I am feeling quite reflective today. I have been writing down a list of things that I am learning as a missionary. I thought I would start by post today by listing some:
- You feel joy and sorrow with the people that you teach
- You learn so much about yourself that you never understood before
- Every time you bare testimony your own conviction grows enormously
- You get to experience the everlasting love the Savior has for the people with whom you work
And there are many more lessons and benefits, these are just
some I have been thinking about lately. Where did I leave off last week? Sometimes everything gets
all mixed up together.
Thursday was Institute day and we had 3 people come to our class. Hanna came! She had had a very hard week with university studies. Thursday was a breather between deadlines so she came to Institute. We learned about Samuel the Lamanite! A lot of the YSA stayed for activities after and everyone had a good time.
Friday we had a lot on the calendar. Bill had a Dr. appointment,
Georgia came over to finish working on the baptism program and at noon Elder
Carver, the Zone Leader, was coming for her baptismal interview. The
missionaries were late, but I still fed them all taco soup and corn bread (in
which I had forgotten to add the sugar).
We drove the Zone Leader back to Chippenham. He was on
exchange with Elder Moore so we had to make the switch and bring back Elder
Davis. We did a flat inspection while we were there. I have decided that my two
sons were not that unusual in their housekeeping skills. All young men that age
seem to have the same standard. It is not the standard I would be comfortable
in.
Friday evening the elders taught Francine at our flat. It
was a lovely discussion with such a sweet spirit. Georgia’s baptism dress needed
to be hemmed up so Fran brought needles and thread and we each took a different
end of the skirt and sewed as we discussed the gospel. When we were finished we
had each used a different stitch but not to worry, with a wet cloth and hot
iron I was able to steam it so it looked great!
Saturday was a very interesting day. Our sweet neighbor
across the street, an elderly very ‘English’ lady, had invited a few of us from
our block of flats to tea! She said we all needed to get acquainted! We were
not to bring ‘that book’, it was just a friendly get together. It was really
quite a lovely experience. We had sandwiches and meat pastries, pizza and lots
of little cakes etc. Besides coffee and tea and lager there was lemonade and
juice to drink. We talked about places where we all have lived and mostly
talked about childhood memories of much loved doggies. I wish I
could have had a secret camera, it was a very fun and oh so British!
The baptism was a great occasion. So many came to support
Georgia. The YSA came from all over the Stake. Many of Georgia’s friends and
flat mates came. The Stake President also came. The service was sweet, the talks
were inspired and the spirit was strong. It was still a very difficult time for
her because of the absence of her family.The rest of the evening was quite emotional, after some
comforting reassurance from Bishop Henley and some beans on toast everything
settled down for the night and anticipation for the confirmation the next day.
Sunday was lovely. Fast and testimony meeting was
exceptionally poignant as each person’s remarks were so appropriate to this new
step in Georgia’s life. All in all it was a happy day. Sunday evening YSA FHE
was held at Southmead Chapel and Bishop Henley spoke. We had a very nice evening enjoying the company and activities.
The day ended great!
Monday we headed out for my birthday trip to Cornwall. I am
going to write a separate post for that adventure. Now I just want to close
this entry with my testimony that the events that have taken place in our flat
the last few months with our dear friend Georgia have been life changing for Bill and I. To watch firsthand the miracle of conversion is truly an honor and a great blessing!
While preparing my Institute lesson for this week I came
across this wonderful message from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland about the events of
3 Nephi that I would like to end with today:
“However dim our
days may seem, they have been a lot darker for the Savior of the world. As a
reminder of those days, Jesus has chosen, even in a resurrected, otherwise
perfected body, to retain for the benefit of His disciples the wounds in His
hands and in His feet and in His side—signs, if you will, that painful things
happen even to the pure and the perfect; signs, if you will, that pain in this
world is not evidence that God doesn’t love you; signs, if you will, that
problems pass and happiness can be ours. Remind others that it is the wounded
Christ who is the Captain of our souls, He who yet bears the scars of our forgiveness, the lesions
of His love and humility, the torn flesh of obedience and sacrifice.
“These wounds are
the principal way we are to recognize Him when He comes. He may invite us
forward, as He has invited others, to see and to feel those marks. If not
before, then surely at that time, we will remember with Isaiah that it was for
us that a God was ‘despised and rejected … ; a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief,’ that ‘he was wounded for our transgressions, he was
bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and
with his stripes we are healed’ (Isa.
53:3, 5)” (“Teaching, Preaching, Healing,” Ensign, Jan
2003, 42).
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