Last Family Visits Before Beginning Mission

The day after “Jake and Mel” were married was the last day of the year, and in the afternoon we were able to visit the Museum of Fine Arts at BYU where paintings of the Danish artist Carl Heinrich Bloch were being shown. The church has used many of those paintings.



At left: The Sermon On The Mount by Carl Heinrich Bloch, one of the paintings in the beautiful display.

It was a pleasure to see the originals in a very beautiful display setting, and to purchase a copy of a book published for this showing in which most of the pictures are shown with very helpful descriptions and information. In the evening we celebrated the coming in of a new year. New Years day we drove up to Jacob and Melanie’s apartment to pick up a couch for Susan, and on the way back we drove through Draper, stopped at Lois and Jim’s house and visited for a while, then drove around the Draper temple, and then went over the South Mountain on our way back to American Fork.


Here at right is a closeup of the front of the Draper Temple. It is a dream come true to have a temple built in Grant's home town.

Grant spent the other hours of the day doing some repair jobs for Susan and Nels, and then we had an evening of family and friends with dinner, games, etc.

On Monday, 3 January, we got word that someone from the Colorado Colorado Springs mission had been trying to contact us, so we were able to return the call and speak with Elder Gifford. He said that one of his responsibilities was to prepare accommodations for the missionaries, and he needed to ask questions so he would know what our needs would be. He also gave us a little more information about the mission, and told us that we would likely be in the MTC only one week. This was helpful information.

On Tuesday we took Emma to the airport for her trip home, and then we drove to Idaho to visit with Dan and Karen and family in their new setting. They recently moved from Duvall, Washington to Ririe, Idaho, a rural community near Idaho Falls. This gave us a chance to become acquainted with this area, and we were very favorably impressed. They are renting a very nice home owned by a military family who are on assignments overseas for at least 3 years.

At left is the home that our daughter and her husband, Karen and Dan Felt are renting in Ririe, Idaho. There was more that two feet of snow when we were there.

We also had a short visit with Andrew and Amy Whitford, and got to renew acquaintance with them after not having a chance to speak with them for several years. We also had a chance to see the Idaho Falls Temple. It was very beautiful.



From left to right: Grandpa Grant holding Isaac Felt, Grandma Pat holding Benjamin Felt with the Idaho Falls temple in the background.

We then went back to American Fork to be ready to enter the MTC on Monday morning 10 January. We have been told that we will be given information then about how long we will be at the MTC and something about what our mission will be like.
On the way back to American Fork, we stopped in Draper and Sandy to visit with Grant’s sister Lois and her family, then Grant’s brother Glen and his wife, Carol. The next day we were able to go to Springville and visit with Grant’s sister Elaine and her family. Grant’s favorite comment through these exciting days has been, “I love it when a family comes together.” Our family ties are some of the most interesting relationships we have, as well as the most important.

As we were returning from Church on Sunday, Pat’s cell phone rang, and we found that we were in contact with the mission president of our mission. We had a chance for a long-distance interview, and learned a lot about what we are to expect. He informed us that we would be assigned to work in Garden City, Kansas. He described that area and the people with whom we will be working. Because we don’t yet know how long we will be in the MTC, we don’t yet know when we will arrive at the mission home, and there is a possibility that he will be away when we arrive. If we are to stay two weeks in the MTC, the president will probably be back in the mission home when we get there. Otherwise, we may not meet him in person for a few weeks, This was a very helpful contact. When we enter the MTC on Monday, 10 January, we will be given more information regarding our schedule, so we will then know better what to expect.

Our plans are to pack everything we are taking in the car, but all that we will need for the time in the MTC will be in separate luggage so we can leave the rest in the car. We started out with things packed somewhat in that way, but we have constantly had to go to other bags to get something that we needed that wasn’t in the bag we brought into the house. Hopefully we’ve got it right now, for today is 10 January and we will be on our way in just a few hours.