Busy, Busy

Roy Angel and their family are here this week to visit us from California so it has been a busy time getting all of our family together to visit. It is amazing how much nose our eleven grandchildren can make when they are all together in the same house, by this time next year the tally will be thirteen but I don,t think the volume could possibly change.

Our Children went to see the movie "Avatar" last night and we had the opportunity to watch Nathan, Megan and Tyler. We had a good time. It is great to see how they have grown up.

We are taking the grandkids to see the movie "Chance of clouds with some Meatballs" today and then all of us will be going uptown to see the lights on Temple Square. It will be great to see all of our former Missionary friends there. We have not been back to the Square since we finished our mission in November. Ron, Angel and family will be leaving on Wednesday. We will miss them.

warm Las vegas

We went to Las Vegas to get warm, what a great time to go there now, with the recession reducing the demand. We were able to get a suite at the Rio for only $ 40.00 a night. We had a bang up time staying up to at least 8:30 PM every night. It was pretty warm with the temperature in the 60 every day. Sandy was in the 5-10 degree range when we left.

The car was great. The gas mileage was some what reduced by going 80 mph most of the time so I was only able to get 45 miles per gallon for the trip.

The high light of the trip was going to see the Phantom of the Opera. It may have been the first time that I have sat next to Mon for two hours and have her not talk.
We went to all of our usual places. The Belligo living waters was playing the " Hallelujah Chorus" The atrium was decorated with a Christmas Theme as the photos show, all of the displays are made of flowers.

We got home Saturday, so we were here in Sandy for the Christmas Program. It was great. We are now getting ready for this special time of the year with all of the Family Traditions.

getting ready for Christmas

December is here and so are we, at home getting ready for Christmas. The lights are now on the outside of the house. The tree up and looking good. We got a new white tree with the lights already on it, much less work. Our Christmas shopping is almost completed and we are now wrapping all of the presents.

We reported our mission this morning to the Stake High Council. It was really neat to sit in Sacrament Meeting with our family again. Mom went to Choir practice for the first time for almost two years. They are getting ready for the Christmas program. The Ward Christmas Party is this Saturday and today we participated in another Christmas time tradition,"Tithing Settlement".

The new Oquirh Hills Temple is really nice. We did a session Thursday with some of our friends from the Mission. In the last two weeks we have been in the Salt Lake Temple, the Draper Temple two times and the Oquirh Hills Temple. Friday Night we went to Provo to attend "Christmas around the world" a dance program put on by BYU with Lavere and Diane. Mom loved it.

Next week life will slow down maybe.

Our Mission is over, we gave our talks on Sunday, Mom did a great job ( I can call her just Mom again). We ended the talk by singing the Mission Song, an addition to "Called to Serve." We then had some of our friends come over to the house to visit and have treats.

We took some photos of Mom in the Tabernacle doing the pin drop and at the organ. We took a lot of photos on our last day on Temple Square. Mom wanted to have some showing her doing the drop and playing the Organ.

We are going to take a vacation in to Las Vegas in December to get away from the cold. We will be there the week of the 14th and will be staying at the "Rio" which is just off the strip. It is a four star all suite hotel.

The prices for accommodations at Vegas have really dropped. We are paying the same price as if we were staying at the "Virgin River" in Mesquite. I guess the recession has hit the hotels there pretty bad.

We are still adjusting to life as a slower pace. We did a lot of on line shopping today. So much easier to do it that way. Got all of the lights up and are almost ready for the big Elf to come .

Last days

Today was our last Sunday as Missionaries on Temple Square. We were introduced to the crowd, as departing Missionaries before the Tabernacle Choir broadcast. We had our closing interview with the Mission President. Monday will be our last work day on the Square. Tuesday we will turn in our parking passes and keys. We will then will go for a nice dinner at the Holmes house. The Stake President will than come to our house to extend our final release. President Holmes paid sister Glad a great compliment by telling her that he thought that She was the most effective missionary of all of the Senior Couples.

We will go to the transfer conference early Monday morning and will be singing a song that in the tune and format of "My Favorite Things" The last Chorus will be "When the wind blows and the snow flies and I am feeling Cold. I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so Old !!!" written by Elder Glad.

We will be getting ready for Thanksgiving on Wednesday, turkey day on Thursday and then reporting on our Mission in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. We will be busy then getting ready for Christmas and then a January cruse. So I don't think we will be feeling withdrawals unto the middle of January when We will have to decide what we want to do to keep busy.

We have loved our Mission and have lots of stories to share.

park city week

We are serving at the Family Tree at Park City this week. The senior couple stay in an apartment above the Center. We are here to help the Sister Missionaries with the task of helping people who are in Park City, for vacation, get genealogy information. The Church started the visitors center here during the 2002 Olympics.

Sunday we will be back on Temple Square for our last week. The Bishop from our home ward has scheduled Sunday the 29th of November to tell about our mission. Sacrament Meeting will be at 10:50 PM at approx. 8800 south 1700 east in Sandy Utah. We will be home just before Thanksgiving and will be having dinner on Friday to give us time to prepare for it.

I have am still working on the house. Last week I installed a new Sink in the Bathroom and re caulked around the drainboard and the tub and shower enclosure. The house is looking better and better.

We went to dinner at the Spring Chicken Inn at Wanship, Utah. It was a kind of nostalgia trip, when I was little my family use to go there for special times. The freeway has by passed the town now but the restaurant is still there. The food is just as good as I remember it, french fries made from real potatoes and great chicken.

We had a Big Birthday party last week end the house was in bedlam but is was nice to have every one at the house. Tera is now looking quite pregnant. Bruce just finished his application for graduate school. Ben is in the choir for the Hillcrest High School play. Life is still busy

last of october

Today is Halloween. The Mission had a service project at the "This is the Place Heritage Park" for Zone Conference. We worked on building a path with stones from the quarry at Little Cottonwood Canyon, a lot of hard work. We will be passing out candy bars for the trick and treaters that come to our house and watching the U of U football game.

We are having a big Birthday Party on Monday for all of the family that has birthdays at this time of year. Mom has also decided to have a Halloween theme, all of the Kids may be wearing costumes. We will be having pizza and salad.

We had our first snow Tuesday and it has cooled down. Luckily We are serving in side for all of our assignments this transfer.

