Sunday June 8, 2025

What an outstanding week! Thursday morning we were part of a Zoom meeting with the mission - a broadcast from the mission home with Pres. and Sr. Schow talking with Elder and Sr. McConkie.  Several important points were brought out during that meeting:

1. If we are to become disciples of Jesus we need to spend time with him as did his original disciples.  We can’t follow him over the dusty roads of Judea and the Galilee, but we can spend time with him in the scriptures.  Elder Wirthlin taught this and it has been amplified by other apostles.  Nephi said that we need to liken the scriptures to ourselves and then went on to quote Isaiah - why?  Isaiah was the best scriptural reference to the Savior that they had. No four gospels or third Nephi. The difference between being a student of Jesus Christ and being a disciple is the difference between information and a covenant relationship. The key to that relationship is to be on our knees, in the scriptures, and serving others. There we can learn how to emulate Christ.
2. When a disciple has a covenant relationship with the master, he or she has pledged allegiance to him, active loyalty and fidelity.
3. The Sacrament facilitates the development of our faith through repeated remembering of previous spiritual experiences.  That explains the emphasis on attending the meeting every week and of thoughtful preparation to receive the ordinance.

Thursday we were able to experience a bit of that as we took the Sacrament to a shut-in widow who lives about 40 minutes away.  We will probably change that schedule to allow other priesthood holders to participate.

Yesterday evening we participated in the long-anticipated branch talent show.  It was an amazing evening!  Normally I (Tom) would try to find a way to avoid the flawed performances.  However, knowing these folks made their offerings all the more fascinating.  The chapel room was transformed into a stage with lights, decorations, etc.  The whole program lasted 4 hours (!) with 36 listed performances in the printed program by members and friends.  They ranged from original poetry and art, embroidery, a reading, wood-carving,  and tiramisu consumed during the intermission.  Then on to a slide show of Portugal, original computer art, break-dancing, a recorded display of Serbian dancing (by someone from there), a demonstration of martial arts, a family performance of mime since they don’t speak French well, a demonstration of a 72 hour survival kit.  And more dancing - colorful costumes  from Colombia and Polynesia and the western line of the Cupid Shuffle. Tahitian singing, a saxophone solo, a bit of jazz piano, and some comic opera concluded the program. We all had a blast - lots of clapping and appreciation and lots of laughter.  And the cleanup went very quickly because everyone helped.

Viva Colombia!

Polynesian dancing

Misty - Sax and piano

Today in meetings we were visited by Pres. and Sr. Schow and they spoke very well.  I want to repeat a story about the Sabbath Day as told by Sr. Catogni, the wife of the branch president.  They have four children and would often take them for a ski vacation growing up.  When their two daughters were getting ready for one of those weeks, the first day of ski school was on a Sunday.  It lasted five days with the best skiers given an award at the end.  They wanted to let their daughters decide what to do about that.  Both decided on their own that they had the faith to do well despite not attending the school on Sunday.  Their younger daughter ended up getting the award despite only having 4 days of school, and attributed that as a blessing for keeping the Sabbath Day holy.  The older sister fell and broke her leg on day 3, and so didn’t get any award.  However, she told her parents that she wanted to keep the Sabbath Day holy not to get the award but to please her Heavenly Father.  

After meetings today we were also able to witness a small miracle.  Two older sisters in the branch have had bad feelings for many years because of something that happened in the past.  Today, as we exited the building onto the sidewalk near the street and several parting conversations were taking place, we noticed that these two sisters said goodbye with bisous - the traditional two-cheek kiss.  Whatever the situation was that provoked the division, it is now resolved and forgiven and peace reigns again.