INDESCRIBABLE JOY

We have come to feel in a very intimate way, times of 'indescribable joy' as we have served here on our mission. I believe the term 'indescribable' is very appropriate, because I am at a loss to define it other than to say, I have felt it and it has filled my heart. It is something that I had experienced throughout our married life with our family, or serving in the church, or on my mission in Argentina. These moments seem to be mostly associated with ordinances and covenants. For some reason, it seems that these moments are a little sweeter now. Perhaps I had forgotten or taken them for granted in the past, and the Lord in his mercy is reminding me of previous times and bringing to my consciousness the need to always seek for these experiences.

Recently we accompanied Karol to the temple to receive her endowments. As she came through the veil, Robyn and Karol embraced and wept and held each other as the tears flowed and flowed. We have seen such tremendous faith and desire on Karol's part over the past six months as she has prepared herself to be worthy to receive the ordinances of the temple.

Karol had asked me to do the temple work for her youngest brother, Kener, who died in a tragic accident as he made his way here to the United States from Honduras. In the Celestial room, I told Karol that prior to the session, I had said a silent prayer that Kener would accept the covenants and ordinances that would be made in his behalf this night. As I prayed, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the Spirit bearing witness that indeed Kener had accepted all that the Gospel offered and that the Lord allowed him to be there in the temple with his sister. More tears of joy followed. 

We are so grateful to our Father in Heaven for these brief moments of joy that give us just a tiny glimpse of what is in store for us if we remain faithful to our covenants. We pray that we will always remember what the Savior has done for us to make this possible. 

Karol's escort, Anabel Bravo

ZONE CONFERENCE

Leaving the temple following the conclusion of zone conference

On Tuesday, we were invited to attend a zone conference at the Liberty stake center which is next door to the temple. Zone conferences were held over three days, with a third of the mission participating each day. As part of the conference, all the elders and sisters were able to attend a special afternoon session in the temple, just for missionaries, following lunch. 

Even with only a third of the mission going to the temple each day, there still was not enough room for everyone to participate in an endowment session. The Kansas City temple is quite small. I think the capacity is around 58 for a session. They often have to bring in extra chairs if there are more that come. We always try to get there early for a session, because often they have to turn patrons away because there is not enough room. 

The mission president previously had advised all the senior couples that the young elders and sisters would be given priority and that we were excused from attending the temple. As we were finishing our lunch, President Vest came up to Robyn and I and asked if we could stay and attend the session with he and his wife and his first counselor and wife along with the missionaries. He said that the temple president had told him that they needed 3 couples on the session. We felt honored to be able to join with all those fine elders and sisters in the temple.    

Prior to the session, the temple president spoke to all the missionaries in the chapel and quoted this scripture, from the dedication of the Kirtland temple. He reminded us that the temple will provide us with additional strength and power in our work.

D&C 109: 22 And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them;

SERVICE PROJECT

We have been taught by prophets and apostles that the surest way to forget your troubles and worries or look outward instead of inward is through doing Christlike service for others. With this in mind, we invited Noah and Kelehua and Sister Gonzalez and Sister Sly to come with us to help a family in our ward. We spent a couple of hours helping a dear sister organize and clean her home. After we finished, it was very obvious that all involved were blessed and strengthened by their efforts. 

LUNCH WITH THE SISTERS

Delicious pupusas at Las Palmas Restaurant

BOY SCOUT FUNDRAISER

Christmas Eve, our troop bagged groceries at a large local market as a fundraiser. They have done this for the last 4 years and it has been a great success. The kids bag the groceries for tips and donations. We had enough boys to cover every check stand. Scouting is huge in the Midwest and everyone it seemed wanted to support them.
The store was packed, with a long line at every register all day long - lots of shoppers getting last minute food for their Christmas dinner. Amazingly, the final total of tips and donations added up to $1580.00.
I told the boys that I was able to earn most of the money for my mission working as a box boy at Vons Market back home in L.A. To prove it to them, I filled in when they needed a bathroom break. I was a little rusty, but fortunately I didn't break any eggs.

Arturo Jeronimo

Yael Mera

Gabriel Munoz

Victor Bideu

Tommy Merritt

The boys hit up President Chambers twice. He was a very generous tipper.

NOTHING WASTED

A few weeks ago, I posted a picture of James with the first buck he shot. The meat just came back from the butcher and Robyn wasted no time in cooking a delicious venison roast which he had given us. After 8 hours in the crock pot, it melted in your mouth. :)