Mission Update October 18, 2009

Sorry it's taken so long to get this up dad! By the way, I spoke with mom and dad yesterday and told them their blog could use a little "color" with some photos of their mission. I even taught mom how to use their camera, so everyone please join me in hounding them to send us some pictures!

Thanks!

Shell


Mission Update October 18, 2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Family and Friends,

Once again we are inspired to write a few lines and relay our love and concern for each of you. Our prayer is that this letter finds all of you well and progressing toward our heavenly goal.

Proverbs 27:10 reads:

Thine own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity: for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.

This is what we neighbors, friends or members of the church become to each other. We often are closer to each other as members than relatives are. A young man (a convert of about a year) and I have been visiting one of his home teaching assignments, a lady that is bed ridden. Her closest relatives live in the Midwest and she has no one to look in on her. This home teacher rarely misses a Sunday and makes up for it on other days if he does. He suffers from audio and visual hallucinations that are as real as you and I are to each other. He calls them the adversary. Since joining the church his whole life has changed. Before joining the church, he was on the street and a real mess. Today we met with the Bishop to see if we could get the sacrament taken over to this sister and to see if she might be able to receive her patriarchal blessing. His love is unparalleled for this sister and the church. As he reads the Book of Mormon to her, I see her relaxing and gaining more confidence in Heavenly Father. This example gives me great faith that we all have some worth to our Heavenly Father and by living up to the covenants that we make at baptism to lift each up and share each other’s burdens we become more like our Savior and Heavenly Father. We literally become His friend in the process.
Last Sunday we had a double baptism in the Oakland 9th Ward. Tiffany was baptized by Elder Dim Dim as I mentioned she would be in my last letter. I baptized Pearl, a lady that Sister Heaton and I have been taking to church regularly. It was a blessed event. After Tiffany was baptized (Elder Dim Dim is 5’5” and maybe 100 lbs. dripping wet and Tiffany about 6’ and a large woman, it was a struggle for him to get her back out of the water, but he did it) she came straight up out of the water and began to shout and clap. She was so happy and filled with joy that she couldn’t contain it. This reminded our ward mission leader, Derek Flourek, of Mosiah 18:8-11 in the Book of Mormon from which he quoted;

8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—

10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?

11 And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts.

This was most definitely the desire of Tiffany’s heart. Everyone that was in attendance felt that same joy and excitement. The miracle of true conversion humbles us as missionaries to the very soles of shoes as we act as a conduit for the Lord’s will in bringing the elect back to the path that leads to eternal life and salvation. What greater blessing in life is there than to touch others with the Savior’s love for them. We share this love in our families and as missionaries we share it with those that have “ears to hear and eyes to see.”

The Oakland Stake celebrated its 75th year of existence this week with a multicultural food court and display of past years and events. They have a rich heritage. Some of our Bhutan/Nepal investigators brought a rice pudding that was very good. Afterward, Sister Heaton and I met with the head of the house and others and gave a lesson on the dispensations of time and the need for the restoration and a modern prophet to guide the church. He wondered why there were so many different churches. Now he knows that there is just one. We are hoping that they will be the first fruits for this group of people that could lead to many, many more.

There are many, many more things that are going on all of the time. It is virtually impossible to write it all down. My poor journal is about worn out and I suffer from writer’s cramp. You just don’t want to forget any of the daily events as the Lord’s servant. Please share the gospel with all that you come in contact with. It is our prayer for you and them. As my son Joshua pointed out, “it might be the only time this person comes in contact with the church. What you do with it really does matter!”

With our love,

Elder and Sister Heaton

Mission Update 10/07/2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Family and Friends,

We are entering our fifth month in the mission field. The Lord has blessed us with health and strength to continue on in His work here in the Oakland/San Francisco area. What a wonderful experience to watch our first General Conference while serving the Lord full time on a mission. We have always paid attention to conference in the past, but it just seems more poignant at this time. Sister Heaton believes that she knows what President Monson’s moniker is going to be. “Love and Service” seemed to be his recurring theme throughout his talks and the rest of a lot of the talks during each session.

