Church Communication Department

Officially I was called to be Dave's assistant as an Area Mental Health Adviser, but I really don't have any specific responsibilities. Within a few weeks of arriving I was asked to join the
Church Communication Department. There was even a desk available where I could hang out.
It has been great to be part of a team and help with projects. 

Gabi Sirtl was the director and would soon be retiring after 30 years.
This picture was taken in December 2019 on the day we had her farewell luncheon.

Ralf Grünke (asst. director), Abby Madison (BYU intern), Gabi, Karen and Ward Anderson, and me.

Dinis Adriano (asst. director) was off that day.

Abby and I shared the office space. She was busy working on projects and was supervised by Ralf.

One of her duties was to put interesting articles on the Exhibit Board in the front hall for all to see.

She really enjoyed her time in Germany as she served her mission here just a few years prior.

Samantha Edwards was our intern for Winter Semester. Abby and Sam had very different personalities. Sam was quite spunky and kept us on our toes.

There was a Communication Seminar scheduled for March 2020, put it was cancelled because of the pandemic. Samantha helped me put together the PowerPoint for my presentation, but it turned out it was just for practice. We were so disappointed that we didn't get to Rome for the seminar.

Samantha's internship was cut short when the Church called all the interns home.

Almost a year passed before BYU and our department worked out a way for interns to work remotely. Cami Buckley is a great asset to the department. She and I worked on an article about sister missionaries being pioneers, from the late 1800s to today. It will be published on several Church Newsrooms.

Dinis Adriano was hired as the new director of the Communication Department in December 2019. It has been interesting to see the two different styles of leadership between Gabi and Dinis.
We meet weekly with the UK team and this was the last meeting with the Bodines. They live in Mesa, Arizona and know Stan and Shelley Stradling. Such a small world.

This is our most recent meeting with the Bodine's replacements, Elder and Sister McGuire and a intern serving the UK office (remotely) Ellie Hughes. I am mostly a fly on the wall these days as I don't have much responsibility. I do enjoy knowing what's going on and the friendships that I have made.