October 26, 2003

Sunday Oct. 26, 2003
Dear all of you who read this,
We had an interesting Sac. Meeting today. It was the Primary’s annual program. There were about 12 kids participating and how they could sing! I’m sure it followed the outline that was presented throughout the Church. It was interesting how the leaders tried to stay out of sight –hiding behind the pulpit, sneaking around on hands and knees, and trying not to let their voices be heard as they prompted the children. They had some attractive visual aids and the program was well done.
Tomorrow, Bro. Walker, one of the area authorities will be here to talk to the missionaries. Three Zones of missionaries will be here tomorrow, then Bro. Walker and Pres. Banks will travel to two other locations and meet with the missionaries there. Last night as I was coming into the office, Bp. Oba met me in the hall looking for Pres. Banks. I told him he was gone to Ube. He said he had a funeral scheduled for Monday in the chapel and hoped it wouldn’t interfere with anything the mission was doing. I told him about mission conference Mon., and he went into a huge panic! So I got on the phone and called Pres. Banks and told the Bishop he better talk to him. When he hung up he was really relived. Pres. Banks told him we would move our Conf. out to the Takasu Chapel. Mission Presidents are great problem solvers!
Mom (and the rest of us) is having a problem with an office Elder from Australia. His name is Elder Hollis and he says he knows Austin and Meredith. His accent and voice quality are annoying, plus he is always talking and making funny noises while he works along with a “Tiny Tim” tremolo to his voice. The worst part though is he thinks he is a computer specialist and Pres. Banks has put him in charge of the computers. Last week he erased several programs on Mom’s computer that she has to have to complete the letters Pres. Banks has assigned her to write. Now he is trying to restore them and in the meantime Mom has busy herself doing other things while he fiddles around trying to get them reinstalled. She is enduring patiently and hopes to soon get back to work. We are encouraging Pres. Banks to send him out into the mission and appoint a new recorder for the office.
Tues. or Wed. a Bro. from the Tokyo office is coming here to audit my books. I don’t know exactly what that entails but I’m sure it is another safeguard to see that the Church funds are handled correctly. I will be glad to have that over with.
We got an e-mail from Afton telling about Nate Lovell (my cousin who built our home in Cedar). He and one of his boys fell off the roof of a home they were building in Cedar Canyon and was nearly killed. His partner (“Chop” Cropper) made it off the mountain and they flew him to SLC. His neck is broken in two places, along with other bones. He is expected to live, but what shape he will be in, I guess time will tell. Very reminiscent of my accident.
We also so got Kathleen and Wilmer Anderton’s family newsletter and she reports how well she is feeling since they installed a pacemaker. Her family seems to be doing well. We appreciate receiving their periodic newsletter. We are also grateful for all the communications we receive from all of you. We hope you are all well and have a Happy Halloween.
Love Gary & Shirley