I was also particularly impressed with Elder Holland’s talk on the Book of Mormon’s authenticity. Why he would have to direct that talk to us, the Saints, is a little amazing to me. One knows that he must have had to field many concerns from members about the authenticity of the Book of Mormon to be so fervent in his talk. It begs the question, “When are we as church members going grow up spiritually?” I have a hard time believing that we people in the church do not humble ourselves enough to get an answer to the authenticity of this book that is the hallmark for the church and Christianity. I understand that this can be a real challenge for us people that have been born in the church. We take things so casually some times. We sometimes coast along and the reality of the Book of Mormon can be ASSUMED from birth until someone puts a doubt in our heads from some old dog criticism or new found scientific supposed evidence to the contrary. We have not had to work for our membership in the church by living outside of it. Many of us have not seen the miracle that happens when someone reads it for the first time and fervently prays to know whether it is of God or man. When, watching the change in investigators as they follow its precepts and Moroni’s challenge to pray to know puts a whole new light this conversion process and the blessings that it brings. I was at a teaching appointment with Elders Dim Dim (Pilipino) and Folsom ( Japan) teaching a lady by the name of Tiffany. She had already committed to baptism and they were teaching her the law of tithing and chastity before her baptismal interview and subsequent baptism this next Sunday. When we spoke about the Ten Commandments she said, “you mean you believe in the Bible?” She was genuinely surprised that we believe in the Bible. I said, “Elders you have not taught her what the standard works of the church are?” They said, “No, we wanted to emphasize modern revelation and somehow the Bible never came up.” What a testimony to the conversion power of the Book of Mormon! This good woman had prayed about the book to know of its truthfulness even without the Bible and found the answer as all of us can. That it has the whole gospel of Jesus Christ in it. That we really can come closer to our Father in Heaven and His Son by living by its precepts than by any other book, and finally, that it is true, just as Joseph Smith and all of the witnesses and tens of millions of others have testified, that it is. Thank you Elder Holland for your fervent and apostolic testimony to the same.

On another note, appendicitis surgery, Gall bladder surgery, dislocated fingers, bad ankles, dietary restrictions, belly aches of all kinds, acne, bad eyes and occasionally one companion not getting along with his companion threatening to do some sort of bodily harm to him seem to be plaguing the missionaries health along with the H1N1 flu virus. Needless to say, Sister Heaton has more than her share of challenges trying to keep the shoes on the ground and the missionaries out teaching. She was really disappointed when she broke her record of not putting anybody in the hospital with two hospital surgeries within 5 days of each other. Occasionally she gets an opportunity to go out and teach with me or the Sisters. This seems to recharge her and get her head out of all the sickness. She is also in charge of setting up Zone conferences with President Wade and the Stakes. It can get interesting if there are last minute changes made by the Priesthood leaders. Last Zone Conference we had Elder Hinckley scheduled to come and visit and of course he as presiding authority dictates what is going to happen. Unfortunately just days before his arrival, his office secretary called and said that something had come up and his schedule had changed. He would not be able to come. There was a mad scramble and somehow Sister Heaton was able to get everyone on board with the changes.

Missionary life is full of surprises and not too many dull moments. What a wonderful blessing it has been to experience the Lord’s work up close and personal. Our young Elders and Sisters, for the most part, are so magnificent in teaching and finding. Their dedication to the work is unparalleled. Elder Schmutz (from Kanab) and I along with Sisters Tu’ivai (Tonga) and Kaetler (Canada) were over teaching a group of people from our Nepalese refugee investigators. One of the ladies had requested a blessing. We had been trying to get her to go up to the visitors center by the temple but she said that she gets deathly car sick. I as mouth and Elder Schmutz anointing gave her a healing blessing. After that, another lady that had pneumonia and depression requested a blessing as well. I suggested that Elder Schmutz be the voice. He pronounced a wonderful healing blessing as well. Afterward I asked him if he had given a blessing before, “No,” was the response, “not as the mouth of the blessing.” You would never have known that he had not blessed thousands of others. I went back a few days later and this good lady was doing much better. Previously she was resistant to being taught and now the door has been opened. The lady that I blessed however has not had the courage to get in the car and go. Oh well! The Lord’s will be done.

I will leave you with what I hear the Tongan Elders say after they have had a wonderful spiritual experience.

Simply put, “The mission is good! The church is true!”

