Sunday March 26, 2017

Sunday 

March 26, 2017

We went to the Via del Mar branch this morning.  It started at 8:00 am so we were up early ready to go.  When we arrived at the church, this creature was crawling outside the door to the chapel.  We were able to move him to the grass.  he was the biggest caterpillar I've ever seen.  

It was fast meeting because Conference is next week.  

It's hard for me to understand what the people are saying, I can tell they have strong testimonies though.

We enjoyed the Sunday School lesson #11 

"The Field Is White Already to Harvest"  

I didn't understand much of the lesson, but I read it on my phone and I appreciate being able to learn anyway.  I especially liked the attention getter story at the beginning of the lesson about Samuel Smith,  Phinehas Young and John P. Greene.  I want to remember it.  

Write on the chalkboard Samuel Smith -- Phineas young and john P. Greene.  Once the gospel was restored, the Church began a tremendous missionary effort to spread these glad tidings throughout the world. Many new converts responded with zeal to missionary calls. One of these converts was Joseph Smith’s brother Samuel.

In April 1830, Samuel Smith began traveling to neighboring towns in New York to preach the gospel and introduce people to the Book of Mormon. He had little success, though he did sell a copy of the book to a man named Phinehas Young. In June 1830, Samuel was set apart by the Prophet Joseph to take a missionary journey to the east. He walked 25 miles the first day and stopped at many houses, but the people treated him unkindly and would not listen. The next day he left a copy of the Book of Mormon with John P. Greene, a Methodist minister. John Greene’s wife, Rhoda, was Phinehas Young’s sister.

Facing rejection from almost everyone he contacted, Samuel felt that his mission had not been very successful. However, the books he left with Phinehas Young and John P. Greene led to their conversion and the conversion of many others. For example, Phinehas Young and Rhoda Greene had a brother named Brigham, who was converted and later became the second President of the Church. Brigham Young’s friend Heber C. Kimball also joined the Church. He later served in the First Presidency. Both Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball were instrumental in the conversion of thousands in the United States and England.

Point out that if you were to fill in the blank on the chalkboard with the names of all the people who have been influenced by Samuel Smith’s missionary work, you would have to write millions of names. Those directly influenced included some of the great leaders of the Church. Many of those you teach, if not all of them, have in some way been touched by this service. You may want to write your name and the names of some of the class members on the chalkboard.

I don't think any of us realize how much we really do.  When Wayne talks about his mission here in Peru 40 years ago, he always kind of feels like he didn't really f=do much.  He was a mission auditor and traveled the mission three different times, so he wasn't really able convert as many people as he'd have liked to.  As I look at what he did, he did make a big difference in the church here in Peru. He baptized the Sanchez family, he late became a Bishop and Stake President. He influenced many people.  We met one man that Bishop Sanchez helped to serve a mission.  by him serving a mission, he converted many and we met him at the temple as he was there to be in the session this young man was in who was going on a mission.  Maybe this doesn't all make much sense, but It is so true how every little bit counts as we serve others.  

Sister Cortez teaching the lesson

Us learning!

I liked this story too, It's an experience of President Eyering.

Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve related the following experience:

“It’s easy to say, ‘The time isn’t right.’ But there is danger in procrastination. Years ago I worked for a man in California. He hired me; he was kind to me; he seemed to regard me highly. I may have been the only Latter-day Saint he ever knew well. I don’t know all the reasons I found to wait for a better moment to talk with him about the gospel. I just remember my feeling of sorrow when I learned, after he had retired and I lived far away, that he and his wife had been killed in a late-night drive to their home in Carmel, California. He loved his wife. He loved his children. He had loved his parents. He loved his grandchildren, and he will love their children and will want to be with them forever.

“Now, I don’t know how the crowds will be handled in the world to come. But I suppose that I will meet him, that he will look into my eyes, and that I will see in them the question, ‘Hal, you knew. Why didn’t you tell me?’” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1998, 42; or Ensign, Nov. 1998, 33).

I need to be braver and share the beautiful Gospel of Jesus Christ! 

We saw the missionaries, We always love the young missionaries 

On the ride home, I tried to get some pictures of the muddy and dirty street from the flooding disaster. 

We stayed for the Los Cedros ward's sacrament meeting.  We were able to see many of the temple workers and our friends that attend that ward.  We had a great day and I'm so thankful for the many blessing we receive by serving our mission in the Trujillo Temple.

Happy Sabbath