Here it is the end of the week again; I know we were busy but I can't remember what we did! Oh well, here goes. Monday turned out to be a practice afternoon with Sister Merritt (Mission Leader Spouse) and some of the young Missionaries to prepare for an "Inspire" night at the MOBAT (Mormon Battalion), which is a night of inspirational messages and music. Sister Merritt found a vocal rendition of "All Creatures of our God & King" and wanted me to add cello & violin parts. This required me to come up with the parts & then print them out with a software program called "finale". There is a learning curve with this program, & I was pulling out my hair trying to get it done in time for the practice, but only got about 3/4 the way through before the practice, only to find out that her mind & my mind had different versions in "mind". I guess I was having trouble reading her mind!! Hopefully the next practice will be better!
Monday night was a "Halloween fun" night with the YSA's. We ended up playing games with the YSA's at the Church.
We had an opportunity to meet with our Missionary district to counsel together & role play. Debbie played the "good friend" and I played the "disruptive friend" trying to come up with random tough questions for them to explain in a gospel context. This was a lot of fun trying to trick and fluster the Young Missionaries 😁. I guess that the Lord's hand was in this as well, because one of the Sisters said that the very question that I asked them came up when they were teaching one of their friends a gospel lesson this last week!! Debbie then proceeded to wow them with a Charcuterie tray for treats that she had diligently prepared.
Later on that day, we had a very heartwarming new member lesson with one of the newly baptized members of our Ward; Eric. Eric is the very epitome of a golden contact - he is humble, teachable, focused on Christ, and becoming a life long disciple of Jesus Christ. I truly believe that he is one of the many "choice" spirits that God reserved to come forth in this difficult time on earth. He asks intelligent questions & listens to the Spirit - something that we are all trying to do. What a great blessing it is that the Savior would trust us to help spiritually guide one of His children on the covenant path!
For most of the rest of the week, we received permission from our Mission Leader to fly back to Utah to attend the funeral of a dear Brother-in-Law who died this last week - Mike Munsee, husband of Debbie's sister, Dixie. Although Mike had been sick quite a bit over the last few years, it was still a shock to receive a text that he had passed away peacefully. Mike was a great example of service that he gave to many people - he was honest, hardworking, & loved & cared deeply for God & his neighbor. He had a trucking service & parts business for many years, and his employees had become a second family to him. The "celebration of life" service was beautiful and his casket was taken to the burial site on one of his favorite trucks! We will miss him! The best comfort we had was the strong spirit that was there, testifying to us that God's plan of happiness extends life beyond the veil and that death is not the end, but that our Spirits return to that God who gave us life, to await the Resurrection when we will receive our bodies back, but glorified, perfected, & immortal. The scriptures tell us that not a "hair of our head" will be lost. Those who have chosen to repent & follow Jesus Christ on the covenant path will be in a joyful place.
After arriving back to Chula Vista, we had an opportunity Saturday night to host a Senior Missionary Family Home Evening. Our theme was "gratitude" and after a wonderful potluck dinner, we had songs of gratitude with Guitar, cello, and piano numbers, followed by a testimony from departing Senior Missionaries & verbal messages of thankfulness. There is a wonderful bond of love that develops with our fellow Senior Missionaries - we are all striving to do the most fulfilling work there is - to invite others to come unto Christ. We are so grateful to be a small part of the Lord's merciful army!
We also loved giving rides to and from Church for the "friends" that the Missionaries are teaching. Today, while giving Antoine (a Haitian young single adult just 4 months in the United States) a ride home, he asked us how he can be baptized into the Church! We encouraged him to continue to read & pray about the Book of Mormon, and keep meeting with the Missionaries. We believe that these choice young people are being "found" through the hand of the Lord - miracles are alive & well in the Lord's Church.
Hurrah for Israel!!
Have a great week!
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