2020 | Mysite

Salt Lake Jordan North 1st Ward 2020 History

Due to the COVID-19 world pandemic Ward Conference for Jordan North 1st Ward was not held this year. All Officers Sustained was read at Stake Conference held in March 2020.

Jordan North 1st Ward History 2020

Bishop Brett Thompson

Two Thousand Twenty began as many years do with a missionary focus. We were working with our Senior missionary couple, the Breedings, to reactivate the Carters, the Ortegas as well as the Teague clan. The Breedings and several sets of missionaries would come to each ward council and report on missionary work. Unfortunately, later in the year, Sister Breeding passed away from complications due to Covid-19. She was the epitome of sweetness and diligence. Truly a Christ-like lady.

Around the middle of January, we completed our ward council scheduling of events proposed for the year. Looking back, not many of them were accomplished because of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown beginning in March, followed by the 5.7 magnitude earthquake.

In an effort to get in touch with every member of the ward, we initially struggled because many ministering assignments had not been made. Still, a strong effort was made to ensure everyone was safe and eventually all were contacted. The first 6 months of the year seemed to go by in a blur because everything was so different. Ministering brothers and sisters were working feverishly to stay in touch with the homebound and a massive effort was made to take the Sacrament every week to those without a worthy priesthood holder in the home. This was a challenge, but the Elder's Quorum stepped up and has continued to provide a home-based Sacrament experience to all who cannot or are not able to come to church.

It appears that our nerves and our minds were all on edge for much of April and May. As a Bishop, I was anticipating a release in May but was told by President Higginson that the release may not happen for a while- about 6 more months. There were not many calls and releases over the Spring and early summer because, in general, we felt the Ward needed stability at a time of such chaos. But, like He always does, the Lord taught us how to turn chaos into organization and things began to smoothen out.

Activities, such as our drive through the neighborhood to celebrate the graduates from high school and Seminary, took place in May and June. All appeared to be touched by the effort and a Spirit of love and caring was shared with many in the neighborhood. During the summer, the church experimented with return to services in a limited way, but the Coronavirus was still ramping up and after two attempts. So, we were home for another two months. Finally, in August, with much angst and preparation, as well as great service done by Brad Hurst and our building cleaning committee spearheaded by the counselors in the Bishopric, a plan for return to church permanently began and was continued through the remainder of 2020.

While the year was marked by tremendous and shocking human tragedy on a scale not witnessed for a century, as well as world-wide social upheaval due to centuries of injustice and division, our most tragic local challenges came with the sudden deaths of Muli Kinikini and Heather Legendre. While we are firm in the conviction, they were taken home to the arms of their beloved Savior, the ward attempted to rally around two families who we love. I was released from being Bishop the day Muli died and spent the day with Heather the previous day prior to her passing. A tumultuous week then ensued for Bishop Brenden Degen who experienced the tremendous opportunity to comfort 4 grieving families as two elderly members of the ward also passed that week.

While this is not a comprehensive essay on 2020, I will let Bishop Degen complete this report. The ward continues to have a missionary focus and the members continue to try to bring the gospel of Christ to everyone within the boundaries of the ward. The Jordan North 1st Ward continues to thrive and serve. May the Lord bless this part of His vineyard with peace in 2021.

Bishop Brett Thompson

Jordan North 1st Ward History 2020

Bishop Brendon Degen

On November 8th, I was called and set a part as the new bishop of the Jordan North First Ward. What a humbling experience it was for me. I assumed the awesome mantle that day and recognized the distilled confidence when I met with my counselors for the first time after being set apart as a High Priest, then ordained as bishop, and after meeting with the stake presidency. I had my first assignment where I participated in the preview for young men and young women that evening. We soon learned that Sister Amodio's mother passed away. The following day came the unexpected news of Muli Kinikini passing away early that morning as well. As a bishopric, we reached out visit the families and console them during their heartache that week. I had the opportunity to speak at the funeral for Muli (who served in young men’s as an advisor to the Teachers while I was a counselor) that Friday. That same day, we visited the hospital where Heather LeGendra was to help Marc and give blessings of release and comfort. Heather passed away that Sunday. We would then hear of Brother Sloan passing away Tuesday the 17th.