With all of our love for you and gratitude for your unbelievable support, prayers, concern and love for us,


Elder and Sister Heaton

Mission Update August 30, 2009

Dear Ward Members, Family & Friends,

Time passes way too quickly in the mission field. Transfers are coming up as they do every six weeks and that is how missionaries keep track of time. It is interesting to talk to the missionaries that are on their last transfer. It usually comes with mixed feelings and emotions and the great missionaries finish with a sprint to the end to do as much as they can before their departure. It is sad to see some go home early and you pray for those a little more fervently.
Heavenly Father has been blessing us with good health and enough time to recuperate when we need to. It allows us to perform what is needed of us and more. Recently we have been having success working with a group from Bhutan/Nepal. I may have mentioned this before, but for those not familiar with the situation I will describe who and what they are. About 18 years ago in Bhutan the king decided to crack down on people that were not staying as conservative as he would like. The king is Buddhist and wanted his kingdom not to change. So he gave what he would term radicals (especially Christians) an ultimatum. Either you sign off that you are not a Christian or you lose all you have and have to leave the country. Many were tortured with all kinds of abuses from the government. About 100,000 left the country and headed to India seeking sanctuary. They were met at the border with machine gun carrying Indian Government troops and were told not to unload the trucks. Some were killed as a result. So they headed for Nepal. Nepal is the second poorest country in the world, but they had some inclination to help because many of these people many generations ago were from Nepal. Now comes the interesting part at least for me. After 18 years, the United Nations finally passed a resolution to help those that were in these refugee camps (squalor) who wanted to an opportunity to relocate to a third country. About 60,000 want to.

Shortly after we arrived in the mission field, one of the missionaries got a referral from Elders Gardner & Fisher in Florida. It was for one of these refugees that had been relocated in the Oakland area. Raj Magar is his name. It was a member referral from Manoj Rui who had joined the church in Florida and wanted all of these refugees to have an opportunity to join as well, Raj and his family being the first. Manoj was over about 20,000 people (kind of like a mayor) in the refugee camps and had some influence. I called him for the Oakland Elders to confirm what was going on and to seek some guidance and help and understanding as how to proceed. Manoj said, “Le me talk to them and I will tell them to stop worshipping monkeys and cows and join the church.” With that instruction we went to contact them. It turned out that at exactly the same time, the Sister missionaries Kaetler and Tu’Ivai tracted out another one of these families. We started teaching them but had a great disadvantage with the language barrier. Most understand the Hindi language and the Book of Mormon is translated into Hindi, but not Nepalese. I called Manoj back and asked if he would help if we put him on speaker phone at some of the lessons. He agreed, but it was very cumbersome. We learned that Elder Rimal’s father, Savat Rimal living in the Salt Lake area was from Nepal. Unfortunately his son does not speak Nepalese, but does very well on his Spanish speaking mission. I asked permission to talk to his father and gave him a call. We put him on the speaker phone as well with about the same results. Better than nothing, but very cumbersome. We started teaching more and more refugee investigators so at a district meeting we decided to fast for an interpreter. I found a banker that was not a member referred from a guy at the pharmacy that we use that speaks Nepalese, so we prayed that he might help us or whatever Heavenly Father could do for us. It was tough on some of the elders because they had dinner appointment s with the Tongans and they always put on a great feed. To their credit they agreed. While fasting I did a lot of research and found out that there was a group that wound up not only in Florida and here, but in Salt Lake City as well. And that there were between 300-400 in our area and a boatload more coming. Talking to these people showed me how humble and prepared they are for the gospel. We read in 2 Nephi 1:5-7 that all people are led by the hand of God to this promised land and that they are all entitled to the same blessings as Father Lehi’s family upon conditions of righteousness. It is very true with these people that have washed up on the shores here in Oakland.

