March 21-April 25, 2020 - Spring with the Promise of Hope

Despite the challenging situation we all face, Spring has arrived with the stunning flowers and beautiful blossoming trees here on Temple Square reminding us that we all have hope for renewal and a better day tomorrow. 


Temple Square Flowers
Here are a few pictures of places where we walk everyday which remind us that Temple Square really is a wonderful place to serve.

Sister Burkinshaw on a windy day in front of the flower beds between the Church Administration Building and the Church Office Building or COB as we call it.

A closeup of one of the North Visitors Center flower beds.

Another photo of flowers around the North Visitor Center.

A beautiful flower bed on the south side of the Tabernacle.

We walk between the Lion House and the Church Administration Building on our way to the Mission Office every day and we pass these beautiful hanging flowers which are almost as pretty as Sister Burkinshaw!

A closeup of the hanging flowers between the Lion House and Administration Building.

Beautiful tulips on the north side of the Lion House.

The flower beds on the north side of the Church Administration Building with the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and the Salt Lake Temple in the background.  Notice that the eighth floor of the JSMB has all the curtains drawn.  While the Temple is under rennovation, this floor of the JSMB has become the interim First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve council room where the Brethren meet each Thursday morning.  It could be that they do Zoom meetings now that Utah has limited group meetings to a maximum of 10. 

The beautiful flower beds with the sculpture of a mother and her children playing.  Note the beautiful blossoms on the trees in the background.

Just before we enter the Relief Society Building, where the Mission Office is located, we pass this tree with stunning pink blossoms.  Many of our Sister Missionaries have taken selfies here to send to their families.

The blossoming trees in front of the Brigham Apartments at 201 E South Temple where our apartment is located.

COVID-19 Scare
About a week after we arrived, Sister Burkinshaw began to experience a low-grade fever with tightness in her chest as she breathed.  At that time, COVID-19 testing was in the very early stages at the University of Utah so they would not test her but suggested that she self-quarantine for 14 days.  Unfortunately, we only had a few days to work with the couple we would replace in the mission office, so Sister Burkinshaw kept calling to see if the criterion for testing would open up.  Fortunately after about a week, they agreed to test her and in less than 24 hours she had the results back and even more fortunately, it was negative.

This was the COVID-19 drive through testing station in a parking lot adjacent to one of the University of Utah Health Centers at 21st South and 13th East.  After confirming that we had approval for testing, Sister Burkinshaw filled out paper work and a man in a pressurized suit performed the test by sticking a cotton swab way up her nose and twirling it for about 30 seconds.  It was definitely a memorable experience and we were grateful for the chance to have her be tested.

Sister Fisher and the Mission Relief Society Sisters brought by some ice cream with a nice "Get well soon" note.

During our walk along South Temple street, we observed some timely sidewalk chalk art. 

Sister Burkinshaw in her mask.  All missionaries have been asked to wear masks in public following the recommendation of the CDC.

A cute reminder in the elevator of our apartment building about social distancing.

Sister Emmalee Bass (Goldsboro, NC) and Sister Rebecca Johnson (Queen Creek, AZ) with their masks and P-Day attire on the south side of the Church Office Building.

General Conference
The last time General Conference was closed to the general membership was during an Asian influenza epidemic in October 1957.  April 1919 General Conference was delayed for two months during the Spanish flu epidemic.  So April 2020 was the third time the worldwide General Conference was impacted by a viral outbreak.

As is often the case, the weather looked a bit threatening a couple of days before General Conference.  Sister Burkinshaw is at Reservoir Park located on the corner of South Temple and Virginia Street where we walk each weekday morning.  Fortunately the snow was light and melted by noon.

This was the Conference Center Sunday, April 5 right after the morning session of conference.  It was eerily quiet for a conference Sunday to say the least.

Here are a few of our Sister Missionaries, exhibiting appropriate social distancing, on Sunday, April 5 after General Conference.  Some of the Sisters watched General Conference at the Teaching Center on the 4th floor of the JSMB where they usually are teaching lessons via video conference. The one man in the picture was a little "high" and walking circles around the sisters who stood stoically looking on.

Sister Burkinshaw watching conference and making notes on her iPhone.

Elder Burkinshaw's favorite - Conference cookies!  Unfortunately Sister Burkinshaw was quite generous in sharing the cookies with some of our Sister Missionaries.

These were special "Reeses" cookies with chocolate on the outside and peanut butter filling on the inside.  They were great!

Sister Burkinshaw managed to get a couple of the cookies but Elder Burkinshaw was by far the greatest beneficiary of the General Conference delight!