Mom's new car

We bought a new car, a 2010 Toyota Pries, a real cool car. The 2010 is a major step up from the older models. It is larger, has more horse power, and gets better gas mileage. We have been driving it back and forth to Temple Square this week and have been getting 50+ miles to the gallon of gas. The Car has many bells and whistles that we are not use to: Key less entry and start, Blue Tooth connector for the cell phone, automatic climate control system, the radio and climate control systems controlled from the steering column. and a high teck heads up display. The display can display the average mpg for a trip, how the hybrid system is functioning, the amount of fuel in the tank and how many miles can be traveled before that fuel is all used and much more. The car has a function that will allow driving only on the electric motor if needed for up to 12 miles. We are excited to drive it to California this January to how it preforms on a longer drive.

We had our first real snow yesterday it was real neat to see how many of the Sister Missionaries from tropical locations reacted to their first snow. We will be going to Park City for the week of November the eighth. We hope that there will not be a lot of snow.

Life is good but our time is running our for our mission.

big changes on Temple Squar

Tuesday, the Missionary Department had a meeting with all of the senior missionaries. They are going to reduce the number of the seniors from thirty four to fourteen including the Mission Presidency. We now have only four to five couples that will working on each shift, and we have to cover the West Gate, Tabernacle, North and South Visitor Centers, Beehive House, Assembly Hall, Legacy Theater, Welfare Square, Humanitarian Center and Park City. Yesterday was the worst example, there are twenty four new Sisters that arrived Wednesday so they were in a training session with their companions, very little or no sisters on the square. Elder and Sister Palmer did not come so we had only three couples to cover all of the locations, as a result most of the sites were empty?!!. The guests were wandering around entering the buildings with no one there. It was a real mess. This is the Lord's work and somehow it will will work out.

We are going to give our farewell address Sunday and will be going home on the twenty fifth of November. It is a very emotional time for us but we have not have much time to brood over it with all that now needs to be done. Sister Glad has a great reputation with all of the Missionaries for her ability to get people to refer. She has been one of the most successful missionaries here. She has not a great knowledge of the Scripture or a wonderful speaker but She is humble and has the lords spirit with her. She is not afraid of asking guests if they want to learn more about the Gospel. We are preparing our talks but it is impossible to say all that we feel about the last many months in the six minutes we have to talk.

last days

Our last Transfer starts Wednesday. We have been asked to speak in the mission Sacrament Meeting this Sunday. The speakers are always departing missionaries so it is like our farewell talks. We will also be teaching the Relief Society and Priesthood meetings Sunday also a once a time event. We are doing our best to keep our mission foremost in our mind and are really sad to see it coming to a close in six weeks.

Cody ran in the region cross country meet Monday. We were able to go the meet. He won the event by blowing out the closest completer. He was fifteen seconds faster than second place, a lead of more than one hundred yards. Clay over hear the coach of Brighton telling his team that they could beat that kid from Kearns that he was only a junior and it could be done if they only tried hard enough. So it is on to State for Cody. He is really dedicated and gets up every morning at 4:30 to run 5-6 miles.

Tara is looking really pregnant and doing good. She is over the nausea and is eating good. Bruce is doing good in School. He had almost a 4.o GPA last Semester got a, A- in one class. He will be done this summer.

The weather is cold but our spirits are high. Life is good for our old folks.

Conference Week End

Busy, busy, busy it must be General Conference week end. The anti Mormons were out in force. They had made camp across the street from the Conference Center. It was rainy and cold so they looked like wet kittens. A large group of young people were standing next to them singing Hymns drowning them out, neat.

The Mission was very busy getting potentials from members, (identify family or friends who can receive the missionary lessons) . The Sisters got more than 2,400 names for missionaries to visit. They were on the Square from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM. The Mission had a special meeting Sunday evening in the Tabernacle to wrap up the efforts that were made for conference. The Sisters were allowed to sleep until 9:00 AM on Monday morning and had a special pizza dinner Monday evening.

Saturday was our "P' day so we were able to stay home and watch the conference with our family. The Men then went to Priesthood, Todd, Bruce, Ben, and Stuart. Clay and family was out of town for a short vacation at Zion Park. Marty and Andy went downtown to see the meeting there. Then Ice cream

Great weekend

did you invite?

We were on the Square Sunday afternoon when we noticed a elderly lady who was sitting by her self. We sat down with her and started a conversation. She was from Sacramento and was here to visit her sister who is on a Church History Mission. We had a nice conversation about how wonderful the mission has been for her sister and how her sister working on getting the temple work done for the family. She loves having the missionaries come to her house and visit the Camel Ranch that she takes care of. Then she said that she was not a member of the Church. We asked why she had not taken the missionary lessons? "Why no one has asked me." We had her fill out a card for the missionaries to come and give her the lessons. She was very happy and gave us both a big hug. She wrote on the Referral Card that elder and sister Glad invited me.

It is strange that some times it is hardest to ask our closest friends to learn about the church. We feel that the invitation may some how damage our relationship. When in reality we show love by sharing those things that mean the most to us.

The weather is to turn cold rainy with some snow this week, temperatures dropping some 35 degrees on Wednesday. Some of the Sisters have never been in a cold climate or have experienced snow. Should be very interesting.

Mom and Melody went to Woman's Conference Saturday night at temple square, all of the Missionary Sisters also attended so we senior elders had to take care of everything for the night. It was fun. The Square survived.

another week

Sunday Schedule. Got up at 5:45 AM, needed to get to Church a little early as the Senior Missionaries were singing the closing song in Sacrament Meeting. It normally starts at 7:30 AM and we need to drive downtown to get there so our normal time to arise is 6:00 AM. Music and the Spoken Word at 10:30 AM Priesthood and Relief Society 11-12 AM. Home for lunch then back to the Square at 5:00 - 9:00 PM. Who said that Sunday is a day of rest? It is really a extra day in the week to do the Lord's work.

There was a special program put on by the Choir Friday night for the Commemoration of the signing of the Celebration of Independence. We were working in the North Visitors Center. It was really hard for Sister Glad to stay where she should be and not go over to peek in the window. She was very happy when we were eating our lunch in the lunch room under the Tabernacle and all of the stage hands and Choir Members were running around preparing for the program.

We ran in to Elder Packer Thursday as we were walking the tunnels to go to the South Visitors Center and He was going in the tunnel to go to the Temple for the Thursday meeting of all of the Apostles. We now park under the Conference Center and can get to every where we need to go on the Square through the tunnel system without having to ever go outside. This should be good when it gets cold if it dose before we go home for good.

