We are still on a high from this recent General Conference. How our spirits were lifted from a week of sadness by the words of prophets and apostles! From Elder Stevenson’s talk on peacemaking to Elder Kearon’s words of new beginnings to Elder Holland’s inspiring message of hope, I am feeling so inspired. There were so many great talks by all the speakers that it is hard to choose a favorite. What made the conference even more inspiring for us were two of our own miracles.
First, there is an older man, Bernie, in our branch who became offended through a misunderstanding a month or so ago. He stopped coming to church. We have been reaching out to him, but with little response. We had organized a General Conference Brunch at the church for some of our members and friends to watch together. There was a great turnout with lots of food. The conference for us started at 12:00 pm, so we invited everyone to come at 11 am. Everyone brought food, so we really had quite a smorgasbord. We were delighted when our old friend, Bernie, walked in to join us. He said he has never missed a general conference, and he realized from talking with his brother that he needed to come back to church. It was like he had never left. He told me that he decided to put the hurt feelings behind him and to come back because he knew the church and the Book of Mormon were true. He also joined us again last night for our FHE again. It’s great to have Bernie back. He has great questions and is always wanting to learn more.
Our other miracle was with a new friend, Ibrahim, from India. He is a chemical engineer and was Muslim. The sister missionaries have been teaching him. He is so excited about the gospel that they have been doing a lesson with him almost every day for the past couple of weeks. He has been coming to church for those weeks also, and he came to our brunch and stayed for the first two sessions on Saturday. Between the sessions the sisters invited me to join them in another lesson with him. During that lesson I was able to bare my testimony. Before we could finish the lesson, he asked when he could be baptized. He felt so strongly that this gospel was true that he wanted to be baptized as soon as was possible. The elders are also teaching a man who wants to be baptized and so we were able to set a date for both of them on the 19th of this month. We would like to have done it on the 12th , but that is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. Our Branch Pres. thought that many members might be out of town. He wants to have a good show of support from the members. We do baptisms on Sundays in this stake of Zion.
Elder Glenn was also asked to give a blessing to another man that the sisters are teaching. Sondro is an older man who has many things troubling him right now including his health. He came early on Sunday, so that he could get a blessing and then he stayed for the morning session. He was blown away by the messages and wiped the tears from his eyes throughout. I know he felt the spirit of the Lord as he enjoyed every minute of the session. Elder Holland’s talk left all of us amazed. Sondro has joined us at church once and at one of our previous FHEs. I think we will continue to see him with us.
We also have two guys, both of them named Kevin, who are being taught by the elders and who have been coming to our meetings. Fongwan and Sandra are planning to be baptized at some point but have not set a date for it yet. Debbie and her daughters are going through some difficulties in their family right now, so they are in need of prayers.
Today we are looking forward to watching the funeral of Pres. Nelson. I sure miss him with all of his wonderful optimism and wisdom. His words will resonate in my mind forever. I can’t think of anyone who was more Christlike than him. Think Celestial, Covenant Path, Spiritual Momentum, Exact Obedience, Be a Peacemaker, and many more thoughts come to mind. We love our prophets and all our leaders. This is such a great time to be alive and to see the Lord’s work going forward. I love that we can be here doing His work.
Au revoir,
The Glenns
Gigi and Papi