Well, we have both had a week of coughing, but we seem to be doing better. Coughs not gone, but feeling better. There has been a lot of sickness around. Our nurse even got strep throat and was out for a couple of days.
Gary has had a lot of busy days, working on getting several apartments ready to close. This bunch that he is doing this month will not be the end. We have learned that during the surge of missionaries we were up to about 270 young missionaries when President Mella arrived here last summer, and are now down to about 230 I think he said, and we will settle down to about 200 in the next few months, and that is where we will stay. So, there will need to be more apartments closed in the near future. Something for Gary’s trainee to learn during training.
This past week we had visitors from the missionary department here, meeting with President Mella and going out with the missionaries in the evenings evaluating how the work is going here, and giving some suggestions for improvement. Then, on Saturday, Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Brent H. Nielson of the Seventy, and Bishop Gerald Causse of the Presiding Bishopric were in town for training meetings with Stake and Ward leaders in the mission area, and the whole mission had a meeting with them Saturday afternoon, from 2 until 4. It was mainly a question and answer time for the missionaries to ask questions they had and get answers from any or all of them, plus the mission president.
We had taken the zone mail tubs to the meeting, and had them set up in the back of the cultural hall, so we hung around after until things were picked up. Then, we headed to the office to open it up for those who needed things from there while they were in town. We probably finished around 5:30 at the office. We had left our apartment about 12:45 to head to the office in the first place to pick up the tubs and head to the building for the meeting. So, our afternoon was taken up. We had gotten up fairly early and gone to do our grocery shopping first thing on Saturday morning, to beat the crowds of Saturday shoppers. Turned out to be a good idea! Then we came back to clean and do laundry before the meeting. I also made bread before the meeting, and left it cooling while we were gone. Saturday evening, I made 2 different types of cookies too, and made up plates of cookies and a loaf of bread for 2 of our Vietnamese missionaries who had birthday’s Dec. 30th….Elder Hullinger and Elder Ho. I had been sick at that time, so hadn’t made them any goodies, so a belated birthday gift for them. We dropped them off this morning on our way to church.
Church today was different for 3 stakes, as the 3 visitors from Salt Lake had split up and attended 3 different stakes for special stake meetings. Ours was one of the ones picked, so we had the special meeting from 9 until 10:30 this morning. Our meeting had Bishop Causse speak, along with our stake president, President Hoggan, and President and Sister Mella from the mission, and a sister from one of the wards.
So today was a quiet Sunday. We got home about 11, I fixed dinner, we ate, and it has been restful and quiet ever since!
Next week will be Zone Conferences from Tuesday through Friday, so I will be the lone one in the office for part of each of those days.
One topic that was talked about a lot this weekend during the various meetings was about the Holy Ghost. 3 Nephi 27:20 mentions being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. We were told that the Holy Ghost is a sanctifier and a purifier. Once when the Prophet Joseph Smith was talking with President Van Buren, he was asked by President Van Buren what was the difference in our church from other churches. Joseph Smith told him that the difference was the Holy Ghost.
When we are baptized at 8 years of age, we grow up with the Holy Ghost being a part of us for so many years, that having the Holy Ghost in us is like breathing. Sometimes we don’t stop and think what a blessing it is in our lives, and how lucky we are to be able to renew our baptismal covenants each week when we partake of the sacrament. But those who join the church at a later age do feel the difference in their lives.
The missionaries were counseled that when they teach people about the Gospel, it is their job to connect the investigators to heaven. This is done by bringing the spirit into the meeting, and helping the investigators to understand that what they are feeling is the spirit of the Holy Ghost.
Another thing mentioned was about being consecrated. In Mark 10, the rich young man asks Jesus what he can do to inherit eternal life. He is told first about keeping the commandments, which the young man says he has done from his youth. Then he is told that “one thing thou lackest:….sell whatsoever thou hast, give to the poor…..take up the cross and follow me.” The young man couldn’t give up his riches to follow Jesus. We were told that you know you are becoming consecrated when the principle of obedience becomes easy rather than restrictive. Obedience is not the end, but the means to the end. Zion’s Camp was talked about, and how the men on that march had to become both obedient and united to achieve the Lord’s objective, and then they went on to become the first leaders of the church.
The missionaries were reminded that they are the branch and ward builders. It is as important to reactivate as to convert. And that they are each their first convert, as they become truly converted during missionary service.
It is always wonderful to hear and learn more of the teachings of the Gospel, and we appreciate having the chance to attend these special meetings. We are grateful for the things we have been a part of since serving this mission, and seeing the work move forward. Yes, we have had some hard times, and yes, we are tired…..we can tell it is time to go home to catch up on some rest! But, we know the church is true and are glad we had the strength and energy to be able to help out in our small way in this mission office calling.
We are told that there is such a need for senior missionaries, and that the number who apply to serve a mission is so much less than the number that is needed. Hopefully, everyone will take a turn and serve a mission to help out as they can. While we have been here, we have had 2 different couples who have each served a 6 month mission…..so even smaller amounts of time can be a great help. We actually have a couple serving a mission here as service missionaries, serving from their home. They are our mission referral secretaries. There are so many ways to help and serve a mission.
We have enjoyed the friendships we have formed with others here, and look forward to seeing them in the future.
We are on the countdown. Our mission end date is Feb. 19th, but because the couple that is coming to replace us won’t start until Feb. 9th, we will train with them for 2 full weeks. We talked of leaving here Monday, Feb. 23rd, but have modified that a bit. I was dreading leaving during the traffic rush hour Monday morning, so we have decided that Sunday afternoon we will head out of town and drive for maybe 4 hours before stopping for the night. That way we won’t get caught up in rush hour traffic here which is horrible! Otherwise, we wouldn’t even want to leave here until around 10 on Monday to avoid it. So that is the plan at the moment. Which means we are at 6 weeks from today to go.
Thanks to those who wished us well as we were sick. Your good thoughts and prayers in our behalf have helped!
We look forward to seeing family and friends before too long now! Not looking forward to the cold, but, oh well! We’d rather have cold than the traffic here! (If you hear me say how cold I am when we get home, remind of that!)
Bye for now!
No comments:
Post a Comment