September Letters - Year Mark!

Hello Family and Friends!

Another week, as well asanother mission transfer, has come to a close. Hard to believe that this past transfer has flown by.  Next week, we’ll find out our fate for thenext transfer.  A head’s up – if my p-dayremains on Saturday, I’ll be emailing sometime during the week due to GeneralConference.  If my p-day changes, you’llhear from me on that new p-day.  Soliterally, stay tuned hahahaha.  Anyways,here is my week in a nut shell.

Saturday 9/17 – After doingour emails, we hung with some elders, and then my companion and I did anexchange in the evening, where my companion went with 2 elders to see theTestaments, and I stayed behind and helped some other fellow elders makebreakfast casseroles, and they were actually really good.

Sunday 9/18 – We saw thebroadcast of Music and the Spoken Word in the morning.  After the broadcast, we had lunch andprepared for church.  I then had branchchoir practice, and we had our regular Sunday meetings.  After church, we had a dinner appointment,and then we hung with some elders until it was time to go back to our ownapartments.

Monday 9/19 – We got upreally early so I could make it to the Elijah Choir practice on time.  We then had our mission devotional, and thenwe went on to our work zones.  Duringzone in the morning, we helped with a takedown assignment in the Church HistoryLibrary lower level, and then we had a little get together right afterwardswith cookies.  Wethen had lunch, worked some more, and then in the evening, we had our zoneconference

Tuesday 9/20 – We did ourexercises in the morning, and then we went off to work zone to do our regularassignments.  In the afternoon, we didanother deep clean of our apartment, in preparation for the inspection that night.  In the evening, we went to the first hour ofresearch essentials, and then we had to head back to our apartment so we couldhave our apartment inspection.  We endedup doing pretty well on the inspection, and we passed, which is always good.

Wednesday 9/21 – We did ourexercises in the morning, and then we spent the day at the Mount TimpanogosTemple, and it was a truly wonderful experience, I was practically on aspiritual high the remainder of the day. After getting back from the temple, I had choir practice with the ElijahChoir, which as always was fun.  Afterchoir practice, we went off to Research Essentials, which we had to do in theFamilySearch Center, since every computer lab in the Family History Library wasbeing used.

Thursday 9/22 – We got upearly and my companion went to do his exercises; I was going to go to morningsports, but then I found out at the last minute that I would have to staybehind with another elder on my floor so that our companions could work out –morning exercises is the one time where we do not have to be with our assignedcompanion.  After my companion got back,I showered, ate breakfast, and got ready for zone.  We then went off to zone to do our regularassignments, and I did a lot of annual histories on Thursday.  After lunch, we helped set up one of theconference rooms on the lower level of the Church History Library.  After setting up, we went back to work, haddinner, and then went to another night of Research Essentials.

Friday 9/23 – We got up anddid our regular exercises (and I actually got to go, another elder was able tostay with my neighbor!).  We then gotready and headed to zone.  We had a briefannual history meeting which went well – our supervisor is VERY PLEASED withour work.  We also helped take down whatwe set up on Thursday.  We also of coursedid our assignments with annual histories. In the evening, we went to the first 30 minutes of Research Essentials,and then we got to go to the Church History Museum for the opening of a newexhibit, which was pretty cool.

Saturday 9/24 – We did our exercisesin the morning, and then we did our shopping for the week (actually it was TWOweek’s worth of shopping due to General Conference!).

As you can see, I definitelyhad an unforgettable week in so many good ways. LOVE YOU ALL.  Have a great week! :)

Elder Frederickson

Hello Family and Friends,

This past week once againwas definitely an awesome and busy week. Here is what has happened since last p-day!

Saturday 9/10 – After doingour emails, we got some lunch, did our laundry (as well as hang with someelders!), and then in the evening, we did a companion exchange so my companioncould go with some elders and so that I could go to sports, and as always,sports was pretty fun.