Two weeks after our fast, the banker did not call back, but a miracle was in the making. I received a call from Elder Clyde (ironically on a Spanish speaking mission who had tracted into some of these people) who had been serving in this area but had been transferred from Oakland to San Francisco. He said that he had a man by the name of Ramesh Shrestha from Nepal that might be able to help us. I said you’ve got to be kidding. Not only that but he is a member of the church. He gave me his contact information and I called him. Turns out that not only is he a member, but he served a mission to India and then it even gets better. His home town in Nepal is one kilometer from the camps and some of the people recognized him here in Oakland at a McDonalds. Now Ray (Ramesh) has a great conversion story that I will share some other time, but it seems as though not only are these people here, but Heavenly Father keeps dragging us toward teaching them the gospel. 28 had joined in Florida from what the Elders told me. We are actively teaching about 30 with many more interested. We take them up to the temple grounds and the Visitors Center and they just don’t want to leave. Many are attending church which is difficult because none of them drive. Bus fare is $5 round trip and if you have a family it is often out of their budget. So we do the best we can trying to get them to church. Overcoming culture barriers is still going to be difficult, but at least now we are on a level playing field where we can actually communicate with them and know that they understand what they are being taught. We currently have commitments for 5 baptisms and many others on the cusp. Teaching materials in Nepalese is not readily available other than the Gospel Principles manual and a few other items. I would like to ask you all to take the time and pray that the Book of Mormon will soon be translated into Nepalese. It will bless thousands of lives.

Our mission is truly a reflection of the world wide church. Heavenly Father continues to open the doors to missionary work. When one closes He opens two more. I pray that as a people that we are prepared for these opportunities. I have been rereading an article from BYU Studies publication, Volume 47, number 2 2008. In that article, President Kimball’s son, Edward, in researching his father’s declaration on the Priesthood stated that one of the reasons given for the delay was that the people in the church were not ready for it as opposed to the black’s not being ready or worthy. 15,000 African would- be members and thousands more had to wait years to become members because of that. And now look at how the Lord has blessed these people and the church.

May the Lord bless His church and His Prophet with the wisdom and the guidance to continue this great work. We love you all and pray for Heavenly Father’s blessings on you as well.

With Love,

Elder and Sister Heaton

No longer Strangers! August 13, 2009 Mission Update

No longer Strangers!

Sister Heaton and I have been hard at work. Many of the things that go on in a mission become a bit repetitious after a time. We are in the process of finishing up our second set of Zone Conferences. I believe that we are finally becoming somewhat familiar with what the Lord wants us to do. I love this scripture that President Eyring used in his First Presidency Message this month.

“For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?” (Mosiah 5:13)..

It is as though we are beginning to know the Lord and what His work is as He uses us for His purposes and we humble ourselves to His command. I was talking to an African man the other day that was very familiar with the difference between Christians and Muslims. He being a Christian man that had been raised around both said, “the difference between Christians and Muslims is that Muslims are slaves to God while Christians are His sons and daughters. I thought that was profound! We have an inheritance of the Lord as we work in His kingdom as sons and daughters where a slave is nothing but an indentured servant.

We go to our District Meetings every week to plan for the week and hear each other’s reports. We talk about our experiences and how people are progressing. We set times for baptisms and follow-up lessons. This is a wonderful place for missionary work. Of the entire mission the Oakland area is by far the easiest to talk to people and teach the gospel. The outlying areas are a little more affluent and not as receptive to the Lord’s messengers.

One of the things we have really enjoyed is on the 2nd Monday of the month all of the Senior Missionaries get together for what is termed a family home evening. There are about 12 sets of missionaries and usually the Mission President and Temple President and their wives attend. This is a nice intimate group setting. We have various speakers come and usually have a nice dinner. This last Monday Brother Lorenzo N. Hoopes spoke. For a very nice article about him from the church news, go to:

http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/51040/Oaklands-Temple-Hill--A-beacon-for-members.html

He is now 95 years old and is an icon here in Oakland. He was here during the Patti Hurst ordeal with the symbianese Liberation Army fiasco and was on their hit list of people they wanted to kill. They killed one and injured another one day in the building that he had just left. He was here during the Black Panther movement and was also present at Eldridge Cleaver’s baptism into the church. Eldridge was one of the founding members. He was also here when Gladys Knight performed and brought in around 1500 referrals for the missionaries because of it. He has had a life full of service for the Church and community.

Heavenly Father continues to bless us with health and strength even though Sister Heaton struggles at times with stamina. The beauty is that as Senior Missionaries we get to take as many breaks as needed. Sister Heaton would never tell any of you this, but I will. The Missionary Medical representative for the area said that he wished that he could clone Sister Heaton about 80 times. I don’t know what that means, but I think it was a compliment.
We love you all and pray that you continue in the love of the Lord and His work wherever you are and whatever you do.

