Congratulations, Allison!!! You have worked so hard and accomplished so much. Reach high and do amazing things with your one beautiful life.

Congratulations, John! We are so excited for you and for all our Edgemont 7th ward seniors. We are also very grateful for the friendships you have with each other. Who could have imagined that the class of 2020 would end with a pandemic—you will have great stories to tell! We think the world of all of you and are excited to see all the good you will do in the coming years!

Congrats to all this amazing Covid-19 Class of 2020! Burst into the world!

Victor Arcos is very helpful and fun to be around. He was born In Arizona and lived in Arizona and Colorado before moving to Columbia at age 10, where his parents and family are from. He’s been living here in Provo for 3 years and with our family since right after his sophomore year. He is an intelligent young man who runs cross country. He loves to eat very spicy food and loves to play video games.

We are so proud of you Drew! We are so excited to see all of the amazing things you will do in your life! We love you!

Witty, Joyful, Genuinely Caring, Funny, Works Smart, Authentic, Highly Spirited, Strong, Ski Buddy, Leader, Naturally Happy, Eagle, Focused, Trusted, Footballer #58, Unifier, Team Player in Student Gov, Your Friend, Great Student, Inclusive, Knows What Matters. Now, a GRADUATE!

You’re dearly loved, and have a great foundation to build on!

Mom, Dad, Nathan, Eliza and Caroline

Aaron Shumway has a fun loving personality. He loves to play all sorts of games like basketball, Spikeball, ping pong and more. He also likes playing video games with friends and family. He’s planning to serve a mission right away and then come back and attend Brigham Young University.

It’s ok to not be ok

It’s safe to say that every family is different, and the way we manage stress is no exception. We anticipate that we will need to lean on each other over the coming weeks. There will be times when we will be the recipient of service and times we will be the giver. It can be tempting to “fix” or be the perfect example. Our efforts are best focused on listening, to mourning together, and encouraging each other through testimony when life feels dark. We can find meaning in this difficult situation by deepening our relationships with our neighbors through these efforts. This process of finding meaning has the ability to transform our perspective and ease distress.

Keep a routine

Family traditions are important to keep alive during times of unrest. Those traditions carry memories that are comforting and help ease tension. Keeping a schedule and routine helps manage anxiety. When there are many unknowns, it’s comforting to count on 7:30pm story time, or the smell of FHE cookies. Find creative and safe ways to still have family dinner, gym time, play dates, me-time, etc. It’s important to find time to take care of others, and it’s just as important to find time to take care of yourself individually. Modifying a routine (or creating a new one) to accommodate our current situation helps us ensure feeling safe and loved on a regular basis.

Create

We can worry about many things, but we can only control certain things. Focusing on the things we can control and letting God worry about the things we can’t helps us manage distress. Creating (painting, writing, woodworking, gardening, giving service, baking, muscle-building, etc.) helps us focus energy into something fruitful. Creating beauty and joy is empowering. Mastering a talent, craft, or skill takes deliberate effort and allows us to see progress even if the situation we are in is stagnant.

The Tidwells, Richard & Sandy, are keeping busy! We like to go on walks together and do crossword puzzles. We are regularly calling and sending messages to our children and grandchildren and to the brothers and sisters we minister to in the Jamestown Branch (our calling since the end of January). Richard has been working hard to prepare a large area of our backyard for sod. We've also done a lot of organizing and cleaning of our downstairs. One of the rooms was damaged when we were on our mission to Brazil and so we decided to tackle both bedrooms downstairs. One is finished and pictured below. Sandy has continued to do family history research, has been sewing fitted face masks for Jamestown for the pandemic and has also been doing a lot of blind-hemming of stuffed footballs and little bears for Humanitarian projects through our contact with Betsy Johansen. We've bought seeds and plants and are anxious to plant our garden after Mother's Day!

Richard & Sandy Tidwell, 280 E. 3140 N.

