WEEK ENDING NOV 8, 2015

Elder and Sister Elkington

We continue to call on the less active Church members and to go with Elders Duncan and Isakson to teaching appointments.  We have also been spiritually fed this week by attendance at two Zone conferences.  The first was on Wednesday at the historic Pine Valley Chapel in Pine Valley, Utah where the live at home missionary couples met.  The meeting was uplifting and edifying.  The history behind the building caused us to contemplate on the sacrifices made by the pioneer settlers of this area.  The service we are giving is minor compared to the sacrifices and service of those early pioneers.  The second zone conference was held on Friday, where we were privileged to listen to David Archuletta sing, speak about his family and his missionary service in Chile, and bear his testimony. He was in St. George to perform at Tuacahn and agreed to talk and perform for the missionaries laboring in St. George. The Spirit was strong in both of these meetings. It was great to see someone like David Archuletta who has been given such a magnificent gift, use it in God’s service. It was an example to all of us on how to use our gifts and talents in declaring the Gospel.

We called on a less active member who has an unbaptized son age nine.  We invited her to have her son taught by the missionaries so he could be baptized.  She declined, so we will follow up with some scriptural lessons on the importance of baptism and on the responsibility of parents to teach and prepare their children for baptism.

The culmination of the spiritual experiences was on Saturday with the baptism of Ethan, one of the boys from the ShivWits Paiute Reservation that we have been taking to Church and Branch Family Home Evening meetings.  Ethan’s eleven year-old brother spoke at the baptismal service and related receiving the Holy Ghost when he was baptized eight months ago. Elder Elkington was asked to confirm Ethan in Heritage Park Branch Sacrament Meeting today. The seeds of the Gospel have been planted in these young hearts.  We hope to nourish those seeds through our love and service and pray others in their family and Branch will join in that effort.  We encouraged that by having a small reception after the baptism where we served cake to those who attended. A few families from the branch, including the Branch President, Chuck Saling, attended.  Ethan and his siblings and cousins participated in the Primary program presented in Sacrament Meeting.  We felt pride in their performances - like a couple of grandparents!