Sep 25

September 25, 2006

Had to get up early today—5:30 so we could be on the bus for Salt Lake by 6:50. This was our field trip. I’ve looked forward to this ever since the week after we got our call and Elder Croft (who died a few weeks ago) told us about the Salt Lake trip. And I was not disappointed.

Anyway, back to 5:30. The cafeteria doesn’t open until 7:00 so we got to line up and get sack breakfast with all the young missionaries. The ones in line with us were going to the temple and that’s why they had to eat early. So you get to choose 4 items for your sack lunch…that rule is for the young missionaries, not the seniors. I do believe they’d take one of everything if there weren’t some sort of guideline. We picked juice, a bagel with cream cheese, and yogurt (from the BYU dairy and it was awful). That’s only 3 things. Guess we should have given our fourth item to one of the starving Elders. We loaded our sacks and ate on the bus.

First thing we did in Salt Lake was tour the Humanitarian Center. Unbelievable. Everyone should take this tour and can, any time you want. Start either at Temple Square or go right to the center. They showed us how they sort and bag all the clothes they get and how they put together huge modules for emergency medical and orphanages. And stories, stories, stories. I hope someday someone writes a book about this place because I can’t remember even a fraction of all they told us. They showed a film on the help they sent to Indonesia after their earthquake. The church teamed up with an Islamic Relief organization. We sent all the stuff and the Islamic people provided the 747 Jet to take it there. They said President Hinckley says he will not allow our humanitarian efforts to be driven by politics. He’ll send relief wherever he decides it’s needed. Doesn’t that just sound like President Hinckley? The other story I remember is that they put together thousands of packets for people in Ecuador after that earthquake, but had no way to get the stuff there. A lady happened to come in to the center and ask if there was any way she could help and the director said sure, just find me an airplane. She called him an hour later and said OK I have the plane are you ready to get it loaded? Seems her husband was a Colonel at Hill Air Force Base and he got permission from Washington to send an Air Force plane. The government said if the Mormons have the stuff seems the least we could do is fly it there.

Next we went to Welfare Square. I thought that would be boring but it was just as good as the Humanitarian Center. They showed us a picture of an 8-year-old girl in Ethiopia who was starving. Then they showed a picture of the same girl after she had been fed Atma (spelling???) for 6 months. Incredible. She was a healthy, adorable girl. They said this food supplement (Atma or whatever) was developed by the Ethiopians. They contacted the church and said they had this supplement that helped their people but couldn’t afford to produce it and could the church help. So we started producing it and then sent it to researchers at BYU who changed the ingredients a little and added some vitamins and minerals. I have to echo the sentiments of the tour guide, who said, “I’m proud to belong to a church that cares enough about people to do the things our church does for them.”
Next stop was the Joseph Smith building where we met the coordinators from the church office who work with the welfare missionaries all over the world. They took a lovely group picture and then pictures of all the couples in our group. Then we were served a lovely lunch in the Jade Room—pork, gravy, au gratin potatoes, yummy rolls, broccoli and carrots, and chocolate cake. Glen L. Rudd spoke to us and gave us a little book he compiled and even autographed it. We had our names on the tables because we were supposed to sit by the person from the church offices who could tell us about our assignment. We’ve been so frustrated trying to get information about Cibecue and what we’ll be doing so were really looking forward to talking to this person. Well, she was sick and didn’t come. We are just not supposed to know anything about this call until we get there. Maybe the Lord knows that I’d head for home if I really knew what I was getting into.

Ended the day by seeing the Joseph Smith movie in the Legacy Theatre. Robert’s cousin, Lamar Gibson, was the host at the desk where people check in to see the movie. He is the son of Grandpa’s sister, Edna. Robert says the movie was a spiritual event, which everyone should see. Got back just in time for dinner and saw Mark and Natalie Bunnell from St. Anthony in the cafeteria. They’ve sold their home and live in Jordan, Utah now and are on their way to Alabama to serve a mission. Then we went to the mail room to pick up the card Cade said they sent us but it was closed.