Letter #42

Three big things this week

#1. The Worldwide Missionary Broadcast. We met with the Quincy zone at the King’s Row building and enjoyed the broadcast. It is fun to think about the same message going out to all the missionaries throughout the entire world. They said that there are 422 missions and 7,854 missionaries around the world. They talked about the new changes in the schedule but what I enjoyed was how they showed that the new schedule would accommodate cultural differences in missions. They showed how Latin American would arise at 7am and go to bed at 11pm but in Africa they will arise at 6am and be back in their homes by 6pm. Mission Presidents will decide how to adapt their schedule to their mission. Our mission is still figuring a few things out. Instead of having 9 key indicators that the missionaries report they will only have 4. We have been asked to meet with any new zone leaders and give them a quick training on “Just Serve” and their part in it. We took a new Zone leader, and his fairly new companion, to lunch this week to “train” them. Their first question is, “How do we report this now?” Our answer, “We don’t know”. We all have a lot to learn.

#2. We set a new record! We went with three different sets of missionaries to three different lessons, all on the same day! Apparently the Keystone Elders reported in District meeting on how awesome we are. (They spent a lot of time with us last week!) I guess that helped the zone remember that we are here and we reaped the benefits. Two of the lessons were a last minute panic because they couldn’t get someone else and then remembered us but we don’t care how we get invited, we just love to go. We enjoyed all three lessons. The hardest question asked was the 8 year old that asked how Adam and Eve got here without being born, ha ha. It is great to watch the missionaries answer questions.

#3. We went to a Tongan baptism. The Tongan ward is a coveted assignment. All of the missionaries know they will be treated well and fed constantly in the Tongan ward. They also know that it is hard to baptize in that ward. They have been so excited that they were having a baptism. Even though the Tongan Ward meets in Sparks, the Sisters are in our Zone so we went to support our missionaries. We knew the Tongan Ward would support the lady being baptized. We looked at the program and the hymn books and I said to Sister Murdock, “I take it that we aren’t going to understand what’s going on tonight”, she laughed and said, “That’s how I feel every Sunday”. We may not speak Tongan but the Spirit spoke loud and clear. They don’t play the piano, the chorister sings about three words and everyone joins her, singing their own harmony. It was beautiful. They had four musical numbers and four talks, some were in English, some in Tongan. The chorister’s grandchildren were there from Australia, 9 of them. They sang so amazing. It is like a chant but they had two little boys that stole the show. They were not afraid to sing out! Our hearts were deeply touched by the spirit in that meeting. We asked the Sisters what the background was of the lady that was baptized. She is diabetic, a single mom and has had her toes amputated. A member of the bishopric has taken she and her son into their home to care for them. (kinda makes you feel like a slob doesn’t it?) At the end of the baptism they insisted we take food home. They had packaged at least 100 meals (meals, not cookies!) for the people attending the baptism. I think I am a fan of rolls sitting in coconut milk, they were delicious. The Vaiavakas are a huge part of the Tongan ward. Elder Vaiavaka performed the baptism. Sister Vaiavaka was working in the kitchen. We felt honored to attend this special baptism.

Our favorite Mormon Baptist preacher spoke in church today. Maybe it reminds me of my childhood in the south, but I always enjoy when Brother Baker speaks. They were talking about the Book of Mormon and Brother Baker told a cute story about inviting their neighbors for dinner and putting on the “Living Scriptures” DVD to entertain their two-year old but Brother Baker found himself caught up in the story of Nephi and wondered if he “would go and do”. He admitted that he isn’t as familiar with the Book of Mormon stories. Then he told about taking on the whole armour of God. (Ephesians 6) You gird your loins with truth, you have the breastplate of righteousness, your feet are shod with the gospel of peace, you have the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation. You are set to defend yourself, but you are missing something very important. You can’t attack, you can’t fight without the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. We are told many times in the Doctrine and Covenants that the word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword (isn’t that a Claymore?). The Book of Mormon is our sword. Are you familiar with it? Do you know how to use it? Do you even know where yours is? We know that the Book of Mormon changes lives. We are blessed to see and hear of the miracles that come because of this book.

The gospel’s true and we love you!

Love,
Elder and Sister Hardman