Behold Your Little Ones

Dear Family and Loved Ones,

     Our computer is out of commission again so I’ll keep this short (the laptop isn’t quite the same for letter writing).

     It’s hard to believe that we are at the end of another transfer. I really believe the past six weeks were the fastest of our mission! Tuesday we went to the temple with our departing missionaries. It is always a great experience to be in the temple but it’s especially sweet to share the experience with our missionaries who have truly kept their temple covenants of sacrifice and consecration by dedicating eighteen months or two years to serving the Lord as full time missionaries. After the endownment session we spend some time in the Celestial room giving each missionary sometime to reflect and pray. We then take them to one of the beautiful sealing rooms where Ted says, “This is the next step.” He lets them know the timing will be different for each of them but they need to be keeping an eternal marriage as a goal. They each take a moment to look at their reflection in the mirrors that face each other. It’s a great symbol of the eternal nature of each of Heavenly Father’s children and also of the eternal family that hopefully each of them will create. This particular group really took this opportunity to heart. You could tell that they were touched by the experience.

     Ted was busy this week finalizing transfers, making leadership calls and training the new zone leaders, district leaders and trainers. We have noticed some lapses in the district leader training since we had eliminated a monthly training meeting for them. We hoped that they would get the training they needed from the zone leaders but we can see that we need to take more time with the district leaders so we are adding a training meeting for them to the calendar each month.

     I loved the General Relief Society Meeting last night. It especially made me excited for conference this weekend! Sister Reeves, one the counselors in the new General Relief Society Presidency, served with her husband in the Riverside Mission (he was the mission president there) so we spent time with them in our seminars. President and Sister Reeves are from Bountiful and I actually sat next to Sister Reeves at Jonny and Melissa Holmes’ wedding dinner. She is a great lady and I feel a connection to her so I loved her talk. The other talks and music were great too, especially President Eyring’s talk. I really loved that he shared a personal story about Relief Society service that was given to his daughter, it made it very meaningful.

     Ted had a meeting today with the coordinating council in our area. This consists of the area seventy, our seven stake presidents and the two temple presidents. He always comes away from this quarterly meeting feeling more determined and excited about the Lord’s work here in Long Beach. He also mentions frequently how impressed he is with the dedication of the church leaders here in Southern California.

     Today was our Primary program in sacrament meeting. There were many grandparents and visitors there. It was a real treat. The music and little talks were precious. What impressed me the most is the purity and the innocence of these beautiful little children. I thought of the words of the Savior to the Nephites when He said, “Behold your little ones.” There is so much we can learn as we observe children. They are so teachable, humble and meek. No wonder our Savior also taught us that except we become as a little child we cannot inherit our Father’s kingdom. I’m so grateful for the beautiful example of children!

     We are going to have a really busy week with a new transfer. We are so grateful for our wonderful family and for each of you who continue to support us with your faith and prayers!


We love each of you,

The Long Beach Buberts