Dear Family and Loved Ones,
Summer vacation is over – Ben and Mari start their sophomore year at Los Alamitos High on Weds. This past week gave us a taste of what to expect. Ben had two-a-day practices for football and Mari was involved with a dance camp. We drove from the mission home to the school about eight times each day but they had a great week. Thursday, Mari had a dance performance to show what she had learned in dance camp, she is a talented dancer and even more importantly she looked like she was having so much fun. We’re grateful their school has a very good dance program and that she will be able to participate this year. On Friday Ben’s football team had a scrimmage with another high school (he’s not sure where they were but they were on the bus for about an hour) he loved it and was excited that he got to play.
Another treat this week was having a visit from Shelly. We loved every minute of her too short visit but she is promising to come more frequently (yeah!). Shelly went to Church in Santa Monica with one of her dear friends from BYU Hawaii. The Young Single Adult Ward in Santa Monica is comprised of a variety of students and professionals. Many of the ward members are involved in the film and theatre industry. Shelly saw someone who looked a lot like Chelsie Hightower (professional dancer) at the ward, she was surprised when she found it really was her.
Tuesday we had what we call our “Tune Up”. The Tune Up is specialized training for the newest missionaries in the mission and their companions. We had the missionaries come who have been in Long Beach for 1-3 transfers, about 42 missionaries. We started with lunch and then had the training meeting. It was so good to see the new missionaries who after just a few weeks in the mission already look settled and at home.
One of the most amazing aspects of the mission is seeing how much inspiration goes into the selection of companions – especially the trainers. The influence of the trainer is seen throughout the missionary’s entire mission. The new missionary picks up on his trainer’s habits, teaching style, finding techniques, attitudes, obedience, etc. This most recent transfer was more complicated than most because we had a lot of missionaries arrive (15), many were Spanish Speaking, several are International Missionaries and one came after serving a few months at home to see if he could handle a full time mission. The trainers were selected weeks before the new missionaries arrived and then matched up after meeting, training and interviewing the new missionaries. It is amazing and even miraculous to see how well these companionships match up, seeing them together at the Tune Up was a confirmation that the right trainers were given the responsibility for the right new missionary.
Having these companionships aligned so perfectly, even so divinely reminded me of something that Elder Maxwell taught: “At Chirstmastime, for instance, we celebrate a special star that announced Jesus’ birth at Bethlehem. Thus, the so-called “little star of Bethlehem” was actually very large in its declaration of divine design! It had to have been placed in its precise orbit long, long before it shone so precisely! Persuasive divine design is underscored in what the Lord has said: ‘All things must come to pass in their time’ (D&C64:32). His overseeing precision pertains not only to astrophysical orbits but to human orbits as well. This is such a stunning thing for us to contemplate as to our obligations to ‘shine as lights’ within our own orbits and personal responsibilities”!
It’s amazing to witness Our Father’s hand in the details of our lives and it is so very evident here in the mission. He knows us, He is aware of us and gently aligns our lives (if we allow Him to) so we are in the right place, at the right time, with the right people but it is up to us to shine.
All Our Love Always,
The Long Beach Buberts
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