November 18, 2008 by Stephen Baldwin.

We embark on a new adventure with our missionary service. Today we start with learning about the Scholarship Workshop that is taught through the Provo office of the LDS Employment Resource Services Center. We are excited to learn and even more excited to learn how we can help people finance their education.

Jodi and Stephen are in France on their way to Portugal to visit Stephen’s parents who are serving a mission. You can check their blog and view some awesome pictures, as well as read about their experiences.

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November 9, 2008 by Stephen Baldwin.

We were able to attend a yearly Devotional meeting held for the Mt. Timpanogos Temple workers. Two sessions were scheduled and were held at the historic American Fork Tabernacle. We went to the 5:00 PM session. The tabernacle was nearly filled and know that the 7:00 session will be equally attended. There are about 2500 ordinance workers at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple; and our devotional included all the ordinance workers and other support staff (custodial, engineering, food). We were thrilled at the opportunity to attend the devotional because Elder L. Tom Perry of the Council of the Twelve Apostles was the speaker. The music was wonderful and brought a spirit of worship to the meeting. One of the brethern sang The Holy City in the most powerful way. We heard from our new temple president - Ed Brown, and from Sister Perry. Elder Perry traced the history of temples from Adam to the present time.

The devotional came at a time when our family normally has FHE, so our FHE has been put on hold until Thanksgiving time when most all of us will be together. We are saddened by the news that Magan’s grandfather passed away this weekend. Magan, Grant, and Grace were already in Rexburg; Eric will be going to Rexburg for the funeral later on in the week. We express our deepest sympathy to Magan and her family; and, extend our love to her.

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November 9, 2008 by Stephen Baldwin.

Steve was able to go to one football game this year. Actually, he had to leave just after the third quarter ended. He missed two of BYU’s touchdowns!

We still are actively attending the temple. The trip to Manti remains a highlight in our lives. We enjoy working at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple and are constantly learning something new each time we go. Our work at the LDS Employment Resource Services Center in Provo continues to keep us busy with much to do in our spare time. We are learning the importance of loving others and can sense the Spirit as it prompts us while working with people. We’ve talked with homeless people, a man in his 70’s, a young single mother with two children, and yet we get really excited when someone lets us know they got a job and are happy. The Lord continues to bless our lives.

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November 9, 2008 by Stephen Baldwin.

A phone call at 8:15 PM from Jodi, October 22, brought us to a realization of how important our family is and the necessity of having the Priesthood and temple covenants. Lily had an accident and the family was on their way to the Primary Chilren’s Hospital in Salt Lake City! We are so grateful for the power of the Priesthood and expert medical personnel. We are very grateful for the resiliance of a young girl. She has become our hero. We enjoyed the visit from the Parker’s, but are very thankful for Lily’s quick and speedy recovery without having to go through brain surgery. You can check out more detail about Lily’s experience by viewing Stephen and Jodi’s blog. Olivia’s picture is here just because she had such a cute pose. We love al of our grandchildren.

We have been busy lately. It seems that retirement has us doing more that we thought we would be doing. The changing of seasons is beautiful. The tree in the back yard has lost all of its leave - the changing from green leaves to deep red colored leaves was awesome to observe. Now we will be raking leaves before the snow comes for the winter. While  Patricia has been doing grandmother things - organizing costume creations and gathering gifts for grand children, I have been spending leisure time with tools. Both of us are enjoying the opportunity to create something for someone else.

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November 1, 2008 by Stephen Baldwin.

Since we had a day without commitments to either our mission (LDS Employment Resource Services Center in Provo) or to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple, we took the opportunity to go to Manti. Our purpose was to attend the temple and then spend the night in Manti. We would have plenty of time to return to Orem for our assignment at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple.

Just being able to go inside the Manti Temple was well-worth the trip. It was our privilege to do two endowment sessions and one Initiatory session (spending about five hours in the temple). Some new insights into the progressive nature of the endowment came. It is difficult to describe the beauty, the wall murals, wood work (carvings), and historic nature. We asked to see some of the sealing rooms and was taken on a short tour. Someone suggested we ask if we could see the spiral staircase. The workers were very accommodating and took us to the bottom of the staircase on the Northwest corner of the temple. It was very beautiful.

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