What tender blessing it was for me to have visited the Sloans in their home for the past 8 months delivering the sacrament with Mark Gardner. The LeGendras are my neighbors across the street, so I had the blessing to have gotten to know them and been their minister. After the first two weeks of my new calling, there was a little less excitement. The ward did an excellent job in delivering food baskets and an Angel Tree for December. I made many visits with my counselors to families in the ward to meet needs and get to know mor people. As a family, we have been blessed with well wishes and tender treats by many ward members. We have felt their prayers and support in this new venture of our lives. We would end with a Christmas Sacrament meeting where the bishopric spoke and musical numbers performed. As a new bishop, I learned many new things and a new reliance on my Heavenly Father as my prayers took on a whole new meaning and effort in my life. I am grateful for the ever guiding light of the Holy Ghost and the simple impressions I receive as needed.

Bishop Brendon Degen

Jordan North 1st Ward History 2020

Elder’s Quorum

January began like most every cold month. The focus for the Elder’s Quorum was to get to know all the members of the Jordan North 1st Ward. We made ministering assignments and brainstormed upcoming service projects. We, as a presidency, recognized a continual need to improve lessons to spiritually feed the members of our ward. We also organized weekly visitations for ward members in need. Some important events during this year included the baby blessing of the Burkhart’s baby. Elder Johnson and Sister Cox returned home from their missions.

Beginning in March, there were many concerns about the spreading Coronavirus. It shaped the rest of the year’s activities and meetings. There have been some members who had contracted the virus and suffered. There were also a few great and loved members who passed away. However, we’ve also seen the ward come together and work together to minister and serve. We offer a special thanks to those who clean and lock the building.

President Howard Johnson

Jordan North 1st Ward History 2020

Relief Society

The start of this past year started out great! We planned and carried out a Relief Society linger longer in January. We visited with our ministering sisters and those we did not know as well. We felt like it was a great gathering. The presidency had their ministering interviews in February. We also had a Family History indexing activity in February. The end of February we attended the Stake Women’s conference.

In March we planned a brunch for the Relief Society birthday celebration. We were all getting excited to gather with everyone, but the week of, we were seeing that a lot of other things were being canceled due to Covid-19. After talking with the bishop, the presidency decided that it would be best if we canceled our celebration to keep our sisters safe. We were hoping we could reschedule quite soon. Little did we know how long this virus would last. That same day we canceled, we received word that the First Presidency canceled meetings worldwide.

In light of the First Presidency canceling meetings, we helped the Elder’s Quorum make sure that our sisters were able to get the Sacrament. This was a ramping up time of ministering and making sure that everyone was okay and not so lonely as we also had a 5.7 earthquake. It shook us all up and I think it was a time of reflection.

We felt that communication was very important in being connected. Luckily, we already had a ward Facebook page and Relief Society text group set up. We encouraged everyone to get a Facebook account so that we had a central place to put information out to help others. Here, we were encouraged to follow the direction of our church, local, state, and national leadership. This included becoming closer to the Spirit and those we minister to as we try to limit the spread of the virus. President Nelson said this in the April General Conference: “As disciples of Jesus Christ, our efforts to hear Him need to be ever more intentional.”

In April, as things deteriorated, as a Relief Society we were encouraged to participate in the making of masks as there was a shortage of medical masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) nationwide. This was something we could help with and make a difference. As a ward Relief Society, we were able to make 1300 masks! We also put out ideas to minister during the pandemic and were able to still do some freezer meals for those that were in need. For our lessons, we had each teacher post a message on Facebook. We were then able to text or email them out to those that were not on that platform. During this month we had two activities through Zoom. The first one was to just test Zoom out and see how everyone was doing. It was so good to see everyone. It seemed like a long time since we had. The second activity was with Sister Irvine where she gave us some baking tips and we learned how to make her brownies.

In May, we celebrated Mother’s Day. We wanted the sisters to feel special, so we highlighted each sister that wanted to be, with a picture of them when they were younger. We had to guess who each sister was. The sisters seemed to really enjoy this as it was a way to interact with each other without being next to each other. We were also served with a giant Crumbl cookie on our doorsteps! It was a good day!

We had a slight change in June. Some of us were able to meet for Sacrament but were still cautioned to stay home. We were able to see each other and listen to the meeting through Zoom for those who were at risk and had other health problems. We were reminded that the prophet promised that the virus will eventually relent. We just had to exercise patience. We started meeting as a Relief Society through Zoom. It was nice to feel the spirit in our class again and get spiritually fed through each other’s testimonies. There was a definite feeling of missing each other and that was expressed.

