Tender Mercy

 

Last Tuesday night we were asked to speak in Sacrament meeting.  We've been in San Diego for 7 months and haven't not been asked to speak in Church.  So, I knew this request would be coming at some point.  I also knew that when it did, it would not be convenient.  Our days are so full I wasn't sure how I would have time to prepare a talk.  But we accepted and prayed for help.  I wrote down the suggested topics from Come Follow Me that we were given and read the associated scriptures.

On Thursday I carved out some time to sit down and start putting something together that might resemble a talk,  As I sat at my laptop, I was amazed at how easily thoughts on heeding the words of our living prophet came to me, even with ideas on how to tie it into the Mormon Battalion.  After Thursday my time was swallowed up with helping sisters and fulfilling my MBHS responsibilities.  Occasionally, I had thoughts come to my mind so I added them to my notes.

On Saturday night I planned to work on my talk, but we had an emergency meeting about what to do with four sisters who were in an apartment were black mold was discovered.  This along with our concern for their safety in the general area at night, we concluded that they needed to be moved that very night.  So by the time we concluded the meeting I had from 9:30-11:00 to work more on my talk thoughts.  I went to bed and only looked over what I had put together once Sunday morning.  All during this process I had a sense of peace and that I was being guided.  It felt like I was being carried.  I knew my prayers and the prayers of others in my behalf were being answered.  (Thank you) Because the temple can spiritually empower us to face the challenges we have in life, I felt like this is what was happening to me.  It was a tranquil feeling which helped me not feel over-burdened.  What a blessing temple covenants and prayer can be.   

Because of the emphasis placed on the important of our temple covenants and how they can help us in life we have set a goal to try and take our sister missionaries to the Newport Beach Temple once a transfer, every six weeks.  We feel this will be a blessing in their lives.  Because the San Diego Temple is still closed for renovations until sometime next year, the Newport Beach is the closest temple for us. It is about 70 miles away, and we usually plan for about an hour and a half+ to get there.  (It all depends on traffic.) 

Departing temple trip for six amazing sisters: (L/R) Sister Chavez, Sister Price,
Sister Ordaz, Sister Mendes, Sister Sandavol, and Sister Gregory


A funny side note:  The man who gave the opening prayer for Sacrament meeting said in his prayer, "Please bless our speakers so they won't be too boring."  I didn't dare ask him afterwards how I ranked on his scale of talks.