Dear Family,
Monday night we went to Cranbourne which is about 40 minutes away from the office. We had a FHE with President and Sister Maxwell. It was for a sister's conference. There were 13 sister missionaries from 3 different zones. Sister Maxwell made Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner. The sisters loved it. We had cheese cake for dessert.
Adrienne talked about the importance of learning, learning and learning. I talked about organization.
President Maxwell talked about the Prophet Joseph Smith. We got copies of his talk so I am going to quote from it. The talk was amazing and we learned new things about him.
"A number of individuals appeared to Joseph to help prepare him for his mission. He received visitations from the Father and the Son; Moroni, John the Baptist, Peter, James, and John, Moses, Elias(Noah), Raphael (it is not clear who this is); Michael (Adam) and Elijah. John Taylor said, "Joseph Smith had communications with not only the Lord, ...but with the ancient apostles and prophets; such men for instance as Abraham, Isaac, Noah, Adam, Seth, Enoch, and Jesus and the Father, and the apostles that lived on this continent as well as those who lived on the asiatic continent." (Journal of Discourses, vol.21. p.94
John Taylor further stated that when Joseph Smith was raised up as a prophet of God, "Mormon, Moroni, Nephi, and others of the ancient prophets who formerly lived on this continent" visited him and communicated certain principles of the gospel. " (JD, vol. 17 p. 374)
W. W. Phelps had briefly faltered, being part of the betrayal that had place Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail. Joseph was indignant over Brother Phelp's failure, later he was generous. W.W. Phelps pled for readmission into the Church, Joseph Smith wrote a powerful and redemptive letter, the closing lines were, "Come on, dear brother, since the war is past, For friends at first, are again friends at last." (History of Church, 4:164, see also pp. 162-63)
Soon after Joseph's martyrdom in June 1944, Phelps composed, "Praise to the Man"
Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah,
Jesus anointed that Prophet and Seer.
Blessed to open the last dispensation,
Kings shall extol him, and nations revere.
Great is his glory and endless his priesthood.
Ever and ever the keys he will hold.
Faithful and true, he will enter his kingdom,
Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old.
President Hinckley said,
On Joseph Smith, "It is a constantly recurring mystery to me how some people speak with admiration for the Church and its work while at the same time didsdaining him through whom, as a servant of the Lord, came the framework of all that the Church is, of all that it teaches, and of all that it stands for. They would pluck the fruit from the tree while cutting oft the root from which it grows."
As you can see it was a GREAT, INSPIRING conference. So glad we got to be part of it.
Tuesday was a beautiful day. We came home and did lots of yard work. We cut off large branches from our trees and bushes. Weeded the from yard and it is looking good. It had gotten our of control but with the cold and rain we didn't get it done. We can now see the flowers as they start to bloom.
Wednesday we drove to Werribee, about an hour away. One of our missionaries has been sick for at least a month. Sister Maxwell called and asked us to bring some DoTerra oils. Sister Horne sells them. The elder has been to the doctor so many times and they couldn't find anything. They are saying it is pneumonia now. We are hoping the oils will help. He is finally starting to feel a bit better
The missionaries have been doing service at the temple. It is closed for two weeks. The missionaries love cleaning the inside and outside.
A spiritual good work day.
Friday the President had interviews with the senior sisters and the couple missionaries. He talked about the scripture Matthew 26:26 and the Joseph Smith Translation.
"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
JST: and brake it, and blessed it, and gave to his disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is in remembrance of my body
which I give a RANSOM for you.
President Maxwell is a kind, loving man. How blessed we are to work with him and Sister Maxwell.
Saturday it rained all morning so Adrienne and I put together the needlepoint Christmas stocking we have been working on for a couple of months. The sun came out and we went to a new revamped mall close to our flat. We are looking for things to put in Christmas gift bags for the 60-70 missionaries that won't be receiving gifts or letters from home. We call this our Sub for Santa because we aren't home to do a Sub for Santa with our families.
In closing this letter I am quoted out today,
We love and miss you all,
The mom, The grandmas. The sister Sisters
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