0dds and Ends

Tuesday was Moms 48 year of marriage to me. We celebrated by going to the Salt Lake Temple. We visited the Sealing Room where we were married. Then We went to the Garden Restaurant on the tenth floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for Lunch. We spent the rest of the day serving on Temple Square.

Mom wanted some new window coverings for the bed room so I have spent most of my spare time getting them installed. We are now the North Visitors Coordinators so I spent an hour or more each day making sure that all of the literature is stocked. We are also in charge of the Socials and Firesides for the Senior Couples. We are having a Sunday Sociable tomorrow. They have been fun, We all get together play board games and socialize.

Mom is going to perform a musical number for Sacrament Meeting tomorrow. She is going to do a medially of songs about the Prophets: "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief", "Praise to the Man", "We thank they oh God for a Prophet", and The Primary song "Follow the Prophet". It is great She is so talented.

We went to a cross county track meet to see Cody win another medal. He has been first place in several region High School meets. He is very dedicated, gets up at 4:30 am most days to run 5- 6 miles. He is only a Junior in School and is Captain of the team. He also got asked for his first dance at School.

We worked today in canning some salsa from the last of our tomatoes from our garden. It tastes good but may be a little hot for Mom.

We only have about two months left on our Mission. Life goes by too fast.

Home, sweet? home

Our lease on the apartment downtown was for fourteen months and is now ended, So we have moved back to our home in Sandy. The drive to Temple Square takes about 20-25 minutes and it use to take us 10-15 minutes to walk from our old digs, so it is not too bad. We have been working to make the place more conferable while we finish our mission, moving furniture around and such to take full advantage of our home. Saturday after spending most of the day getting the electronic stuff, Computers, Internet, Cable Tv, Surround Sound ect set up I was really bushed. I set up the laptop in the TV room so mom could have access to a computer while I was doing my stuff on the Internet. It is now all done, Yea,

I worked the other day taking care of all of the trees. I had to remove a lot of branches on most of them. One large branch on the remaining Peach Tree had broken off, and the Cherry Tree had a large branch that was getting totally our of control and there were several dead branches on the Italian Prune tree. So I was really tired before working on the electronic stuff.

We got ready to go the serve on the Square Friday at 2:00 pm when the car would not start. Melody gave us a jump and we were able to drive to downtown but the battery did not charge.

Marty works downtown so I gave him a call and he was able to give me another jump. I drove to an auto parts store where they put another battery in. It is all right now. It is amazing how we begin to take things fro granted then bang we are stuck. All is well now.

Sad and Insane people

Very unusual week, President Monson has canceled all Sunday Meetings in the valley this Sunday so that members can go to there Stake Centers to Participate in the new Temple dedication. We will be attending at 9:oo PM.

We have a really strange man who has been standing on North Temple street by the Temple for the last couple of weeks. He is dressed in Temple Clothes with white makeup on his face and white gloves on his hands. He has a statue of the Christ on a small step ladder and a large white cross around his neck. When asked what he is doing he said that he is the "Holy Ghost". The lady who has been using that location for begging for the last couple of years has relocated across the street as no one pays any attention to her when she is by the Nut.

A young woman came in to the North Visitors center last week and talked to Sister Glad about her situation. She has been doing very bad things the last few years, as she said. She is not welcome at her parents home and has been living where ever she can. She is now devastated because She found out that She has terminal Colon Cancer. The Doctor told Her that She has only a couple of months to live. She only knows the name of her Bishop and it not confertable talking to him. Sister Glad and her shed quite a few tears and then sent to her to Welfare Square where they can arrange for her to interface with LDS Social Services.

A Man came in to the Square with who also has months to live because of Cancer. He is a nonmember whose member wife, who has passed away, has been working on him to become a member, now that he is facing death he is ready to accept the gospel. He wants to be sealed to his family but knows that that will not be possible in this life as death is so close. He will be baptised this Sunday. Several of the Sister Missionaries will be speaking and Elder Sontag will be baptising him. His Temple work will be done a soon a possible.

Death faces all of at some time. We need to be prepared to meet God now!

Great week

We just got back from working at the Assembly Hall. We are there Sunday from 1:00-5:00 PM.

We had a very productive day with three groups of people who wanted to know more about the church, a couple from Italy, a Hispanic Couple from LA and a man who had been inactive in the Church for more than 10 years and wants his non-member wife and child taught.

We were at Welfare Square Friday and had a woman who had been receiving assistance come in and wanted to have the missionaries come and teach her so she could join the Church. We also had a person refer his friend that lived in Russia.

Saturday we moved some more of our stuff back to Sandy. We have to be there before the end of this month. So we are moving some things each "P" Day. We also went to visit the Cemetery where Brigham Young and family are buried, a very special place.

Bruce and Tara are now in their new apartment. She is doing much better in eating and looks really good. They are to get the ultrasound next week. live is good.

Christmas

It is Christmas on Temple Square again, or maybe getting ready for Christmas. They are putting lights on the trees now. It seems strange to start so early but if you think about it, would you feel better about climbing very large trees to put lights on them in August or In December with all of the ice and Snow.

We are getting ready to move back to our home in Sandy as our lease for our downtown apartment is up the end of August. We don't have much to move, just clothing and minor stuff but we are staring to take some thing home each "P" day. We will have only three months left of mission living at home in Sandy.

Bruce and Tara have moved to a New apartment just above 20th east. She is still having problems with morning sickness. She spent a couple of days in the hospital as she could not keep any food down. She seem to be able to keep food down now but is still quite sick.

We had a zone conference last week. President Holmes is really creative about the location for us to have our meeting. We had the Meeting in the Church Office Building in the room where the General Authorities meet. We have a Zone Conference each transfer, every six weeks. They are good. We have a combined meeting with the Sister Missionaries.

life is good. It feels like fall as the temperature has dropped in to the 70s

first week of August.

Some other things on our experiences last week. I was given the opportunity to teach Relief Society to the Sister Missionaries last week. It was a neat time teaching them. I feel the reason it felt successful was the Sisters have such sweet spirits and testimonies. The subject was Receiving the Ordinances and Blessings of the Temple. I was able to tell some of my experiences of serving the temples, Jordan River and Nauvoo. I was on a 6 months temple mission in 2005.

I feel bad that my youngest son's wife become so ill from her first pregnancy that she has to hospitalized for a few days. I hate to see her not enjoy this event in her life. I pray for her. They are moving to Sandy and he is going to school while looking for a new job. I know they will come out all right. Pray for them.