Sunday 9/11 – We went to seethe rehearsal for Music and the Spoken Word, and then we went to see theRegional Conference, which was AWESOME. Bishop Waddell from the Presiding Bishopric talked about the importanceof the Book of Mormon.  Sister Oscarson,the Young Women General President, talked about how the youth can be Disciplesof Christ.  Elder Hallstrom of thePresidency of the Seventy talked about Hastening the work of Salvation.  And finally, Elder Ballard of the Quorum ofthe 12 Apostles talked a lot about the advantages and disadvantages oftechnology, as well as a little bit about families, etc.  After the conference, we had lunch, got ourPPI’s done, went to see some of the Meet the Mormon stories, and then we had adinner appointment, and the food was really good.  After the dinner appointment, we hung aroundwith some elders until it was time to go back to our apartments.

Monday 9/12 – On Mondaymorning we got up early for the Elijah Choir rehearsal, and then we went to theMonday morning devotional.  Afterdevotional, we went to our work zones to work on our assignments.  After zone, we had our district meeting, andthen we went to our September Hail and Farewell for our branch (we welcomed theelders who came in July and August, as well as new seniors for September, andwe sadly had to say farewell to those who are leaving in September andOctober!), which was a lot of fun overall.

Tuesday 9/13 – We started ourTuesday with our monthly interviews with our mission president and his wife(their names are President and Sister Tate!), and that went really well asalways – I ALWAYS love my visits with them and being able to talk one-on-one inan interview setting, there is a strong spirit in their offices.  We then went to work, and in the afternoon,we had mission conference for the Elijah Choir. The speaker for Tuesday’s mission conference was Elder Gavarret from theSeventy, and he did a great job, and it was really cool being able to shake hishand afterward.  After conference, we haddinner, and then went to the first Research Essentials of the new week.

Wednesday 9/14 – We startedour Wednesday by doing a bit of a deep clean of our apartment, and then we wentto work zone for 30 minutes before it was time to go to young elderconference.  We then had our young elderconference, which was, as always, really good. We learned about companionship inventory from our AP’s, good vs. evilfrom President Hansen, who is our new 2^nd counselor in the missionpresidency, had our tip of the month from Sister Tate, who is our “missionmom,” and a doctrinal instruction on the Doctrine of Christ from PresidentTate, who is our mission president, and all the lessons were absolutelyoutstanding.  We then had lunch at theChurch Office Building cafeteria, and their food is always really good.  We then did a bit of more work, and then Ihad to go back to the JSMB chapel for the senior mission conference for ElijahChoir, and the speaker for the Wednesday conference was Elder Kopischke fromthe Seventy, and he did a really good job, and I also got to shake his hand(and he borrowed my writing utensil for something!).  After the conference, we had our WednesdayElijah Choir practice, where we practiced and polished 2 songs that we willsing in mission devotionals for the remainder of this month, as well as got ourOctober calendars, with the songs that we will be singing in October, which isalso really exciting.  After choirpractice, we had dinner, and then went on to another night of ResearchEssentials.  Research Essentials wasEXTREMELY crazy on Wednesday night, because every single computer lab in theFamily History Library was taken, so we had to relocate to the FamilySearchCenter in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, since they have a computer lab inthe center.  Despite the craziness, atleast we were all able to have a decent Research Essentials haha.

Thursday 9/15 – We did ourusual exercises in the early morning, and then we got ready and went off to ourzones.  My companion had an appointmentat LDS Family Services in the later part of the morning, and then we had lunch,and then continued our work in our work zones.  After zone, we went home for dinner, and thenwe went to Research Essentials, and for the first time ALL WEEK, we were ableto use our normal classroom, and with NO CHAOS, so that was good!