Temple Rennovation Work
The Salt Lake Temple is just in the first quarter of a major four-year rennovation and each day as we walk by the Temple, we see progress being made.  The Church has a website that provides current information about the project.  Most recently we have observed as a giant crane is being used to lift of the multiple spires or finials off the Temple towers.

Work is underway to remove the upper tower spires or finials. This work was planned for a later phase of the project but was brought forward following the March 18 earthquake. 

Workers will also remove additional stones from the east and west sides of the temple for preservation during the project. They will also temporarily remove the angel Moroni statue.

Here you can see one of the spires or finials being lifted of the northeast corner of the southeast tower of the Salt Lake Temple and the workers there to help.

The Mission Office
Prior to the construction project on Temple Square, the Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission office was located in the basement of the South Visitors Center.  At the beginning of 2020, the Mission Office was relocated to the Ground Floor of the Relief Society Building.

Sister and Elder Burkinshaw in our cubicle at the Mission Office with Sister Bethany Ann Bahr (Keller, TX) who is one of the Assistants to the President.  Sister Burkinshaw and Sister Bahr were "twinsies" with their leopard pattern top and black skirt.

Elder and Sister Burkinshaw at work in our cubicle.  Notice the caution tape and the sign on the left that says #saveourseniors.  During the pandemic, President Fisher has asked the Sister Missionaries to strictly obseve the 6" social distancing rule and to not enter in "our space." Elder Burkinshaw has been working diligently to organize his space and has made great progress this past couple of weeks.

Sister and Elder Burkinshaw with our special name tags which include the flag of the language we speak.  You will notice that Sister Burkinshaw has an American flag whereas Elder Burkinshaw has a Brazilian flag indicating he speaks Portuguese.  On the street, we will often hear "Tudo bem?" as people recognize the flag.

One of our newly arrived missionaries is Sister Nina Janda (Saint Jean, France), who is the granddaughter of Pierre Janda who was an ordinance worker at the London Temple and a very dear friend.  In the Church, the world is very small indeed!

 Sister Julie Sheanshang (Pleasant View, UT) organized a station in the mission conference room to help sew masks for medical professionals.  At the left are Sister Dana Carcamo (San Salvador, El Salvador) and Sister Betsabé Santacruz (Venezuela) and at the right are Sister Alayna Reese (Star, ID) and Sister Marcie Guthrie (Mesa, AZ).

Sister Burkinshaw working on one of the medical-grade masks for health-care workers.  

Here is one of the five million masks that the Church’s Latter-day Saint Charities has called to be sewn for use by medical professionals working directly with people infected with the highly contagious COVID-19. 

The Missionary April Birthday calendar on the office wall.

Easter Dinner and Easter
Normally we would be having the Sister Missionaries over to our apartment but with the virus, we have been directed to strictly adhere to social distance especially since we are in the more vulnerable (old) age group.  So on the Saturday before Easter, Sister Burkinshaw prepared 12 self-contained Easter dinners in nifty plastic containers.  The dinner consisted of several slices of honey-baked ham, a generous serving of funeral potatoes, some green peas and a slice of her delicious cream cheese banana bread and a sack of chocolate Easter eggs for dessert .

Elder Burkinshaw was assigned the task of delivering the Easter dinners on Saturday evening.  One of the Sisters took his picture and posted it on our Zone's chat.

Here is our District Leader Sister Chalet Tauati (Hilo, HI) and her companion Sister Nina Janda (Saint Jean, France) enjoying their Sunday dinner at the Sister's lunch room in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  They bring their lunches to the refrigerators there and then use a microwave to warm them up.  It's actually very nice.

Sister Andrea Cariaso (Bataan, Phillipines) and Sister Calee Cummard (Mesa, AZ) with their Easter dinner in the nice plastic containers Sister Burkinshaw found at Walmart. 

Easter Sunday was the first time we had the sacrament since church meetings were cancelled when we first arrived in the mission on March 10, 2020.  Since we were limited to meetings of 10, we organized the mission into 16 groups of 8 sisters.  Every 20 minutes, one of the groups would arrive at the mission office where we had a small table with a bread tray and a water tray.  Elder Walker, the part-time financial secretary of the mission and Elder Burkinshaw would alternate blessing and passing the  bread and water.  They wore masks and gloves as they blessed and passed the sacrament.  President Fisher would make a few announcements and the Sisters were dismissed.  The next group would then arrive.  

The open area of the mission office set up with a small sacrament table and eight chairs for the Sister Missionaries.  President Fisher is on the left, Sister Rowberry, one of the Assistants to the President is next to one of the pillars and Elder Burkinshaw in the back.