We had some neat times talking to people on the square last week. One tour we had was late at night .. The temperature was so cool, the night was so pretty on the square and we were answering questions to some people that were leaving the next morning. That is just one of the blessings of being here on this mission.

Sister Marlene Glad

hot summer day

We have been involved in trying a new program in the mission this week. In the past the senior couples were to make sure that the venues were working properly and direct any interested guests to take a tour with the Sister Missionaries. We are trying a pilot program where we are to take short tours when the guests are unable to go with the Sisters or the Sisters are unavailable to take the guests on tours.

So we have had some great times being more free to discuss the gospel. Monday we came across a family that said they did not have time to go on a tour, so we told them that we would walk them around and answer some of their questions. The sort, non tour lasted longer and longer as they had many questions. They were excited to have the missionaries bring they a Book of Mormon and teach them. We found upon further discussion that he had been raised in Snowville, Utah, a small "Mormon town on the Utah Idaho border.

We had a woman met us on the Square asking if we could give her a Book of Mormon. She had been to the Distribution Center where they told her that it would be better to obtain one on the square from a Missionary so we her fill out a card to have the Missionaries bring one to her home and teach her.

We were able to obtain nine self referral's last week. It was great.

this and that

The last week has passed, with some very good things going on in the Temple Square Mission. We were working in the Legacy Theater Tuesday, when I saw Sister Glad talking on the phone with tears in Her eyes. We call people who come to the Square and do not leave a referral but fill out a comment card. We call to thank them for coming to the square, a thank you call, normally very little comes from these calls. She got to talk to two families who wanted to have the missionaries come to visit them.

One man asked if he could get a better Book of Mormon as he found a very small print one as he was helping a friend move. It must have been from the set that are given to LDS men before they go in to the military service. He had been reading it and would like to know more about the Church.

Second was from a man who had his brother come come Temple Square and obtain a DVD about the Church. The two of them had been watching it and he would like to more about the Church.

A couple of days before that, She had been calling a family who had a daughter, 16 years old, who had come to the Square with some friends. The young ladies mother answered the phone. Mom had a good conversation with her that ended with the mother giving permission for missionaries to come and give her daughter the lessons.

Sister Glad has a great ability to talk to any one on the phone with great success. I think it is due to all of the practice she has has had on talking on the phone for most of her life.

summer heat

Summer has hit here with a vengeance, it was 101 F today. The only hope is that there is a lot of shady spots on the square and/or all of the buildings are air conditioned. Everything is a mess due to construction work to replace most of the pavement. The work is to be completed before October Conference.

The enemies of the Church are still trying every thing they can to stir up unknowing and unthinking people to react against the Church. Security asked two inebriated gay men who where sitting on a bench on the plaza late at night passionately kissing and groping each other to leave. The result was a confrontation when the men reacted angrily refusing to leave and using abusive language. The Police were called and they were arrested for trespass. The false story was given out to the press that they were harassed by church security because of a simple kiss on the cheek and that the security men roughed them up. The arrest record indicated that they were drunk and they was no evidence of any physical abuse. We have had a demonstration last Sunday, called a kiss in. where people wearing pink hearts came here to protest the Church's right to control inappropriate behavior here. They attempted to come on the Plaza and were informed by the City authorities that they would be arrested for trespass if they came onto Church property. Some removed their pink hearts and came on to the plaza, the others left.

The same people have been trying to stir up more controversy. I was a Tabernacle last Thursday when a man wearing a pink heart walked by waving inappropriate magazines for all to see. Security asked him to leave Temple Square. Two more Protesters were escorted off the Square earlier the same day. There is another demonstration planned for this Sunday. The sad part is that some families and other unthinking liberal types are involved in this mess. They think that the right of the Church to control improper behavior on its own private property is some how in violation of civil rights. This is an other attempt by the Rocky Anderson and group to cause trouble for the Church.

I found out the other day that four of our Sister Missionaries are first cousins, kind of neat to have such a large group from one family to be here. We had two sisters that were here serving here last winter, they ended up as companions.

We are starting to reap some good stuff from our garden at home. I had to remove some of the green tomatoes because they were becoming too thick and heavy for the plants. We picked some cucumbers and zucchini today.

We have been assigned to be the North Visitors Center Coordinators. We are in charge of the building making sure that everything is proper from insuring that all of of the pamphlets are in place to insuring that the proper procedures are used in the tours and displays in that building, most of the work there has to be done after our assignment time so we are becoming even more busy.

pioneers and fun

We had Roy and Angel and Grand kids came to visit us last week. We went to "This is the Place Historical Park". The State Park is at the mouth of Emigration Canyon behind the Monument.

Many of the old homes that the Pioneers lived in have been relocated to the park. Other sites have been recreated as the were in the pioneer period. People in period clothing are at many of the locations.

Nathan, Megan and Tyler were able to make many craft items and they participated in a kids rodeo. Tyler was in a "Stick Horse Race". He was ahead at he half way point but did not turn around to the finish line. He won if every one was to go the way he went. Megan was in the Lamb chase and Nathan was in the sheep chase. They all did well but not get the ribbon.

Megan loved the rag doll that She made at the home of Mary F. Smith. They all made leather key chains and branded a block of wood. We all helped to make a rope and the children loved riding the horses.

The whole Glad clan met at our home for a Barbecue of hot dogs and Hamburgers and shared birthday gifts. The best gift was from Bruce and Tara who told all that they are expecting a baby. The new grandchild will make twelve are they cheaper by the dozen?

Where is time gone?

I cannot believe it has been a year since our first experience at the MTC to start our mission.!

This is such a wonderful experience! How fantastic the Lord called us here. 

We meet people from all over the world.  We tell them about the restored gospel. I get to testify to them somewhere everyday. This builds my testimony.

things I have done on our mission. 

1. Meet and mingle with the beautiful Sisters on Temple Square. There are about 200 or them. 

We  just get to know them and 20 of them go to areas to teach and preach in other States. They have such strong testimonies. They are so spiritual and kind.  I had the priviledge to mentor two sisters from Brazil. I will always treasure this experience. I learned to love them very much.

2. We have enjoyed sharing our talents. I have played the piano for alot of the meetings and conducted the music. I had the neat experience of playing for a Christmas program last Dec. There were 8 songs I played  the paino with the organ and improvised for the congregational singing.! 