As a presidency, we felt like we needed to fulfill a need by gathering in small groups with the sisters. As the weather was warmer and the numbers of those getting the virus came down, we felt that it was safe enough to have a bunch of circle ups. We sat in the church parking lot, at a safe 6-foot distance, talked about what was going on in the world and in our lives. Our routines had all been shaken up whether we had to work from home, order groceries for pick up, get used to wearing masks everywhere or experience homeschool. We all had things to consider and change as we saw that this virus was not going to go away anytime soon.

In July, we were told that we can no longer hold in person church until further notice, but we continued to have Relief Society lessons over Zoom. By this time, we could feel the heaviness of this all on the ward and participated in a ward fast. We continued to help our sisters where we could and encouraged the sisters to check in with their ministering sisters with specific questions to make sure their needs were being met.

August through October, and as the weather became colder, I think we all tried to stay to our homes as much as possible. I saw that the sisters came together when they were needed. Meals and care packages were sent to homes in need. In church, we learned about letting God prevail and a reminder to put Him first. Service was the focus as there was a big storm, aftershocks, and more illness.

November was a hard month as we lost four ward members within two weeks as well as others being sick. This was hard because we wanted so much to gather and mourn with their families. This was a loss that we all felt, and our hearts were truly broken for these families and our ward. As a Relief Society we were able to serve these families by taking meals, treats, and letters along with praying for them as we were not able to gather.

At the end of November and December, we were challenged by the prophet to send a message of hope and healing. As there has been civil unrest, hate, racism, violence, dishonesty, and lack of civility just from this year’s events in the world. He wished for us to express our gratitude as a remedy to help heal. Our social media was flooded with gratitude posts. President Nelson said in his address, “Counting our blessing is far better than recounting our problems.”

We planned to help with the Angel Tree for families in need for Christmas. As a presidency we gathered lists of needs and wants and helped find volunteers to fill them. Both helper and receiver were both very grateful for this event because it brought in the spirit of Christmas. We encouraged the sisters to participate in the Light the World to bring the light in to those around us. As a gift and closing out the year we gave the sisters an ornament to remind them of what this year brought and the importance of us to “Hear Him”.

Although it was a hard year, we have experienced a lot. Our fears were calmed by the words of our prophet and apostles. Our faith was strengthened in different ways. There was a lot of reflection on ourselves and what we need to do spiritually to become better. We came together in service, ministering and love and of which none of will be forgotten.

Jordan North 1st Ward History 2020

Aaronic Priesthood Quorum

In January 2020, new Deacons Quorum and Teachers Quorum Presidencies were sustained.

Deacons Quorum:

President Lu KiniKini

1st Counselor Will Tidwell

2nd Counselor KJ Fa’amoe

Secretary Carson Farnsworth

Teachers Quorum:

President Sione KiniKini

1st Counselor Henry Tidwell

2nd Counselor Caleb Assink

Priest Quorum:

President Brett Thompson

1st assistant Ethan Tidwell

2nd Assistant Ryan Earnshaw

Secretary Matthew Trottier

January 15, 2020

Aaronic Priesthood activity night led by Ryan Earnshaw. He introduced us to the game

Throw Throw Burrito.

Those in attendance:

Leaders: Bishop Thompson, Johnathon Lewis, Cullen Irvine, Vernon Fleischmann, and David Tesch

Young Men: Lu KiniKini, Sione KiniKini, Brigham Zierse, Johnathon Zierse, Ryan Earnshaw, Elijah Assink, Caleb Assink, Noah Assink, Henry Tidwell, Collin Tidwell, Will Tidwell, Daniel Cox, Ben Gorski, T Tagaloa, Tim Assink Jr., and Isaiah Gukeisen

January 29th 2020

We had a great Aaronic Priesthood/Young Women combined activity which turned out to be a relay race involving the scriptures and physical activity to work in coordination with the new Children and Youth Programs goal setting.

February 5th 2020

Aaronic Priesthood combined activity based around the scriptures and team building exercises. The Quorums each were paired off as teams and each conducted different games to work on teamwork together.

Those in attendance:

Leaders : Bishop Thompson, Johnathon Lewis, Vernon Fleischmann, Muli KiniKini, Chad Jenks, Cullen Irvine, David Tesch, Larry Barnes

At the conclusion of this activity, it turned into an impromptu service project where the Youth shoveled off the walkways of the back parking lot that had become ice banks.

February 12, 2020

The Deacon Quorum arranged an evening to do baptisms for the dead at the Jordan River Temple.

