Missionary Email #15

 Dear All -

Last Monday we went for a walk on an urban trail along the ocean front.  It has some beautiful views of the city, and there were lots of joggers/bikers/walkers.

There were a number of cats that just seemed to sit along the sea-wall, but we also saw an old friend - or maybe the relative of some old friends.

It was a relatively cool evening, and there was a nice breeze, so we didn't get too overheated.

The work in the temple this week has been a bit challenging because there have not been a lot of workers.  On one shift there were a total of five brothers, and three of them were new workers.  On the other hand we have been calling and setting apart quite a number of workers, so I am hopeful we will soon be better staffed.  The members are attending in larger numbers, which is greatly appreciated.  As the Lord calls more people to the temple more and more of them will also want to serve as workers.

Last week I called and set apart a mother and daughter as temple workers.  The daughter will be leaving on a mission in December, and the mother decided she would like to work alongside her daughter.  As I set the mother apart I was amazed at the flood of tender love that the Lord poured out through me.  I know my words were not adequate to express all the things I felt, but I trust the Spirit was able to make them clear to that dear sister.

There is a brother here who is in charge of the patron lodging, and he also works in the temple.  His name is Alberto, but as I was looking at the "Open" sign on the front of the building I realized that "Abierto" is also very close to his name.  So I call him Hermano Abierto, and he calls me Hermano Leyendo (reading).  He is a retired police officer, and rather gruff at times, but this week I have gotten to see how deep is his love for the temple and temple work.  On one of the days we were so short of workers the shift coordinator called him to see if he would officiate on the session - in 10 minutes - and he was immediately there.  We may not have lots of workers, but we have very good workers.

Hope things are going well for you.

Love,

John and Delkys