We held two terrific zone conferences this week. The groups seemed small, as we now have 38 missionaries and only two couples. The topic was "Attributes of Christ," Chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel. My talk was about pioneers and the attributes they exhibited in making their incredible sacrifices, and I showed clips from "Trail of Hope," and a You Tube clip of President Hinckley speaking about the three men who lifted and carried the weakened handcart saints across the freezing Sweetwater River. I also spoke about my pioneer ancestors. Marty's subjects were "Obedience" and a clarification of mission rules, and in the second half, "How to Develop Attributes of Christ." We had previously visited Brother Vogli's workshop and obtained a small block of marble. Marty used our sculpture of Christ and told how Brother Vogli works it into the finished product, softening it first with water. He likened that to the Spirit working on our hearts, softening them so we are open to change.
I cooked for the inside zone--taco salad, with Rudi's ice cream and homemade hot fudge for dessert. The outside zone ate pizza, but did get my cinnamon rolls for snack, and Sister Snow's handcart brownie dessert. That consisted of a square brownie, with mini round cookies for wheels, a thin breadstick for a handle, topped with a scoop of ice cream and fudge sauce. Creative!
The River Ribble where the first nine British saints were baptized by Heber C. Kimball. In two years there were over 1500 converts.
Scenes in the village of Downham. Heber C. Kimball baptized many here and in the neighboring village Chatburn. This village is largely kept as it was in the 1800's, and the church has helped somewhat with the preservation. Elder Kimball had been advised not to go to these villages because he was told that the people had hard hearts and could not be persuaded. He felt the need to go there anyway and preached in a barn and on stone walls to large groups of people and baptized many--saying that in one night they were"engaged in this delightful duty until four o'clock the next morning." When Elder Kimball and his companions left the villages, they were followed out of the towns by many people who tearfully begged them to stay. Heber C. Kimball wrote in his mission journal, "While contemplating this seen (sic) we were induced to take off our hats, for we felt as if the place was holy ground--the spirit of the Lord rested down upon us, and I was constrained to bless that whole region of country, we were followed by a great number, a considerable distance from the villages who could hardly separate themselves from us. My heart was like unto theirs, and I thought my head was a fountain of tears, for I wept for several miles after I bid them adieu."
It's been a lovely summer. Hot, the missionaries would say, but I'm mostly indoors with the air conditioning.
We had dinner a few nights ago at the Rogner Hotel with the Shupe's and noticed this unusual sign (the one on top). You have to live in Tirana to appreciate this. The street lights are on the driver's right corner, and if you're first in line you cannot see when the light changes, so everyone behind just honks to tell you to begin moving. Or they honk to tell you where they are because it's usually not where they should be. (See my last blog about driving.)
