OhioCarmack: November 2012

Friday, November 30, 2012

December Newsletter Article for Pheasant Ward

We have had another wonderful month in the mission field. We had an investigator come to church a few weeks ago. He is one of the youth’s piano teacher and she invited him to church. She is the Bishop’s daughter. The Bishop is having the missionary discussions in his home with him. When the investigator came to Gospel Principles class our new “golden” member bore her sweet testimony and the Spirit was very strong.

Our FHE family gave the FHE this week on Prayer. We were so thrilled to share FHE with their family. The father read from the scriptures, the 8-year-old read a story from the Friend, the 17-year-old wanted to sing “When I Am Baptized”, and the mother bore her beautiful testimony.

We have been taking our laptop to members’ homes and tutoring on things like putting the Newsletter on the Ward website and indexing. We met with a less-active member to show her how to index and download the program to her computer and she called us with a question on indexing on the way home from her house! It is a pleasure to help others do Family History, especially when that is their talent. She loves genealogy and has a huge Book of Remembrance full of her genealogy. We showed her the new Family Tree program on the FamilySearch site and she loves it.

We had the rare opportunity to attend a 3-Zone Mission Conference beginning at the Kirtland Temple. Words cannot describe the strong feeling of the Spirit in the Kirtland Temple. We were very inspired by talks and testimonies of Karl Ricks Anderson, President Stacey, Brother Hokanson, and President Vellinga. We then separated into four groups at each corner in the temple and bore our testimonies. The Spirit was awesome. The Historic Kirtland Visitor’s Center is magnificent all the time but this time of year presents over 700 Nativity Scenes. There are some pictures on the blog. A beautiful Spirit was present as we ended our Christmas 3-Zone Conference there. Our Mission President challenged us to “have enough faith to know the Lord has prepared someone to be ready to hear the Gospel, be ready to commit to baptism, and be ready to be an active member of the church.” We know the Lord hears and answers our prayers to find those He has prepared because we just baptized one. The church is true!

We are so excited to go to the Temple for the first time since we have been serving a mission. The Temple is out of our mission area so we have not been able to go to the Temple while serving. Our new Mission President asked the Area President about it and they gave us permission to go twice a year. We printed some of our family file to do and are looking forward to the blessings of the Temple.

We feel so blessed to be called to the Ohio Cleveland Mission at this time and in the place we are serving. We know the Lord called us. We wish each of you a blessed Christmas and New Year. Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, and He lives! We love each of you.

Christmas | Mormon.org

Christmas | Mormon.org

Christmas is Jesus Christ. Christmas is Family. Christmas is Service. Christmas is Love.

Christmas means seeing and feeling the love of Christ in everyone. It is a season to reflect on the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ for each of us. Christmas is pondering on what Jesus Christ would do to lift a family member, or friend, or neighbor. Christmas is loving one another and trusting in the Lord to guide you to those in need. Christmas is hope for a brighter future for your children and grandchildren. Christmas is a time to celebrate our families and the gift they are to us. I love Christmas and our families, friends and neighbors. Merry Christmas everyone! Your Heavenly Father loves you and knows you and has a plan for you.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Christmas Mission Conference in Kirtland

The Mission Christmas Conference in Kirtland was so inspiring. We know and have faith that the angels have prepared someone for us in this mission and are grateful to have the many opportunities we have been given to share the gospel and to serve a mission here in the Ohio Cleveland Mission. We listened to testimonies of angels in the Kirtland Temple today. We saw nativity displays from all over the world in the Historic Kirtland Visitors Center today. We listened to testimonies and inspired counsel from Karl Ricks Anderson, President Stacey, Brother Hokanson and President Vellinga today. It was a great day. We know the Lord called us to serve in this place at this time and are so grateful for the call. We love our mission and Ohio.

We were honored to have Karl Ricks Anderson sign his new book for us. It is: The Savior in Kirtland: Personal Accounts of Divine Manifestations. On the back cover is this quote: "In Kirtland the Savior personally directed His Church and taught His Saints by appearing to at least twenty-three Church leaders or by speaking to them. Brother Anderson points out that more first-person words of the Lord have gone out to the world from Kirtland than from any other location in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." We are so grateful to serve in such a sacred place on earth. It is a priviledge to be called to the Ohio Cleveland Mission.