Wherever You Go, There You Are

Saturday found us in grocery stores - again....comparing prices and checking availability of items for Hawaiian Haystacks.  These will be good if we can pull it off.  We found mandarin oranges, raisins, olives...all the basics.  The trick this week will be getting the shopping done to find the best prices on all items.  We will be very busy all week.  We will be helping the Mission President's wife feed 55 missionaries a Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday which will require some baking to be done on Monday before we go to the center.  We have a meeting on Tuesday evening and things going on all day Wednesday and into the evening.  So we will have Thursday to do everything.

This evening we traveled to the Stake Center, a lovely building about 25 minutes from here by car, and who knows how far by bus (which we will be using at some point to get there I know).  It was the Saturday evening session of Stake Conference.  So many things about the Church are just the same wherever you go. It is especially true of this meeting.

It was spectacular.  So many wonderful talks, so many inspiring messages, so many smiling people.  A counselor to the Stake President told of two young missionaries who came to Denmark many years ago.  The heartfelt desire of one of them was to baptize someone who would one day become a branch president.  It didn't happen.  He served for 2 1/2 years and during that time, only baptized one sister.

That sister is the Stake President's counselor's great-grandmother.  Then he unfolded the rest of the story since.  This one sister has in her family 17 returned missionaries, relief society presidents, YW presidents, Primary presidents, branch presidents, bishops, counselors to stake presidents,  a stake president and everything else.  He talked about this being the time to share the wonderful news of the Gospel, and we must get on board.  It was inspiring.  Denmark has gone from having 55 missionaries serving here to 105, and we're part of it.

The Stake President is a great man who also spoke about missionary work.  He talked about the importance of rescue work...equal to missionary work.  He told a humorous story about a former missionary companion who is now a member of the Seventy.  This man invited a member of his ward who had been inactive for a long time to come to Church one particular weekend.  The man had a very special permit to go deer hunting with his son over the weekend -bow and arrow.  So the Church leader said, "Will you come if you get a deer on Saturday?"  The man agreed he would.

When he and his son were out, they came to a place in the road where a deer was standing.  They got out of their truck, and that deer just stood there. They pulled out their bows and arrows....the deer still stood there.  They aimed and shot and missed.  The deer just stood there.  They aimed and shot again and missed again.  The deer hardly moved.  They aimed again and shot him.  They were in Church Sunday.

There was a beautiful hymn by a family and the congregational hymns were sung with whole heart and soul.

I couldn't help but think as I sat there that we have three children who, as teenagers could have easily blended in with the Danish people.  Melissa, you and I would do fine in Britain I am sure....or maybe even hanging out with Pochahontus.  But wherever you go, the Church is the same, and it is such a lovely experience to go into a chapel and feel at home.