Happy Birthday, dearest Jamis

in the mission home

language fair for high school students

A beautiful autumn weekend in North Carolina

This past Saturday, two darling grandsons were baptized in a peaceful little lake.  The day, the setting and the weather were simply beautiful,  The next morning at church, their father confirmed them, and they received the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Their older brother, newly twelve, received a sacred responsibility also. The air was sparkly all weekend with love and spirit, happiness and gratitude.

 

Düsseldorf Missionary Reunion

 Some of our former missionaries arranged a wonderful reunion in downtown Salt Lake.  It was so great to be together again. They asked both of us to speak informally for a few minutes.
I shared some fond memories:

* I loved the mission home, Kalkstrasse 24, and the good feeling that was there. I loved the area, the towns of Lintorf and Ratingen, and all our mission area; the pretty garden, and the many neighborhood children that gathered to play with our children and on the trampoline.

* I could tell after just a few days, and told a non-member friend on the phone - there is a lot of love in this work.  I hadn't known what to expect, but Love is what I found.

* We had come from a small branch, and that's all I really knew; but now we were involved in the lives of many people - a mission area, members and friends in two stakes, and all our missionaries and their parents and families. We spoke at stake conferences, other conferences and in sacrament meeting in a different ward or branch almost every Sunday, making the rounds. It was amazing to me to see the Lord's hand over the whole area, granting big and small miracles here and there.
Towards the end of the mission when the holy spirit was strongly present and as I sat on the stand looking at the now familiar congregations, I had the feeling I could clearly see where the Lord's greatest tenderness lay.  It wasn't with the people I admired the most, the "supermoms" with their large and beautiful families or those who seemed to be the most successful and most blessed. They certainly were blessed.  But that was not where His greatest tenderness lay. His greatest tenderness was, for example, with the lonely widow in her small apartment who was very thankful for the gospel message and fed the missionaries gladly; and with the childless couple who served faithfully and went to the temple often.
This was a vivid lesson to me, humbling as well as strengthening, and I have not forgotten.

* When we visited and spoke in the different wards and branches, kind members, often the bishop and his wife, invited us to dinner in their home afterwards.  We cherished those afternoons. I especially remember with fondness the Westermanns in Unna, Bishop Nabrotzky in Dortmund, the Klaßens, Siebkes in Aachen, the Brauns and many others.

*I loved going to the airport and picking up our new arrivals. The next day, they would come to the mission home for orientation and a noon meal.  I did a lot of cooking and baking, which I also loved!
 
That same evening, those elders and sisters and couples returning home came to the mission home for their "last supper" and a testimony meeting.
The difference between those arriving and those leaving was astonishing!  I often tell people that the difference was not two years or eighteen months, but twenty years.
Honestly.
The missionaries going home came in with so much wear and tear and stature and weight on their shoulders, and the maturity that comes from work and struggle and loving service to others.

* My very favorite hours of the entire three years were those hours spent with the missionaries going home. The love and service and spirit in the room when testimonies were born were priceless, and will always remain precious and close to my heart. In that moment, our hearts truly were knit together in love.
I consider it a very great privilege in my life that Heavenly Father allowed me this time in the Germany Düsseldorf Mission with you.
Of course I and we had challenges and struggles, pretty great on some days.  The needs of our own children and the needs of our missionaries weighed heavily on me sometimes, along with all my personal inadequacies, which I was soon brought face to face with.
But on many, many days, really, I was walking on clouds, and it seemed as if my feet didn't quite touch the ground. The Spirit was really strong, and I learned for myself how very important missionary work is to the Lord.

After we were released, my husband did not have work, since we had sold the business before we left for Düsseldorf.  We were very fortunate to spend two years in beautiful Salzburg, but it was a difficult time, and our feet came firmly back to the ground.  There have been many challenges since then, as you have experienced also, but I'm pleased and thankful to let you know that your mission president's faith never wavered, in fact it has become stronger.

I'm so happy to see you all here today, and hope we can stay in touch, also with those who are not here.
Thank you to those who organized this wonderful time.
(End of my remarks)

I was so busy enjoying myself and greeting and talking with these old friends and their spouses that I forgot to take pictures until it was time to go home.
Here's one of Jacob and former missionaries A. Syndergaard, W.Winder and N. Turner

               And here's what Jake looked like when we lived in the mission home -

at a street meeting

Jacob with some of his friends, the office missionaries, on his birthday

     Three years lie between these two photos above. In the first, we're newly arrived in the mission, at our first zone conference. In the second, we are saying our good-byes and will leave within weeks.

A Chapter Is Ending

A chapter is ending for Celina - and WHAT a chapter it's been  --

more than two years with the children and teachers at Rising Star Outreach school for children from leprosy-affected families in India.  She gave them her whole heart and energy, and all her considerable talents and determination. In return, they embraced her.  As she wrote on her blog, "These people own next to nothing, yet they give me everything."

Way to go, Celina Ma'am.  You have changed these children's lives forever.

I was so fortunate to visit Celina at Rising Star for her birthday.  This photo taken on her birthday. She was inundated with love and little homemade presents and cards.

Assembly on Indian Independence Day. 

Christmas card photo in her first year.

Two who are expecially close to her heart.

I absolutely loved my time there.

Celina with the housemothers who lovingly cared fot the children (and her).



We took a day off and went to Ideal Beach

www.celinadowntheelephanthole.blogspot.com

Two years already

 

It's been two years since John received the joyful calling to serve as stake patriarch of the Crestwood Kentucky stake.  He has had the privilege of voicing blessings for over ninety people so far, and he is always amazed at how inspiration flows on behalf of each person receiving the blessing.

                                   Patriarchal Blessing

                                           by Darlene Young
   

              The boy, sixteen, is taller than his mother, taller than
              the creaky man with shiny eyes and trembling hands.

              Mother comes fasting, something she's good at,
              years of honing her physical yearnings
              into empty bowls to catch spiritual manna.
             And now she is empty of all but her hope
              of hearing the voice of God through this old man.
              Her son, the first-fruit of her labors,
              a rought-cut stone but the best she could do  ---
              and would God touch this stone with his finger?

              Her son folds into the chair with a quick glance
              at her, an echo of the glance he gave her long ago
              the day he stood to join his father at the font.

              And maybe now the father will join them
              in spirit? She, longing, glances to the corners of the room.
              The trembling hands are stilled on the boy's head,
              as if the words of power give them weight ---
              the words that dart like lightning in the air
              and dance upon her eyelids. She opens them
              to watch the old man, ageless, shine like sun,
              his voice a whisper still but piercing bright.

              The mother sits and holds the hand of God ---
              for once she feels she's truly not alone
              in her sweet knowledge of her son's good heart.
              She weeps to hear God tell her of the man
              he will become, this boy she's nursed with blood
              and milk, and tears,
              this boy, a shining sword, a man of God.
   
              And in the silence when the blessing's done
              the son stands up and shyly takes her hand.
              The old man, feeble now, stands at the door,
              winking in the glitter of the stars.
              For days those flashing words will dance like sparks
              around her ears, behind her eyes and in the air ---
              as if she walked with diamonds in her hair.