Well here we go again, my second day in a row on only 5 hours of sleep. It wouldn’t be all that bad if I could sleep in sacrament meeting like I used back in the Hillside Ward. But now I’m on the stand in front of everyone so I really have to stay awake!
Today we had very good meetings at both branches. My talk went pretty well, I think. My subject was on preparing to go to the temple. This week we are starting “Temple Prep” classes at both branches. So I took the opportunity to prepare the members who will be attending. When I finished the same talk in Duvergé I asked Elder Jimenez if my talk was alright. He said it was very good except the part where I read the inscription “Holiness to the Lord” on the front of the temple. In Spanish it is “Santidad al Señior” but I misread it as “Sanidad al Señior”. I only forgot the “t” but that changed the meaning from “Holiness to the Lord” to “Sanity to the Lord”. I’m sure our Heavenly Father has a good sense of humor and doesn’t care about the mistake. As Hna. Johnson so often says, “of course the Lord has a sense of humor, why else would he have sent me to work with a computer and be the financial secretary of the mission!”
The Lord has really had is hand in the efforts of the missionaries in Duvergé. In Duvergé we had a full house again. 10 of the people in attendance were investigators that came to last night’s “Noche de Amistad”. The really cool thing is that 6 of them were from the same family. That is so great.
I had another first for my mission here in Duvergé. I was asked to confirm Hna. Dalmys Perez a member of the church and give her the gift of the Holy Ghost. I was honored to be asked. I had to brush up on my Spanish vocabulary to make sure I got it correct. I haven’t’ confirmed anyone a member of the church in Spanish in almost 40 years.
I had an interview this evening in Duvergé with Manuel Perez, the 15 year old son of Bro. Tuco and Sis. Yazmin Perez. He is a great young man. He is eager and willing to progress in the church and do his part and honor his priesthood. He will be ordained a Teacher by his father next week after he is sustained by the congregation.
It is very interesting that Manuel has been a member his whole life and has never been asked by any of his leaders if he would like to be a priesthood holder! It seems that the Perez family joined the church almost a decade ago in Duvergé and have been faithful members ever since. However about five years ago the branch was dissolved and the elders pulled because of a lack of men to run the branch and the downsizing of the mission. The active members that were left in Duvergé like the Perez’ were told to attend the Neyba branch about 30 kilometers away.
Of course they couldn’t because bus fare is too expensive but when missionaries were reintroduced to Duvergé last spring the Perez family was right there in attendance as usual. But the branch had no Branch President and was still dependent on the leadership in Neyba. And the Elders didn’t think to ask the status of Manuel’s priesthood. It wasn’t until I was put in as Branch President that Hna. Perez approached me and asked if her son could hold the priesthood. Well, now three years late, he will be a priesthood holder.
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