With our sincerest prayers for you,

Elder and Sister Joel & Shawn Heaton

Mission Update July 26, 2009

July 26, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,
Sister Heaton and I made it through our first transfer and guess what? We still have the same companions, even though Sister Heaton was campaigning for a new one! The young missionaries on the other hand had to sweat it out to see if they were staying or leaving. There have been a lot of happy/sad moments. Another result is that we have had many baptisms which seems go up around transfer time. The really good missionaries try hard to reap the harvest of their labor. Today we had five baptisms at the inter-stake center from 3 different wards and a Chinese baptism.
Our new Mission President has been baptized in the mission with fire. He has had a “Meet the President” meeting with all 4 zones, Zone Conferences, interviews with 204 missionaries not to mention the Senior Couples. He has had speaking assignments almost every Sunday with virtually all of the Stakes. He replaces two old Mission Presidents. We had a record 22 missionaries arrive just before he arrived and now transfers. Then it all starts over! And we have a new mission computer program that Salt Lake gave us that we are trying to implement. He has held up remarkably well considering that he has 3 young children ranging in age from 3 to 14.
Sister Heaton continues to save lives and tithing funds. We had a frantic call at about 9:00 pm the other night. There were 5 Elders coming homein a car from a ward function. One of the Elders was vomiting and going into a spasm. The Elder on the line thought he was going to die and wanted to rush him to the emergency room. Sister Heaton asked what they had been eating and determined that the food was a little suspect. Finally another Elder got on the phone and took control and asked what needed to be done. She told him that it sounded like it might be food poisoning and that it would have to work its way out of his system. He said the Elder was light headed and tingly all over. She asked if they had a bag of some sort that he could breath into. They did and she told them that he was hyperventilating and that it would soon go away. After hanging up the phone, about an hour later we get another call. This time it was from a member that these Elders went over to see. Turns out it was the Bishop of the Ward and seemed to have some type of medical experience and he wanted to send him down to the Emergency Room. Sister Heaton patiently went over again what she thought the problem was and that it would have to run its course. That taking the Elder down to the ER would not help the problem, but that she would call the area medical Doctor and have him call them. When the Doctor called back he confirmed what Sister Heaton had thought that it was and sent them home to let it run its course. He also mentioned that the Bishop was a Vet for animals. When she talked to President Wade the next day about what happened and she got to the part that of the Bishop wanting to send him to the ER he asked what did he do, feel the Elder for a wet nose or check to see if his tongue was purple. We all had a pretty good laugh. The Elder survived and was back out on the street a day later.
I have been out on several teaching appointments. My Elder and Sister bait of offering them Reeses Peanut Butter Cups seems to be working well. I am now over phones and have named myself the “PHONE CZAR”! I have the dubious task of checking phone logs to make sure that mission rules are being complied with. I have called all of the violators with the same approach. I let them know that I am the newly appointed “Phone Czar” and ask them if they know what a Czar is? They usually say no, so I explain to them that the Czars were leaders in Russia that united the people and made them comply with the rules. Then I asked if they knew what the Czar did if they did not comply. They usually said, “Kill them???”. Yes I would say. That is correct. Then I asked them if they knew what mission policy was for phone use. They said, yes. Then I asked, “Well so that we are on the same page, what is your version?” They would rehearse the policy and I would fill in the blanks. Then I would say that we have a few policy violations that I am sure there is a good explanation for because President Wade is going to see this log and I need to tell him about it. Most of the time they cleared it up and promised to use the phones for their intended use. If it was bad or they would not confess, then I asked if they needed to talk to the President. Usually that got to the bottom of the problem. However, I did have two that needed to talk to the President. So much for the Phone Czar and so far I haven’t had to kill one of them.
Our District fasted this last week for the Nepal Refugees. Miracles are happening with this group and we have had our first commitment for baptism and teaching appointments with several others. I had the opportunity to help teach Berindri, Mon and their son Bimal last week and what a lovely family they are. We need your prayers that we help these people understand and live the gospel.
I went out teaching with the Spanish Elders too and committed a recent convert get his Patriarchal Blessing and start coming back to church. Unfortunately he did not show up to church this week. My heart just bleeds for those that Satan continues to blind and sift. There are other experiences too numerous to mention, but we still are enveloped in the work and loving it. Other than our family and friends, it is the best, but isn’t it all just one composite anyway?
We love you,

