November 11-17 - Sunday to Saturday
Sunday Nov 11
Today is Veterans Day.
This day celebrates the 100 year anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended WWI. We attended a moving “Music and the Spoken
Word” this morning with the Choir, Orchestra and Bells at Temple Square. The focus was on Veterans Day. I recognize the WWII service of my father Glen
Hatch Tolman in the Army. Sister Tolman's father Rowland Senior served in the Navy at the end of WWII. I also remember this day
seven years ago when our daughter Kim married Neil Saravan. This was a happy, happy day for her. I
couldn’t hold back the tears as the choir finished their program by singing
“God Be With You Til We Meet Again”.
Flags on display for Veterans Day in the Tabernacle
Picture with the Bells on Temple Square group in the lighted area
I have also been thinking about how I have been greatly
blessed in my life. I read about
President Eyrings’s struggles with math and physics in his early years at a university and how his faith helped him be successful. In my first year at the University of Utah in
1965 and 66 I was very successful with my academics but I was not seeking the
Lord’s help in my life. As I look back,
the Lord blessed me anyway and I refocused my life beginning with my ordination
as an Elder in September 1966.
Elder ordination for Glen K Tolman
During the first school term of my second year at the University of Utah 1966-67, I met Marilyn Pitts in a French
class. She encouraged me to serve a
mission as we became friends and dated. This school year was a turning
point in my life. I can’t imagine what
my life would have been without my mission experience in Tahiti from June 1967 to December 1969 and my subsequent
meeting and marriage to Lynne Senior in 1971. What a great blessing she has been in my life.
Today I conducted Sacrament meeting and Priesthood meeting for our City Creek Branch and then after church we enjoyed dinner at the Seniors. We had planned to go to Sister Tolman's sister Marn's home for dinner with her and her husband Mike but that didn't work out so Marn brought dinner to the Seniors and Sister Tolman made
brownies for dessert. I showed Marn how to
use her FamilyTree app on her phone. She
asked us to help her some with learning how to use FamilySearch.org.
Monday Nov 12
We enjoyed the Monday morning devotional at 7:30 am. The
temperature was in the mid 20’s so it was a little cold walking back and forth
to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building but we have our warm coats so we managed.
We visited the Church History Museum and went through the
exhibit showing President Evring’s water color paintings.
Painting of Benbow Farm where Elder Tolman's ancestor John Perry
was one of the first to be baptized by Wilford Woodruff
We finally stopped to see the early pioneer home located
between the Family History Library and the Church History Museum. We walk by it nearly every day.
We will probably start helping at the Discovery Center on the lower level in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for part of our weekly assignments. We have our first assignment on Saturday afternoon and evening November 24. While on the Discovery Floor I learned about a website treeseek.com where you can create various types of family charts. Here is one below.
Tuesday Nov 13
It was cold again this morning- 25 degrees. It will be warmer later in the week.
I was the Floor Supervisor
from 9 to 10 am. As I was finishing an
older member couple Les and LaCree Nelson needed help with documenting information
about a grandmother so I assigned me to help them. They brought copies of the marriage
application and marriage license for Les’ grandparents. The information on FamilyTree about their
marriage was not correct. As it turns
out when the four generation charts were submitted some years ago, the family
did not want to show that his mother was born out of wedlock so the marriage
date was entered as the year before her birth which was in 1904. The actual marriage as indicated in the printed
information showed the marriage happened in 1907. We updated the marriage and attached the
marriage information as a source and also put a watch on her in case someone
decides to change it back. They were
happy to finally get the information correct on FamilyTree and backed up with
good sources.
I helped two sisters and a daughter who visit the library
every year. I could tell they knew what
they were doing but I visited briefly with them and then I showed them the new
fan chart and other changes including the time-line. They were excited to see these changes. Below is the new fan chart which can be expanded to six or seven generations. The option below shows in color in which countries ancestors were born
Five Generation Fan Chart for Elder Tolman
Wednesday Nov 14
Not as cold this morning at 28 degrees. We attended the mission conference with
President and Sister Buffington speaking to us about the Enabling Power of the
Atonement of Jesus Christ.
I ended up conducting the prayer meeting even though I wasn’t
assigned. We helped find a temple name
for Sister Bucher using the new “Ordinances Ready” feature on FamilySearch
which is now available on the personal computer version of FamilySearch. Our zone leader, Elder McKnight, has now
assigned me to lead the Wednesday 12:30 pm prayer meetings.
I showed various missionaries about the new Ordinances Ready
feature. This feature is an option on the Temple feature. I was previously only available on the mobile app but now works on the desktop version. The sequence in how it searches for names is listed below. This will really help us when a youth group wants to find names to take to temple for baptisms. We will always being able to help them.
l helped Sister Isaacson with using Excel for a list of which
zone leaders will be assigned to be the first contact for providing any needed help for the Sister
missionaries.
I helped several missionaries. I helped Sister Galloway with uploading her tree and DNA to myheritage from ancestry. I worked with Elder David Brown on helping him to understand the Memories function. He has a wide background in the church including traveling with President Nelson when President Nelson was serving in the Quorum of the Twelve.
I helped several missionaries. I helped Sister Galloway with uploading her tree and DNA to myheritage from ancestry. I worked with Elder David Brown on helping him to understand the Memories function. He has a wide background in the church including traveling with President Nelson when President Nelson was serving in the Quorum of the Twelve.
