Tuesday Devotional

We had the awesome opportunity to attend a devotional where Elder Russell m. Nelson of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, spoke to all the missionaries in training here in the MTC.  He spoke about the basics of good missionary work but perhaps most importantly about being obedient.  He promised that if we will be obedient to the laws of the lands we are in, obedient to the laws of health, and obedient to the mission president, that we would be protected.  That was reassuring, especially to Gaye, because the last hour of today was security training that was designed to keep us safe in countries that are just not that safe.  In South Africa we will stand out because we are white and, though we may try to not look it, we are American and in their minds that equates to money and they want it.  We did learn lots of common sense safeguards to greatly reduce the risk.
Back to Elder Nelson: one other take away message was that when meeting someone for the first time we must elevate them and decrease ourselves--in other words it should be all about them, not us.  He also taught that never forget the basic message We Follow Christ.  It was a wonderful hour.