Joyful week

sorry I am obsessed with this changing river, this is the fullest yet

Most absorbing and current on my mind as I write this week is the Stake Conference weekend that we just experienced. I have been very keenly touched by the spirit of the Holy Ghost! I feel like over my life time I have been blessed with many experience that have been richly filled with the sweet feelings that come from the presence of the Holy Ghost and  outpourings from that same spirit.

One of the Stake Presidency members spoke in the Saturday night meeting about the language of the spirit and spiritual things. He spoke about how it is very different from secular language. Many times in our lives we are called upon to translate spiritual messages into secular language while trying to communicate with others spiritual experiences; so now as I try to share with you feelings from a powerfully spiritual weekend it will be hard to do that translation.

The Bristol Stake received a new Stake Presidency Sunday. Just like at home in Scottsdale, AZ, when this same event happened we had a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy and an area Seventy come to accomplish that task, on errand from the Twelve. Elder Dyches was the General Authority a member of the 2^nd Quorum of the Seventy and Elder Donaldson the area authority. At the Saturday night meeting as I am sure is the case in all Stakes throughout the world, the theme was on the Hastening the Work of Salvation. Elder Donaldson had a white board in front and as he was reading to us parables found in Luke 15 he invited the members to come up when so impressed and write on the boards the initials of someone who they could fellowship or invite during the month of invitation. It was a great exercise and when he was finished both sides of the white board were covered with initials.

The next part of the meeting is the part that had such a profound spiritual effect on me personally. Elder Dyches as part of his talk asked all of the full time missionaries in the room to come up to the front and stand facing the congregation. OK, the first jolt was to realize that I was part of that army! Then as we stood and looked out at the faces of our Stake, and Ward members he asked two Elders, Elder Cluff from Missouri and Elder Marot just 4 weeks out on his mission from France, to teach the first discussion to the congregation from the pulpit. This was not pre-arranged! As these ‘glowing’ elders sweetly taught the message of God’s love for all and importance of the family and message of the restoration the spirit was tangible! As Elder Cluff used Joseph Smith's own words one by one each of the missionaries was filled with the spirit. It was almost electric and tears filled our eyes and love quickened our hearts!

Then our mission President was asked to come up and comment. He could hardly talk but did confirm to all present that these young people come prepared and ready to teach their friends, those same friends whose initials are on the white board! Message delivered, message received!

Sunday was tender as such an event always is. We have been so blessed to have had this short time to work with the outgoing Presidency. They are truly high caliber servants of God! We feel very thrilled also that the new Stake President was formerly the bishop whose ward we visited last week and at whose home we had such a pleasant meal and gathering! It is hard for me to believe it but I do feel like I belong to the Bristol Stake. I was not expecting to feel that way but because of our journeys around the Stake, I know so many people, ward leaders and members and young adults from every ward.

Next wonderful thing about Sunday’s meeting was that Georgia came. She was able to meet some of the YSA and enjoy the encouraging messages from the speakers. I was smiling all day!!! Georgia was surprised to find out she was famous because of this blog!

Next on my mind is Elder Flament! He is from the Taunton Ward and serving a mission in Sierra Leone! Scott and Robin first asked if we knew of him a couple of weeks ago and since then we met his Dad at a ward council meeting and met his mom this week end. They are so thrilled to hear anything about him. The Kanzlers have been able to share with him greetings from his parents though us and it has all been a very tender thing! Missionaries are a wonderful breed!!!

I have been writing down random events from this past week that I want to share, they may not necessarily be shared in chronological order!

On Thursday this past week we needed to run a quick errand which included picking up a new iron because the current one was all gummed up and spewing dark water. We went into this shop that you would not believe. It was sort of a hardware store. I do not think there was one spot in the whole place that was not crammed full of merchandise. You could find anything there I am sure. Wish I had taken a picture but I think it would have been a bit rude. They did have an iron! Now Elder Preece could go home and iron his white shirt!

