Here is a super short segment of Mark reading his mission call to his Priests Quorum and a friend. I actually like that mission call letters are long and don’t begin with the assignment, but focus the attention on the gospel of Jesus Christ and the purpose and blessings of missionary work. I have two full length videos of Mark reading his call that I will keep for our family history.
Of all of the art and objects in our house, what were these young men drawn to? The three missionary tags from Richard, Daniel, and Tim displayed on a magnet board in our kitchen.
Mark opened his mission call by himself in the grove at the Weber cabin, then he came inside to read his call to Richard and me. His friends don’t know yet, and we will host a little gathering for Mark to announce it soon.
He is assigned to the Denmark Copenhagen Mission and will begin his service on October 7. 😃 🇩🇰
I am getting pretty close to finishing this little project, which is based on a very famous painting. I know what it will look like when it’s finished, but it’s still a mystery to me how this is all going to come together. What a metaphor for my life.
I planning for a few months of ward conferences, so despite winter telling me to rest, I have a very full season ahead. My first counselor, on whom I depend so much, is carefully watching over her husband in his final days on earth. These years of serving in our stake callings have not shielded us from life’s challenges. My second counselor Susan passed away suddenly in 2022. Among the women in my presidency, which have changed over time, we have faced milestones along with the challenges. We’ve sent 5 missionaries into the world, had 3 children get married, and had 1 grandchild and one great-grandchild born. We have led during a pandemic and experienced two major surgeries with long recoveries. And now, my counselor’s husband is in hospice care.
There are some challenging days ahead, but if I have learned anything through my service, it is that my Heavenly Father will give me the strength to do what he has called me to do. He is doing the same for my presidency and for you.
We listened to Tim speak in church, and here are a few lessons that I wrote down from his talk.
Righteous examples are important.
Prophets are important guides to help us find joy.
And the Lord God hath sent his holy prophets among all the children of men, to declare these things to every kindred, nation, and tongue, that thereby whosoever should believe that Christ should come, the same might receive remission of their sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy,
Mosiah 3:13
Joy comes from inviting people to Christ.
Focus on the rulegiver, Jesus Christ.
Remembering personal and family spiritual experiences can help us during trials.
Spiritual preparation helps during physical trials. He saw people who lost everything in a typhoon, yet they trusted in God and remained strong.
The temple is a beacon of hope.
The Church is more than a building or a unit, it is the people. One one island where he served, there were 3,000 people, and only 5 members, and the Lord was with this tiny gathering of Saints, working miracles in their lives.
The Lord blesses us as we turn our lives to him.
As we give more of ourselves to the Lord, we will have joy.
I came across this model that Mark created of his old bedroom. The stacks of books, the curtains, and furniture placement are accurate and made my heart flip.
The eclipse wasn’t the most exciting thing to me this week, but the light was so eerie and we noticed how it made the air feel cold.
Some kids in the neighborhood have a jeep like Tim used to own. This scene reminded me of him. ❤️I tracked the typhoon as it passed near Saipan thanks to live satellite images.Richard and I were able to see Itzhak Perlman perform. We had wonderful seats and it was a remarkable experience.
This week as we talked to Timothy, he was in a long line of cars waiting to fill containers with drinking water. Saipan is in the path of a typhoon, and the islanders were busy preparing for the emergency. As we continued our conversation, we were interrupted by the rumbling of power tools as someone drilled plywood over his apartment windows.
It has been four months since Typhoon Mawar pummelled the island of Guam, where he was serving at the time.
I am not worried, but maybe a little weary from his great adventure. 😅
