This week was more normal than most that we have recently had. The Temple work went well with the saints from Coimbra and Porto Norte, Portugal. There weren’t quite as many that usually come so consequently, the work was a little slow (small sessions). Some that came were the old, reliable ones: Brother Texeiria and Alves (sealers), both of whom have been full time Temple missionaries in the past. They are both great men and have a love for Temple work! It was good to practice the Portuguese language again and to learn from them. One day as we were working at the veil I was behind it, Brother Bradshaw (English) was presenting and we had five brethren come through; one French, one Spanish, one Italian, one Portuguese, and one English person in the same session - now that was a challenge and showed me just how diversified this Temple is.
On Monday, we went for some check ups at the doctor’s office, then went and ate pizza at Pizza Hut with the Lunt’s. Later that night we had our monthly Temple Missionary Family Home Evening. It was good to have everyone together and to learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Following the lesson we had the opportunity of eating (all you can eat) crepes. The Fourtina’s, from France, made about 150 crepes and we ate and ate and ate until most of them were gone….they were delicious and authentic!
Tuesday through Saturday at the Temple was pretty normal with nothing special to report excepting that on Wednesday at our preparation meeting prior to starting our shift (I was at the recommend desk so I didn’t get to hear) but President Moore called on mom to offer the invocation. He thought that she would do it in English, but to his surprise she did it in Spanish! In public and without any notes, I was so proud of her when I heard. She says it was really simple, but others told me that you could have cut the spirit with a knife and most had tears in their eyes as she concluded. She is such an example to me!
Saturday for movie night we watched a documentary called "Mario’s Conviction." It had just been shown at the Mormon Film Festival and President and Sister Hill (MTC President) had brought it down to show us. It was a true story of a mafia man from Detroit, Michigan who had been touched by the spirit and left his life of crime (stealing big ticket equipment items and selling them across state lines) and joined the church. It told of his childhood, dropping out of school at nine years of age and went to work for his father. He became intertwined with the mafia and started stealing from the rich. This later turned to the big ticket items. One day he came to Provo, Utah to meet with a guy about a “legitimate” business, as he visited with him he could tell that it was also a “con” and he just about killed the guy, left and went back to Detroit. One day he was in Washington DC and saw the Temple and wanted to go in. He found out that he could not just enter, but had to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in good standing with a recommend. A few days later a couple of missionaries knocked on his door, he started talking at about 5:00 pm with them and they were still talking at 10:00 pm, the Elders stated that they had to leave and get home according to mission rules. He said he didn’t care about mission rules, that if they left they could never come back. They called their Mission President, he talked to Mario and told him that they had to leave by 11:00 pm and that if he allowed them to stay that he would have to follow them home to make sure they were safe. To make a long story short, he was later baptized, but soon learned that he could not lead a two-way life….he knew he had to make a break from the mafia. This was usually not allowed and most that wanted to leave merely disappeared. He agreed to meet with the higher ups in the syndicate at an old mafia warehouse, he really didn’t expect to leave the building alive, but put his faith and trust in the Lord. He was allowed to leave following the meeting. The individual that allowed him to do so made the comment “If you live like ‘those’ people, we have nothing to fear.” This crime boss was speaking based on experience that he had gained while trying to bribe then Governor George Romney. They (mafia) had taken one million dollars to an meeting with Governor Romney offering it to him for some favorable decisions. They enticed him with women and many other things, but he would not compromise and later began to earnestly fight big crime. This comment was based on this experience, that Mario would live the laws and commandments totally and that the mafia would not have to worry about being “ratted on.” If you have the chance of seeing this show/documentary we recommend that you do so.
On Sunday, we were invited to dinner at Gordon and Kathryn Thomas’s apartment.
The food was great and we had a fun time getting to know each other better. This is their fourth mission (extended six months from a calling to the Canary Islands). They were previously missionaries in Chile and Argentina. They were also Mission Presidents in Argentina West at the same time President and Sister Moore were presiding in another Argentinean mission. They were both professors at Brigham Young University and have a wealth of experience and a wonderful story.
Next Saturday and Sunday is our Stake Conference and we have Elder Causse (French), second counselor in the Area Presidency and we are excited to hear from him. Also, on Feb 17th we have the opportunity of listening to Elder David A. Bednar in a special meeting for all Temple workers and their spouses. He will be attending the Temple earlier in the day and speaking to us later in the evening. This should be a great experience, more to come in coming weeks.
We are privileged to be here serving in this beautiful part of the world and we know that we are doing what we should be doing at this time of our lives.
We are dearly missing each of you, but know that you are being blessed at the same time. We reflect on the picture/saying that was given to us often “Behold, verily I say unto you, go from them only for a little time, and declare my word and I will prepare a place for them” D&C 31:6. We know the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be true, God lives and Jesus is the Christ, Thomas S. Monson is a living prophet of God here on the earth today and the Book of Mormon is true. We love each and everyone of you with all of our hears, you are in our prayers morning and night.
Love Mom & Dad / Nana & Papa
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