Elder Burkinshaw with his mask and gloves prepared to administer the Sacrament.

Simultaneously, the two counselors in the mission presidency, President Littlefield and President Morris along with Elder Sheanshang, the housing coordinator, were doing the same thing in a conference room upstairs in the Relief Society Building.  Thus, it took us nearly three hours from 9:00am to 11:40am to provide the sacrament for all the Sister Missionaries.  It was a very special experience and we could feel the gratitude of the Sisters who had missed this opportunity to renew their covenants even as we were all daily engaged in the Lord's work.

At Easter time, we especially remember the Savior and his example of love.  The Christus in the rotunda of the North Visitors Center has always inspired a feeling of warmth and love despite the very quiet, closed visitors center.

Last August we were able to visit the Lutheran Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen where Thorvaldsen's original Christus statue stands along with the sculptures of the eleven faithful apostles and the Apostle Paul.

The caption at the base of the sculpture is Matthew 11:28: "Come unto me."  Thorvaldsen showing Christ as a resurrected Savior rather than suffering on the cross was quite revolutionary at the time (1829) but we would call it "inspired".

A few weeks after our trip to Copenhagen, we visited the Rome temple and the visitors center there where there is another replica of the Christus with the early apostles. 

In November 2014, we were able to visit the Holy Land and this was a particularly memorable photo in front of the Garden Tomb which may have been where Jesus emerged on that first Easter morn.  All of these experiences came to our minds during the April 2020 General Conference when a new symbol was announced for the Church.

We were touched when during General Conference, the center of the new symbol for the Church used the Christus to emphasize the name of Jesus Christ and His central role in all the Church does. The arch under which Jesus stands is a reminder of His emergence from the tomb three days after His death. The name of the Church is contained within a rectangular shape that represents a cornerstone using the same metaphor Paul used to the Ephesians writing that the Church is built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets—Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.

In the midst of the challenges of COVID-19, this Easter reminded us that we should "...always remember Him" and do what we need to do to "Hear Him."


Missionary Work on Temple Square
While the virus has impacted missionary work everywhere, Temple Square has two on-line Teaching Centers - one in the basement of the North Visitors Center with about 10 stations and one on the 4th floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  The Sisters each pick up and respond to 10-15 on-line request per day which come from ComeUntoChrist.org, ChurchofJesusChrist.org or some of the other seasonal sites the Church uses to connect with people interested in the Savior and improving their lives.

While the buildings on Temple Square are closed, the square itself is open and we have Sisters stationed in the visitors information booth at the West Gate of Temple Square (near the Tabernacle) and we have Sisters that do the Temple Square stroll.  While they don't directly engage visitors, they do respond to questions and will visit with those interested in knowing more (at the minimum 6 ft. social distancing).

And since many of the senior missionaries that would be working at Welfare Square and the Humanitarian Centers have been released, we have 14 companionships who work there each day.

Here's a few pictures that characterize the work:

Here is the investigator board.  Through the first quarter of the year, despite the challenges imposed by COVID-19, the mission is only 6 baptisms behind our goal of 700 for the year.  The fish represent investigators with a baptism date (remember the Savior told Peter and Andrew that he would make them "fishers of men" - Matthew 4:19)

Sister Sheyla Cabrera (Lima, Peru) and Sister Jyl-Kreanne Colipapa (Cebu, Phillipines) at the Teaching Center in the North Visitors Center.  The Sisters wear headphones and can connect with and teach people by phone or video-conference.

Sister Dana Carcamo (San Salvador, El Salvador), Sister Betsabé Santacruz (Venezuela), Sister Syndy Short (Woodinville, WA) and Sister Nicole Wolf (Yucaipa, CA) at the JSMB Teaching Center.  These sisters pick up on-line references from all over the world.  As their investigators progress on-line, they contact and involve the local missionaries where the investigators live and work together to provide whatever is needed.

Sister Bonnie Perez (Vancouver, WA) and Sister Emily Christensen (Las Vegas, NV) at the JSMB Teaching Center.  The Sisters have been asked to pick up 10-15 on-line requests for contact each day!  These are people who have requested more information and perhaps a Book of Mormon via the various on-line media published by the Church.  

Sister Angel Marie Jorgensen (Fort Worth, TX) and Sister Sister Yurou Li (Hong Kong, China) at the Information Booth just inside West Gate of Temple Square.  With all of the volunteer hosts (generally retired people) no longer available, the Sister Missionaries of the Temple Square Mission are the only presence on the square.

Sister Natalie Anderson (Las Piedras, Puerto Rico) and Sister Maile Mayer (O'Fallon, MO) at Welfare Square with the greatest thing since sliced bread - oh wait - it is sliced bread!