Dwayne even conducted the singing in couples meeting last week. I was the organist. We did a pretty good job.! I take the opportunity  of talking to and hearing recitals of the Tabernacle Choir organists .They are marvelous. One of them helped me sit at the organ and play a hymn. 

When my schedule allows I attend Music and the Spoken Word. It is such a marvelous experience. I have also attended alot of concerts and Choir performances.

3. We work with fantastic giants everyday. The Senior Couples have been Stake Pres. school teachers, professors. They are all humble people. The mission Pres. Holmes is so spiritual and is doing alot of special changes  to improve the mission.!

3. Serve in alot of  venues. Call Center,  Beehive House, Legacy Theater, Welfare Square, Humanitarian Center, West Gate, South Gate, South Visitors Center, North Visitors Center, Assembly Hall, Family Search and in Park City Family Tree. So I have learned alot.!

4. We have read all the scriptures , plus Preach My Gospel. I do the dishes sometimes while he reads to me. I would never have done this without our mission.

5. We attend the temple about 2 times a month. Until I dislocated my elbow. Last Tuesday, we finally got back after my  elbow healed well enough. We were chosen to be the wittness couple in the Salt Lake Temple.! what a tender mercy.

6. Moved to a beautiful apartment downtown. We have an unbelievable view of the temple in our patio window. How blest we have been to find this place. It is like a vacation to be here sometimes. We can also see our children here.

7. I have learned so much of this Garden of Eden on our mission. There is still more to learn.! This is just some of the things I wanted to share of our experiences. of the Best Mission on Earth.

Thanks Sister and Elder Glad

Work Work

While we are away from home, we have been spending time improving our house.  We have been busy the last few days with painting the bedroom and the "T. V." room.  It feels good to be able to get some thing accomplished as we prepare to resume our lives at the end of our mission.  We have less than six months left and the lease for the apartment downtown ends the end of August.  We will be living at home for the last three months of our mission. 

Our garden at Sandy is doing well, with the tomatoes doing the best.  The Zunccni show signs of snails eating the leaves so I put a lot of bait around the plants.  

It is still raining every day, we now have had some rain each day for the last eight days and everything is getting very wet. We are suppose to have rain for the next four days.  There has been some flooding in the state.

We took a ride on the "Front Runner", the Railroad that runs from Salt Lake to Ogden.  The ride took one hour each way.  There is a Railroad Museum in Ogden but it is still a long ride.

We are working in the Beehive House again it is very busy this time of year.  Last time we had the assignment it was in February and was very slow.  Our job is to greet the Guests and tell them about the house to hold them while they wait for the next tour by the Sister Missionaries. The tours have to have more than ten minutes between them.   Sister Glad and I were talking continuously for our six hour shift as we had a never ending flow of people.  It is fun to talk about the Church but very exhausting.   

 

Park City in June

     We spent last week working in Park City, everything was great.  A trip on the Mirror lake Road was really great.  We went to the Bald Mountain over look and then turned around as the weather was starting to look touchy and being there in a snow storm would not be really fun.  Moose Horn lake was frozen over and we were not in a mood to go Ice fishing.  It was so peaceful up there.

     

     The Doctor took off Moms Splint so she can now use her arm.  She was told to work her arm each day so she can recover the full range of motion, and to not fall down again.  While were up in the Mountains she was walking over to a overlook when She slipped and fell down.  It scared me to death, but luckily she was skinned up but did not land on her elbow.  So She is all right some abrasions and mostly fright and loss of pride.  I asked her what she missed most while her arm was unusable.  It was not cooking, dish washing or doting on her husband but playing the piano.  

     We met some really nice young people while we were at the "Family Tree" in Park City one of the ladies from Central America asked for the Missionaries to visit her and teach more about the Church.  I was at the Tabernacle the other day when I was asked if our Church excepted converts and how to join. 

     I have started to us a photo sharing web site my URL is flickr.com/photos/wdglad   I am going to post the best photos that we have taken on our mission there.  Enjoy    

    

               

park city

We are at Park City for the Week. We are at the Family Tree a Site to have visitors at Park City to come to find about their families and become acquainted with the Church, our shift is from 3:00 pm until 9:00 Pm so we have the mornings free. Sister Glad and I walked down to the tram, chair lift, a walk of about one and half miles. The ride to the top of the mountain takes more than one hour and it was starting to look cloudy so we did not go. We found on our way back to the apartment that there is a free bus that took us right in front of the Family Tree. After we were back to our apartment it started to hail and rain, really bad hail about the size of small marbles. We made a great decision not to go.
Moms arm is doing much better she is going with out the sling for about half the time and seems to have very little loss of movement. She is going to see the doctor this Thursday.
Saturday we spent painting the bedroom in our house. It is a Blue grey color with blue trim it looks pretty good. We are going to Paint the TV room, Angels old bedroom, next Saturday. We are going to be moving from our apartment down town the end of August as the lease will be up. The last three months of our mission will be spent at home.

Ghana and Urdu

We were at the West Gate Sunday, Mom went to "Music and the Spoken Word", while I greeted people at the Gate.  The Choir program was special for Memorial Day, the Air Force Band was here to join the Choir.  I was able to hear some of the songs from out side of the building, most of the program was Patriotic in nature.  Mom said the program was really good.

I was talking with a black man from Ghana who had been on the square for the last two days.  He told me that he was asking for the lessons and was going to be baptized into the Church.  He had a friend in Ghana who was a member and had gone to his friends ward several times and that he also had been able to visit the Temple in Ghana.  Visiting the Square and hearing the Testimonies of the Sisters had been enough to make him decide to be baptized.  

I was at the North Visitors Center today when a lady wanted to know if her friend could take a tour of the Square in "Urdu."  I had no idea what language that was so I enquired and found that it is the Language that is spoken in Pakistan.  We have a Sister that had just arrived on the square from that country who could do it.  I am always in awe of the Sister Missionaries we have here.  We also found that we know have a Sister who speaks "Mong", the language of the Tribal peoples of the mountains of "Laos".   

I have been Painting the house so it will be as nice as can be.  Our lease on the apartment will be up the end of August so we will have to return home or buy another house?  

sorry story

We had a sad experience the other day when we were serving in the North Visitors Center at "God's plan for his family", which is on the upper level just past the Statue of Christ.  He was just sitting there very depressed, no one else was around so we sat next to him and asked him if we could help him.  He said that he had gone from the high point of his life to the lowest and did not know what to do or where to go.  

