Friday, July 24, 2009.
Latter-day Saints all over the world celebrate the arrival of the Pioneers into Utah's Salt Lake Valley. While we honor those who came with wagons and handcarts, I feel that each of us is a pioneer for our family and friends. I am grateful for Gerhard's faith and conviction. It has been an example for our family. Even with pioneer ancestors, I had to have my own conversion, and that has been the rock I have built my life upon. This comment from an on-line column resonated with me:

Indeed, it does take courage, faith and dedication in the church. It takes courage to decide to become baptized when everyone around you is against it. It takes faith to live the principles of the gospel. It takes dedication to continue to develop your testimony and endure until the end. When reading about and discussing the Saints, I am not only moved emotionally, but inspired to press forward....surely I can endure my minor tribulations. Saturday, Jul. 25, 2009 http://www.mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/tequitia_andrews/?id=9827

In past years we have celebrated with our ward in Mexico or with the Packhams at our family reunion in Fairfield, Idaho. This year we had a very special celebration at the Mérida México Temple with members who came from Belize. They had traveled for almost 24 hours, and had permission to come, even though they do not live in this temple district, since they felt it was too dangerous at the present time to travel to the Guatemala Temple.

This was the largest group that has come from Belize, and they were prepared to do ordinances for themselves and their own families. The youth did many baptisms in the morning, then still had energy to visit places in Mérida. Many of the adults slept during the noon break, then came back for sessions at 4:00 and 6:00 P.M. Most of the people spoke English, so we were happy to be needed. The Smiths and Verlindens went at daybreak, and we came about 10:00 A.M.
I gave the instruction to Kim, who came for her own ordinances, and Gerhard performed the sealings. He thought they would be in English, but these spoke Spanish. We also used our recently acquired (and very uncertain) knowledge of newFamilySearch.org to help Eilda and Hortense ascertain the ordinances that had been done in the Guatemala Temple on their family lines.

L to R: Kim Sterling Vernon, Jennifer Gordon, Eilda Patnett, Hortense Garbutt at noontime.

Elder and Sister Verlinden (temple missionaries from Tijuana, México), Silbert Gordon, Walter Wilkinson, Elizabeth Chamul, Aurora Donaide, Luís Donís (leader of the group), Jessica and Steve Stoddard (manage an island resort), Wilfred Nicholas, Sister and Elder Smith (temple missionaries from Snowflake, Arizona), and Marcos García (kneeling)

President Dyer has not felt well enough to come to the Temple this week, so we have alternated with the Oropezas. Tuesday morning we left at 10:30 A.M. to go to our monthly doctor appointment and locked the outside doors, leaving the Smiths to take care of the last patrons and turn out the lights. That was probably unorthodox to say the least!
Friday after the sessions with Belize, we had a group of missionaries come to a session before most of them went home after two years in Yucatán. That was special, but then we had to take care of the clothing so the Saturday morning people could attend to temple business. Gerhard and I folded and finished putting things away at 2:00 A.M. We went back at 10:00 A.M. and put in another long day. Where else could we do so much service and still feel "good-tired"??

July 20th, did not go unnoticed, but other things had to be done first before I could write about my memories of the first landing of a United States' space vehicle on the moon, July 20, 1969.

We were spending the first summer in our own home and Katherine had just turned a year old. We sat on a couch and watched the pictures transmitted from the moon and then shown on our TV. Commander Neil Armstrong became the first man on the moon. He said the historic words, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
It still seems unbelievable that man could imagine and create the way to achieve this modern-day miracle. As we see the progress that has been made in the past 40 years because of scientific investigation, we are grateful that we live in this time when the Lord has opened the way for His kingdom to grow and progress in so many ways.