Smile

Complete strangers smile at me!  Not all of them of course, but a significant number of them do.  I wondered why, so decided to analyze it a little.  Is this something that happens to everyone?  Friends I have asked indicate that they don't find the world all that smiley.  So lets assume for a minute that it isn't because of my movie star good looks or stunning figure.  What the heck are they smiling at?

Sometimes it is because of my ride.  Passing people on the trail they often smile and say what a beautiful horse I'm on.  He is a pretty thing.  Same with my car.  I was in the post office parking lot the other day and a man came almost sprinting across the lot with the biggest smile.  "What a great car!"  "Do you love your Z?  How fast does it go?" A 4 year old walked by me on his way into a store and remarked to his Mom, "Look Mom a real race car."  I offered to let him drive it.

But I'm often on foot and still I get the smiles.  I have to give the credit to David.  Almost everyone at one time or another, has their life touched by a special person like David.  Many people recognize in him a wonderful spirit and want to share that knowledge with me.  These people, wherever we are, come up to us and express appreciation for who David is.  Many want to tell us about their friend or relative who has down syndrome, some just smile as we pass.  This has always been the case, but especially so since we have been missionaries.  They see us, walking together, wearing our missionary badges and I guess their minds conjure up a history that allows us to be here serving at this time.  Probably a history more grand and inspiring than the true story, but the end result is that they smile at us.  And the end result of that is that we feel loved and appreciated.  So smile away.  I can take it.

Winter?

When I wake up tomorrow the world will be covered in a blanket of snow. The weather bug is predicting it and I believe it. It was trying to snow all day, a kind of slushy half frozen rain.
Snow is not my favorite. Winter is not my favorite. So I think it is time for me to start counting my blessings (instead of sheep).
I'm grateful for the ever changing view I am treated to each day. Don't get me wrong, I miss the monotony of good weather, the year round green, of my home in California. But I am amazed at how the scenery here changes day by day. Each season brings with it incredible beauty if not pleasant weather. This fall has been amazing. Every day I notice new colors that weren't there the day before. A few days of wind and rain and many of the leaves have fallen, leaving the dark branches in sharp contrast to the remaining bright yellow leaves.
I'm grateful to be able to walk. A few years ago I couldn't take a step unassisted. Through a series of miraculous events I have been given the gift of mobility. Not a day goes by that I don't thank the Lord for this miracle of ambulation. I can walk and ride and even run a bit, without pain.
I'm grateful for the end of daylight savings.
I'm grateful for my family. I have 13 (my lucky number I think) gorgeous grandchildren and their wonderful loving parents. I have terrific siblings, nieces and nephews, and the best parents, one still with me. I get pictures, movies, calls and emails almost daily reminding me how blessed I am to have such a loving family.
I am grateful to be a part of the awesome missionary force working throughout the world. What a blessing to be a small part of such an incredible plan. David and I make such a tiny contribution, but like so many others get to feel the spirit of the Lord's amazing Plan of Redemption. I also realize you don't have to be a full time missionary to participate. It is open to all of us.
It seems too early for winter, but I don't get to decide these things. A little cold and snow is a tiny inconvenience. I would wish my days to be bound each to each in gratitude.

Autumn Again

Well, Autumn hit for real this week.  First sign was the flower beds all over temple square got dug up.  Where they had been lush and beautiful, there was just tilled soil.  Later the same day they were planted with (what else?) pansies and something that looks like a poppy, and tulip bulbs.  I now know that these flowers will survive the harsh weather ahead, and live to bloom like crazy in the spring.  The trees on temple square are being wrapped in lights preparatory to the beautiful Christmas light displays that will attract people from all over the world. The leaves on all trees deciduous are turning colors.  My favorites are yellow and pinkish orange.  They almost look florescent they are so bright.  The wilderness area where we ride is changing color too.  The oak covered hills have gone from green to red.  Higher up you can see large patches of bright yellow, I suspect aspen.  It has rained for two days and it is predicted to snow the next 3 days.  We are wearing jackets and using the heater in the car.

The happiest sign of Autumn is the arrival of my new grandson, Benjamin David Demke.  He was due on Halloween but decided to come early to the great joy of his parents and happy relatives.  Thanks to Andy and Jenny for blessing me another beautiful grandbaby.

Judge not

I had an interesting experience last week that I am a little ashamed of, but decided to share anyway.  Working on the patron floor of the library I was approached by a man who needed help.  He was dumpy, unshaved, had limp straggly hair and an ill fitting coat.  I didn't realize that I had been prejudging him until I worked with him a while, and realized that he was well off, intelligent, articulate, and deeply spiritual.  I know I had prejudged him because each of these revelations came as a big surprise.  Based on nothing more than his physical appearance I had already decided that he was poor, ignorant, and worldly.  Without a conscious thought I had judged him completely wrong.
I know it is impossible to go through this life without discerning, without judgement of some kind.  It is desirable and even necessary for our success in every thing we do.  However, we (especially I) need to be careful that our judgements are not superficial, unfair, and careless.  Every person we meet is a child of God.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if before we judge we could see each soul as God sees him.  To see the love and potential within before we judge what is visible.

