Sunday Afternnon

It is 3:10 pm on Sunday afternoon.  I am excited because tomorrow is a holiday!  YEAH!!  I have had a great day so far.  I got up to go to church and thought I would be late, so I nixed the make up.  Turns out that I got there right about 9:00 am and had to wait an hour for STAKE CONFERENCE to start.  haha..serves me right for not going last week, even if i was laid up with a broken foot!

I saw some people that I know.  The Koizumi's from Mililani.  He was the Stake President back in the late '70s and early '80s.  I also saw Sis. Holm, a missionary from Utah, who was also serving in Kailua Ward when we lived there. She is now in the Hawaii Kai Ward. It is a small world and you better not burn bridges, cuz the gangplank will come back to hit you in the butt.

I am watching, on and off, the news on Haiti.  It is so awful to hear about the looting, the fighting and yet, there are some wonderful stories of finding people alive after 108 hours.  I can't even imagine what these poor people are going through.  You can't blame the people for looking for food and water and doing anything to get it.  However, I am hearing about a mob that dragged a naked man through the streets, while beating him and then lynching him by setting him on fire.  I just hope if I am ever in a situation like that, I will keep my humanity and not resort to such violence.  The Prophets of old and new alike have said that if we are prepared, we shouldn't fear.  It reminds me that I need to beef up my food storage, especially water.  When we had our house with the pool, I wasn't thinking about water.  But now that we don't have that pool, the more water we store the better off we'll all be.

I saw a poll on cnn.com asking a question about giving financial help to Haiti.  57% of the people who answered this poll said they wouldn't donate anything to any charity.  I was really, really surprised at this.  I thought the spirit of American people was different and that more would give financial aid.  I'm hoping that this poll was just a small portion of people and in reality, more people will help out.

Our main speaker in Stake Conference was Elder Clayton, one of the 7 Presidents of the Seventy, related to us that although we are living in difficult times, the fast offerings have risen.  He said at first, the amount of people giving dipped a little, but now that number has risen, as has the amount given.  To me, that is at the heart of the Gospel message to love one another and take care of each other.

He also told another story about visiting Paraguay in 2002, during a terrible economic crisis.There was 80% unemployment in some areas of the Country.  Elder Clayton met with 6 Stake Presidents and asked them what was going right in their stakes.  After hearing what they had to say, Elder Clayton was prompted to ask them this following question:  Tell me, of all your members who are paying a full tithe, giving a generous fast offering, holding FHE every Monday, reading the scriptures, praying as families, magnifying their callings and doing their Home or Visiting Teaching, is there anyone of these who can't take care of themselves and solve their own problems?  Well, not one of the 6 Stake Presidents could name one family.

Elder Clayton reminded us that if we are obedient and doing what we should be doing, especially paying a full tithe, then we will be blessed.    When he was speaking, it was very quiet and reverent, and my observation was that everyone was paying attention and listening to what he had to say.

I am glad I attended Church today.  I've never gone to a meeting or church where I said later, Oh that was a waste of my time.  The Spirit was there and I am thankful to have felt it.  Oh and the Honolulu Stake has the best Choir!!  Really, it was fantastic.  They sang the closing hymn, "I Believe in Christ" which was as if Angels were singing, too!

Have a great day and week to come,
Aloha,
Stephanie