His story is this.  He came home from his mission early because he was convinced that he was Gay.  He told his mother, She was devastated.  He is still living at home and trying to go to school.  He said that he was on top of the world when he was in the MTC.  He since has tried to live what he thought he was by dating some "men", and found that he was repulsed by the experience.  He is not what he thought he was.  He told us that while at High School, that he and three friends though that it would be cool to be Gay, because of all of the stories about diversity and accepting  the Gay life style. He had convinced himself that it would be a great way to express his Independence and get attention. He had convinced himself that it was true. 

Now he is as low as he can be.  He has found that he gave up the greatest thing, and now is lost.

We  told him to talk to his Bishop and that he may be able to get counseling from LDS social services, that he can come back to be the person that he is really is. 

 We can be too excepting of what is not right.  We should be able to accept people but not sinful behavior.  I hope that our society will not continue go at is in in making "Good, bad and Bad good".

We had a group come on the Square from Assua Pacific College, their Choir, eighty one young men.  They were on tour and wanted to come here to see Temple Square and sing in the Tabernacle.  They were given permission and stood around the inside of the building and sang some songs.  I talked to several of them and they said that it was the highlight of their trip.  They had performed an the Cristal Chapel and Cathedrals in the West, but this impromptu singing was the best.

Mom's arm is getting better but it will take some time.  Life in the mission field is good. 

      

Mothers Day and Breaking Mission Rules

                                                         Mothers Day

     There are "Rules" that are to be kept on our Mission so I am sorry have to say that Mom broke one.  We are not allowed to take trips while we are 

on our mission.  She has a really sore arm. 

     We were home in Sandy  and were preparing the house for everyone to come over for a barbecue.  I went to the store to get some water treatment for the ponds. and she was home alone pulling up some weeds when she stepped back and "TOOK a TRIP" over a sprinkler.  She fell on some some logs that we had placed next to the old peach tree for decoration and dislocated her elbow. 

     She was unable to get up because she could not push with her lift arm.  So she was laying on the ground.  Kathy was in to her yard next door and was able to come and help Mom up. Marty called her on her cell phone and she answered by yelling "Help".   Marty took her to the emergency room at the Alta View Hospital.

     The doctors were able to reset the dislocation but the x-rays show a small bone chip.  We are going to take her to see a bone doctor to make sure that everything will be all right.  She is doing well with very little pain.

     We had a very good Mothers Day in spite of the troubles. 

                                                       Welfare Square

  

     We have the assignment of being on Welfare Square on Mondays.  It is a great place to visit and take a tour.  There is the Bishop's Store House, Bakery, Transient Services Office, Employment Center, Cannery, Dry Pack, Desert Industries, and Milk Processing and Cheese Creamery.  It takes a hour for a Tour and to see everything.  

     There was a couple come in from Lehi.  They said they were from Mississippi, that they had been at New Orleans when they were reallocated to Utah due to the Hurricane.  They were staying here and have joined the Church.  We were talking about the problems with the Hurricane when they said the Church was there with a big tent where they were passing our boxes of food that was good for one week.  I thought that was cool as part of the tour is showing the place where the emergency food is boxed.  

    It is so great to be here where we can be proud of all of our church is doing for good in the world

Films and Plays

Our assignment of working with the Sister Missionaries in the sports program is over.  We feel sad, it was a great time to get to know them better.  We had the above picture taken.  

Ben was in the Jr High School play, "Annie".  He had the part of "Sandy" the dog.  Ben had a great time, he is a real ham.  Most of the Family attended the event.  Melody's family, Todd and Shelly, Bruce and Tara, and Elder and Sister Glad.  It was really great to spent time with the family.

We were serving at the West Gate today when there a Bus pulled up to the gate.  I was preparing to receive them as a bus tour group, when I noted that there were some camera people coming out of the Bus.  The Church is producing a film to be used to advertise Temple Square on Buses  and Airline flights.  They were in the process of filming a Tour Group coming to Temple Square and the Sister Missionaries taking them on a Tour.  There were some actor Sister Missionaries with them, the real thing is much better.

 

Mom was "VERY" interested in what was going on.  She was very excited to find the actor who played the part of Brigham Young in the movie "Joseph Smith the Prophet of the Restoration". She had been in  Nauvoo and watched that being filmed.  He was directing the film. 

We went to our home in Sandy, Wednesday to get it ready for spring, planting flowers in the front flower bed and laying our our vegetable garden.  I planted some Tomatoes, Zucchini and Cucumbers.  We are planing on going home in the summer on our "P" day to get some fresh vegetables, also the home would look too empty if there no flowers in the front. 

There must be some sick pigs up in Park City.  They have closed all of the Schools and there was no Sacrament Meetings to day because of Swine Flu.  There has been nine possible cases and one that has been diagnosed as such.  I feel that all of this is overblown, or at least I hope so because we have so many people from all over the world come here to Temple Square.

We now have only seven months left on our mission, time is going too fast.

   

odds and ends

Wednesday is the start of a New Transfer, new assignments for the Senior Missionaries, new companions and assignments for the sisters.  There are twenty that have finished their missions, twenty two new ones will be here, eighteen going outbound, and eighteen returning from being assigned out.  Transfers take place every six weeks and are really exciting, emotional, and tiring with every one getting new companions and moving to different apartments.  It is very hard on the Senior Missionaries seeing twenty something of their friends going home to all over the world to never see again.   Mom and I sit at the back of the room at the Transfer and Outbound Conferences and cry.

  

Thursday comes and we get to see the new Sisters come from the MTC, all excited to do the Lords work. We then welcome some of our prior friends come back from out bound, with stories to share about where they have been and the spiritual experiences they have had. 

I don't think that there is any other mission is the Church where a person can make so many friends from all over the world and then have them go home.  We then start all over again the next day. 

Sister Glad and I have some new assignments.  We are now in charge of the Senior Firesides and Socials.  We are going to have a Fireside and a Sunday Sociable each month.  We will have the curator from the Church History and Art Museum  come and talk about the  Tabernacle on the May 24th.  The Sociable is where we all get together to visit and play games.  We had the first one last Sunday it went very well. 

 We now get to sleep in as our old assignments required us to get up at 5:30 am five days a week to open the gym for the sisters sports program. 

The Senior Call Center program is being discontinued as the Seniors Missionaries are needed at other areas and the Sisters can make all of the calls.  We really enjoyed calling and had some special times so we will miss that calling.  

