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| the sun is still there behind the morning mist |
Nov 29
So I am a little tardy this week. My
trusty computer has been on loan assisting with missionary training. It is back
now and no excuses!
I am feeling something totally unrelated
to the blog post at the moment. I cannot believe how used I am to being
connected all the times. Bill had to quickly take the bus down town to go to
the bank this morning. He needs to be back by noon because the missionaries are
coming for an appointment. All good, no big deal except that as I finished
getting cleaned up and ready for the day I discovered that he forgot his phone.
I feel so anxious, I think that in the old pre-mobile phone days we had more
trust and faith in the events of a day than we do now when we can check up on
each other all the time.
Now the business at hand, reporting on the
past week. Last Friday we had a nice re-grouping kind of day. We even went on a
Friday night date, dinner and a movie. It was a nice time and a good reminder
that we really do enjoy being with each other.
Saturday was just a loose ends day getting
ready for the Sabbath. We decided that in the next two months we will try to
visit each ward in the stake in our YSA capacity so Sunday we started by
visiting the Wells Road Ward. We were greeted at the door with a very familiar
and welcome face. Wil Farrell, who is now in the bishopric there, asked if one
of us would speak in Sacrament meeting. Their program had just fallen through.
Bill agreed.
We also ended up having the delightful experience of conducting
the discussion in the YSA Sunday School class. We have not had any Old
Testament lessons this year and it was great to discuss Ezekiel’s vision of the
temple. Wow I learned so much! The temple is so important!
Bill gave a wonderful talk using his
parables of preparation and patience. (the parables of the 10 virgins and of
the asparagus and the radish) I am so glad that he is so good with extemporaneous speaking because it scares me to death to be a johnny-on-the-spot. We had a
wonderful afternoon discussion with a young single adult visitor and made the
day even more uplifting!
Monday we started on a great adventure.
Last week in the President’s letter he let us all know that on Tuesday the 25th
Elder Quinten Cook was in the European area and had invited the London South
and London missions to come to the Hyde Park Chapel in London for a Mission
Conference. If we could get to that chapel by 9:30 on that morning we could
come to the conference, so we did!
What a glorious experience, one of those
that is nearly impossible to describe because the most profound moments were
felt through the spirit of the Holy Ghost. Before the meeting Elder Cook asked
to shake hands with everyone there. 400 of us filed past and he greeted us by
name (we do wear name tags) and asked where we were from. A very sweet
experience. I loved the up front and personal feeling!
After some very inspiring musical numbers
one of the APs from the London Mission turned the rest of the time over to
Elder Cook. He spoke of his love for England. He served her 54 years ago and he
said it is in his blood. I know someone like that. He shared some experiences
of when he and Elder Holland were missionary companions. He told some of the
process of writing Preach My Gospel and bore testimony that it came from hard
work on both sides of the veil. Then he opened it up for Questions. Some questions
were about the magnitude of the calling of an apostle, the difference between
gospel knowledge and traditional knowledge, some investigators do not understand
why we worship two Gods (the Father and Son) and the challenges of different
cultures. Of course the answers were appropriate and inspiring. He stressed
bearing strong testimony of the first vision and the plan of salvation. He
stressed the line upon line and precept upon precept concept. I loved it when
he said: “Exercise humility in what you think about knowledge – be modest about
things we do not know. There is no place for speculation in areas where there
is no specific revelation!”
In closing he invoked an Apostolic
blessing on us and bore a strong testimony of the Savior as only one serving in
that office can. In the blessing he reassured all the missionaries there that
by our choice to serve a mission our families both past, present and future are
blessed! We too will understand the great heritage that comes from this great
country of England. Our lives will be blessed spiritually forever.
After he sat down, we sang ‘Called to Serve’
as the closing hymn and when we began to sing all stood spontaneously. The
sound of those 400 voices was as if an army of angels had raised their voices
to heaven! I could hardly sing I was so moved.
The rest of the day we did some wandering
around the great city of London. In order to get the most economical tickets at
such short notice our return train was in the evening.
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| out side of Natural History museum and from within the Science museum |
There is something magical about this time
of the year in that bustling city. It gets dark in the late afternoon and so
the misty air, and Christmas lights, shoppers and people heading home from work
give the air a feeling of excitement and electricity. I tried to seal the scene
in my memory.
Wednesday evening we got to go to Adrian and
Brenda’s home for a very nice YSA meal. They are planning on inviting everyone
to their home once a month from now on. The whole evening was so nice, such a
homey type feeling…
Thursday was Thanksgiving. I decided to fix our own traditional meal and
celebrate. We did invite Georgia for her first Thanksgiving feast. She was
surprised that the nice balance of sweet with the savory.
In the evening we were off to Institute.
Section 42 of the D&C was the topic of discussion. There are some great
elements to that section. It is often called the law of the church. Bill emphasized
3 points: 1) who teaches, what we teach and how we teach 2) the law of consecration
and 3)the process of healing the sick. Our class did a great job of discussing
and learning. After class the stake YSA committee held their regular by-weekly
meeting.
We left a little early to try to get home
to talk to family on SKYPE. We were able to talk to everyone though we kept
playing phone tag with Ali. It is a wonderful day to think about how much family
means to us. I don’t know if I am homesick or if I just realize how much I love
you all! Your faith and testimonies and moral support has meant so much to us
during this experience! In Elder Scott’s conference talk he talked about the peace that the gospel brings to our lives. When I think of how much that has
meant to us over the years of child rearing and missions and weddings and
grand kids I cannot put into words my gratitude!
Friday was a busy day. We had a Zone
leadership training at 2 pm. Among other great teaching helps and truths the Zone
leaders presented the #ShareTheGift training. This is a fantastic effort by the
church to bring the message of the Savior into the lives of everyone during
this season of the year. Love the whole idea!
We had to be back at the Wells Rd. Chapel
just an hour or two after the end of training so we gave the Trowbridge Elders
a ride to the train station and went to Benny and Frankie’s for some dinner.
At 7:30 the first meeting of our Stake
Conference weekend was held. Elder Olsson of the 8th quorum of the
70 spoke just to the YSA. The gathering was small but those of us who were there
were edified both in word and instruction but mostly by the spirit. Such a
sweet feeling he brought with him. He talked of many topics, mostly reassuring these
young people of their worth and strength. To me one of the measures of its success
was how no one wanted to leave when it was over. Some things we feel through
the workings of the spirit are not found in or explained by words. Sometimes it
is just a lovely feeling of belonging, of belonging to the family of the
saints!
Whew, now today Saturday we had Southmead
Elders to lunch and the evening session of Stake Conference. I cannot believe
that this is our third Stake Conference of the Bristol Stake. I will cherish
all three and remember them forever; probably more than many I have attended
and will attend throughout my life.
I am thankful every day for moments of
sweetness. I am thankful for glimpses of truth and the opportunity to love and
be loved by so many good people!
Merry Christmas! Enjoy the Holiday, in all
of its craziness and remember the First Gift!
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