Thank goodness we are back in an appropriate time zone to enjoy General Conference! Asia was rough. Usually I'm busy making a Jeopardy game or a seminary quiz, but none of that was needed this year. Here are my favorite moments.
Elder Tai Opening Prayer. Oh my goodness, I love this man. He was in charge of senior missionaries in the Asia Area office and he was always interested in our welfare. When our son was having serious difficulties, he called us into his office to see if he could help. I miss him and his family. I was able to teach his daughter piano lessons each week and his wife is an incredible cook and teacher.
Bonnie Cordon, "Never Give Up an Opportunity to Testify of Christ." With that powerful talk she is released as General Young Women President. I am really working on this admonition in Spanish.
Elder Peter F. Meurs, "He Could Heal Me!" We were so sad when Elder and Sister Meurs left the Asia Area Presidency in July of 2022 for the Pacific Area. His home is in Perth, so it was a great opportunity to serve closer to home. I remember him telling the story of his car crash. What an amazing example he is. And goodness, he can play anything on the piano.
Mark A. Bragg, "Christlike Poise." Be a calm man in a storm. This talk on poise was unique to me and something I need to work on. What a great opportunity he had to be tutored by Coach Wooden.
Elder Neil L. Anderson, "My Mind Caught Hold upon This Thought of Jesus Christ." The story Elder Anderson told of a dying mother and her three children was heart-breaking. Later the next day, Elder Anderson posted on Facebook that Maddy (who is in the MTC) had heart surgery at the age of 13. The Harpers, who served with us in Hong Kong, are serving as her MTC leaders and posted their love for her and admiration of her strong testimony.
President Russell M. Nelson, "Peacemakers Needed." How much do we need this message today? I know when I scroll through social media, I become changed by the language and criticism displayed. I remembered some friends who do nothing but speak encouraging words; that is an example I can follow.
President Dallin H. Oaks, "The Teachings of Jesus Christ." Knowing the kind of scholar President Oaks is, I bet he slaved over his talk. And because he spoke only the words of Jesus Christ, his talk was incredibly powerful.
Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt, "Do You Know Why I as a Christian Believe in Christ?" When I taught seminary, I would encourage students to try to explain doctrine in the most simple way possible. How would you explain this to a 5-year-old, a 20-year-old, or a 60-year-old? The simple doctrinal principles are the most important.
If you haven't seen Elder Corbitt's talk on Activism, check out this powerful message:
Finally, the temple announcements. There were a few temples we had been waiting on: Iquitos, Peru--where you can only enter by plane; San Jose and Bakersfield, California--which have long distances to travel. But the remaining were such a surprise. Jakarta was the one that made me gasp. We have only 2 dozen missionaries in the majority Muslim country of 273 million people. My brother was thrilled about the Charlotte, North Carolina temple announcement since he served there from 1984-1986.
What an uplifting weekend. I hope you enjoyed General Conference and that you make time to rewatch and study the words of these inpired servants of God. If you use Alexa, ask her to download Gospel Voice. Then tell her, "Alexa, ask Gospel voice to play General Conference."
Our last zone conference and first with the Bradshaws was in Lago Agrio. We enjoyed a tigrillo lunch, which is a dish of mashed green plantains, eggs, and cheese. If you look at this typical banana stand, the green plantains (also called maduro) are large with hard edges. The plantains that are turning black are good for roasting and are sweeter. The small bananas are oritos and are sold in the US. Regular sized bananas that you might be used to are called guineos. They cost 10 cents each and are found everywhere. The missionaries painted some rocks after the conference. Here is Sister Jensen showing off her great creative skills. Sister Tuck is such a great missionary. Sister Bradshaw was horrified that this tradition of eating mayónes in Ecuador. These palm weevils cause major damage to palm trees, so it's helpful to eat them to keep the palm kernel oil flowing. I love that Elder Rodriguez smile. We have 3 Elder Rodriguez's and 1 Hermana Rodriguez. He is the only one from th...
For our exit from the mission, we were invited to go to the mission home on Saturday evening and stay until our departure on Monday evening. We drove to our favorite Korean restaurant, Tasty, did our best to say "thank you" in Korean and found our way to the new mission home. The apartment in Tenis was sold and this place inside a conjunto was found. It was incredible large with room for plenty of missionaries to sleep on the floor. On Sunday we attended the El Inca Ward with President and Sister Bradshaw. Elder Wallis wanted to see a confirmation of a young sister he had helped find the gospel. President and Sister DelCarpio were there as well as this was outside our mission. I was thrilled to see Elder Hall and a few of the other missionaries who were coming home with us. It was a surprise to see President Galán who is now in the new presidency. I even saw President and Sister Osorio from the Lago Agrio Branch who were visiting family 6 hours from home. What a surprise! Th...
We drove the last time through the Andes to Cumbayá to stay at the temple. It was such a relief knowing that we wouldn't have to drive that again. The car was starting to have suspension problems, too. We arrived to find some missionaries from the neighboring Quito Mission. One of them was from Whidbey Island! He was headed home just a month after us. We enjoyed talking about home and our favorite places to visit. Of course, I explained our regular summer jaunt out to Whidbey, usually when a tourist came to see our island. We would drive off Camano up to I-20, then west to Fidalgo Island, cross Deception Pass, drive to Fort Casey to play on the battlements, then on to the Clinton/Mukilteo ferry and drive north I-5 home. If it was a good season, we would bring kites. We enjoyed lots of temple work, our regular daily hikes, and our favorite places for lunch. I almost cried saying goodbye to Manolo's because they were so nice to us. A group from Pasto, Columbia were there for 3 d...
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