We were looking at our future schedule and found out that our mission will be over on the day before Thanksgiving,  all too soon.  

some stuff and other stuff

Spring is (hopefully) Here,  the weather is clear and warm, Mom has a sunburn and the tulips are in full bloom.  It snowed three days ago and now is in the 80s, this must be Utah.     

We are working in the Call center three days a week for this transfer so we have some very interesting conversations.  I called one young man about his ordering a Book of Mormon, when I asked him why he wanted it.  He said that his other one was worn our.  He said that he would be excited to have the missionaries come to his home and teach him about what he had been reading.  I talked to another man who had ordered the DVD " The Restoration".  He said that he loved the message and that his son took it to School to share it with his friends.  We get a lot of people who hang up the phone on us but is is all worth while when we talk to some one who is interested.  

We have a new Sister Missionary from Israel first time from that country.  We have had a history of not ever being asked for tours in Hebrew.   Since we have some who can handle Hebrew we have had four tours in that language.  The Lord knows what he is doing. 

Stuart won a prize in a school district wide competition involving building a programed robot to push the most paper cups down a hole in a specific period of time.  He did the programing.

Melody and Marty very proud.

Easter and "OOPS" darn, it was my spell checker

We were working at the Tabernacle when a media crew came to do a special for the "Friend Magazine".  They are doing a series about young people visiting Temple Square.  The picture above is of the young boy who is visiting, talking to the Organist.  Mom was really excited to be involved with the whole thing.  She was asked to sign a waver about her photo appearing in the magazine.  We don't know, but her photo may be in the story.

   
The Cherry trees are in full bloom the flower beds are full of color, this is my favorite time of year.
Their was a special program on Easter Sunday for "Music and the Spoken Word".  The Choir was joined by the Orchestra on Temple Square and the Bells on Temple Square.  It was a very special program.  I won't admit it to mom but the bells were really neat.

A minor Crises at BYU, a frantic search was under way to locate and destroy all 18,000 copies of the "Daily Universe" that was distributed around the campus.  The head line read " Elder Neil Anderson has been selected as the new member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostates".   I always knew that the spell checker was a tool of the devil" 

April Confrence

It is conference on Temple Square.  You can see if you look carefully the people leaving the last Sunday session on the ramps in the front of the Conference Center.

We are just home from serving on Conference Sunday on  Temple Square, naturally it has been a very busy day.  Members from all over the world have been here to share in the spirit of the day.  We were able to attend the Sunday morning session along with "Music and the Spoken Word".  I went to Priesthood Meeting with Marty, Stuart and Ben.  Clay and Cody attended but had tickets for a different location.  We then all went to our apartment for Ice Cream.  Conference is and should be a time for families.  

   

Second Picture showing the same flowers that were covered with snow last week now looking great.

Lots of families come with blankets and sit on the lawn listing to the session. This is just a great time of year.

Snow and Rock Satrs

Saturday was a really nice day, clear with the temperature in the 70s, this morning we woke up to a strong wind with some rain. The Snow started during Sacrament meeting, as we went to work on the Square it was really cold with a blizzard.  The photo it to show the contrast between the spring flowers and the new snow.

Friday we were working at the North Visitors Center when we were told that a VIP group was coming to watch the movie "Legacy".  They were the supporting group for David Archeleta. David was in town for a concert Saturday.  He came in later to see the rest of the Movie.  His family had been visiting with President Monson.  

The influence for good that a person like David Archeleta can have is some times not understood.  Saturday morning I struck up a conversation of a woman and her preteen daughter who was from Boston.  She said that they were in town to be at the concert and she and her daughter wanted to see what "His" home town was like, so they were at temple square. Later that same day a couple of ladies from San Diego said that they here for the same reason. 

Mom taught all 160 sister missionaries for Relief Society.  She taught about sacrifice, told the story about her father leaving the farm to go on a mission and asked the sisters to share stories about the sacrifices  they or their families have made for the church. It was a great experience for her to hear all of the stories from all around the world.

We were working in the call center and had some great conversations and referrals.  I talked to a woman about having the elders bring her a Book of Mormon and share the message of the Gospel with her.  She said yes please have them come, that she had some good friends who were members of the Church and that she lived just down the street from a LDS Chapel.  I called a other person and asked her if she had received the copy of the Book of Mormon that she had ordered.  She said yes she had and that her family was just baptised in to the Church. We have been getting something like eight good referrals for each day we work in the Call center.  We are now in the center for two hours three days a week as part of our normal rotation.  Mom loves it.  

General Conference is this coming week end.  It will be really busy we will be working on the Square for most of the sessions but will be able to attend one session on Sunday and I will be able to go to Priesthood Meeting on Saturday night.  It is so nice to be here and meet all of the Saints from all around the World.  It is great to be here doing the Lords' work. 

Spring

Spring is here!!! The Square is very beautiful.  The gardeners have been out in force planting flowers all around.  The flowers appear as if by magic.  It was snowing last week and now this week the temperature is in the low 70s.  Sister Glad and I have put away our winter coats with the hope that we will not have to use them until next winter.  

The Draper Temple Dedication was this week-end but sadly we were not able to attend because we have to be Missionaries and assist teaching the Gospel on the Square.  No! not sadly, one of our greatest joys is to be here assisting in the Lords work. 

Due to the warming weather we took some of our "P" day time and visited the Salt Lake Zoo.  

It was fun seeing the animals and "strollers", as unknown to us the Zoo was having a special Kids day where small children were allowed in for free.  This is Utah and we thrive on small children. There were strollers every where full of kids.  We were the only old guys in the Zoo that day as far as we could determine, so it was just as fun seeing all of the moms and their perfect creations getting out when dads and older school children had gone.  It was a joyful romp to be away with the strollers in the Zoo.   We ran into Julie and her kids as they were out for an outing with one of Christys Little one.  

We are preparing for General Conference, one of the busiest times of the year.  We are so excited to see all of the leaders of the Church from all over the world.  The Sisters are able to see members from their home countries who come here.  

Today was the busiest day of the year so far.  there is a Conference for people involved in the Chemical industry here this week some 11,000 of them and it looked like most of them came to see the Square Today.  It was Great!  Life is good, Spring is here!

Park City and the Family Tree

    We went to work for a week at the Family Tree at Park City.   The facility is a place for tourists to come and get acquainted with the church and find out about their family.   

We worked  with a set of Sister Missionaries who are there for their entire six week transfer.  We stayed in a really nice apartment on the third floor of the building.  

