More Precious than Gold
August 17th, 2010
These last two weeks have been busy, yet again! With the near certainty of me leaving the office on the 25th, I feel obliged to get everything in order and leave the office better than I found it. Fortunately it’s already in pretty good shape. There are just a few loose ends I need to tie up. Overall I feel good about leaving. I’ve done my work here, and it’s time to move on.
All is well here in Fair Oaks, Orangevale, Citrus Heights, and Carmichael. (Those are all the various cities in our area, all of them suburbs of Sacramento) The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and life is good.
The Bishop of our ward has taken a job in Utah and will be getting a replacement soon. He will be missed. He’s a wonderful leader. He was also the head architect in charge of designing the beautiful Sacramento Temple. So, he’s now taking a job with the Church’s temple design department. Exciting!
The work is slow here, but we’re not losing faith. I know the Lord is preparing people for us to teach. And I know that the people we are trying to work with will progress towards baptism. It’s just a longer path for some, and we can’t drag them along. It’s a humbling thing to realize that the Lord’s time-line is not the same as yours. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Last night we were in my birth area again; the Hurley Ward in East Sacramento. We had to setup for a Spanish Cottage Meeting. On the way home I felt prompted to stop by a family I had taught over a year ago. The husband was a member, though not active, and we were teaching his wife, Flora. When I was still there she set a baptismal date, but then I got transferred! I heard that she got baptized a little over a month after that, but no one called me back for the service. Well, last night we stopped by! Flora was really happy to see us. Even Elder Feusner knew her from having done some yard service for her last year (while on an exchange in that ward). We visited with each other, and I learned that they are going to the Temple in a few weeks! And they’ll be sealed about a month after! They’re a wonderful family, with two beautiful little girls. One is almost seven, the other is a little over two. I’m so happy for them.
Despite my trials and difficulties, I’m ever grateful for these blessings of the Lord. To see these people plant themselves more deeply in the rich soil of the gospel is truly a gift “more precious than gold.”
Love,
Elder Macpherson