We had another 'Exciting' Zone Leader Council today.
This picture is right after lunch
at the mission home.
These are our four new Zone Leaders
Elder Pacchioni ~ Elder Maximiliano
Elder Luzuriaga ~ Elder McGrath
During the Council today, right at the beginning,
we had a special musical number like we always do.
Elder Maximiliano played his wooden flute and Elder Martinez sang.
So I got my video camera out to record them.
As I turned on the camera, something ran under the table that they were standing behind.
Elder Nichols whispered to me..."Did you see that?"
I saw movement but I wasn't sure what it was.
He informed me that it was a giant cockroach.
My camera instantly left the performers faces and darted to the floor.
I knew this was going to be huge and there was no where for it to go.
Sure enough, right after the musical number and
just after I turned off my camera,
The giant cockroach came hissing straight across the floor at me.
I jumped up and screamed like a woman because I am one.
and one of my Elders screamed with me...
like a woman and he's not one.
I won't mention any names.
The room turned into the game mouse trap.
Someone would spin and turn to try to kill it and miss,
so the next person in line would
try to stomp on it and miss, and then the next would knock over a chair
trying to get it and miss and then the next etc..
There was some twisting, slapping and stomping
until finally it had gone around half of the room and through many of the Elders
and ended up in the front by President Turk.
President turned around and took one big step and squished that thing
to smitherines. (what is smitherines?)
Ooooh, I cringe just thinking about it, yuck.
It was a horrible big crunchy sound.
A couple of the Elders ran out of the room immediately
to get the cleaning supplies.
They knew I wouldn't be staying if it was just there to stare at.
And then the job was done.
And the Council went on without another hitch.
A Bishop asked some missionaries to visit a less active young man named Anthony. The missionaries went by his home several times and never found him there. They knew they needed to report back to the Bishop, So they kept going by his home and started to leave some sticky notes.
They would write simple thoughts like…
Hope things are going great
We would love to see you
We are thinking about you
Check on you soon…
They left 4 or 5 notes during the course of several weeks. Then one day they received a phone call from this young man, Anthony. He wanted to see them immediately. They went to his home and he told them this...
He said that things in his life had spiraled out of control. He lost his job, his girlfriend, and he was barely scraping by financially.
He was depressed and confused.
He ended up on an overpass of a big freeway ready to jump to his death. Then all of a sudden, the sticky notes popped into his head. Hope entered his heart. He knew that someone cared. He got off the overpass and went home and that’s when he called the missionaries.
(True story from Meridian Magazine)
Small acts of kindness can save peoples lives. Everything my missionaries do is a sticky note left on someone’s heart.
Elders & Sisters, every day you are making this kind of a difference. Your smiles, your handshakes, your lessons, your testimonies, your service… they are all important. All of it touches people’s lives and changes them for the better. I promise you that every good deed is an act of Charity.... And we are nothing unless we have Charity.
Keep up the great work.
I love you.