Those in attendance:

Leaders : Bishop Thompson, Vernon Fleischmann, and Larry Barnes

Young Men: Lu KiniKini, KJ Fa’amoe, Ben Gorski, Isaiah Gukeisen, Will Tidwell, and Carson Farnsworth

This was the very first time attending for baptisms for the dead for Will Tidwell, Carson Farnsworth, and Ben Gorski.

February 19th 2020

The Aaronic Priesthood went to cheer on Ethan and Collin Tidwell at Granger High School in their playoff basketball game. GO LANCERS!

March 2, 2020

The Aaronic Priesthood attended the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to show support for Nathan Gorski who was in the cast.

March 1st Service project activity at Brother and Sister Degen’s home. We demolished an existing shed from their backyard and moved the pieces to the front yard for future disposal. Caleb Assink, Sione KiniKini, Lu KiniKini, Brenden Degen, KJ Fa’amoe, Ethan Tidwell, Noah Assink, Tim Assink Jr., Henry Tidwell, Elijah Assink, Carson Farnsworth, Collin Tidwell, Bishop Brett Thompson, Vernon Fleischmann and Chad Jenks all used their strong muscles and got this project completed.

Then, COVID-19 hit. There were no in person activities from March 12 until June 2, 2020. During this time frame, we were also excluded from attending Sacrament at the chapel as a ward. During this time, many of the Aaronic Priesthood members helped in assisting to bring the sacrament in the home to countless members in our ward boundaries.

On June 2nd we had our first activity back at the chapel as we began to develop and teach the new way of administering the sacrament using enhanced safety measures and social distancing.

While we were still refrained from gathering in groups for most of the summer and early fall, there were small things that the quorums did on their own in working to minister to each other and lift each other up. In October, we had two members of our ward pass away. Gladys Walch and Heather Legendre. The deacons quorum came up with the thought to write cards of condolences to them both which ended up becoming a wonderful ward activity.

In attendance: Sione KiniKini Lu KiniKini Villiama Kalapa Carson Farnsworth. The same activity was conducted also in November when Muli KiniKini passed away.

October 28th we had a great Aaronic Priesthood activity of carving pumpkins. In attendance were Ethan Tidwell, Isaiah Gukeisen, Collin Tidwell, Henry Tidwell, Ryan Earnshaw, Kai Farnsworth, Lu KiniKini, Sione KiniKini, T Tagaloa, Villiama Kalapa, and Carson Farnsworth.

Leaders: Bishop Brett Thompson, Vernon Fleischmann, Jonathon Lewis, and Muli KiniKini.

On November 4th we had a service activity at Sister Angela Zierse’s home. The Aaronic Priesthood stained her front fencing, repainted her light pole, and took out a number of trees, tree limbs, and rose bushes from her back yard.

Those in attendance were Bishop Brett Thompson, Jonathon Lewis, Vernon Fleischmann, Larry Barnes, Chad Jenks, Jackie Lewis, Melody Lewis, Grace Lewis, David Tesch, Collin Tidwell, Isaiah Gukeisen, Brigham Zierse, Johnathon Zierse, Henry Tidwell, Lu KiniKini, Sione KiniKini, and KJ Fa’amoe.

November 8, 2020 Bishop Brett Thompson was released as Bishop, which in turn released him as Priest Quorum President. Bishop Brenden Degen was sustained to the office of Bishop and as President of the Priests Quorum with Ethan Tidwell as 1st Assistant, Ryan Earnshaw 2nd Assistant and Matthew Trottier as Secretary.

As the pandemic continued, attendance at church meetings resumed with very limited person capacity. Due to this situation, not much activity was conducted in November and December 2020.

Jordan North 1st Ward History 2020

Young Women

Young Women Presidency:

President Mindi Gillette

1st Counselor Heather Burkhart

2nd Counselor Ruth Ward

Secretary Carolyn Atkinson

Advisors:

Patty Amodio

Jean Fa’amoe

Specialists:

Ann Smith

Cheyenne Smith

Class Presidencies:

Class: Ages 12-14

President Arius Hardman

1st Counselor Samantha Trottier

2nd Counselor Linda Tagaloa

Secretary Megan Gardner

Class: Ages 15-18

President: Bethany Gardner

1st Counselor Makayela Farnsworth

2nd Counselor Kimberley Cox

The youth theme for 2020 was 1 Nephi 3:7 – “and it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.”