I straightened out a problem with the William Young
families. I did some checking based on a family name that my sister Gerri had received. Three families had been combined into one family and I worked to
separate them and provided sources supporting the changes. I contacted the person who was involved in
these changes explaining what I had done and received an answer indicating that
she thought she had made some mistakes but hadn’t got back to do more checking.
I had suspected that this person had
made an innocent mistake. She thanked me
for making the corrections and I encouraged her to continue working on
FamilySearch/Family Tree and also to try some Indexing.
Thursday Nov 15
Went to Seniors mid-morning.
I normally have lunch with my friends from the Garden Park Ward but
since my brother Byron didn’t travel in from Jensen, I decided to join Sister
Tolman at her parents. Sister Tolman
helped her sister Marn with quilting while her sister Jayne went to the doctor
with mom and dad Senior. We enjoyed a
lunch with the three sisters, mom and dad Senior and me. It was very interesting and fun to see mom
Senior directing her three daughters on how to stir the soup so it didn’t stick
in the pan, how to set the table and how to do everything else that needed to
be done to get lunch ready. She forgets
that her three daughters have had many years of experience providing meals for
their families. Here is a picture taken at the lunch showing Lois Senior and her three daughters Lynne, Jayne and Marn.
Jayne Johnson, Lois Senior, Lynne Tolman and Marn Coles taken in the kitchen at the Senior's home
This was our once a month Thursday with the full day
off. We went to the 3 pm Endowment
session at the Salt Lake Temple. It is so
good to have the temple within walking distance and being able to attend each
week. The mission gives the senior
missionaries an extra half day off each week so we will have time for
personal family history research and temple attendance.
Marn told us that there were some events going on a City
Creek Mall at Macy’s so we went there in the early evening. It was totally crowded around the Macy’s so
we didn’t stay. We found out they were
all waiting for Santa Claus to arrive.
Friday Nov 16
We completed our weekly apartment cleaning today and then went to
the public library to return some books and try to find a book for Sister Tolman. The book she wanted had just been transferred
to another library.
I spent most of the morning helping other missionaries with
training items. I helped Elder and Sister Clark
with basic information on how to go about helping guests. They have received their initial training and
are ready to shadow other missionaries when they are helping guests. I showed them the details of what they will
encounter as they try to set up FamilySearch accounts and how to make sure guests have a positive experience when they visit the library.
Sister Tolman fixed a wonderful breakfast for dinner. We ate hash browns, eggs, toast and milk. She whipped up the dinner in no time. I washed the dishes just before we left to return to the library.
We were back to the library at 5pm where I was the greeter and Floor Manager. When I was the Floor Manager, several individuals
arrived from the first floor and one older woman looked really sad. I asked her what had happened and she said
that her family had disappeared from the tree and she couldn’t print her complete fan
chart. I thought this would be a quick fix so I went to help her and asked one
of the Young Elders to take my place as the Greeter. Her name is Sister Shirl
Kaiser. I was able to reconstruct her tree
using her tree on ancestry.com. Someone had made changes to her tree and disconnected
some of her ancestors. I was able to use
information on her ancestry.com tree to restore her information on FamilyTree. Needless to say it wasn't a quick fix. She was so grateful and gave me a hug for
helping her. She left and went down to
the main floor to print her updated fan chart.
I assisted with a family as they were finishing their time at the library. I showed them Memories and the mobile
app. They were excited to continue working on their family history at home.
Saturday Nov 17
Today was a day where I helped in a number of different
ways.
I helped our Zone Leader Elder McKnight learn how to add
imbedded links to his email messages and upload documents to his google drive
to be able to share with the missionaries and answered several other questions
that he had.
I helped Charles Arthur Guerts who is over 10 years older
than I am. He is building portrait
pedigree charts for his children and grandchildren and he needed help getting
the photos set up correctly in FamilyTree so the person portraits would show. He at first only wanted one of the Young
Elders to help him but he was sick today.
I went over and sat down and asked him what help he needed and I helped
him. After more than an hour, we completed
the task and he was very grateful for the help.
I helped a member sister with documenting and finding information
about her father’s widow’s second husband.
How is that for a mouthful. I was
eventually able to help her with that and a few other things such as showing how to set up windows side by side on the computer. Sister Tolman helped her after we returned
from lunch.
I helped an older man from Tonga recover his username and
reset his password. This was a challenge
since he didn’t have his cell phone and couldn’t access his email. Fortunately he had his member record number
available so with a phone call to account services we recovered his account and
off he went to complete some work his Bishop wanted him to do.
I helped a less active member Jana whose relative is serving
a mission here in the library. Her parents Dale and Ila Ray Stewart lived in Jensen, Utah but are now deceased. We set up her account and
connected her to her parents and there was her full tree back at least seven
generations. I showed her how to find
information in the tree to learn more about her ancestors and how to add her
own information to Memories. She left
for the Discover Floor to print out her Fan Chart. This was a really good experience for all of us.
It turns out that Jana’s older sister Darcy Simmons is a good friend of
my brother Byron.
We attended the Bells at Temple Square Concert at 7:30pm in
the Tabernacle. We didn’t have tickets
and got in the standby line about 6:30pm and after a few minutes some people
had extra tickets and we got in the regular line. It was very enjoyable concert with lots of
Christmas music.
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