Post #17 - FALL is Here !

The Church Office Building

Fall has come to Salt Lake City, and the colors all around Temple Square are turning glorious colors. 

The first weekend in October thousands came to Salt Lake City, gathering to the Conference Center for the bi-annual sessions of General Conference. 

Since we didn’t have tickets to any of the 5 sessions, we watched the broadcast at the Legacy Theater in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. 

The lap-sitting was just for the photo
 - not for the Conference

The HUGE screen made it possible to see quite well.  During one session we got to sit with some of the Young Elders in our mission, many of whom are in the Elijah Choir which Bonnie directs. We enjoyed General Conference so very much!  If you missed it, go to this website = https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2015/10?lang=eng

E/S Dolberg with Sharon & John Roberts

Our long-time friends John and Sharon Roberts, who once lived in Stockton, also came for Conference, and we got to spend a morning with them enjoying the sights of Temple Square.  It was GREAT to see them & to reminisce old times.

The summer flowers were at their peak in the flower beds on Temple Square.

Flowers continue to WOW us!

However, this past week these glorious flowers, still in their prime, were removed and fall/winter pansies were planted, we presume so they'll be in place before the snows come.  The grounds crew is still in the process of adding the Christmas lights to the trees all around Temple Square, and it’s been fun watching this laborious process which began in JULY! 

In the Joseph Smith Memorial Building there has been a “We Are His Hands” display. 

The Friend magazine (the Church magazine for children) asked children to send in paper “hands” telling of their service to others.   Many of these “hands” are now on display in the main foyer.

As this picture shows, they were sent in from all over the world – some 15,000 of them! 

Elder Dolberg on a hiking trail above our house in Herriman

The weather so far this fall has been very mild, with many lovely, sunny days.  We have taken the opportunity to hike in the Herriman Hills on our p-days (preparation days) at our home in Herriman.

This view from just above our home is looking northeast (oops - NOT northwest) from the southern end of the Salt Lake Valley.

Olsen House on Emmaline Dr.

We also enjoy walking in our “neighborhood” where we have seen some great Halloween displays in the yards of some of our neighbors.

The flowers in our own back yard are looking pretty glorious nowadays too!   

Last week, as part of the training of the new Temple Presidents, the presidents, matrons, and a few general authorities and their wives worked one-on-one with some of the Family History Library missionaries and employees to research their own family lines. 

Sister Teresa Echo Hawk with husband,
Elder Larry Echo Hawk, 1st Q. of 70

Elder Dolberg was honored to get to work with Sister Echo Hawk, whose husband is a Seventy, on her German ancestry.  He enjoyed the experience very much.  Because this training was on two evenings, our usual 8:00-4:00 shifts were changed to 1:00-9:00 p.m. for those days.  This gave us two mornings free, and the weather was so glorious that each day we spent over 2 hours walking in the hills above Temple Square.  

Above the State Capitol Bldg.

The first day we went up above the Utah State Capitol building.  

We had beautiful views of the capitol and of City Creek Canyon.

Along the way we saw a beautiful building and wondered what it was.

It turned out to be the Old Rock Church.

Built in 1928, it is still in use as an LDS chapel, but it looked so unique with its colorful roof!  It houses the Capital Hill Wards (1 and 2).

Roman Catholic Cathedral in SLC

 The second day we first walked along South Temple where we visited the Roman Catholic Church of the Madeleine.  

Magnificent inside too!

Also built in the early 1900s, it had quite a beautiful and COLORFUL interior!  

 From there we walked up into the “Avenues” section of Salt Lake City, built up on the hills above Temple Square. 

There are many gorgeous old houses there, and we loved looking at them.  

Capitol Bldg from across City Creek Canyon

We discovered that we were on the other side of the City Creek Canyon, and had gorgeous views of the Capitol building from this other side.  

Memory Grove Park along City Creek Canyon

Taking a path down the side of the canyon, we walked through Memory Grove , a beautiful park. 

One of many memorials in the Park

In this park there were many monuments in memory of those who died in WWI, WWII, and the Korean Wars.  This is just one of them, which evoked such sadness as we thought of families who had lost their loved ones.  

We love it when we see friends who come to visit the Family History Library. 

Elder Dolberg & Angela Abbott Zwingli
 who was in SLC for a convention

One day Elder Dolberg happened to see Angela Abbott Zwingli, who had been a student of his at San Joaquin Delta College, and we’re good friends with her family. 

Our “adopted Rose Point Ward grandchildren,” the children of Dave and Tanya Martin, came to visit us one day and to do some family history research. 

Our Martin Grandchildren - Libby age 5, Emma age 12, Nathan age 8, Christopher age 6 -Can you tell that Christopher was more interested in the water than the photo?

We loved teaching them some of the things we’ve learned, and seeing them get excited about doing their own research. 

We continue to enjoy working in the Family History Library, and are now nearly halfway through our 18-month mission.  We love learning new things in the process of helping others in their research.  We love our fellow missionaries, and we are sad when their time is up and they must go home.  We’ve made some wonderful friends and met some wonderful “guests” who come to the library.  What joy it is to get to serve here in Salt Lake City.  If you’re in the “neighborhood”, please drop by B-1 at the FamilyHistory Library and visit us.  (Call, email or Facebook message us first to be sure we’ll be working that day - our telephone number is 801-310-7543.)