Wednesday we had a long day in Taunton. We had to be out there for an assignment so we also made some appointments with YSA for the afternoon. That evening we were also scheduled to go with the Taunton ward leadership for a ‘reach out’ evening to call on members. We were very hopeful, by the time the day ended though we had not seen a single active or less active member! The two scheduled appointments were not home and none of the folks on our ‘reach-out’ list were around either. We were able to meet the Bishop Tutton’s son Luke, who has just recently turned 18 though and he was delightful.  We did spend the evening driving around with Will the YSA rep and got acquainted with him. I was a little discouraged on the way home and Bill was very direct; we had not wasted the day! We were obedient and we left messages that said we cared. We were doing the Lords work and it was not a waste, especially because of the fine young men we spent time with. I like that! I am not going to get discouraged again!

Friday morning the Elders had their Chinese District meeting in our living room... who would have thought

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rbEaPyiCoo

Friday we had an appointment to visit a young man in Weston S Mare. His mother set up the appointment so we were hoping he would actually be there. We are doing much better following ‘Sally’s’ (sat-nav) directions but somehow we accidentally turned the wrong way on a one way street. Several pedestrians were pointing at us, one even knocked on the window. Bill quickly realized the error of his ways and we were able to safely back out…Whew!

The visit was a good one. He was a young man who needs direction and he was so receptive to our concern and to the message from the spirit that we tried to convey. He wants to come back to church and he was happy we would end the visit with a prayer. When we left him we stopped by the sisters flat because they have a broken falling down curtain that we have been asked to replace. The goal is to provide privacy and keep them safe. They are so cute, they asked if we could by Christmas ones, of course that is not practical.

It was still fairly early in the afternoon when we were finished with our appointments so we drove over to the beach to gaze at the ocean. At 3:30 in the afternoon the sun was already going down. The clouds were beautiful and the scene was serene! Grateful as always for this beautiful place!

On the way home we decided to go to the mall to pick up a couple of things that we needed and have our Friday night date night meal. The food court is great there. We ate at Café Rouge and drove home happy, ready to just chill for the evening. One of the things we purchased at the mall was new, warm PJ’s. We got home, parked the car and put on our new pajamas to chill. “Ring Ring”, it was the missionaries they had just talked to our friend Georgia and wondered if they could come to our house for a lesson. Sure! Boy did we change fast… We had a wonderful discussion and visited with her late into the evening.

A very fun side note, last time she was here she saw or family reunion pictures with the grand-kids all in their “Preeces’ pieces” shirts. She really got a kick out of that. When she went home that night she googled Reeses Pieces because she had never had them before. She purchased some on E-Bay and brought them to us for a gift! We love it! This act of kindness will be long remembered! A highlight of this mission!

SMILE

Hanna had a wonderful opportunity this week end. She was able to attend a Chinese YSA Convention in Newcastle. She went with another female student member from Hong Kong, one of our YSA. I think Hanna was glad for the opportunity, and it was a good experience for her to associate with so many with same or similar backgrounds as she.

Chinese YSA Convention

Zone Conference as I mentioned last week is on Thanksgiving Day. We are excited about that. I am supposed to take a couple of pies, we will be stopping by Costco… I tried to bake my famous apple pie for a trial run….best laid plans. I learned that you do not use margarine and self-rising flour! It turned out to be ‘apple cobbler’ instead. The crust was just like a biscuit so if you ate it covered in milk it still tasted good. Next time I will use lard and regular flour then it will probably turn out. How about pie for Christmas!

Everyone have a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Want to share a thought from my friend Georgia. She said she likes to find just one word to describe each Christian denomination like ‘Worship’, or ‘Sacrifice’ etc. and she kindly said the word she would use to describe our Church is ‘Love’!

Good Week! Happy moments! Inspiring moments! Two messages from conference: “The tomb is truly empty!” “This is my beloved Son, hear Him” and a statement from Dallin H Oaks: ‘Man cannot earn his own salvation, we must point him to Christ.’