A Mission for Our Church: Happy July 24th!

Happy 24th of July!

Today is a special day for LDS people. Today is the anniversary of the day Brigham Young brought the first group of pioneers down into the valley of Salt Lake in 1847. Salt Lake City became the end of the long trek west for thousands of saints who sought religious freedom. Up to that point they had been persecuted and driven from their homes and were forced to go far away to the west. So we celebrate all the sacrifices and hardships they suffered in order to worship without persecution. We honor those who went before and dedicated all they had to serving the Lord.

Fenn

It is very hard to describe Fenn but suffice it to say he is a character. He is the most humble crazy person we have ever known. Fenn gave a talk a few weeks ago. He speaks both Creole and English so he did not need a translator. When Fenn talks he has a tendency to go on and on. Sometimes it makes little sense and we often just shake our heads. This time he was talking about the blessings of tithing. He said that no one should have a hard time paying tithing on our island....because anyone could go fishing, and sell the fish, and bring the tithing to the Lord. Then he went on and on.... “and if you can’t sell the fish, just bring the fish to the church and give it to some people who are hungry”. Then he continued to talk about growing plantains and bananas (which do not grow on this island) and bringing them to the church for tithing. While talking with a Creole speaking man after church, he said that Fenn told different stories and examples in Creole than he did in English. That is so scary because often people say things and we are never sure what they are really talking about. How can we correct mistakes or false doctrine when we don’t know what they are saying.

Spiritual Experience

Had a great experience at English class last week. We had talked about Joseph Smith previously and one man asked how we could believe about the first vision because the Bible is very clear that man can not see God and live. I told him I would prepare some things and get back to him the next class. Anyway I found and listed 12 Bible scriptures that recorded where prophets had seen God. For about 1/2 hour we discussed why Bible scriptures can seem confusing, the characteristics of God, and what Joseph Smith learned. I am not sure how many will change or want to learn more, but I was so excited to get to teach. The spirit was really strong and I felt I was able to do what I was sent to do......

Rain!

Had tons of rain Wednesday. What a blessing for us. We have paid a ton of money for water to be brought to fill the cistern under our house. We were thinking we would need to have it filled again, but alas, it was filled almost full in one day. Tropical storm “Bonnie” threatened to cause a lot of trouble, but it blew over only leaving the water we need so badly!