Abundant Life

We had a pretty casual week. Things are beginning to pick up; but, we are still fairly slow. We've had a few people come into the office so that has been fun.  They officially will start back in the office next week. That plan is everyone is in the office on Tuesdays and they can each choose a second day to come in. It will be nice to have a few more people there. The other missionary that works with us leaves at noon so most of the week it was just Steve and I. Jeanpierre came in on Friday so that was fun.

Our Wednesday event got postponed to the end of the month so we only had our weekend event. It was a fun one with sessions on Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday late afternoon, and Sunday late afternoon. It was called Abundant Life and was a conference for Single Adults of all ages. It is only for the North America West Area. What surprised me most is we provided two languages for this event; Spanish and Mandarin. Since it was the North America West area they wanted to have the Salt Lake Mandarin team do the interpretation. For some reason we struggled getting people. Apparently it is the Taiwanese Fathers Day weekend. Anyway we managed to get a brother and sister for Friday night. Our Spanish team had 4 people to cover all the speakers. We had an enjoyable conversation with them during dinner that night. During the course of the conversation both Mandarin Interpreters told about when they lived in Taiwan and how they came to be in the Church. They both talked about the Taiwan Taichung Mission so we mentioned that our oldest son served there. They wanted to know who his mission president was so Steve called Douhet to ask. We shared who both of his Mission Presidents were and both Interpreters knew them. Steve then passed the phone to the Brother Interpreter so he could talk to Douhet. That was fun.

On Saturday morning we only needed one male Interpreter for each language. Again we enjoyed a wonderful conversation with them during breakfast. The Brethren talked about how sometimes we wonder if we have been called to the right mission. They shared a few stories how near the end of the mission they would meet someone who they were uniquely qualified to teach and they knew that was why they were called there. One brother shared a story about his son's mission call. His son was born and raised in the United States, but really wanted to serve in Taiwan since that is where his parents are from. He had visited there before. When he opened his Mission call he was disappointed to see he was called to Canada. As he continued to read his face brightened into a big smile when he read he would be speaking Mandarin. He knew he was called to the place the Lord wanted him to be.

On Saturday afternoon we needed one female Interpreter for each language; but, Mandarin couldn't get anyone in Salt Lake City. They reached out to our Tieline team in Taiwan and finally got a brother who could do it. We try to match Interpreters with the same gender but on occasion it simply can't be helped. This was one of those occasions. What made it even more appreciated was this event was for North America West. No one in his country would even be listening to the event. Such dedication we see in our Interpreters all the time. It is truly AMAZING.

Before the event started, our supervisor reached out to the Mandarin brother to see if he was ready. He commented on how nervous he was. Our supervisor encouraged him by telling him he would do great and to not worry. He said he wasn't nervous for himself, but he just worried because he wanted to be able to convey the words and spirit of Sister Susan Easton Black to those listening so they would feel the Spirit. He then said he hadn't even gone to bed yet because  he was so concerned about doing a good job. It was 7:30 AM for him. He had stayed up all night.

After a brief introduction, Sister Black began her presentation. In the first few minutes she expressed her appreciation for the many people responsible for putting together this wonderful three day conference. She then specifically mentioned all the people work work behind the scenes for this event including that Interpreter who speaks Mandarin.  She didn't know who was interpreting for her. She may not have even know how many languages it was being interpreted into. The Lord knew our Mandarin brother needed to know his efforts were recognized and known and appreciated by Him. Those words probably didn't mean anything to anyone but that wonderful brother who was interpreting and those of us in the room who knew about his concerns. I felt the Holy Ghost so strongly flow over me and tears came to my eyes. Heavenly Father knows each and everyone of us individually and He gives us Tender Mercies to let us know of His great love for us.

The Sunday afternoon event was the concluding session of this conference.  President and Sister Oaks were the featured speakers. Each of these events were LIVE and so there were not scripts for the Interpreters to study. They didn't have any idea what the conference was going to be about. They were all nervous about being able to keep up with the speakers. We prayed each time before the event that they would be able to Interpret the words and meanings of each speaker. After each event, they happily reported that it went well. Miracles happen all the time.

Our Mandarin sister for our last event is a walking Miracle. She actually has a brain tumor that is taking her life. She has decided to not do the treatments because she wants to enjoy the time she has and not be so sick from the treatments. The doctor told her she wouldn't be able to do her interpretation work because of the tumor. She normally has some adverse symptoms such as not being able to maintain good thought patterns. She decided to continue doing interpretation work. When she is interpreting her mind is clear and she is as strong has she every was. She has had no adverse symptoms when she interprets. When the event is over the symptoms come back. It is a testimony to her and to all of us who work with her that this is the work of the Lord.  

We had a nice treat today because of the event we had. Since it was this afternoon we had to miss our Sacrament meeting so we went to an earlier ward. Right after Sacrament we went to the Office to get set up for the event. It was just about that time that I realized Canby 3rd Ward Sacrament meeting was going to start. Sean had told us that MyLiege was going to be speaking so we jumped on the computer and joined the Zoom meeting. We were able to see the whole meeting. It was so fun to see Sean conduct and then here the three young men talk about the wonderful and spiritual experiences they had a Young Men's camp. I loved Isaac's analogy about binding ourselves to Jesus Christ through our covenants to get stronger and perfect just like we bind an injured finger to the perfect finger next to it to strengthen it and help it heal.

I especially loved hearing MyLiege's wonderful talk about Standing in Holy Places. Eunlan, our supervisor for today's event, watched with us and loved her talk too.

This has been a GREAT Sabbath day!