Sunday, March 02, 2014

          Sister Sierra asked me a couple of weeks ago to play the music for Sacrament Meeting today, and it was nice to know the songs ahead of time and be able to prepare something for prelude. 

          The testimony-bearing part of Sacrament meeting here is a great treat.  The people throng the stand several at a time to wait for a turn at the pulpit.  A member of the bishopric has to stand at some point and advise the congregation that there will only be time for those already in the front to participate and the rest will have to wait for another opportunity. 

          Many of them come to the pulpit in families or as couples.  It is very sweet to see them standing there together supporting each other.  The first two today were a man and his son who had just received his mission call to Las Vegas, Nevada.  The young man spoke first with his dad beside him, and then the dad spoke.  As his father began to speak, this young missionary-to-be put his arm around his dad’s shoulders and held it there for several minutes while the dad bore his testimony and kept it there as they left the stand together. 

Another father, mother, and two teen-age daughters came to the pulpit together and huddled close as each took a turn speaking.  One teary-eyed girl hugged her mom after she finished and they all listened as their emotional dad thanked the Lord for their blessings. 

Another young couple came up together as well.  They have been married about a year—she is Latin and teaches seminary in our building and has a job as an engineer.  Her young husband is from Wyoming and they met at an institute dance at the University of Wyoming where they were both going to school.  She was there on scholarship and he had just returned from serving a mission in France.  They fell in love and married.  She and her family are from Tegucigalpa and the newly-weds returned here so she can get her papers approved to move to the USA.  While they wait, he is continuing his undergraduate university studies here, in Spanish--which he had to learn after getting here just a little while ago.  He wants to be a dentist and is anxious to get back to the United States.  They have been living with her parents.  They are a wonderful couple!

And so on and so on . . .  The meeting was great.

The temple presidency is giving a training meeting to stake presidents from Nicaragua.  They have been planning and preparing the technology all week and told us today that we would be without Internet service from 1:30 until 6:00 p.m.  It’s funny how it feels to be “disconnected”!  It’s a little like having the power go off since we depend on the use of our computers and the Internet for so many things. 

Have a wonderful day, everyone.  Love you all so much and miss you!

I took this picture tonight on our walk.  Does is resemble your March Ensign Cover Photo?
(Minus the glare on the right side from the sun :)

Just us "young" folks here!