Feast Sunday
Today was Fast Sunday....the one day of the month we go without eating. Normally we eat on Saturday evening and then don't eat again until Sunday evening dinner. We stretched that out a little bit. It is now about 10:30 p.m. and I am just eating.
There really wasn't time to eat before.
We attended both Sacrament meetings. The testimonies we heard were inspiring. Every single person spoke of the Savior and His love for us. The meetings here are always always wonderful. We feel so richly blessed. The one Sunday School we attended was stimulating and interesting and uplifting. We studied the Book of James. As he usually does, he gave us some background on James, as well as what historians generally think of the book (some don't think it was actually James writing).
We came home and spent an hour on the computer trying to figure out how to get train tickets into London. We finally got them figured out and purchased, with a half hour before walking to the train station. I call it "Hurry up to wait," and SK calls it "Get there early in case you run into any difficulties along the way." We waited. Nearly an hour. In the cold.
But to be honest, I wouldn't have wanted to miss the train, because 1) the tickets were nonrefundable, and 2) we really wanted to get to London.
It was a beautiful ride into that beautiful city. I slept part of the way, and SK had the unusual luxury of relaxing in a comfortable seat and watching the countryside slide by.
We arrived at Hyde Park Chapel with time to spare before the 6:00 "Why I Believe" Fireside. It's a good thing because the chapel was full. There were many investigators there, brought by eager young missionaries. At six, the program was outlined. It would be an hour and a half of singing, with testimonies given by 4 recent converts and one life-long member.
There must have been 80 or so young missionaries and they sang their hearts out. They sounded like young angels. One played the violin, one the cello, one the organ and one the piano, and they were excellent musicians. And they all looked so beautiful.
The testimonies - each one so different from the others - were powerful. One young woman said that before she met the missionaries, she told her friends, "There is something missing, and I don't know what it is." When she met the elders, they brought a beauty and joy and wholeness into her life that she had never experienced. The others expressed similar thoughts but very personalized testimonies and the gospel's relevance to them.
Tom Christofferson gave the closing thoughts. He spoke for about 8 or 9 minutes and gave an incredible talk about coming to Christ and finding great joy. Masterful talk.
All of the missionaries stood in the choir seats at the end of the meeting and sang a song I had never heard before. "God Bless Us Everyone." It was from an old production of "Christmas Carol" performed in Madison Square Garden when Dave was the president there. The words and the melody and the young voices singing loud and clear in sweet harmony brought the tears.
We quickly left and made our way to the train station, where we caught the 9:00 train to Oxford. We sat across from two young Americans who are attending Oxford....one getting his Ph.D. in Theoretic Physics, and the other getting a degree in Cognitive Neuroscience.
We talked with them all the way home. They told us about themselves, we told them about us. We gave them a passalong card with our phone number on it, and told them we would be able to help them with anything if they found they ever were in a spot, and I think SK invited them to Family Home Evening. They were both so friendly and interesting. I would love it if they would call us and maybe come over.
Today has been a day without food, but it has been a spiritual feast from beginning to end.
There really wasn't time to eat before.
We attended both Sacrament meetings. The testimonies we heard were inspiring. Every single person spoke of the Savior and His love for us. The meetings here are always always wonderful. We feel so richly blessed. The one Sunday School we attended was stimulating and interesting and uplifting. We studied the Book of James. As he usually does, he gave us some background on James, as well as what historians generally think of the book (some don't think it was actually James writing).
We came home and spent an hour on the computer trying to figure out how to get train tickets into London. We finally got them figured out and purchased, with a half hour before walking to the train station. I call it "Hurry up to wait," and SK calls it "Get there early in case you run into any difficulties along the way." We waited. Nearly an hour. In the cold.
But to be honest, I wouldn't have wanted to miss the train, because 1) the tickets were nonrefundable, and 2) we really wanted to get to London.
It was a beautiful ride into that beautiful city. I slept part of the way, and SK had the unusual luxury of relaxing in a comfortable seat and watching the countryside slide by.
We arrived at Hyde Park Chapel with time to spare before the 6:00 "Why I Believe" Fireside. It's a good thing because the chapel was full. There were many investigators there, brought by eager young missionaries. At six, the program was outlined. It would be an hour and a half of singing, with testimonies given by 4 recent converts and one life-long member.
There must have been 80 or so young missionaries and they sang their hearts out. They sounded like young angels. One played the violin, one the cello, one the organ and one the piano, and they were excellent musicians. And they all looked so beautiful.
The testimonies - each one so different from the others - were powerful. One young woman said that before she met the missionaries, she told her friends, "There is something missing, and I don't know what it is." When she met the elders, they brought a beauty and joy and wholeness into her life that she had never experienced. The others expressed similar thoughts but very personalized testimonies and the gospel's relevance to them.
Tom Christofferson gave the closing thoughts. He spoke for about 8 or 9 minutes and gave an incredible talk about coming to Christ and finding great joy. Masterful talk.
All of the missionaries stood in the choir seats at the end of the meeting and sang a song I had never heard before. "God Bless Us Everyone." It was from an old production of "Christmas Carol" performed in Madison Square Garden when Dave was the president there. The words and the melody and the young voices singing loud and clear in sweet harmony brought the tears.
We quickly left and made our way to the train station, where we caught the 9:00 train to Oxford. We sat across from two young Americans who are attending Oxford....one getting his Ph.D. in Theoretic Physics, and the other getting a degree in Cognitive Neuroscience.
We talked with them all the way home. They told us about themselves, we told them about us. We gave them a passalong card with our phone number on it, and told them we would be able to help them with anything if they found they ever were in a spot, and I think SK invited them to Family Home Evening. They were both so friendly and interesting. I would love it if they would call us and maybe come over.
Today has been a day without food, but it has been a spiritual feast from beginning to end.
Comments