Sister Madelyn Tannery (Bullard, TX) and some of her missionary cohorts assisting with the packaging of cheese at Welfare Square.

Zoom Meetings with a limit of 10 people in a group, we have adapted our mission, zone and district meetings using electronic media.  We not only use Zoom for these larger meetings but we also use FaceBook Messenger for companionship to companionship communication as well as several FaceBook chats to communicate more broadly.  Each of our sister missionaries either comes with a Samsung Galaxy J3 mobile phone or for our international sisters, they are provided a phone to use on their missions. The phones also carry an electronic area book so that continuity with contacts is maintained.  The technology has significantly increased the efficiency of missionary work.

Over the past few weeks we have taken some screen shots that provide some examples of how Zoom meetings have become a staple of missionary life in the COVID-19 era.

This was an iPhone screen shot of our Zone's Zoom FHE on Monday evening.  All the members of our Zone live in the Brigham Apartments.  Starting at the top we have Sisters Chalet Tauati (Hilo, HI), Calee Cummard (Mesa, AZ) and Nina Janda (Saint Jean, France); Sisters Kourtney Cox ( Greeley, CO) and Brileigh Allen (American Fork, UT); Sisters Eden Orr (Aberdeen, SD) and Camri Forbush (Eagle River, AK), Sisters Rachel Taylor (San Tan Valley, AZ) and Amber Sims (Cardston, AB); Sisters Piuela Tuita (Matangiake Tonga) and Ange-Esthel Tape (Abidjan, Ivory Coast); Sisters Ruozi Deng (Beijing, China) and Wen Jin Zuo (Peng Zhon, China); Sister and Elder Burkinshaw; Sisters Kendall Mellow (Gilbert, AZ) and Rose Marie Tracy (Griffin, GA).

This was one of the slides from our first Zoom Relief Society meeting. Sister Mayer 4th picture from the top was one of the teachers. The lesson came from Elder Benjamin M. Z. Tai's April 2020 General Conference talk titled "The Power of the Book of Mormon in Conversion" which is a key part of missionary work.

You can see Sister Burkinshaw on the top 2nd square from the left. The meeting was at 8:00 am so we were still at the apartment in our extra bedroom hence the bunk bed in the background. When we have Relief Society together it is on Tuesday mornings at 7:30am. The three men in the pictures are President Fisher and his two counselors who attend also.

Another screen of Sisters from the Relief Society meeting. If the Sisters stop their video their name shows up like the bottom right square shows. President and Sister Fisher like to see them when we are on the chats, so names show up infrequently and for short periods of time.  Thus you cannot fall asleep without being noticed! ;-) 

This was the special musical number which was tape ahead of time and performed in the chapel on the 2nd floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

This was Zone Conference which was held from 9:00am to about 1:00pm via Zoom. It was done for three days during which two or three Zones would participate each day. We are on the top along with Sister Fisher in the left corner. Sister Fisher has some health restrictions which do not allow her to be around the sisters during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their home is in Morgan, Utah and she spends most of the week working with the Sisters via FaceTime.

This next three slides were from the training done at Zone Conference by two of the Zone Leaders Sister Raymundo (Mesa, AZ born in Mexico) and Sister Hulme (New Zealand). Since there are no tours on Temple Square at this time all of the teaching the Sisters do is  online so this training was particularly helpful and very well done.

They emphasized planning quoting Preach My Gospel, "Meaningful goals and careful planning will help you accomplish what the Lord requires of you."

They also emphasized the need to extend invitations to those thy teach online. They reminded the Sisters that their purpose is to "invite people to change, to repent".

Sister Taylor (Las Vegas, NV) and Sister Sims (Cardston, Canada) who are our Zone Leaders and using D&C 11:21 "Seek not to declare my word, but fist seek to obtain my word...." taught the sisters how to have effective study time, which is shown in this slide.

This is Sister Julia Fisher. When someone is teaching the screen shows them "larger than life" which Sister Fisher is. She is very direct with the Sister and after sharing some of President Nelson's counsel from the April 2020 Ensign article "The Future of the Church: Preparing the World for the Savior's Second Coming" she told them, "Your potential is huge, don't waste your time, Go and DO!!!"

President Fisher was the concluding speaker.  When President Fisher served as an Area Seventy, he was assigned to call a new stake president with Elder L Tom Perry.  During their drive together, Elder Perry told him about meeting William Pilkington when he was a very young man and hearing Pilkington's experience hearing the dying testimony of Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon.  He also went to visit the grave of Martin Harris in Clarkston, UT  We will close this blog with excerpts from the story. 

