Technology: Interference and Unlimited

          I don’t know what platform is currently being used by stake.  There have been several complaints coming from our ward but I don’t know if it’s like that for all wards.  Recently three of the wards have been upgraded.  We are among the four that receive not-so-great viewing options.  Last week seemed fine, but we did have lots of interference yesterday.  We also had lots of rain.  So I suppose the weather interfered with – I’m guessing Frontier though I had suspected it had gone out of business as it is awful.

          We heard the opening hymn four times intermingled with Mormon Tabernacle Choir who were vibrant and definitely easier to hear.  I had the volume up as loud as it would go.  We heard the opening prayer three times.  Announcements twice.  And the first part of Elder Miller’s talk.  And then it reverted back and I finally turned it off.  But Jenna and I wanted to hear the rest of Elder Miller’s talk and so I signed in again.  We heard the end.  Nothing in the middle.

          The high counselor made a joke about the “dry council” as it was called when we were growing up. He wasn’t dry, but his deliverance somehow didn’t appeal to me and I lost track of the message.  We turned it off as Roland blessed and passed the sacrament.  And then I tried signing into Relief Society.  

        RS and SS use zoom.  Sunday School works great but RS and the Priesthood have different Zoom ID's seem to compete. At first I could only hear bits and pieces of the priesthood and then I couldn’t hear at all – though I wasn’t the only one with issues.  I could also hear another who had signed on and couldn’t hear.  We both ended up signing out and back in again.  It was about fifteen minutes before I got sound.  I could see seven aside the instructor but guessed there were at least three more as I could hear sisters I recognized by voice but did not have a view of them.

          My next stop was St. George – which worked the best of the three.  Elder Cooper showed me around Brigham Young’s winter home starting at the rear of the house.

though I was shown this hallway to begin with, we
did not use the stairs until the end of the tour - they
had been put in as part of the tour and not part of the original house

he referred to this as a "Mormon Couch" which can be used as a bed

He said that this was called a flat grand piano

The floors and much of the furniture is made out of white
 pine -though all have an appearance of something else

he said the two framed drawings are original to the house; the dishes are original
to the Young Collection but not a part of the winter house in St. George

 

this is the kitchen.  A hired helper roomed above the kitchen

another view of the kitchen and pantry through the door

though the stove is not the original the chair is

these are the stairs between the kitchen and the hired
hands' room; short skinny steps.  Not roomy at all

Amelia Young's bedroom; she never bore children

bedroom of Brigham Young.  Some original pieces - mostly copies.  I was most
interested in the dresser which my tour guide referred to as a trunk.  He said that
each of the drawers are numbered as the dimensions were of different sizes.

the cane on the bed is one that Brigham Young used

we spent a few minutes outside as he walked around 
and back; pay attention to the white bench

He referred to this as an office which I understood was not
built until after the dedication of the St. George Temple

As we walked inside Elder Cooper said the dedicatory prayer of the
temple had not been recorded and so the officials would use this office
to write down the prayer so that they would have it

The benches are originals but NOT to the house or office.  They were a part
of the 4th floor in the St. George Temple but were removed as the forth floor 
in temples (I think he said there were five of them) is no longer used

This shows behind the office. The colors
on house match original coloring

         When the tour was near its end and after I had thanked him, a group of four entered the gate and Elder Cooper let him know that the inside is for virtual touring right now but he would be happy to show them around outside and answer any questions.  Perhaps I should have stayed and listened but chose to sign off so that he could devote his attention to them.

If you would like to take a virtual tour in one of St. George historic sites click here to set up a time.

A Year Ago This Week

One year ago today – Friday the 13^th.  They tried to pass it off as an extension of Spring Break and were confident it wouldn’t last.  How did they think it wouldn’t last? Last day at school for the remainder of the year. Well, maybe not for everybody.  It was for me.  And in person for Jenna – who has friends in quarantine and reminds them about last year at this time.

March 7^th was a Saturday.  Ester was scheduled to be baptized and Gary would be the following week.  But Bill and Kayla changed it so that Gary would be baptized at the same time as Ester’s baptism.  Different wards. 

March 8^th was a Sunday – unbeknownst to us, the last Church meeting’s to be held for over six months in 2020. 

On the 9^th this year I received a memory that was written in 2011.  It said “It sounds like now days that it is going to come down to the fact for parents to take it upon themselves to home school.”  Wow!

We had scheduled an activity for the 14^th.  On the 11^th we were wondering if we should postpone – or cancel as it turned out.  For on the 12^th (the day before our last day of school) the Prophet announced “Church at Home”  What???  Our ward is small enough that surely we would be able to meet.  But the lockdown applied to us as well.

So Spring Break is coming up.  Last year they dismissed the students early.  Told them that they would have an extended spring break - they didn't know it would be for five months!  In addition to spring break is daylight saving.  Why the heck do we still have daylight saving???? When will this nightmare end?

How Great the Passion

Last night I booked a tour to tour Winter Quarters this morning.  It wasn’t anything like what I had imagined.  Oh, but Elder Anderson shared his testimony through his passion of explaining historic moments through paintings and artifacts.  I think he was a little frustrated that I was not as live as he.  My laptop rarely gets turned on anymore, because it is always such an ordeal as though I am using AOL dialup (that is a reference to old school internet) and overall prefer my PC which does not include camera or microphone and so I have to use the chat box.  Of course my fingers don’t fly as quickly as my tongue.

