Letters From London: “Days to never be forgotten…”

August 4, 2013

The title of this weeks blog, “days never to be forgotten” was taken from a statement made by Oliver Cowdery as he assisted the Prophet Joseph in the restoration. These words stuck in my mind during this week so I thought they could be used as the header.

Likewise, we are experiencing days “never to be forgotten” in terms of being in the latter days of this dispensation. George Q Cannon noted that for every temple stone put in place, the power of the adversary is decreased. We now have over 140 operating temples, and many more in the planning stage. There is a lot of work to be done, a lot of dedication to be had, and a lot of time to be spent. We are happy to have this opportunity to serve in the Kingdom as called by a prophet of the Lord.

Thank you for your love and prayers.

Please send pictures!

Love, Dad

We have had a very interesting week at the temple. Dad and I have been serving as coordinators all by ourselves (I can’t believe they actually trusted us) on the top floor of the temple. We found, you will all be pleased to know, that I was able to control myself and I didn’t do bodily harm to your father. We did, however, witness a little “tiff” between another sister and brother (not her husband) and it really brought home to us that the temple is NOT a place for angry words or feelings. There is always a peaceful, reassuring feeling in the Lord’s House that I really miss when we are not there. It’s almost as if I need to get my “temple fix” so that I can operate effectively during the week.

I need to tell you about the ward we attend. The lady who accompanied the congregation on the organ really had a hard time this Sunday. It was testimony meeting. She got up to bare her testimony and asked if there was anyone who could help with the organ until the regular organist came back from holiday. So—guess who is playing the organ for the next two weeks. I’m back in the saddle again! The organ is old and has certainly seen better days. Several of the foot pedals don’t even play and it only has one volume-LOUD. But I think I’ll enjoy playing again. I also have to teach the Gospel Doctrine Lesson. Busy week, huh?

Anyway, because it was testimony meeting, we had several people get up to the pulpit and tell us wonderful experiences and testimonies. It was very touching, and I spent a lot of the meeting in tears. (Of course). I love to go to this ward because there are about 4 or 5 sets of missionaries who attend there also. We love to rub shoulders with them. They ooze the spirit and are so excited to see us. There is one who is my favorite, though. He is about Jay’s height 6’5” or so and even has hair just like Jay’s. He is so friendly and ready with a big handshake and hello and bigger smile each Sunday. He just makes me feel happy being around him and all my mothering instincts seem to come out because he has a face that only a mother could love. He was blessed with a very bad cleft palate. It has been fixed, but maybe not as well as it could have been. However, he doesn’t let it stop him from doing his missionary work. He has a ton of enthusiasm and a great love for the work. We also had another missionary who bore his testimony, saying that he is an “internet” missionary, in that, he puts up blogs and visits with people who are interested in the gospel on line. He told us that this last week he had a young lady make the decision to be baptized because the things he put on his blog answered her questions. He was so happy.

Our Sunday school class was about the people who surrounded Joseph who either supported or were against him. We spent some time discussing Joseph’s brother, Hyrum. The lesson quoted how much Joseph thought of and loved his brother because of the kind of person he was. “I could pray in my heart that all my brethren were like unto my beloved brother Hyrum, who possesses the mildness of a lamb, and the integrity of a Job, and in short, the meekness and humility of Christ; and I love him with that love that is stronger than death, for I never had occasion to rebuke him, nor he me.” I could make the connection with Steven. I told the class that we have a son-in-law to whom babies, small children and dogs always seem to gravitate. They all seem to know that he has a kind heart and a special goodness about him. I told them that it was because he was a great, great, etc. grandson of Hyrum Smith and the goodness he carries comes from his great grandfather Hyrum.

Our next P-day will see us visiting London for the first time. We are planning on taking the tour bus around just to see the sights. Maybe we will stop at just one place. That is all the time we will have. We’ll be sending pictures to go with our trip.