Sacrament Meeting June 12, 2011

Our speakers during Sacrament meeting were couple returned from a service mission in Edinburgh, Scotland.  The sister explained that their mission had a geneolgy mission. Apparently the Scots are very good record keepers, and have kept records from long ago.  The Church is attempting to digitize those records. The sister explained that the Scottish government made an agreement with the Church.  They would provide the documents, a room, and cameras if the LDS Church would provide the free labor.  The missionaries were not even called missionaries.  They were not allowed to wear their badges.  They wore work clothes instead of Sunday dress and were not allowed to proselyte.  The sister went on to say that they worked Monday through Friday from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm.  Because they were not able to preach the Gospel, after work the couple did a lot of reactivation work.

      The sister told of a single mother who they worked with who had lived a rocky life before finding the Gospel.   The single mother had a testimony, read her scriptures, and prayed, but did not attend church.  The couple worked tirelessly serving the sister and teaching her about the atonement.  Then one day she said, "I understand" and was able to get rid of her antidepressants and come back to church.  The sister missionary said that nothing materially changed for the single mother, but the understanding of the atonement made all the difference in her life.
     The sister missionary's parting comments really impacted me.  She said that Jesus left us with a new commandment saying "As I have loved you love one another."  The sister said that on her mission she learned to take people where they were and love them. "Once we do this, a change of heart is possible."  I think that accepting people this way will not only change their hearts but our own hearts.
     Her husband also spoke to us.  He said the he had never had a favorite scripture but that while on his mission he learned to love one passage in Matthew in particular.  "But when the Pharisees had heard that the had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.  Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him and saying, 'Master, which is the great commandment in the law?' Jesus said unto him,Thou shalt love the Lord they God with all they heart and with all they soul, and with all thy mind.' This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.'"Matthew 22:34-40  After the Elder had read this scripture he pointed out that all the commandments fall under these two great commandments.  He said, and I really loved this part, "the point is love not performance.  If you love God your performance will follow."  The Elder went on to say that the service that they gave Mon-Fri digitizing documents was, at times,  tedious, but that he grew from his service.  He said that he grew on him mission by setting up a personal ministry. He and his wife taught the members of the Edinburgh ward and they also had a great passion for reactivation.  Our personal ministry should be centered around loving God and our fellow man.
       The Bishop got up after this Elder's talk and said something quite profound.  "We should have a great sense and empathy for our fellow man.  When God steps back nd looks At all of us He see us as all the same.  We should strive for the same perspective."