N. Loveridge was baptized on Saturday, March 28! His family was given permission by the Stake President to conduct the service using Zoom. So only his immediate family and the bishop were actually present at the Stake Center, but both grandparents and two sets of cousins participated by Zoom. One group of cousins joined in from Virginia! The opening and closing prayer were given by his grandmothers over Zoom. N. was baptized and confirmed by his father, Ben Loveridge. His brother and sister were the witnesses, and his mom, Laura, played the piano. His little sister hugged everyone who was there and waved at everyone on Zoom. N. received a framed plaque from the Primary to help him remember this special day.

While we are limited in our ability to do some things during this COVID pandemic, we still have much that can be done. There is still a great need for assistance in foreign language indexing. Please continue to send names of those who may be interested in helping with this work.

Along with the indexing, there are also groups that they can join. With groups you can adopt projects to work on, set goals, and work with others who want to index similar records. There are just a few steps to find/join a group. When the person signs in to FamilySearch to index, they will go to the indexing tab and select “web indexing.” Near the bottom of the page it will say “ Groups” with a tab to the right that says “find groups.” This will bring up a window allowing them to search, view and join groups. Attached is an example showing the “find Groups” tab and the window it opens. A few groups that you might encourage others to join are Italian Indexing, Spanish completion team, North American French Projects, Share Batch Indexing, etc.

Another option for indexers is to join a completion team. Completion teams focus on specific projects and languages as needed. A copy of an example letter sent to a completion team is also attached to show some of the reasons specific teams are needed to complete various projects.

Anyone interested in joining a completion team just follow these easy steps:

1. Send an email to Elder Cheney at Cheneyhw@churchofjesuschrist.org

2. In the Subject put “Completion Team” and the language

3. In the Body of the email:

I would like to join the completion team for (French, English, etc.)

My contact information is:

Name:

Phone Number:

Email:

Finally, there are also virtual classes that BYU offers on indexing via Zoom. The indexing classes are held the first Thursday evening of each month at 7:00 p.m. The next class will be on October 1st which will focus on Spanish indexing. Just go to https://fh.lib.byu.edu/indexing-classes/ and click on “Link to join via Zoom” at the bottom-center of the page to attend.

Thank you for your continued support in this endeavor.

Sister Linda Poulter

Language Support Missionary

Cell: (801) 540-5585

Dear ward members,

As the Temple and Family History leadership in the ward, we hope that all of you and your family members are doing well. It is a stressful time going on right now in the world. Since we are not able to attend the temple at this time, we’d like to suggest some inspiration and fun activities for anyone to participate in with the links below. These activities work well for individuals, or for family or group activities, it would make a good FHE lesson. I have had many wonderfully uplifting experiences using FamilySearch to discover more about my ancestors while researching or while participating in these types of activities. We want everyone in the ward to know that we love you and are thinking about you. These are just a taste of what is available on FamilySearch. With the time that we have available to us on Sunday, or other days, please go to FamilySearch and try these activities out. My favorite section of FamilySearch is the memories and stories area, where you can see pictures, stories, or listen to audio or video. You can also upload memories of your own. I know that if you will take time to participate in Family History, you will be blessed with comfort from the Lord during this stressful time. We are available by phone, email or video chat to help you with Family History work. Let us know what questions you have. Elder Cook gave this as part of his testimony in April 2019 conference “I promise that as we focus on our love for the Savior and His Atonement, make Him the centerpiece of our efforts to gather Israel on both sides of the veil, minister to others, and individually prepare to meet God, the influence of the adversary will be diminished and the joy, delight, and peace of the gospel will magnify our homes with Christlike love.”.

Brother John Crandall 801-368-0977

Sister Marlene Howard 801-404-2121

Sister Susan Gillespie 385-204-5991

This page has many in home activities for individuals and families. They are both fun and inspirational.

https://www.familysearch.org/discovery/

Including the following:

Where am I from, this page will tell you all about your homeland, maps, timelines, heritage, generations, etc.

