A Week of Opportunities

We were in Belize City on mission business this week with Elder and Sister VandeMerwe. Just couldn't pass up this view across the Caribbean Sea!  

(Note the beware of crocodiles sign on the left!)

Want to feel young again? Join us at the next Young Single Adult activity in San Ignacio. Saturday night, 24 energetic, friendly, and hungry young adults came together for an evening of fun, food, and lots of games.

We've received an additional assignment to serve as Pathway missionaries in San Ignacio. Pathway is the Church's on-line university program for international students where they begin their first-year towards a bachelors degree or a certificate. Our role is to facilitate the weekly gathering of the students as they assist each other in their studies. Our District President Amin Salazar looks on in the background.

The zone leaders and sister training leaders met in their every-six-weeks training meeting with President Adams who was in El Salvador conducting the meeting with the other missionary leaders. The miracle of telecommunications is truly a way the Lord's work spreads across the world.

It's appropriate that Elder and Sister Flake stand next to the Belize national flag. What a blessing they have been to the people and Church leaders in this country the past two years. They conclude their mission in two weeks. They will be missed.

In District Council this week we welcomed two new sisters who just arrived from El Salvador-- Sister Thompson (far right) and Sister Donakey (second from the left). They with Sisters Kruyer and Holdsworth form a strong team in the Cayo District. It is a blessing to work alongside them.

Last Sunday we were in the capital city of Belmopan to attend the Maya Mopan Branch. The branch meets in a rented house. Inside, I prepared to play the electronic keyboard for the service while the branch presidency finalized the program.

Elder Magnusson had been asked to conduct training after the service for the branch council on the Come, Follow Me manual for families, and on ministering. We felt the sweet, humble spirit that prevails among these members, nearly all of them Spanish-speaking.

I was touched to receive a gift from our friend, Isaiah Gillet of Belize City--a bag with the image of the Oakland California Temple. It's the temple that's closest to where I grew up and where I married Elder Magnusson. Thank you, Isaiah!

This week during our scripture study time, Elder Magnusson and I read Luke l:5-25, 57-80.  We learned that "God's blessings come in His own time".  This message from our New Testament study manual was very timely for me:  

For whatever reasons, God’s timing meant that the blessing Elisabeth and Zacharias desired, to have a child, came much later than they expected. If you find yourself having to wait for a blessing, or if it seems that God isn’t hearing your prayers, the story of Elisabeth and Zacharias can be a reminder that He hasn’t forgotten you. He has a plan for you, and He always keeps His promises to His righteous Saints. As Elder Jeffrey R. Holland promised, “Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come” (“An High Priest of Good Things to Come,” Ensign, Nov. 1999, 38). How did Zacharias and Elisabeth remain faithful? (see Luke 1:5–25, 57–80). Do you find yourself waiting for a blessing? What do you feel the Lord expects of you while you wait?

When I read Elder Holland's quote, I was reminded of one of my favorite Mormon Message videos, "Good Things to Come". 

You can also see the video by clicking here