Our Work

I realize that I have never really described what I do.  My call is to the family search zone of the Family History Library.  We are on the main floor of the library and mainly provide services for new comers and inexperienced family historians.  Ninety percent of my time is spent on the patron services floor.  Here we answer questions, help beginners with on line resources, show people how to print or save documents they find.  A typical patron will come in and say, "I don't know anything about my family."  We ask questions and help them identify what they do know and what they would like to know.  We show them how to find their ancestors in resources like social security death index, census records, birth or marriage records, military records and voter schedules.  We show them how to use the library catalog, and where further research can be done.  We introduce them to familysearch.org, and its associated sites.  This work is fun and rewarding.  I often meet people from far away.  We do not preach the gospel here, but the spirit is almost always present and our encounters are often spiritual experiences.  Occasionally members of the Mormon church come in for help with new family search.  These are usually wonderful experiences too.
The other 10% of my time is spent in the lobby.  I man the information desk, the exit desk, the temple desk.  Here we direct the patrons as they come into the library and answer phone calls that come in.  We show a short film to the first timers.  We get them help if they need it.  We direct them to other floors, depending on what they are looking for.  This is also fun.  We will interact with literally dozens of people during an hour.  They are all nice people who are sincerely looking to connect with their families.
I also do a little mentoring of new missionaries who come into the zone.  I have recently been trained to work the "pod" which is the reference desk on the main floor.  Here we are expected to know more, so time will tell if I'm ready for that.
David comes into the library with me every morning.  After prayer meeting he goes off to the Cafeteria dish room where he helps get the cafeteria ready for the lunch rush.  They eat lunch at 10:30, before the cafeteria opens.  During the lunch time he stacks and puts away dishes as they come out of the dishwasher.  Sometimes he stands by the automated dish return to make sure nothing sticks out and stops the conveyer.  The rest of his crew goes home at 3:00 but David stays another hour to scrub tables and chairs in the dining room.  It takes him a couple of months to get through the whole room, but he is very thorough.  At 4:00 he walks back to the library and we go home.

Even though we do the same kind of thing every day, the people we interact with make each day interesting and new.

September 2010 Milestones

This month I will complete the first 12 months of my mission and the first 60 years of my life.  If I am like my parents (unlikely because I have abused my body with unhealthful food and slothfulness for too many years) I can expect to live to 90.  So I have finished 2/3 of both my mission and my life.  It has got me to thinking about the the way each of them is going.
First of all I'm not eager for either to end.  This mission has been so much more fun than I ever could have imagined.  I don't know what I imagined my earth life would be like, but I'm pretty sure I didn't know how much fun it would be either.  Did I know how much I would love my family?  Did I know how much I would enjoy my work and play?  Did I know how much beauty I would find here?  Doubt it, or I would have signed up earlier (1000 BC for example).
Secondly I know they will both end eventually.  The mission call was for 18 months, and when that is over I will return home and do something else.  I hope I will have made a difference in some way, to some one.  When my mortal life ends, I will return home and do something else.  I hope it will be true that I made a difference during my life as well.  Is anything better because I am here?  I think so.  I hope so.

But for now I have 6 months to do my best in the mission.  It might be a good idea to give us advance notice of our earthly release date.  Do I have a day? a decade?  Whatever.  I plan to live it all, right up to the end.  So here's to the last third.

It's autum time

Last April, as Spring emerged from the reluctantly departing Winter, I was in awe of the variety and abundance of flowers.  Everywhere!  Every kind, I thought.  Now I'm seeing some new blooms of early autumn.  Most especially sun flowers.  They are growing among the tall grasses of fields, along the road ways, sprouting around rocks on the hillsides.  They are beautiful in a simple and rangy way, dotting the washed out summer fields with bright yellow and deep brown.  The pale grey/green of the omnipresent sage brush is turning yellow with blooms as well.  This one is problematic to me.  It seem sage blooms do something to my nose.  I sneeze, and sneeze, and wipe my eyes, and sneeze and blow my nose, and sneeze again.  I've tried 4 different allergy meds, the only one that dries me up is Benedryl.  Turns out Benedryl is also a sleep medicine.  So I have a choice: Sneeze or sleep.  Relief will come with the snow.
I woke up to a little chill this morning.  The hot days of summer are coming to an end and there is the smell of Autumn in the air.  I rode through Dimple Dell on Saturday and noticed the leaves sound different when the wind passes.  They still look green from a distance, but they are drier and up close you can see the colors of fall creeping in.  We may still have some warm weather ahead of us, but it is becoming clear that summer cannot last.