Sunday, June 11, 2017

Started the morning early as we were at the Anderson Chapel at For Jackson by 8:00 this morning. I met several soldiers from Utah.  They were all members.  I asked them how their week was and they said that being able to come to church was the best part of their week.  They love being there and being able to spend time with people that are of the same faith as they are.  It is wonderful to know that wherever we go and no matter our trials we all have the gospel family to turn to for comfort, love and healing.  Two nonmember sisters came to Relief Society.  One of them just finished up her junior year of high school a few weeks ago and has been at Fort Jackson for three weeks.  They said they were exploring different churches while they are here.  They said they had a good experience here.  As they were walking out one of them was limping pretty badly.  She said she had a lot of blisters on her feet from the training.  I felt so bad for her, but was very proud of her as well as she did not complain at all and walked tall and proud,  The sister I sat next to in church kept falling asleep.  She apologized to me afterward and felt bad for missing some of the talks, but she was so tired.  They work the recruits so hard throughout the week.  They have long hard days and short nights.  So many of them are very tired when they come in to church.  That makes it more impressive to me that they take the time to come.  We had one baptism today, a young recruit that has been coming to church for several weeks and learning about the gospel with his battle buddy.  They baptize new members in a protable font that they set up each Sunday at the Anderson Chapel.  At the end of the two hour meeting we had to say goodbye to the recruits and they are off to another week of hard training.

From there we went to the Columbia Ward for church.  We get there a little late as we wait for the last soldiers to leave the Anderson Chapel before we head here.  We were able to hear part of one talk and the last talk was given by a young sister missionary who will be leaving shortly.  She has only been a member of the church for 3 years.  It is incredible though to feel of her spirit and listen to her speak and teach the gospel.  There are so many wonderful young missionaries out there and it is amazing to witness them teach the gospel to the recruits that come and investigate the church and others.  We have been spiritually fed and uplifted throughout the day.

Saturday we meet with the young missionaries that teach at Fort Jackson on Sundays to talk about who they have been teaching and what needs to be done to help them learn the gospel and be ready for baptism.  Then we practiced teaching the plan of salvation to each other so that we can be prepared for today.  That is always an uplifting and spiritual experience for me.

That evening we were invited to the Relief Society Presidents house for a dinner.  She prepared Mexican food which made us feel right at home.  We had enchiladas, tacos, beans, rice, chips and salsa.  For dessert she made flan, coconut cream pie, and lemon cheesecake.  I don't know how we are going to lose weight around here.  Afterward the missionaries showed a video on Christ from the children's videos and then asked us all to share in one word what Christ means to us.  It was very powerful to listen to everyone's response as we went around the room.  There were probably about 15 of us there.  They then asked us to tell Heavenly Father in our prayers what Heavenly Father means to us.

So grateful for this opportunity to be here and to be serving on a mission.  I can't believe how much I have learned in the month I have been on my mission.  This has been a blessed opportunity and my testimony and understanding of the gospel grows in leaps and bounds daily.  I am humble by all I have been able to witness as the gospel of Jesus Christ spreads throughout the world.

As they say here in South Carolina, have a blessed day!  Love you all.