Week 43, A Relatively Quiet Week in our Corner of the Vineyard.

Week 43, A Relatively Quiet Week in our Corner of the Vineyard.

Do you ever attend a “Fast and Testimony” meeting with “dead spots” between speakers? That wasn’t a problem with our Recruits/new Marines on Sunday, but first the numbers.

We were almost evenly matched with 59 Recruits in our services at MCRD Parris Island on Sunday – 31 men and 28 women. Thirteen were LDS. Ten were brand-new Marines who had just completed the Crucible the day before. A couple of those were on crutches from injuries sustained, but that did NOT diminish the pride and joy in their smiles.

The first to get up to share her testimony, was our friend from a few weeks past, who had found herself in the “wrong service.” She noted that she was brought up in a good home and very active in her faith as a youth, attending multiple services each week. But when she went to college, she lost that fervor and then she “accidently” found herself in our service and kept coming back because of the Spirit she felt in our meetings and as she read the Book of Mormon. We have so come to love this young lady.

Another spoke about how being willing to give, brings so much back in return. A third spoke on the power of the Priesthood and the Priesthood blessings that have helped to sustain her through her training. Many spoke of the power of prayer.

One young man spoke very meaningfully of growing up angry in “the hood” and his experiences in overcoming that anger and in learning to trust others after almost losing his life 4 times. Others spoke of feeling at home in our services.

So many got up to speak that our Fast and Testimony meeting ran over, taking a good 15 minutes from Emma’s Sunday School class, but it was worth it as there was a wonderful Spirit in attendance as we heard from the hearts of these young people. You just gotta love experiences like this, seeing the good that comes into their hearts.

Emma’s class was on “Chastity”. She was straightforward and pulled no punches. The Marines and Recruits left knowing EXACTLY where she and the Church stand on chastity and sex outside of marriage. But she did a good job, and in addition to her straightforwardness, used humor and love to make her point. One Recruit there for the first time, told me that he enjoyed our meeting and that Sister Booren “didn’t have any filters.” I told him, “No, she just tells it like it is.”

Our District Council last Monday was again another example of a council as the Missionaries counselled together about the people they are teaching. Note the new term – we no longer speak of “investigators.”  They are now “the people we are teaching.” In addition to that, Emma and I were asked to present a short (3-5 minute) Plan of Salvation lesson. It was fun working with her on this, preparing and then presenting. What was the most fun is seeing her obvious enthusiasm and energy as she spoke and we took our turns. Our Father in Heaven’s love for us His children and his incredible generosity as evidenced in the Plan of Salvation are, to me, mind boggling and just amazing. I truly don’t think we as members of the Church even begin to capture the wonder of it. I am humbled to think we are entrusted with being vessels to assist in sharing it with others.

On Tuesday we went to the Naval Hospital, as usual, but nothing extraordinary was happening there. But that afternoon, I was helping with an activity at the Parris Island MCRD Museum and this was really cool. The Museum was partnering with the Library of Congress on a program called “The Veteran’s History Project.” The goal of this program is to collect audio/video interviews from aging veterans, preferably World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War veterans to get their personal view of war and the military. I have run across a few vets here that I am hoping to involve in this and perhaps turn this into missionary opportunities. At any rate, I will now be volunteering at the Parris Island Museum a couple days a month and that will be a new aspect of our adventure here.

One of the things I love about the Lord is how He can make things even better than what we originally had planned. A case in point. Went out on ministering visits with the Bike Elders last week and the folks we planned to visit turned out to not be home. What to do next? While driving past the home of an elderly less-active member I was aware of, we were prompted to stop and see how he was doing. His Alzheimer’s-afflicted wife of 60+ years is in a care facility, his health hasn’t been the best, but worst of all, he was feeling lonely and our visit was a help. In fact, the Elders decided to make the longish bike ride to see him on a weekly basis. That will be a blessing to both of them, but it might not have happened if other things hadn’t fallen through. Isn’t that kinda cool? I love how the Lord’s hand can work in our lives, IF we will just let it.

Family Day was another great day as is so usual. We had three of our lady Marines and their families come. Two of them are not members of the Church, at least not yet, but they both expressed their gratitude for our services and their interest in learning more over time. Their families were equally grateful for our services. They just don’t seem to understand that we are the ones being blessed here. Anyway, because one of the families was late and stayed long, we were even later heading off to Savannah for the rest of Zone Conference. But as we got going, the rain started coming down so hard that we weren’t even able to drive the speed limit, let alone get to our meeting in any sort of a timely fashion – it was like driving through a continuous waterfall. While we missed the Zone Conference, we were blessed by the Marines and families who came to see us for Family Day.

Saturday, I started volunteering at the Parris Island MCRD Museum and while there weren’t any spiritual fireworks there, it was simply satisfying and that in itself was a good thing. On returning home, I found a family helping their grown daughter move into her third-floor (no elevator) apartment and offered the help of our Elders who were to soon be arriving for dinner. The timing couldn’t have been better. After seeing two of our strong young Elders struggle up the stair case with a big couch, they were very appreciative that I didn’t take no for an answer when I first drove up. But it was the Lord’s timing that made the difference. Now we just need to let the Lord help us introduce this good young woman (3^rd Grade teacher – has to be good, right?) to the Sister Missionaries.

The bottom line in all of this is that God (Heavenly Father) is real and loves us, His children. And because He loves us, He sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world, to live and die and be resurrected for us. And now, He has restored His Church to the earth to help us in dealing with these crazy days in which we live. And that my friends, that is such a wonderful message. I see its reality every day and give thanks. Can life be anything other than good out here?