Welcome, Welcome Sabbath Morning

SUNDAY! It is the busiest day of the week, naps are non-existent, we travel hither and yon, we are tired when we get home AND it is without a doubt the best day of the week! We love what we do so that definitely helps. It's the day that most visibly reflects what this mission is all about. It's about people, more specifically, young Marines. It's about families, some whose spouses have been deployed and some whose families find themselves in the middle of military life. It is always, ALWAYS about keeping the membership strong in the Gospel and in many cases lately, bringing some into the Gospel. The work is never ending and always exciting. Let me tell you about Audra and Alex.

Alexandra was the first in the group to join the Church. She did not waiver in her belief and when she made the commitment to join, she removed all of her piercings to include brow, lip and who knows what else, we weren't here at the time. She was so excited that she shared the message with her friend, Audra, and she joined. Then THEY shared the message with Audra's brother, Chris and HE will be baptised later this month. It is amazing how these three lives have been changed in such a short time AND because someone had the courage to share!

There are many who come into the chapel doors in jeans, sometimes shorts, and sometimes with tattoos and such...they are welcomed with open arms! We love our wards and we serve both the Jacksonville 2nd and 3rd Wards. We attend all of the PEC meetings, the Ward Council meetings and missionary group meetings. It is a hustle to get from one to the other and we sometimes only make it for part of each Sacrament meeting. It is all so worth it!

Yesterday will be a day not soon forgotten and I will share it in the most reverent way I can so as not to detract from the spiritual nature.

Sunday evenings, each and every week, we conduct Sacrament at Camp Geiger, one of our assigned bases. As I've shared before, we meet in the back room of the main chapel, the room with all the real stuff, like organs, pews, big screens for power point preaching etc. Our room has a small pulpit, a big screen tv, a piano AND a coffee maker! We usually have from 3 of us (that means literally 1 of them and 2 of us) to 9 of us. Yesterday we had four Marines, including one of the MCT instructor's. One young lady has been studying on her own and has made a commitment to be baptised even without having had a discussion. However, it has really weighed heavy on her mind that the priest in her Parrish told her that her soul was in jeopardy because she joined the military. After the meeting was closed we showed the dvd "Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled." At the conclusion, with tears in her eyes, she expressed gratitude for having been comforted and that her soul was intact. But that's not the end of the story. Their instructor, SSG Covey, started a conversation with them with, "Right now I am not your leader. I am your friend and a member of this Church." When he is in the field with his platoon, he conducts Sacrament for the membership so they do not miss out on those moments of peace. He explained the comfort of a Priesthood blessing and offered one to each of young people present and so they each received a blessing. As tears flowed I could not contain the joy that we all felt at this special moment, a moment that will be forever imprinted on my heart. It is moments such as these that I pause to give thanks for the privilege and blessing of being here, of doing as the Lord has asked us to do. It is all about love but more importantly, the message of our Savior's love for us...His children. We are so blessed!