We decided to take the theme and add a little to it:

“I will go and do…because I can do hard things.”

For our introduction of theme for the year to the young women, we asked our 15-18 year old class to help. They came up with the best backdrop for pictures.

We had each of the young women sign a poster to commit to that they will go and do and to remember that they can do hard things.

Little did we know at the time, we were about to be tested on a grand scale. The Covid-19 pandemic hit the world hard in March 2020. We couldn’t meet at church, we couldn’t have regular in person activities, and school went online. This was a hard time for the young women and their leaders. We are all so grateful for a prophet on the earth today. With guidance and assurance, President Nelson gave us hope and we were all reminded of how much we can learn at home with the Come Follow Me program. We were able to get online with a program called Zoom. We started to have weekly activities virtually through that program. The young women were encouraged to participate with us online so we could see them.

We were able to drop by weekly handouts and reminders that they were loved, but as time went on, we saw that the pandemic was not going to ease up anytime soon. As youth conferences and summer camps were cancelled, disappointment and frustration set in. What could we do? Well…we know we can do hard things. Nephi showed us that and the scriptures also indicate that we can accomplish much with the Lord.

We knew this year that the high school graduating class would have a different experience than any other class before them for graduation. Our seniors were not going to be able to have the regular graduation ceremonies. So, our ward and neighborhood did a parade for the seniors that lived in our ward boundaries.

Alpha Graphics helped out by selling class of 2020 signs we could put in the seniors yards for $4! It was amazing! We ordered signs with all the seniors names we were able to get and had them printed up. It included their school name, their first name and their school colors. We also got them a few gift cards and some notes. We created a basket and delivered it to their homes. I believe we counted 15 seniors total in our area.

We also created a parade route and invited the whole neighborhood to join. It was a memorable experience. We did a little extra for the seniors in the ward, but overall, I think this boosted spirits and made all of us feel a little more included and less isolated during this special time for these youth during a pandemic.

Oakcrest, a camp for the young women who just finished 7th grade, was cancelled so we created a little bucket of fun for our two young women who weren’t able to go. A few of our older young women helped make it special.

Then, we had regular girls camp for our ward. What could we do?

The YW presidency and the older class communicated and came up with a solution for girls camp. We would do “Girls Camp in a Box”. The Young Women came up with the theme:

“Ignite the Light” – Fire up your Testimony

Each young woman got a box with 4 different days of activities in it. Each bag had one day, Tuesday to Friday. We had girls camp week – July 28th to July 31st. Each night we had a devotional via Zoom to talk about what was in the bag and our activities. The bags included crafts, journals, food, etc. It was a great time. While we were sad we couldn’t do regular girls camp, but we all knew this would be something we would never forget.

It was a good week.

We were able to start meeting as small groups 10 or less. We met outside when we could. We even had one activity to learn how to make strawberry jam with Sister Assink.

We also met in the gym for all the young women to social distance and talk about goals and things they want to learn for the Youth Program in the four areas: Physical, Spiritual, Intellectual and Social. This program was pretty new for 2020. Covid-19 did not help to get it off the ground, but I think we also found some unique insight. The young women are excited to see what they can discover about themselves and learn new skills they didn’t know they had.

The older class also did an “Escape Room” event. Olivia Gukeisen headed this one up.

They did a great job! Kimberley Cox did a Star gazing night with a telescope and hot chocolate.

We also had a “learn to write” class with Beverley Thompson – This was set up by Arius Hardman. She did a wonderful job putting it together.

Now for Christmas. What could we do to focus on the Light of Christ and the reason for the season? 12 days of Christmas of course! With help from our older class presidency and Arius Hardman – our young class president, we did the 12 days of Christmas. Each day had a focus on the Savior. There was anything from nail polish to cookies and pictures to Jello. Each day the girls were able to open up a gift. They started on December 13th and ended on Christmas Eve. The reason they ended on Christmas Eve was so they could reflect on a gift to give the Savior on his Birthday, Christmas day. They were asked to write down a gift they could give that came within.

What an interesting year 2020 has been! We look forward to 2021!

Jordan North 1st Ward History 2020

Primary

Primary looked quite different in 2020. It was the year of Covid-19, quarantines, face masks, and social distancing. We learned to adapt.

There was a combination of in-person and Zoom activities throughout the year. In February, we held a “Restoration of the Gospel” activity. The Primary children watched a video of Joseph Smith and the First Vision. They made butter, played pioneer games, created a Family Home Evening kit, and served members of the ward by making cards.

