Oct 23 - Nov 19
These past few weeks have flown by. We have totally settled in to the YSA groove now and have regular routines (even if it means getting to bed around midnight or 1a.m. on a regular basis). Even still, every day holds new adventures. Sister Perona and I wonder what each day will bring in terms of experiences, adventure, spirituality, learning, and teaching.
Our Institute Director, and his wife, took us to Hocking Hills state park. It is just south of Columbus. We marveled at how beautifully the Lord created this area. We were glad to get out in nature and to hike amongst such intricate rock formations.
We were given permission to witness our granddaughter, Lucy's, baptism the end of October. It was a beautiful time with family. We also saw the location for the ground breaking ceremony of the Willamette Valley (Eugene, OR) Temple when we dropped off our twelve-year old grand daughter, Nellie, who was singing in the youth choir. Later we saw pictures of her in the Church News turning soil for the ground breaking ceremony. That Sunday she also spoke at her stake conference.
This picture is of Elder Perona's desk; a.k.a. command center. When we are in charge of Wednesday evening Zoom class we can see everything zoom offers so as not to miss anything.
Here in Ohio, and surrounding states, there are many "Indian burial mounds". This one happens to be just around the corner from our apartment. The time frame given to this mound is from 800 BC to 100 AD. Standing on top of the mound we could see all over the area. We imagined Nephites and Lamanites in battle across the river near the mound. We could see how they may have heaped some of the bodies in this mound. It felt as though we went back in time and witnessed events from the Book of Mormon. It is pretty awe-inspiring to realize that we are walking on ground where the Nephites and Lamanites lived so many years ago.
We visited the German village here in Columbus with one of our recently baptized friends (she is standing next to Elder Perona) and with the sister missionaries and our good friend/member Athena. Our new friend actually lives in Germany when not here for school. Her father was a four-time olympic hockey player for the German team.
We had a very interesting series of events last Friday. We had a double baptism scheduled in the morning. One of the friends to be baptized had worked late the night before and over slept and missed the baptism. When he awoke he was shocked and embarrassed and asked to be baptized immediately (even though the font had been drained). So the font was refilled. As it was filling, the girl in the picture above, who had not yet committed to baptism, decided to be baptized that evening. So we had three separate baptisms that day! It was an amazing outpouring of the Spirit. This testimony (above) was written by the young woman in her Book of Mormon. She had finished 18 of the 21 day Book of Mormon scripture challenge in seven days, had been at the institute every day from the prior Thursday, went to church, and received permission from the mission president to be baptized that day. She has such a strong testimony - she glows - she is a miracle and one of the Lord's sheep.
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Serving a CES mission at the institute I wondered if I would have the opportunity to baptize. I went into the mission with the hope that I would have that opportunity. The Lord extended tender mercies to me as one of the friends that we were helping the young missionaries teach asked if I would baptize him. During the baptism it took four times before we could get full immersion! He may have rethought asking me - LOL. I was so happy and glad to be part of his spiritual journey. I saw in him, the first time I met him, that he would be baptized and that he was truly searching for a better life.
We also had the opportunity to co-teach another young man who just walked into the Institute as he travelled down from Chicago on his journey to find Christ. In Chicago he was walking down the sidewalk and saw some missionaries. He said that he had an impression to talk to them. They taught him some lessons and he then moved to Columbus where he found the Institute "church" near campus. He really knows his scriptures. We love his calming, gentile nature.
Once a month we are at the temple with YSAs in Indianapolis. This trip we had snow on the way and it was cold. This was the first visit for two of the young adults. On the way home, driving at night, a strange thing happened on the freeway. The road was dark and the weather made it difficult to see. Suddenly the GPS said " there is a dead dear in the road ahead". Three seconds later we safely swerved to miss the carcass. I've never heard my GPS say anything like that before. We wondered if we had some help from someone for whom we had done work for in the temple that day.
Every Sunday evening we have a mission devotional. This last Sunday the meeting was held in the Kirtland temple. We viewed it over Zoom. A member of the church in the Kirtland area, who is quite a historian on the events of Kirtland, spoke to us. We learned so many new things about how the work of the Lord moved forward during the Kirtland period.
We just received the good news that the Columbus Ohio temple open house will start for the public on April 29, 2023. The rededication will be on June 4, 2023. This temple is literally 4 minutes from our apartment. We will no longer need to travel 3 hours to Indianapolis, Indiana and only once per month. It will be a perfect missionary opportunity following the #LightTheWorld effort after the Christmas holidays.
We are witnessing miracles in the lives of people every day! The mission is thriving. The institute is growing. It is so inspiring to be around the young missionaries and YSA at the institute. We have inspired leaders who give us direct, explicit council. The doctrine of Christ is real, saves lives, blesses people, provides peace and joy. We know that Jesus Christ stands at the head of His church here on earth that is led by a prophet of God. We know that by reading the Book of Mormon every day a person can be led to resolve all the problems that confront them. We love the work, the Lord, and the people of Ohio.