   They not only have the family search data base there but also a subscription of ancestory.com. I was able to trace the Webster Line, my Maternal Grand Mothers family, and find that there was three members of the Mayflower party that are part of our family.  A feature of the program is to find famous people who are related to you I was able to find that we have ties to Rutherford B Hayes, 6th cousin 4 times removed, Millard Fillmore, 4th cousin 6 times removed, Samuel Adams, 6th cousin 5 times removed, Gerald Ford, 8th cousin 2 times removed. Poet and Writers, Geoffery Chaucer, Hans Christian Anderson, T. S. Elliot, Louisa May Alcott, Agatha Christie, Shelley, Tennyson, and Virginia Woolf.  Painters, Thomas Gainsborough,  Euene Delacroix, and Norman Rockwell.  That is just a start I have five pages of famous people and their relationship to us.

We went to Olympic park.  and took some nice pictures. The first one is one the props that were used for the opening ceremony. 

Family tree

We are in Park City for a week at the Family Tree, which is a family search site. It is on old Main street where the visitors can walk by, come in and find out about their Ancestors. We got here on Sunday afternoon when it was quite busy. Today, Monday a large snow storm has come through so we have spent most of the day looking outside at the snow. Very few people have come in. I have been out to shovel the snow many times today. We have a great apartment that the church provides for that is on the third floor of the building. It has two jet bath tubs in two bathrooms, a large front room. There is also a smaller apartment for the Sister Missionaries, one set of Sister Missionaries stays here for six weeks.

We had a very bad experience Sunday Morning. I am in charge of getting everything ready for Sacrament Meeting on Sunday morning. We arrive to prepare the Chapel at 6:30 am, plenty of time to make sure that everything is in place. When we arrived at the Chapel we wondered why all of the cars were there. When we walked into the building Sacrament meeting had already started. Whoops!! we missed the time change for day-light-savings. The counselor in the Mission Presidency had to go home to get some bread so they could start the meeting. I had to go to the Beehive house early to open it Saturday morning so I was not able to attend preparation meeting where the change was announced. I felt so bad, I told all of the brethren in priesthood meeting that if they were hungry after the lesson, to see me because I had some extra bread.

Temple and Talk

We took the Sister Missionaries to the Draper Temple Open House last week.  We were given a VIP tour.  The regular tours are a silent walk through with testimonies at the last of the tour in one of the Sealing Rooms.  It was cool to go through and have some of the interesting things of this temple explained to us.  President Monson said that one of the main reasons that they built this other Temple is due to the demand for marriages in the Salt Lake Temple.  The Largest sealing room in any of the Temples is in the the new Draper Temple, it will seat more than 100 patrons.

The Sister Missionaries have gone to the open house by Zones with one Zone going each day of the week.  We have six Zones of Sisters in the Mission.  Stuart was helping and was  showing  a video in the Stake Center when our sisters came to view it. They all came back to the square telling us that they had run into our neat grandson.

We are working in the Call Center in the PM this transfer, our main responsibility to call and confirm that items that have been asked for have been received.  We then ask them if they have any questions about the Church or would like missionaries to bring them some other items such as a Book of Mormon.  We also get some incoming calls where people call to order free items that they see on the TV adds or on Pass-along-cards.   

We get some very interesting calls.  I had a lady call to ask if she could see her daughter that had died, in the next world.  She had asked her Priest and he had told her that we would be spirits and so could not see or be with our family.   She said that this was not acceptable to her and wanted some one to tell her what the truth was. She agreed to have the Missionaries come to her home to help her.  Mom called a lady to see if she had received her material. She said she had and was just thinking about going to a church and would like to have missionaries come and bring her a Book of Morman.  We get about 8 to 10 good referrals a night it is very productive. 

Fireside

We did a fireside about Nauvoo for the mission Sunday night, a really lot of work went into it.  I did the part about the story of Nauvoo including excerpts from Clark Family histories.  We invited Todd and Clay to come and sing the song  "A poor wayfaring man of grief" using the original tune the John Taylor sang. Clay also was a life saver in that he came and took care of the Projector for the Power Point presentation.  Mom then took over and talked about the things that you would see and experience if you would go there today.  Mom did a really great job.  

The weather is getting to be spring like now.  There are some flowering trees just outside of the Beehive House.  I really enjoyed the sight of the red buds that are starting to form.  Their are new Plants in all of the Visitors Centers. It is joy to be around all of the wonderful plants and flowers that are on Temple Square.  Spring is such a special time of year here. 

Mom is quite frightened because she has been selected to teach the Sisters Relief Society lesson one Sunday next month.  Sister Holms, the mission presidents wife, and her are going to teach it together.  I know that she will do a great job, but teaching 160 bright and eager Sister Missionaries would scare anyone.  

We are enjoying the experience of meeting so many people from all over the world and sharing the things of the Restoration.  Mission life is so wonderful.

Draper Temple

We, Melody, Marty, Bruce, Tara, Shelly, and our friend Damian went to the Draper Temple open house Wednesday.  The Temple is just breath taking.  The walls in the Ordnance Rooms are unbelievable, the Celestial Room in in the center of the Temple the celing goes all the way to just under the Angel Moroni, the Christal chandelier is huge and dominates the Room.  

Our assignments for the new transfuse are very special. We are in charge of the tours at the Humintarian Center,  We work in the Call Center where we call people who have received free gifts from ads to see if they are interested in more information on the Church.  We still work at Legacy theater, the Beehive House and the South Visitors Center.  The week starting on the eighth of March we will spend at the Family Tree Center at Park City.  The Church has a apartment at Park City where we will stay during our assignment there.   

We were talking to Sister Tofinga from Micronesia last week.  She as a smallish girlish Missionary.  She told us that she loves sports.  She played basket ball for her National Team and has competed in Karate in meets.  She has competed in the Asia Games.  She said that She cried all night when she received Her mission call because she was afraid of being around all the Sisters on the Square.  She loves her Mission.  

She had a great story about keeping the Sabbath Day.  Her friends on the Team wanted to have a party on Sunday.  She didn't know if She should go so she asked her Mother.  Her Mom told her that she should do what she felt like she should do.  She was going to go when her Dad told her No, you should not go. She was home when She got a phone call from her best friends Mother that there had been an accident and her friend was dead.  Her friends had been drinking at the Party and had driven off the road on the way home, one death and several of her friends where in the Hospital in critial condition.   If She had not stayed home that Sunday she may have been dead.