After the Rive Gauche Sacrament meeting, we went home again for a bite of dinner before returning for a satellite broadcast by Elder Neil Andersen, a new apostle. He used the experience of the man who piloted the plane that was brought down by a flock of Canadian geese and had to land in the Hudson River last year. Because of the man’s training and skill (> 19,000 hours of flying), he knew what needed to be done to save all 154 passengers in a miraculous and safe landing. He also recognized that he had not just saved 154 lives, but he had also made a difference in the lives of their children and their posterity, thousands of those yet to be born. Elder Andersen then expanded the analogy to our own existence here on earth: our lives did not just begin with our birth into mortality, just as the passengers’ lives didn’t begin when they boarded the plane. Nor will our lives end when we go thru the veil into immortality, similar to the lives of the passengers continuing after they were rescued from the river as they huddled on the wings of the plane.
Dede’s project Monday to help Sister Miranda enter and clear some family names for the temple kept her busy through French class, through family home evening, and through the social time after – 6 hours in all, until 10:30 pm.
Meanwhile, I used the time to review the first 17 pages of a 38-page United States patent application that Dr Selman is preparing to submit regarding the effective use of our cardiotoxin in shrinking prostate tissue and fat tissue.
Elder Hansen had received a book which was in both Arabic and English, side by side on facing pages. It had been translated from a manuscript from the middle ages written by a famous Middle Eastern philosopher – was called “The inconsistencies of the philosophers” and was well known among scholars of that area. He also had received a printout of church humanitarian aid that had been given worldwide, and particularly to Egypt, by the church over the past several years. When they got to the Egyptian Ambassador’s office, they noticed he seemed very busy with phone calls and paper work. Still, he greeted them and invited them to present their information. Another fellow was also there who was to serve as a translator in case it was needed. When they indicated that they represented BYU, the “translator” exclaimed that he had twice been on that campus to attend conferences; he said he knew the people there, and that they are very good people, with very high standards of integrity. Then when the Hansen’s showed the consul the book they’d brought, the man became very excited. He knew the material and was impressed at the availability of a translation side by side. Elder H explained that the translation and the formatting for printing were made possible by computer programs developed at BYU. As he began to withdraw the book, the man asked if it were meant to be a gift. Br H said it hadn’t been shown with that intent, but that since the man was so interested, he could have it, and Elder H would get another copy for himself, which made the fellow even more excited. He also had had no idea of the church’s involvement in Egypt with humanitarian aid. Some of the people that Br Hansen mentioned as having been involved with BYU’s scholars were well known to the ambassador, who indicated they were now ministers in various government departments. When the subject of potential interns from BYU was brought up, the man said that even Egyptian young people are not allowed to serve, because of security reasons; again the translator interjected that people from BYU are extremely honest and reliable. The ambassador said he would do all he could to convince his government to change its attitude and permit our young people to serve. It really showed us how the Lord is preparing and softening the hearts of important leaders to allow the church’s influence for good to expand in countries now closed.
Questionable credibility for a police car, in our opinion
Wednesday at 8:30 am, Elder Doyle met me at the Renault dealer near Gex, where we deposited the car to see if they could fix the problem with the engine stalling. For some exercise, Dede and I took a half hour walk to see the new 5-story apartment construction in the neighborhood. That was a good thing, since it began snowing shortly after we got home, and snowed lightly all day since. We also took time to study some French grammar and to listen to some of the taped language exercises we’d brought with us on our mission. One’s head starts to hurt after a few lessons, so we had to move on to other things. We were able to retrieve the car at 5:30 that afternoon - the problem had been a clogged fuel filter that had then shut off the engine intermittently. Thursday’s electronic communications brought us news that the young people in Yverdon are moving forward with enthusiasm and determination. Bastien, for example said that he couldn’t give Eve a ride every time, but if that would be what it takes to have her come (she was concerned about walking home at night past the drug dealers in the neighborhood), well, OK that’s what he’d do. Mikaël Mayer said that they had their first family home evening for Lausanne/Renens. When it started, only two were present, but after awhile, their numbers grew to 6. He also mentioned that he and Debbie were the only ones much under age 30, but as he put it “we won’t complain.” We have the strong impression that the Lord is pouring out blessings upon these young people and moving the work forward in a way that we must acknowledge is His hand touching their lives far more than through any efforts we are making.
Young adults are engrossed with their computers,
while Sister H "supervises" at a distance
As we walked into Friday’s Young Single Adult Council meeting, we felt a great spirit of enthusiasm and love: the YSA were busy in their discussion of other YSA who could participate in FHE’s. Because only 35 minutes are available for that meeting, the kids all spoke at an incredible speed (in French, of course), so we understood zero- we just enjoyed their spirit. After classes, the young people tried to figure out how to work their computers in order to model their own chapels in a computer program Mikaël had introduced, called “Sketch-Up,” to apply to Google Earth. We arrived home shortly before midnight because we didn’t stay to help Mikaël and Joël clean up after the activity. Saturday’s highlight was a senior couples’ dinner with President and Sister Murdock. Dede and I were able to have President Murdock renew our temple recommends after the dinner. It is a terrific joy to be able to associate with such wonderful people as these senior missionaries.
Dessert tops off senior couples' dinner; Sister H tries to "get ahead" in her grocery shopping (bag)
1 comment:
What a complete and interesting summary of events! Keep up the good work.
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