Dedications, Graduations, Tranfers, and Inspections

Saturday, March 08, 2014

Last Sunday we had a very special opportunity here in Sierra Vista. We took six of our soldiers to the Stake Center to attend the dedication of the Gilbert Temple. There were no church meetings held in Arizona, except for the dedication. It was a spiritual feast as we had the opportunity to hear President Monson speak to us. It was a deeply touching talk.

We got approval this week from the Chaplain’s office to begin an Institute class on Fort Huachuca. We plan to start next week and are hopeful that this will give us another touch point with the soldiers. Thursday was a day of mixed feelings as we watched 3 of our fine young faithful soldiers graduate and head off to their next assignments. Some are members of the National Guard and will be headed home, while others head off to Monterey, California for linguist training. One of the soldiers who left us this week is a young Hawaiian named Jahdi (pronounced JD). 

Soldiers who graduated this week, (soldier 2nd from left is still here) This was taken on their arrival. Far right is Jahdi

 

Soldier from Hyrum, Utah receiving his diploma

Jahdi, as they marched away from graduation

 

Wife and daughters of graduating soldier

He has faithfully attended church for the 5 months that he has been here and we have come to love him dearly. He is not a member of the church but you would never know it by his demeanor, his dress, his behavior, or his participation. He is headed home and plans to be baptized when he gets home. He sent me a text thanking us for what we have done and telling us he will let us know when he is baptized. He and his buddies have really added to our joy in this calling and they will be sorely missed. This is the first group that Sister Heninger and I have worked with from arrival to graduation.

Tuesday, following our shift at the Turn Around Point, we had an appointment to teach a sister in the Huachuca Ward who has been less active for more than 40 years. She is a sweet lady who was offended by some church leaders many years ago. We had a nice discussion with her and she opened up to us and shared the details of why she fell away from the church. She had a very difficult life, all her children have left the church as well. As we talked, I found that her heart has softened and she desires to change. I asked her if she could do it over, would she do anything differently. She said, "yes, I would not have left the church over this and perhaps my children would have stayed in the church." It is very sad to see how she let another person's words or behavior adversely impact her and her children's spiritual lives and possibly their salvation by being offended. As best I can determine, what happened to her was awful, however, she made the choice to be offended by it and leave the church. She still believes the church to be true and understands now that her choice to be offended was a costly one.

None of us is perfect, and we must always be vigilant, acting in love at all times toward one another. We should strive diligently not to offend others. On the other side,  we need to develop a strong testimony based on solid gospel principles and not on a personalities or friendships. People are imperfect, gospel truths are not.

On a positive note, this sister told us the story of her nephew, who was living an immoral and rather raucous life but was introduced to the gospel by his boss. As a result, he married his girlfriend, joined the church along with his wife, and has subsequently baptized his wife’s parents. He and his wife are now sealed in the temple and were recently baptized for the deceased parents of the sister we are teaching. It is a miracle. This sister, their aunt, is so proud of him for the life changes he has made.

We hear miracle stories every week as we meet with the missionaries in zone and district meetings. At this week’s zone training, I had the opportunity to role play a bishop and conduct a mock ward council. It was a familiar role a lot of fun. Hopefully, it was helpful to the cause. I have said it before, but it is so true, these young missionaries are amazing young men and women! We completed another round of apartment inspections and the missionaries have gotten the word. The apartments were very neat and clean, just like Sister Heninger likes them.

This week was also transfer week. This time we had only 5 missionaries out of 20 transfer.  All missionaries in our zone that were here when we came have now transferred out. It is amazing how these  missionaries hit the ground running in their new areas.

We love the work and we especially love the area here. The weather is wonderful and the people are great. By the way, we also love to hear from home, so please do not hesitate to drop us a note. You can either respond on this blog or you can send us an email. Our email address can be found on the ward website. We are grateful to those who do write us a note from time to time. Take care and know that we think of you often and love you.