2nd Outgoing Devotional, Oct. 27

October 27, 2013

Tonight was the 2^nd Outgoing Devotional we have attended.  I love these meetings!  They are the spiritual high of our experience here.  In the mission office, we spend so much time on the necessary busy work of the mission, that it is wonderful to have this opportunity every 6 weeks to hear the testimonies of the missionaries who are going home, and the new converts that share their experiences.  I counted up, and we will be here for a total of 14 transfers.  We have now been through 2 of the Outgoing Devotionals, so we will be privileged to be able to attend 12 more.  Of course, the last one I will be too nervous to enjoy, since we will have to speak.  But I will thoroughly enjoy 11 more!  Elder Hammond, who has been our Zone Leader (though for us that is name only because we don’t participate in District or Zone meetings..we are too busy with our jobs) spoke, and bore a powerful testimony.  I can see him being a great leader!  He talked of one person he worked with, who was from pioneer heritage, but not a part of the church.  That person had spent 6 or 7 years trying to understand that part of his heritage….and decided that those people, to do all they did for the church, and all they gave up for the church….were either crazy, misled, or the church was true.  He decided that they weren’t crazy people, so it was either they were misled or the church was true.  After studying things out for that time, he finally decided the church was true.  Elder Hammond challenged those in attendance to make the decision for themselves. There is no middle ground……the church is either true, or not.  80,000 missionaries serving throughout the world know it is true, which is why they give up 18 months to 2 years of their lives to serve the Lord.

Other powerful testimonies were shared.  One being a senior couple, the Cardon’s, who leave this week.  Elder Cardon spoke of the time being not too distant for each of us to see the Savior and the nail prints in his hands, and be able to worship him in person.

Well, this is going to be a busy week.  Transfer weeks are crazy in the office.

Today, we had 2 baptisms in the Vietnamese branch.  So, in 8 days we have had 3 baptisms there.  Great news for the branch!  I think it had been a year since they have had a baptism.  And, of course, dinner after…..I took taco salad this time, and had lots of compliments.

Yesterday, I made bread and apple pie.  We invited our Elders….Elder Hullinger and Elder Bruggeman…to stop by when they day was done for them.  They got here at 9 and had pie and ice cream with us, and we sent them home with a loaf of bread.  They enjoyed looking at our genealogy charts on the wall, and we even got online so they could see how to trace their family back.