The Gift of Tongues

Today was a wonderful day in our mission! We spoke in our own ward, and I spoke for 10 minutes or more with just an outline in English in front of me. I spoke about how the Lord can use our talents, no matter how small they are, to further His work on the earth. I said that we need to use our talents to serve in the church, to be humble and accept the callings that we receive and fulfill them. I had written and re-written the outline several times, however, I didn't have time to type it out and get it revised by anyone. I did NOT want to read my talk. I prayed for the gift of tongues and was blessed. I asked for the faith and prayers of the congregation also. The gift of tongues is alive and well!!

Jerry's talk was amazing! He used the Uruguayan Mission Hymn that the missionaries sang 40 years ago. He sang the first verse, and then told the story of Nibia. How he and Elder Hansen had played a "game" where they looked for the right street, the right apartments, and the right door. They knocked on her door and she answered the door crying. They said they had a message for her from Jesus Christ. Several weeks later, she told them they had come to her door just as she was planning on commiting suicide. They had saved her life, physically and spiritually. She was baptized, and later, her son, and her niece, Myrna, with her Communist boyfriend. What an amazing story that is! We just had lunch with Nibia this afternoon in the same apartment they taught her 40 years before. She is so kind and wonderful!

Jerry sang the 2nd verse of the Uruguayan Hymn, and told the story of how incompetent we were at the beginning of our mission. We had to learn a lot in order to be useful here.

After singing the 3rd verse of the hymn, he bore his testimony. We were all in tears, although we had also laughed at his funny comments. What a wonderful talk he gave! Afterward, many people came up (while I was playing postude music) to let me know that my talk had touched their hearts. Jerry was surrounded by grateful ward members in the foyer.