All about me, my name, and birth year, you can choose other years, etc.

Compare a face, take a selfie and compare it to your ancestor photos to see who you look the most like.

Record my story

Picture my heritage

In-Home activities (many different in inspirational activities for the family)

This page will show your pioneer ancestors:

https://www.familysearch.org/campaign/pioneers/

This page will take you to photos, stories, documents or audio of your ancestors, where you can view them, or add new memories of your own.

https://www.familysearch.org/photos/people

The family tree part of FamilySearch has changed a lot recently too, if you haven’t visited it in a while, please give it a try. You can view the tree in portrait or landscape mode, as a descendancy tree, or a fan chart, in the fan chart you can see up to 7 generations, and you can view several different filters within the fan chart (family lines, birth country, sources, stories, photos, research helps or ordinances.

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/fanchart

The Church website also has a page dedicated to Family History Activities:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/family-history/family-history-activities?lang=eng

Elder Aaron Shumway - California Oakland/San Francisco

Elder Connor Orton - Texas Dallas

Sister Anna Elmer - Arizona Mesa

We have all been affected by recent changes to daily life caused by the virus known as COVID-19. You are not alone in this, and we will get through this together.

Below are some answers to common questions about church at home, the sacrament, and maintaining connections with others:

What does it look like to worship at home?

While the administration of the sacrament has important guidelines (see question below), how you worship during this time can be guided by your own personal revelation.

Saints around the world are using some of the following resources to help them:

• Scriptures

• Music.ChurchofJesusChrist.org or Sacred Music app (Android, iOS)

• Come, Follow Me

• Church magazines

• Sabbath.ChurchofJesusChrist.org

• Gospel Living app (Android, iOS)

• Latter-day Saints Channel

• Life Help

• A Special Message for Unsettling Times

How do we partake of the sacrament?

Every member needs the spiritual blessings that come from partaking of the sacrament. The administration of the sacrament must be authorized by the bishop (See General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 18.9 and 29.2.2.10 ), and the First Presidency instructed that bishops counsel with their stake president to determine how to make the sacrament available to members at least once a month.

When a priesthood holder is not available in a home, ministering brothers can be asked to provide the sacrament to their assigned individuals and families.

Learn more about partaking of the sacrament at home.

How can we minister when we are supposed to maintain physical distance?

As we follow the recommendations of health officials, practice physical distancing, and stay at home when possible, you might wonder how to minister to others if you can't see them regularly.

Here are a few ideas:

• Pray for your families and individuals by name. Then act on promptings from the Holy Ghost as you consider ways to help others feel loved, included, and important.

• Consider a virtual visit. Video calls can provide some face time and fun.

• Talk with your ministering companion. He or she likely has some great ideas.

• Be a source of joy, optimism, comfort, and peace. Share a scripture via text. Or visit HearHim.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, and consider sharing one of the picture quotes or images of Christ.

• Call. Let them hear the sincere love and concern in your voice. "I miss seeing you! How are you dealing with everything?" Assess their immediate needs. Do they have food, shelter, supplies?

• Listen to them and validate their feelings. Respond with compassion and understanding.

• If immediate needs exist, identify ways you can safely help, and relay any concerns to ward leaders.

How do I manage my need for meaningful connection?

Finding yourself in isolation can be challenging. The following are some ideas of how to effectively handle the challenges of isolation:

• Seek God’s reassurance. Strengthen your relationship with your Father in Heaven through daily prayer and scripture study.

• Use technology to reach out to others (use video if possible) or learn new things. Consider activities like indexing, doing family history, and creating memory books.

• Serve others. Many local organizations are in great need, such as blood donation centers and food banks. Many opportunities to serve and help your neighbors and community can still be accomplished while practicing physical distancing.

• Be physically active. Physical activity can help you sleep better, reduce stress, and manage uncertain emotions. If possible, get outside to enjoy nature.

• Make time to reflect, and then write down your insights. Reflecting on good memories can help you manage loneliness.