A VERY SMALL WORLD

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One of the great blessings of the temple is what you learn about each mortal born into this terrestrial world;

"A soul is worth more than a world which is created for his habitation."

--Joseph Fielding Smith

Saturday, 26th July, 1997. I got up with great excitement to help the full-time missionaries find souls to bring unto Christ at the local Hamilton bazaar. The Montebello Branch had a stall set up in the middle of the bazaar with pictures, books, and literature on the Church. I went on a split with an Elder Jackson who was recently featured in the Baltimore Sun (front page) concerning Pioneer day and the involvement of the Mormons trek across the plains. We were able to place some Book of Mormons with a few families and set appointments for the discussions to be taught. It was good to spread the Gospel in this way again. I had not done so since my mission and I found my 'skills' had not dulled. Sunday, 27th July, 1997. Mom and I visited ~ Ward wherein I met same old friends. At sacrament meeting a Sister spoke about how she joined the Church at the age of eighteen and then after a short time and some wrong choices she fell away and went less active. One day, twenty-three years later, she was sitting by herself reading the Doctrine and Covenants and became awakened to all that she was missing. She came back to Church and after a few weeks of activity, here she was bearing strong testimony. This reminds me of the words of the Savior concerning those who may fall away,

"...For unto such ye shall continue to minister; for ye know not but what they will return and repent and come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I shall heal them;"
--3 Nephi 18:32, Book of Mormon

Later in the day, at another ward, I saw Pres. and Sr. Smith, Ann Marie Regis' Mission President and his wife. They were speaking about the pioneers and the fact that we are all pioneers in our own way, because we are moving the work of the Lord forward in our own area, our own family, and our own lives. The evening came with the decision that mom would attend a Single Adult fireside at the Stake building and I would drive her there. I took some reading material to keep me occupied namely a book Tom gave me called, 'Hieroglyphs; The Writing of Ancient Egypt' by Norma Jean Katan and Barbara Mintz I had always wanted to review this kind of guidebook so as to better understand the facsimiles in the Pearl of Great Price. It is quite interesting and I discovered that you read the ancient writings according to the direction of the animals portrayal in any given line of art. That is what I can summarize for now, but it would take in depth study in order to read hieroglyphs fluently. Anyway, as I came to the halfway point of the book around the corner came a familiar face; Sr. Ann Marie Regis. She was shocked to see me and I was just as surprised. She was there with her Trainer having just witness one of their investigators entering the waters of baptism. She was beaming with smiles. She wanted to know about her mom and I was happy to tell her that her mom had begun attending the Church and taking the discussions. We talked for awhile and then I had to take mom back home. Before we left, Sr. Regis told me that she had met Pres. Mason, the new West Indies Mission President in the missionary training center, in Provo, Utah. He is truly a happy servant of the Lord.

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