Apr 2014 - Thought - We do not need to have all the answers today . . .

The Beginning of Better Days was wonderfully insightful. I have a tendency to skim over historical documents due to issues or details that I feel have been resolved. However, with the commentary of Sisters Dew and Pearce, I was intrigued to read the minutes. Through the comments and experiences of these sisters, I have been asking questions that I believe I was afraid to ask. The Priesthood is certainly confusing if we do not ask questions and study and pray for the understanding. We do not have to have all of the answers today, we need to have the faith that the answers will come.

I must say, as I read Sister Pearce's story of epiphany, I was naively thinking that because she is Pres. Hinckley's daughter, she had all of the answers. To think, she was searching for answers too. Our experiences are different, but our answers come from the same source.

Thank you Sister Dew and Sister Pearce for sharing your struggles and triumphs with so many of us. Having sisters makes the journey so much more enjoyable and comforting

Julie T - Prairie Crossing

Mar 2014 - Sisterhood - Angels Round About Us

I have always loved the idea of angels round about us, to bear us up. In fact, I pray daily that my children will have angels round about them, especially in junior high school! Several years ago my husband Daniel and I had the opportunity to meet one of our angels.

We traveled to China to adopt our daughter in February 2005. We finally had our beautiful girl in our arms and were in the process of getting to know her. One of the things we noticed was that she liked the little mandarin oranges that we found everywhere. We would peel an orange and give her one section at a time. She would suck out all the juice and then stick her tongue out with the membrane for us to take out and throw away. We loved watching her do this and found it was a wonderul way to work on our attachment process.

One morning we went to a market to get a bag of oranges so we could continue our bonding over juicing each piece. We found the oranges, put some in a bag and then looked for the checkout. We couldn't see where we were supposed to go. The market was crowded and loud and the signs were in Chinese, not English. We finally figured we should follow the crowd and noticed a little table with a scale and a small register where a woman looked like she was taking money.

We tried our best that morning to get to that little table. We were being crushed and talked over and shoved by all the people around us. We thought about just leaving without our oranges. Then, out of nowhere, a very small, bent over, elderly Chinese woman came up to us. She looked at us and then began yelling over the masses of people. I don't know what she said, but an amazing thing happened. The market got quiet and the people moved aside. We were then able to walk right up to the table, weigh our oranges and pay for them.  

I turned around to thank the little old woman as we walked up to the table, but she was gone. As quickly as she was there, she had vanished. There was no way she could have moved so quickly to be out of sight like that. As we walked out of the market that day, Daniel and I knew that she was an angel. She parted the crowd so we could purchase our oranges. I know it doesn't seem like much, an angel sent to help us buy oranges, but to me it meant the world.

That one small act by a hunched over Chinese angel reminds me constantly to be ever watchful of angels all around me. As we work our way through the crowds and noise we are up against each day, angels will part those masses, quiet the voices, and lead us to our goals. Our Savior will go before our face, He will be on our right hand and on our left, His spirit will be in our hearts, and He will have His angels round about us, to bear us up (D&C 84:88).

My name is Jennie D and I'm a member of the Kanesville Stake