February 25, 2013
Face Towards the Temple
Three of our recent converts were able to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead on Tuesday from the Visalia 3rd Ward. They were Susan Wood, Brittany Allen, and Christy Perez. Each of them had a family name to be done. On Saturday one of our recent converts from the Exeter Ward, Russell Bennett was able to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. We went with him. During the baptism you could visually tell when the names were of his own family. His continence changed and with tears in his eyes he was baptized for his brother, great-grandfather and others. His wife, daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughters were there to rejoice in this sweet experience. We also heard from Itha Jack. She celebrated her first year of membership on the 18th of February. She called to say that she was having the second part of her interviews so she could go through the temple for herself. We hope to hear from her today so we can fit this trip to the temple into our schedule. The temple brings such purpose and focus to our lives.
We were asked to be part of the Senior Missionary Family Home Evening program. We shared some experiences of our courtship and a few mission experiences. It was an evening filled with laughter and spiritual sweetness. There will be two couples returning home and one amazing single sister who had been working in the employment office.
One of our investigators travels an hour and a half each Sunday to go to church with her boyfriend. She went to the bishop and told him she wanted to be baptized. She has a date to be baptized on March 16th. She asks many questions and she reads everything she is given. She has been through cancer and is in her seventies. She has a great joy and excitement about her. We are so blessed to be here to teach her.
We are practicing in the stake choir in preparation for the apostle, D. Todd Christoffersen's visit to Visalia. There has been a wonderful response for the choir, of course, and the Stake choir director wishes it would continue long after this event has finished. :)
We are now putting some focus on taking pictures of people that we know and love. There are so many! Spring is definitely in the air and the trees are blooming. Some of the days are very warm. Elder Sheffer was sitting at the computer on a plastic chair and he exclaimed, "This is cold. I will never be able to handle a Utah winter again." We know that we have acclimatized to the Valley's weather. Give us some time and a summer back in Utah and we are sure we can readjust. One of the things they have told the Senior Missionaries is, "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape."
We love the work. God bless you all Elder and Sister Sheffer
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