Apia, Samoa
Temple #22
How can I let God's presence go with me wherever I am?
It is by being worthy of the Holy Ghost at all times and in all places.
I got up at 4 am to study for my lesson.
James is teaching today also and his voice is just about gone. I feel for him and said a prayer for him. He is an example of perseverance.
We arrived early to church to set up and I was pleasantly surprised that the Relief Society room was available. I wrote the name of the lesson on the whiteboard and an outline of the lesson. "They Shall Be Their Own Judges" by Elder David A. Bednar.
Krystal Flake and Jane Rose came in to practice the song Krystal is singing in sacrament meeting today. Kerri Halcomb came in to set up the mic for our RS meeting. We talked and set up a lunch date for April 3rd. Kerri's birthday is April 2nd. I usually take handouts to the Primary and Young Women's but because I didn't want the Primary children and young women to see the cookies, so I told Lynn Wallace, the Primary secretary to tell the sisters to come and get a handout after the meetings are over. I tried to go to Young Women's after sacrament meeting but they had already started their meeting and I didn't want to interrupt.
We sat in the back with Kim & Brian. I had a difficult time hearing. The theme for the meeting was love. Lily Jameson was the youth speaker. "Charity is the pure love of Christ. Small acts of love can make a big difference."
Paula Johnson was next: The five love languages, kind words, service, time, gifts, and physical affection. Paula is a great example of someone who has Christlike love. Paula gives lots of community service here in Vernon, and one of those services is running the food bank. She says she gets to the library, where the food is distributed, an hour early so she can go down the line and talk to the people in line, getting to know them. I was so impressed with this! Paula is an amazing person.
James's friend, Greg Anderson was the last speaker. Greg was raised with an abusive father but in spite of this he says that he found the Savior and Jesus Christ is his best friend. One of the things I love about Greg is his desire to share his testimony with others. Whether he goes he strikes up a gospel conversation.
I introduced myself to two new sisters in our ward, Heather Holly and her mother Sheri. Kim sat on the front row and counted the sisters as they came in. She counted up to 35 and more came after she quit counting. Oh dear, I hope I have enough handouts.
I felt good about the lesson afterwards. Relief Society sisters are so sweet and kind. Millie Scott took me aside and ask me to pray for her on March 31st. She is having an aorta replacement. I told her I certainly would. She is such a sweetheart. One of my former young women, Winna Ulmer's granddaughter, Hope Lootans was in Relief Society today. Hope has been into drugs and just got out of prison recently. It was so wonderful to see her in Relief Society.
Brian was a little upset about the elders quorum meeting. He said the counsel wasn't really a counsel. I guess Steve Rosen told the brothers they could always do more. He also said James didn't even get to starts his lesson until 37 minutes after the hour, leaving him only about 20 minutes. He said James did a good job.
This evening Kim, Brian and I watched the "When Calls the Heart" finale. Nathan finally proposed to Elizabeth and Edie and Lucas finally kissed.
Kathy Crane thinks our black cat Scooter is their cat's offspring that they gave to the MacArthur's. She called him Jose.
Our A.S.K. talk for today was a talk given by President James E. Faust years ago on forgiveness. I remember it. An outsider, a milkman, broke into an Amish school and shot and killed 5 young girls, injured 5 more and then killed himself. The Amish community immediately forgave the man. How did they do it? Here are some quotes:
"Forgiveness comes more readily when, like the Amish, we have faith in God and trust in His word. Such faith 'enables people to withstand the worst of humanity. It also enables people to look beyond themselves. More importantly, it enables them to forgive.'"
"Keep a place in your heart for forgiveness, and when it comes, welcome it in."
Kim wrote:
I was impressed with how readily the Amish people were able to forgive.
"How could the whole Amish group manifest such an expression of forgiveness? It was because of their faith in God and trust in His word, which is part of their inner beings. They see themselves as disciples of Christ and want to follow His example."
The gospel is designed to help us become like Christ and they were such disciples that when the time came to forgive they were readily able to do it because they had let Christ transform them.
All I can say is Wow.
the loveseat. It's been missing for months!
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