The Parable of the Temple

Dear Family and Loved Ones,

   We had a wonderful but very busy week here in Long Beach.  Transfers are tomorrow, the week leading up to transfers is extra busy for Ted.  He starts working on transfers almost as soon as the new transfer begins.  In the MTC we learned that you have to think two to three transfers ahead, much like playing chess.  As missionaries come and go the domino effect is incredible.  We will soon be loosing nearly 20% of our mission because so many of our missionaries finish in May and June.  New leaders need to be prepared to take the place of the seasoned missionaries who will be completing their missions soon.  The Zone Leaders and District Leaders play a big role and have an incredible influence on the culture of each mission.  Even though this all sounds very scentific it is the Spirit that directs the work, with each transfer miracles happen and somehow our Elders and Sisters end up where the Lord wants them to be.

     Conference was amazing.  We were able to go to several different Stake Centers to watch conference.  Most members have cable and watch in their homes but of course the missionaries and a small group of members watch at the stake centers.  We were able to see many of our missionaries and even had some of our wonderful friends, the Follands, join us on Sunday.

     I loved all the talks and can’t wait to have them in print and on CD, it is amazing how much more I learn with each review.  I love how I discover new insights each time I reread or relisten to the conference messages.

     I recently read John Bytheway’s book about the Parables of the Savior. It has some great insights,  I really enjoyed it.  He mentioned that President Monson speaks in parables – I had never really thought of his style like that.  I’ve always loved President Monson’s stories but thinking of them as parables helped me to think a lot deeper as I listened to his wonderful talk about temples.

     He spoke of the temple under construction in Manaus, Brazil, and how members traveled seven days and nights by boat on the Amazon River and its tributaries and on buses over bumpy roads with little to eat and uncomfortable places to sleep before they arrived at the Sao Paulo Brazil Temple where ordinances eternal in nature were performed. 
     He spoke of Tihi and Tararaina Mou Tham and their ten children, converts in the 1960s on an island about 100 miles south of Tahiti. The father and two sons did backbreaking work for four years in the nickel mines of New Caledonia to save money for the family to travel to the Hamilton New Zealand Temple, some 3,000 miles from their home. All went except for one daughter. They were sealed for time and eternity, an indescribable and joyful experience.
     Brother Mou Tham returned from the temple directly to New Caledonia, where he worked for two more years to pay for the passage of the one daughter who had not been at the temple with them — a married daughter and her child and husband.
     The meaning of the parable of the temple is clear, President Monson taught, “There are never too many miles to travel, too many obstacles to overcome or too much discomfort to endure. They understand that the saving ordinances received in the temple that permit us to someday return to our Heavenly Father in an eternal family relationship and to be endowed with blessings and power from on high are worth every sacrifice and every
effort.”
     One of the great messages we share as missionaries is that God again speaks to man through His living prophets!
     We appreciate so much your faith and prayers for our family and our missionaries!

We love you,
The Long Beach Buberts