{6.21.08} recital and baptism day
Last Saturday was quite an eventful day for us. First we headed down to the Arden Theatre where Diana made us proud by giving a great performance during her dance recital. It was a small, but meaningful victory for me, as I had spent about fifteen minutes of every day for the last two weeks helping her rehearse....not that she was incapable of memorizing or doing the actual routine...but so that she believed that it was a FUN thing to do and would not be afraid of a big stage with bright lights and an audience full of strangers. Yes! She did it...and I was proud!
The Molinas.
What can I say? In January of 2007 I received a call from the full-time missionaries serving in the Parkland Ward. Apparently, someone had given them my name and number as being one of the very few Spanish-speakers in the area...go figure. Well, I was asked if I could give Adan a call to ask set up some discussions with him and a few elders from the Edmonton area that would be given permission to teach him in Spanish. I soon found out that this unknowingly faithful man was attending church services almost weekly with Parkland Ward---although his English was not by any means that well developed yet. When I finally spoke to Adan, he was very polite in informing me that he was very grateful for my ability to communicate with him in Spanish and that he would love to begin formal discussions with the missionaries...BUT he preferred not to start with the "lessons" until the rest of his family arrived from Mexico....in March of that year (2007). Okay, so no real progress there...Mark and I were used to this. We got a lot of this kind of delayed commitment when we were missionaries. No problem. We would just wait it out. Meanwhile, we would have the elders in the ward come over for dinner and when they came by, we would ask for an update on Adan Molina. He was living in Stony Plain with some members, but our paths hadn't crossed yet. There was a point when we didn't hear anything about Adan. We assumed that the Parkland Ward missionaries were visiting him and his family who had finally arrived. After supper with the elders one night, we were challenged to set a specific goal for missionary work. They handed us a 3x5 card and on it I wrote "WE WILL BRING A FAMILY INTO THE CHURCH BY 2007." Of course Mark and I were both thinking about the Molinas...and we hadn't even met any of them yet. This card was up on our fridge for well over a year.... but it was taken down this week...our goal was accomplished. So it wasn't quite 2007 when this was accomplished. Minor detail. We didn't do it alone, obviously. There were many of us who fellowshipped, helped out, and made them feel at home in a strange new land. Heavenly Father heard and answered our prayers regarding this family. Mark and I had several opportunities to help translate discussions for the Molinas. We watched as Adan Jr. entered the waters of baptism this past January. When that happened, we felt that the rest of the family would soon follow. At their baptism last week, I gave the talk on Baptism and Mark spoke on the Holy Ghost. It was the most natural thing. We felt elated to be speaking Spanish and teaching the gospel too! I felt like I was back in Arizona when nothing but "teaching and baptizing" truly mattered. Life was so simple back then. I am blessed to be married to a man who finds as much joy in serving the Lord as I do. We fulfill our callings to the best of our ability. We're not perfect, but serving the Lord makes us happy, and if we can't be perfect yet, we can at least be happy :) I would be lying if I said that being in the Young Women Presidency was just a Sunday calling. It's not. I haven't worked this hard since the mission. Mostly because now I have three little sidekicks to take care of while I fulfill my responsibilities. Mark and I had multiple church callings when we were first married. We were ward missionaries, out teaching discussions and fellowshipping on a regular basis...a lot of good, testimony-building hard work. And it is this type of hard work that keeps us humble and truly happy.
The Molinas.
What can I say? In January of 2007 I received a call from the full-time missionaries serving in the Parkland Ward. Apparently, someone had given them my name and number as being one of the very few Spanish-speakers in the area...go figure. Well, I was asked if I could give Adan a call to ask set up some discussions with him and a few elders from the Edmonton area that would be given permission to teach him in Spanish. I soon found out that this unknowingly faithful man was attending church services almost weekly with Parkland Ward---although his English was not by any means that well developed yet. When I finally spoke to Adan, he was very polite in informing me that he was very grateful for my ability to communicate with him in Spanish and that he would love to begin formal discussions with the missionaries...BUT he preferred not to start with the "lessons" until the rest of his family arrived from Mexico....in March of that year (2007). Okay, so no real progress there...Mark and I were used to this. We got a lot of this kind of delayed commitment when we were missionaries. No problem. We would just wait it out. Meanwhile, we would have the elders in the ward come over for dinner and when they came by, we would ask for an update on Adan Molina. He was living in Stony Plain with some members, but our paths hadn't crossed yet. There was a point when we didn't hear anything about Adan. We assumed that the Parkland Ward missionaries were visiting him and his family who had finally arrived. After supper with the elders one night, we were challenged to set a specific goal for missionary work. They handed us a 3x5 card and on it I wrote "WE WILL BRING A FAMILY INTO THE CHURCH BY 2007." Of course Mark and I were both thinking about the Molinas...and we hadn't even met any of them yet. This card was up on our fridge for well over a year.... but it was taken down this week...our goal was accomplished. So it wasn't quite 2007 when this was accomplished. Minor detail. We didn't do it alone, obviously. There were many of us who fellowshipped, helped out, and made them feel at home in a strange new land. Heavenly Father heard and answered our prayers regarding this family. Mark and I had several opportunities to help translate discussions for the Molinas. We watched as Adan Jr. entered the waters of baptism this past January. When that happened, we felt that the rest of the family would soon follow. At their baptism last week, I gave the talk on Baptism and Mark spoke on the Holy Ghost. It was the most natural thing. We felt elated to be speaking Spanish and teaching the gospel too! I felt like I was back in Arizona when nothing but "teaching and baptizing" truly mattered. Life was so simple back then. I am blessed to be married to a man who finds as much joy in serving the Lord as I do. We fulfill our callings to the best of our ability. We're not perfect, but serving the Lord makes us happy, and if we can't be perfect yet, we can at least be happy :) I would be lying if I said that being in the Young Women Presidency was just a Sunday calling. It's not. I haven't worked this hard since the mission. Mostly because now I have three little sidekicks to take care of while I fulfill my responsibilities. Mark and I had multiple church callings when we were first married. We were ward missionaries, out teaching discussions and fellowshipping on a regular basis...a lot of good, testimony-building hard work. And it is this type of hard work that keeps us humble and truly happy.
1 comments:
Good for you guys..Thanks for setting a great example for us!
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