In June, we had a Primary talent show by Zoom. In October, we had a neighborhood costume parade for Halloween at the church parking lot. A treat bag was given at the end of the parade to all participants. In November, we invited all Primary children 11 years old to join us by Zoom for the Temple and Priesthood Preparation.

The Primary children 8-11 years old began working on a new program, Personal Development Children’s Guidebook. They created their own goals and get to work at their own pace. Much later than planned, they received a temple ring and a picture of the Jordan River Temple.

Primary Activities for Boys and Girls meet to help and encourage the children with their goals. The girls created family home evening binders, learned yoga, and frosted cupcakes. Sadly, their schedule had to change with Covid restrictions, but they still had some summer fun and Zoom meetings. The boys had lessons about manners, tithing, and improving prayers. They were able to enjoy a super fun Halloween party in October—wearing masks and social distancing, of course.

There were 3 young men baptized during the year. Keelan Fa’amoe was baptized in February by his father. Many family and ward members were in attendance to celebrate this special day with Keelan. Grant Gukeisen’s baptism was a much quieter occasion in April. Because of Covid restrictions in place, Grant’s baptism was with his immediate family only. Carter Oberbeck was baptized in October. The program part of the baptism was held in the chapel. Family and friends were wearing masks and social distancing.

We were not able to meet together on Sundays after March 13. To maintain a connection to the children, teachers reached out by social media, Primary music was shared through Facebook, and monthly bags were dropped off at doors. There was a Primary Music CD, General Conference activities, sidewalk chalk, watercolor paints, colored pencils, holiday crafts, and an occasional treat enjoyed by all.

There have been changes in callings during this time. John Lauber was released as Primary pianist. Claron Palmer and Angela Zierse were called as Primary pianists. Denise Bell was released as a Primary music chorister. Jacqueline Lewis was released as Primary 2nd counselor and called as Primary music chorister. Destinee White was called as Primary 2nd counselor. Mick and Lori Bailey were released as Primary teachers and called as Primary Activities for Boys leaders. Heidi Wesemann and Jon Stott were released as Sunbeam teachers. Suzanne Davis

and Tracy Earnshaw were called as Sunbeam teachers. Amanda Valluri was released as Primary Activities for Girls leader. Brenda Butler and Brooke Davis were called as Primary Activities for Girls leaders. Brett and Bev Thompson were called as Valiant teachers. Brendon Degen was released was as a Primary teacher.

Grant Gukeisen’s Mom wrote this about Grant’s baptism:

For Grant’s baptism, we originally had planned for a lot of family to come into town. Once the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to all isolate, we had to change our plans. We just had Bishop Thompson and our immediate family, and we all had to wear face masks. Olivia and Isaiah, Grant’s older sibling’s gave talks and we just sang all the songs A cappella or with our phone playing music. Extended family and Ward friends joined on a Zoom call, which made Grant feel really special.

Jordan North 1st Ward History 2020

Sunday School

President Creed Wilkey

1st Counselor Ryan Gardner

2nd Counselor Jeff Judd

Secretary Eric Farnsworth

Gospel Doctrine Teachers:

Max Evans

Thomas Pugh

Summer Schaefermeyer

Susan Stott (Substitute)

Courses 15, 16, and 17 Teacher:

Justin Gukeisen

Courses 13 and 14 Teachers:

Jeff Jensen

Lindsey Jensen

Courses 11 and 12 Teachers:

Sue Kirk

Barry Kirk

This year started out like any other year in the Sunday School. Teachers prepared and shared lessons, youth and adults listened and contributed to the lessons. However, the Covid19 pandemic put an end to “normal” Sunday School. For a time, we did not have Sunday School until Bishop Thompson decided to start virtual meetings using Zoom. We had a little bit of a rocky start as we tried to figure out how to make these virtual meetings work. We all had to learn what worked best. Since then, we have grown and progressed a lot, and we’ve come to learn how to teach and learn the gospel more effectively over Zoom. Virtual meetings are a different way to study the gospel, but they work. We can learn about the gospel and feel the Spirit even though we are not together in the same room. The preparation from our prophet in setting up the Come Follow Me program is an amazing testimony builder. We were prepared and ready to learn from home and receive extra instruction through virtual meetings. It is wonderful to have the technology available to allow us to continue meeting with and learning from each other even when we are physically separated.

President Creed Wilkey