I’d been introduced to Zoom almost four years ago when I started taking classes online. But I have never used Google Meet until this morning and didn’t know where the chat was located.  As I was searching, I inadvertently chose the closed caption and it played as I took screenshots of various pics – none which I might choose to keep if it weren’t for the captions which are more meaningful than the pictures.  Some of the captions don’t really go with the pictures that I took but are continued from something we just saw or where we are headed.

Elder Anderson would often focus on that which
was meaningful but did not "zoom" as well from
my perspective and often came out blurry

The weird brush-looking thing above is used for splicing tares from plants to make threads for sewing

Brigham Young's violin

More explanation of the Mormon Battalion – though not as much detail.  I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post that the white band was the most important part of the uniform.  The soldier’s HAD to wear the white band.  Rather than don themselves with the uniform in it’s entirety (blue uniforms pictured within frame to the right) money was sent to the pioneers in winter quarters

Elder Anderson focused on the dirt road and pointed
out a spot to represent where the Mormon Trail Center
(Winter Quarter Museum) is located.

 I thought the tour would include more outdoors than it did.  Truth is we never even left the building.  He pointed out the temple and the cemetery across the parking lot.  He even pointed out a man who was mowing the lawn, but the pictures were so distorted I couldn’t see much of what he was telling me about.

I took several pictures of this same replica as he said to me “You may want to write this down” – oh, as though I can write that fast.  I waited for words to move and took several screenshots as he spoke.  It was interesting but I know I wouldn’t have been able to write down even a fourth of it.

This was Orson Hyde's printing press
or at least a replica of it

The captions are still about the printing press though the subject had moved to blacksmiths and carpentry

I’m not certain who this rifle belonged to.  He talks about Jonathan Browning pistols and rifles in the picture but caption did not come until the screenshot below

He would zoom in on the maps and other features that would either blur or pick reflection.  I had laughed at the armature filming knowing fully well that I would have probably done worse.  Bless those missionaries who may have never had to work with modern technology before

 I also had many pics of this area as Elder Anderson explained the roles of Brigham Young and those circled in the chart to his right (well, Brigham Young’s left, our right) but kept many of the same picture with the different captions

This is an example of the blurriness that just didn’t convey through to my end.  Though Elder Anderson may have been frustrated at times not knowing I was still with him, I am grateful he could not hear me laugh as I know it must have sounded disrespectful.  Of course I would have muted my mike if I had made that option.  But I am not disrespectful about anything he said.

This is what was on the screen when Jenna came in to ask if I would like to take a walk with her and Bonnie.  She asked me if we had been there before.  I said the layout looked a lot like the Church Museum in Salt Lake City – and so did many of the displays.  But I really did love Elder Anderson’s enthusiasm as he shared his love and gratitude for the pioneers and the many sacrifices that were made.

I love Elder Anderson's tender explanation as
he zoomed on this part of the painting

 

I didn’t realize until the end I had gone through my screenshots that I made the connection of having a view of the Nauvoo Temple when I started the tour and ended up at the Salt Lake Temple (or what represented the Salt Lake Temple) Elder Anderson had summarized Pres. Gordon Hinckley’s quote on bookends but I did not make the connection right away.  

  “Today, facing west, on the high bluff overlooking the city of Nauvoo, thence across the Mississippi, and over the plains of Iowa, there stands Joseph’s temple, a magnificent house of God. Here in the Salt Lake Valley, facing east to that beautiful temple in Nauvoo, stands Brigham’s temple, the Salt Lake Temple. They look toward one another as bookends between which there are volumes that speak of the suffering, the sorrow, the sacrifice, even the deaths of thousands who made the long journey from the Mississippi River to the valley of the Great Salt Lake.”  - Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley, “O That I Were an Angel, and Could Have the Wish of Mine Heart”, Conference October 2002 (here)

When COVID hit all of the church’s historical sites were shut down, but they now offer virtual tours for everybody.  Tours are offered in many languages.  Please go to this site to sign on.  Pick a language and find your options.  Have fun.

Enjoying the Virtual Touring

          Some people have told me

“Oh, you’ve got to see this site!” 

“You’ll have to visit that place!”

I don’t like crowds of people.  I can view things through books and/or video and probably be happier with it than going there in person – not to rule out visiting said destination if I happen to be in the area – but I don’t necessarily have to visit said sites in person and I’m okay with it.

 On February 4 I took a virtual tour of Palmyra in New York (here).  Today I took a virtual tour of the Mormon Battalion Historical site in San Diego, California.  It was GREAT!!!!  I didn’t have to stand.  I didn’t have to get up and move.  There was no crowd of people – not even online. The tour was my personal tour.  I feel so blessed for having had the opportunity as I had the missionaries to myself.

Who knew that acting might be a requirement of missionary service?  Not all missionaries are called to perform as in a skit.  The sisters called to serve at the Mormon Battalion Historical site become a part of the great story as they introduce us to real life characters that left the pioneer company in Iowa to join the soldiers that President Polk had ordered to serve in the war against Mexico.

I took more screen shots.  Some turned out nice.  Some not so great – they either blurred or changed more quickly than my fingers were able to press.  I enjoyed the creativity of the tour and learning more about the historical events.  

outside building

Sister Curtis and Sister Collins starting the tour

it was interesting to watch the portraits move

you'll notice that most of the portraits have left

Sister Collins demonstrates the equipment used

couple behind the window

Sister Curtis holds a washboard. Behind the
window is a viewing screen (see above)

mapping out the trek

more reenactment displayed on this screen

bringing the tour to a close/answering questions

moving to the display cases

a closer look and discussion about the shoes

 

For more information visit this facebook page (here)  and book a tour of your own.