to speak in Sacrament Meeting.  Most missionaries get that opportunity in the first few months, but somehow we got overlooked.  Perhaps it was because I was somewhat out of commission because of my foot surgery.  At any rate, we have been asked to speak next Sunday.  Our topics will be on our mortal probation and how this life is a test.  The topics are very closely related, as you can see.   I have been pondering much lately on the purpose of trials, so I am looking forward to sharing some of my thoughts and experiences with our Branch.

That's about all we have to say for this week.  We hope and pray that you are all doing well; you are always in our prayers.

Love,
Elder and Sister Walker

Steve - Another New Year's Eve has come and gone and once again we slept through the night.  It was fun when we were younger to stay up until midnight, but I have noticed in the last few years that the new year will come whether we stay up or not.  We went out to dinner with a couple of Missionaries from out zone, then we went to a couple of mini-concerts last night at the Tabernacle on Temple Square and finally came home to play some games.  It was a very nice evening.

 I am getting less anxious about leaving our Mission in a few weeks because it is time to move aside and let someone else take our place.  Also I know that there are still several things for us to do when we return from our Mission: attending our local temple, spending time with our familiy and friends whom we left behind, continuing to work on family history, and otherwise serving.  The future will only be unfulfilling if we go home and do nothing, but I know that we won't let that happen.

I have shifted my attention to my fraternal grandparents and, in particular, Prussia.  Although I did not find any new names this week, I was able to understand the geography of where they lived even if it was only on a map.  It's amazing that when you find names of towns in which your ancestors lived, and then see how close they are to one another, it makes sense and becomes reasonable to see how they can move from place to place.  One thing I have recently learned is that Germans where invited to relocate to Prussia and promised no taxes, a two car garage and a chicken in every pot, so to speak, but this was changed when these promises were revoked and then these Germans moved back to Germany, or further to the West (the United States).  I believe that this is what happened to my Janowski (Janousky) ancestors.  However, I still struggle to figure out if the Janowski's were of German origin or if they were actually Polish.  The hunt goes on.

Lorene-I've been pondering  a lot this week about our mission: what I've learned and the spiritual growth I've experienced.  It's been a profound experience and I'm very grateful that we make the decision almost two years ago to do this.  I've also learned much about family history and have been able to do much "clean up" on my ancestral lines.  I haven't found much in the way of new names because there's already been so much done, but I have been able to find a few names on some collateral lines. I'm looking forward to going home, reuniting with friends and family, and continuing to work in family history--both my own and helping others with theirs. However, I'm going to miss this wonderful place and the amazing people we've met here.

May you all have a wonderful new year, filled with blessings and the growth that comes from trials.

Elder and Sister Walker