Elder & Sister Heaton
P.S. I have been reading in the missionary journal of William Heaton my great, great, grandfather who served for 5 years in England before he migrated to Utah. He was the first missionary on the Heaton side of my family. Interesting to me is that we have had at least (3) descendents from him serving in this mission. Myself, Sister Caroll Gubler Jensen who just recently went home with her husband to Canada. Her mother is Genevieve Heaton Gubler from LaVerkin and newly arrived Elder Matthew John Schmutz from Kanab whose mother or grandmother is a Heaton I believe. I will ever be grateful, especially at this time when we revere our Pioneer Heritage. They literally provided this opportunity to have the eternal gospel in my life and now so many others. I hope that my mission somehow pays part of the debt.

Mission of Miracles July 11, 2009

Hello Family and Friends from the great California Oakland/San Francisco Mission,

From the Temple Hill that looks out over the San Francisco Bay and down to the masses of God’s children in these two wonderful cities. We hope and pray that all is well with you. Sister Heaton and I are doing quite well and the Lord blesses us on a daily basis. This is truly living the Law of Consecration, according to Elder Hales, where you put all worldly affairs aside and give all of the time, talents and everything that the Lord has given you or will bless you with to the building up of the kingdom of God on the earth. There is nothing like it in the world. Our children that served missions used to get after me when I would try to describe missionary life because I had not served one and didn’t have the perspective and now I see why. Until you have done it, there is no way that one can fully tell people about it. Heaven has to be shown not described by human lips. I believe that this is why some of the prophets were relieved of the responsibility of writing some of the most sacred things they saw and experienced because of the inadequacy of human language.

We see miracles almost every day. Our mission President when we arrived said that it would be like that. I kind of put that thought aside thinking that it might be a slight overstatement, but it is not! The miracle of conversion goes on every day and these missionaries that dedicate themselves are sometimes the miracle. We have just finished our first Zone Conferences. In our mission there are four zones, where the leaders of the mission give training and the missionaries come together and see former companions to talk and eat. If it is a missionary’s last time to be at Zone Conference, they are asked to bare their testimony. It is like hearing angels reporting to the Savior and Heavenly Father. No eye is dry, no heart not touched as they describe their progression in the mission and some of the sacrifices and physical challenges that often motivated them to serve. Most of all, many want to stay. They know that they are being sent back into the lone and dreary world and all of the challenges that come with it. Some of them may not even recognize what they have done until they get home and some will fall and some will continue on, but they will all know where they have been. Blessed be the name of the Lord for agency. Please help all of these returned missionaries to transition back into life as we know it.

One of the most heart-warming experiences is before the missionaries go in to eat at zone conference. They invite all of the people that prepared the meals to come out and stand in front of the whole zone, usually on the stand in the chapel, and ask them if they have anyone that they know that is serving or has served missions. Most do and share little blessings that they have received. Then our mission president tells them that the missionaries would like to sing to them. We then sing “Called To Serve”, and then what is called the lunch song that goes like this:

"We have been born as Nephi of old
To goodly parents who love the Lord
And on this day, we thank you a bunch
For fixing us this fantastic LUNCH
We are as the Army of Helaman
And when our mission is through
We’ll thank the Lord, for all who have
Helped us, especially people like you
Your Christ like love has shone through"
I have not been able to emotionally get all of the way through the song yet, as you watch good people that have fed the Lord’s servants react to these young men and women giving thanks in song.

Sister Heaton gives her presentation on medical after lunch and tries to encourage them and gives instruction on how to stay healthy so they can continue to keep their shoes on the ground and their mouths teaching. She also tells of missionaries she has raised and missionaries that our children have married into and because of that experience how much she loves and cares for each one of them. She lets them know that they can call 24/7 (and they do) if they have a need.
Missionary life is not easy. It is filled with sacrifice and sometimes brief moments of doubt and always concern for those at home. We also know that Heavenly Father is taking care of all of you and blessing each of you. Our prayers are for each of you every day.

Well, we need to get off to English for the Chinese class. Then pick up a person to be baptized today and an investigator tomorrow that is going to our “Why I believe” fireside that has recent converts telling their story. God be with you ‘till we write or hear from you again.

With all our love,

Elder and Sister Heaton