President Fisher, President Morris and the AP's Sister Bahr and Sister Rowberry joined in  President's office to sing the closing song, God Be With You Til We Meet Again, for the seven sisters in these Zones who go home next transfer (May 13).  The quartet wore their masks because they would be in close contact and singing is almost as bad as sneezing!  East of the departing sisters had borne their testimonies just prior to the closing hymn.

Martin Harris Grave and Witness
After hearing Elder L Tom Perry's story of Martin Harris below, we decided that for our P-Day we would drive to Clarkston, UT to see Martin Harris' Grave.

This is Clarkston, UT, population 731 which is located 17 miles northeast of Logan and 5 miles south of the Idaho border.  

Similar to other Latter-day Saint settlements, Clarkston has a nice, well-kept cemetery.

Adjacent to the Clarkston Cemetery is the Martin Harris Memorial Amphitheater which has been used for the pageant "Martin Harris: The Man Who Knew."  This pageant and several others were discontinued in 2019.

At the entrance to the Clarkston cemetery, there are two signs which provide information of perhaps Clarkston's most famous citizen.

The second sign with historical information about Martin Harris. 

This is the marker for Martin Harris' grave.  Originally, there was a wooden marker but it degenerated and the citizens of Clarkston felt there should be a more notable monument for one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon.  They enlisted support from the Church and erected this monument.

The Martin Harris Gravesite is listed on the Nation Register.  The marker reads as follows:
"This gravesite was listed in the National Register on November 28, 198, as the only remaining site in Utah associated with Martin Harris -- one the three witnesses to the "Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ."
A committed supporter of Joseph Smith, Jr., the Mormon Prophet, Martin Harris mortgaged his farm to secure $3,000 for the printing of the first edition of the Book of Mormon.  He followed Joseph Smith and the Saints to Kirtland, Ohio, but disaffected and remained there when Joseph and other members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints moved on to Missouri, and then later to Illinois.
During the intervening years, he never denied his witness of the Book of Mormon and in fact, in his later years bore his testimony to all who would listen.  In 1870, at the age of 87, he traveled to Utah, alone and in poor health, and was rebaptized.  He lived with his oldest son, Martin Harris, J., in Clarkston until his death on July 10, 1875.  The present monument, the third to mark the Martin Harris gravesite, was placed July 10, 1925.

Sister Burkinshaw and the front of the Martin Harris gravesite marker, which reads:
Martin Harris
One of the Three Witnesses to the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
Born Eastown, Saratoga County, New York May 18, 1783
Died Clarkston, Cache County, Utah July 10, 1875

The back side of the Martin Harris gravesite marker, which has the Testimony of the Three Witnesses as recorded in the beginning of the Book of Mormon.

Elder L Tom Perry told President Fisher that his "special interest in the words of the prophets" came, in part, at the impressionable age of 12, when his father took him to the town cemetery in Clarkston to meet an aging William Pilkington in 1934.  As a teenager, Pilkington had lived for a year in Clarkston with Martin Harris, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon.  Harris was 92 when young Pilkington was invited to work in Clarkston in 1874.

Pilkington testified that Harris told him, "I am Martin Harris, one of the three witnesses to the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, a man who had the privilege of standing before angels, a man whose eyes beheld the golden plates, a man whose ears heard the voice of God say that book was translated correctly and command me to testify to all the world it was correct."

"From that time until his death," Pilkington recited, "he never tired of telling me of the beauties of the gospel, especially about the early rise of the church and the tribulations that beset the Prophet Joseph Smith and himself."

"He told me many, many times that he did stand in the presence of the angel of the Lord, with Joseph Smith, and heard the voice of God from heaven declare that everything the angel told them was true and that the Book of Mormon was translated correctly. He said he was commanded by the voice of God to testify to all the world what he had seen and heard was correct, and in his talks with me he would ask me many times if I would tell the people what he had told me and he repeated, 'Now, Willie, you won’t forget to tell the people what I have told you, will you, after I am dead and gone?' And he would hold up his hand to the square and say that he was telling the truth." (William Pilkington's Interview with Martin Harris)

Martin Harris' witness reminds us that "the Book of Mormon...contains...the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ..." (D&C 20:8-9) and that is the message we share as missionaries.

The basement of the North Visitors Center, we have tens of thousands of copies of the Book of Mormon. 

Sister Burkinshaw in storage room where we maintain copies of the Book of Mormon in 97 languages and partial copies in another 20 languages.

"For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God;

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." (2 Nephi 25:23, 26)

Elder and Sister Burkinshaw