Friday 9/16 – We spent themorning doing our normal exercises to wake us up, and then we got ready, andwent off to our day zones.  After doingsome annual histories, we went off to lunch at the Church Office Buildingcafeteria, and we had a fellow elder pay for us, which is always nice.  When we got back from lunch, we found outthat there was not going to be any more work the remainder of the day, so wegot to be released an hour early from day zone so we wouldn’t be bored and juststaring at a monitor for an hour without any work.  Another thing of interesting news we foundout is that starting next transfer (which starts September 28^th!),we’re going to be shopping at Smith’s instead of Walmart, which will be prettyneat.  We also spent time doing laundry,since we actually had the time to do it. After laundry, we went off to Research Essentials.

Saturday 9/17 – We started theday with our shopping for the week, and now we’re emailing!

As you can see, this pastweek has definitely been an excellent one. Hope your week was the same.  LOVEYOU ALL and have a SUPER week!!

Elder Frederickson

Hello Family and Friends,

Happy September!  This past week has been another week full ofexcitement and business.  Here is myweekly update!

Saturday 8/27 - On Saturdayevening, I went on a companion exchange so I could go to young elder sports andso my actual companion could go out to eat at Carl’s Jr.  After sports, we helped a ward clean up fromtheir ward party and were given some of their food, which was really nice ofthem to do.

Sunday 8/28 – We got up tosee the broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word in the Conference Center.  After that, we did our PPI’s, had lunch, wentto choir practice for the branch, went to church, and then had our dinnerappointment with 4 other elders and 4 senior sisters.  After the dinner appointment, we hung outwith some elders until it was time to head back to our apartments.

Monday 8/29 – We got upearly, and I was able to go on a pre-approved companion exchange for ElijahChoir practice and devotional.  We thenmet our regular companions at our zones and then worked at our work zones.  After zone, we had district meeting, haddinner, and then hung around some elders. For dinner, we went with another companionship to Pizza Studio, which isa really good pizza place, and a very nice person paid for ALL the missionariesthat went into the restaurant.

Tuesday 8/30 – We spentanother busy day working on our assignments in our work zones.  For dinner, I made some lasagna, which turnedout really well.  We then went toResearch Essentials as usual for our evening zone.

Wednesday 8/31 – We hadanother VERY busy day working in our work zones in the day, and I had tocompletely REDO a unit, since I had accidentally deleted the wrong recordholding in our system.  That afternoon, Iwent to our normal Wednesday afternoon Elijah Choir rehearsal, which as alwayswas a lot of fun.  After choir, we wentto another night of Research Essentials.

Thursday 9/1 – We spentanother day working in our day zone doing our assignments.  We then went out to eat with some elders at aplace called Michaelangelo’s, where it was half off for the missionaries.  We then went on to our usual evening ofResearch Essentials.

Friday 9/2 – We got up andwent to our various morning exercises, got ready, and went off to zone.  In the morning, we were oriented on how toset up/take down tables and chairs for events in the lower level floor of theChurch History Library.  We then wentback to work, and after lunch, we helped set up for a meeting that theemployees will have on Tuesday morning, and then on Tuesday, we will take itall down.  After zone, we went out to eat(again!), but this time it was to Pizza Studio. After dinner, we went to our final Research Essentials for the week.

Saturday 9/3 – This morning,we did our morning exercises, went shopping, and did our laundry, and now I’memailing.

As you can see, this pastweek has been a pretty fun week, and also a busy week.  Just a personal message I’d like to share asI close this group email - as I reach my year mark this coming Thursday, I justwanted to let everyone know how much I love and appreciate you all, and foryour love and support to me.  This hasdefinitely been a very good first half of my mission, and as I begin my finalyear of the mission, I hope that I can make this next year the very best I canmake it.  I’m grateful for the opportunityI have to serve our Lord here in the Family and Church History HeadquartersMission.  As my mission president andbranch president always say, “There is a very special bubble in this mission,”which is definitely true, and I’m definitely blessed to be a part of this “veryspecial bubble.”  Thank you all again, asalways, for your continued love and support. Have a super great Labor Day weekend, and a fabulous week this comingweek! :)

Elder Frederickson