Students, Missionaries & Nursery Rhymes

You may argue with us, but truly, we have the best mission there could possibly be. Our Institute students are amazing and more are coming all the time. Even Ark, who was baptized Saturday, is strong, knowledgeable, and anxious to share the Gospel. The opportunity to teach the doctrine of Christ, to explain the creation, fall and atonement, let alone the words of Isaiah is a daunting challenge yet it stretches us and somehow the Book of Mormon comes alive for all of us. We see the hand of the Lord every day.

It was such a privilege to be with Elders Gerber and Wang when they went to teach Peter. We talked about eternal families, a very tender subject for Peter. As his wife recently died, he wanted to know about temple work and had many questions. He is full of faith and gains strength from his steady, quiet reliance on the Savior.

Elder Wang, who is from mainland China, is a "miracle conversion". His best friend introduced him to the gospel, then his friend's mother flew with him to Hong Kong where he met with the missionaries and was taught all the lessons in one day and was baptized the next. Obviously he was truly converted as he is now serving a mission. His is not an isolated case. A few years ago there were a few hundred native Chinese in mainland China who were members, now there are thousands, many of whom are "miracle conversions" taught in one day.

One of our Institute students, Lisa Morgan, who lives in our mission, was just called as a missionary to serve in our mission, the England Birmingham Mission. This is the first time I have ever heard of that happening. She was surprised, but is anxious to serve.

We inspected flats in the Coventry Zone today. It was fun to see the missionaries we knew from when they were in Wales, it was great to see how clean some of the flats were, and it was really fun in Banbury to see Banbury Cross. They are celebrating it's 150th birthday this coming Sunday. Apparently there was an older cross in Banbury, but this one replaced it 150 years ago. And as an added bonus, we also saw the beautiful statue commemorating: "Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross to see a fine lady upon a white horse. Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, she shall have music wherever she goes." And indeed, she did have rings on her fingers and bells on her toes.

Transfers & Lost Sheep

We taught Institute Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. It is great to hear the comments and the testimonies of these young people. I have gained such a burning testimony of the love of God and of His Son Jesus Christ as we have studied the Book of Mormon. To teach of the creation, the fall and the atonement to these young people is a privilege indeed. The depth of gratitude I feel for Heavenly Father that he was willing to allow his beloved Son to suffer and die so we could find our way back to Him and for the love of the Savior for his Father and for us that he willing suffered as He did when he could have stopped the suffering at any point overwhelms me. "I Stand All Amazed."

Transfers brought us great joy. We keep nearly all the missionaries in our District and we have Elder Gerber back. What a bright light he is. He is training a companion straight from China. I think Elder Gerber was the only Chinese speaking Elder left in the mission but this transfer brought two natives of China. It took a long time to get their visas.

Elder Gerber, with Elders Sessions and Wood, taught Peter and Elder Gerber baptized him. Peter's wife passed away a couple of months ago and he had to go home. We were worried we would lose him. But he is back and with Elder Gerber here too, it is a very good thing. Elder Gerber, his companion and we are going to teach Peter tonight. I am excited.

We attended Ark's baptism in Pontypridd Saturday. He is a very intelligent, spiritual person who has studied hard and was so ready for baptism. He brought two non-member friends to the baptism. He was introduced to the Church by his friend girl, or girlfriend, I'm not sure which she is, but she is beautiful and has been a member since she was eight. Ark is reading the Book of Mormon diligently and he and Tracy have been attending our Institute class in Pontypridd. It is a privilege to associate with them.

Elders Kennett and Clark are doing a great work in Pontypridd. At the baptism I sat by Bill, a Chinese university student there whom they baptized four weeks ago. He is solid. Two weeks after they started teaching him he went out and bought a suit so he would be able to attend Church appropriately dressed. I love his humility and cheerful spirit.

Paul, who was baptized in September, had not been to Church for three weeks. We were very worried that we had lost him. We could not reach him by telephone, nor could the Sisters reach him at his home even when leaving notes, or at his work. We were very concerned. He was at Church today. He had been very ill and had spent five days in the hospital without a charger for his mobile phone. He is much improved and received the priesthood today.

General Conference and More

General Conference was once again a marvelous time of spiritual joy. I especially enjoyed the talks by President Uchtdorf and Elder Holland, as well as many others. The Choir's rendition of "O Divine Redeemer" was especially beautiful. Then we were able to share our impressions and experiences with each other at Family Home Evening and gained additional insights and inspiration by doing so. What a great blessing it is for us to be associated with these young adults.

In addition, Tom and Julie, our daughter and her husband, were able to meet Luc who was in Salt Lake for General Conference. That means a lot to us as it is great to share some of the experiences of our mission with our family while we are away.

It's the Little Things

Often it is not the big things that make a mission so memorable and meaningful. It is the many little things. One of them was the testimony of Ben Edwards, one of our Institute students who was baptized in February. I would like to share a few things he said Sunday in Testimony Meeting: "I'm not the greatest reader. But any time I am driving or walking around I turn on my iPod and listen to some Conference talks. My mother asked me this morning if I thought I had done the right thing [in joining the Church]. I said, 'Definitely. I know it is the right thing or I wouldn't be going.' I am thankful for the Cables and that they are teaching Institute. Last week in Institute when someone [Paul Pratt] read the Introduction to the Book of Mormon it reminded me of the first time I read the Introduction. I had such a wonderful feeling that filled me. When I heard him read it at Institute, I felt that feeling again. It filled me. I must confess I didn't listen to much else. I just wanted to keep that feeling." That's what it's all about.

President Dearden spoke at the Stake Temple Fireside, encouraging the people to use the temple, to attend often. He said, "There are so many beautiful churches in Wales. They are a testament of the people of that time. So very many of these churches have been converted into low price goods stores, houses for derelicts, art and craft stores, homes and even garages. That is a testament of our time." Are our temples being used as they should and as much as they should?

Simon Hayes taught our Family Home Evening lesson about the history of the Church in Britain. In 1837 Joseph Smith asked Heber C. Kimball to go to England and start the work there. At the ordination of Elder Kimball, Orson Hyde was present and right then volunteered to serve also. They landed in Liverpool on July 20, 1837, and baptized their first converts on July 30, 1837 in the River Ribble. Within months there were hundreds baptized in England. Heber C. Kimball baptized 1,500 converts.

Dan Jones served two missions to Wales, the first in northern Wales and he baptized one person in a year of working there. His second mission was to southern Wales where he baptized 3,200 in one year. Most of his success was in Merthyr Tydfil. The Osmond family has roots in Merthyr Tydfil. Simon Hayes, our FHE teacher this night, is a 6th generation member of the Church. That is rare here as most of the early converts immigrated to Utah.

It was different teaching Institute this week in three different places with three very different classes, but each one was rewarding in their own way. It is an amazing privilege to discuss the principles of the Book of Mormon with thoughtful, responsive young adults.

As all of you know, General Conference was fabulous, but that is a story for another week.