As we probably mentioned before, for the two mission districts that are in our area, the mission president, or, Gary, if the president is not here, handles some items like a stake president would for the people in these districts. Things such as temple recommend interviews and setting apart and releasing missionaries. Well, Gary was asked to set apart a missionary. His name is Elmer and his mission is the Dominican Republic. Gary had to set him apart in Spanish! We worried over this for days before the setting apart. This is a very special occasion for Elmer and his family, and therefore, needs to be done correctly and with the spirit. Gary prayed and prayed for the proper words and then wrote them down. We reviewed the words with several priesthood holders and made corrections. Well, the time finally came. We drove to this little town, further up in then mountains, called Cerchil. Elmer had his family all gathered and the branch president and the district president was there. As we should have expected, the disrict president reviewed Gary's words and made lots of last minute changes! We need to relate an incident that happened many years ago before going on: when our oldest daughter and son we little kids, they took piano lessons from a very mean and strict teacher. It was time for a big recital and we were all very concerned. So, the recital time came, and, our oldest daughter did ok, only a few mistakes. Then, our oldest son played and it seemed to go very well. We congratulated them both after, then, our oldest son confessed he had missed playing a large part of the song! Well, Gary did his set-apart, and it seemed to go well. Then Gary reviewed his words and he left out a whole sentence. But, it sounded ok anyway.
Here are some photos of Elmer, and Elmer's parents. Elmer is the youngest of four sons, the older sons have all served missions. The parents are wonderful people, but have not decided to get baptized yet.
Out with the missionaries
As we mentioned we go out with the missionaries a few times a week. Well, we went to an appointment with elder Campbell and elder Dial. We found out later that the missioneries had told the family that we were coming and they had prepared all day. Understanding that these people are very humble, they must have borrowed wood benches from their neighbors so that we all could sit down. Most of the time, the houses have very few things to sit on. We arrived, and we met a mom with two teen age daughters and the moms sister. They had gotten all dressed up for our meeting. The missioneries gave a wonderful lesson on faith. They used pictures from a church book, and, elder Campbell pulled out of his backpack a little white board and drew pictures so they could better understand. We gave a testimony on faith. (While the lesson was going on, a chicken was walking around and decided to peck at Kathy's skirt.) Oh, and by the way, these meetings always start with a hymn. We all sing off key but it works. After the lesson, we went to their kitchen. It was like a shack attached to the house. Wood slates losely attached for walls and the good old corrigated tin roof. Dirt floor, and no doors, just openings. They had prepared dinner for us, only us four ate. They made "Christmas" tamales, which are hard to make, white bread, and Mayan hot chocolate. The food was great. And, yet again we left with another spiritual high. There is no experience quite like teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and, watching a good missionary at work, especially when the investigators are very interested.
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