I
am reminded this week that everything you do for the Lord and to help
move His work forward are needed and important regardless of how mundane
or insignificant the task may seem.
We
had 4 zone conferences this past week; one every day Tuesday through
Friday. So, we drove to Indiana, Lake Villa (not far from the Wisconsin
border), Wilmette and South Chicago. I had the responsibility to inspect
71 cars to make sure they had safe tires, etc. going into the winter
months. And since, I cannot check everything that is required to be
checked on a car by myself, my sweet companion helped me. It just
happened that those 4 days were the coldest days we have had yet with
temperatures ranging from 12 degrees (with windchill, it was -2) to a
high of 23 degrees. The wind was blowing every day, so what the temp
felt like was colder. I was encouraged that some of my training,
harping, etc. must be paying off because overall the cars were
considerably cleaner than they usually are.
We
had a couple of cars where sister missionaries had left a note on the
seat; one even had some Mexican candy as a bribe I guess. Their note
read, Dearest Elder Taggart, 1. We love you, 2. Don't hate us, 3. We
washed/vacuumed the car on Monday, then it snowed, 4. The scuffs/broken
taillight on the back corner are from when the police officer hit us, 5.
The scrapes on the right side of the car are from yesterday. We
accidentally scraped a car in a tight, narrow 2 way street trying to let
another car slide past us; there was no damage to the other car. We
are sorry, Love your fav Hermana's. Mind you the scratches on the right
side of that car went from the front bumper to the rear bumper. How the
other car got away without any scratches is a wonder to me since our car
will likely take $3,000 to fix. Oh, and this same compionship called me
last night; a semi had come to close to them (or them to close to it)
and the driver's side mirror was torn off. I think it's time for them to
be on the bus or train.
I did safety training
at all but one conference which obviously is desperately needed, since
we are now up to 16 accidents in the past two months and we really
haven't had any bad roads. I trained on helping them stay safe
physically by showing a video and also talking about winter driving,
etc. I also did some training on proper use of their iPads and Facebook
to hopefully help them to be spiritually safe. There are so many dangers
and pitfalls when they are online particularly for those who might not
be prone to being obedient with exactness to policies and guidelines.
I
assisted Claudia as she instructed and supervised every missionary
tracing their hand, cutting it out, writing on the backside what fear,
sin, etc. they were going to bury and give up and then writing their
name on the front. These hands are all being sewn onto a quilt that she
is making that the mission president asked for. I do hope that she
survives this project since she has to sew around each hand and 5
fingers for 225 hands. We have 203 young missionaries and 22 senior
missionaries. I know she will include much more detail on this in her
email.
The highlight of the week for me was
seeing and being with all 203 young missionaries. They truly are a
delight to be around. We love them and they love us.
I
celebrated my 65th birthday inspecting cars in the cold. But the young
missionaries sang to me, I was with my sweetheart and I heard from many
of you. Thank you so much. When I realized that 20 years ago, the doctor
told me I had 6 months to live, I am truly grateful to see 65 and now
hopefully many more.
As
we go into this Thanksgiving week, my heart is full of gratitude for
many things. I am appreciative for each of you and the part you play in
my life. I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and its ability to
change lives as one embraces the gospel and then strives to live to be
more like Christ. The enabling power of the Atonement and its power to
heal all hurt and to give one hope to press forward is a huge blessing
in my life. I am blessed to have had righteous, hard-working ancestors
who embraced the gospel; I am also blessed to have a righteous posterity
who are striving to become more like Christ. We live in an amazing
country even with its problems and challenges. The beauties and wonders
of nature lift my soul and help me to know of the love of our Father in
Heaven. Music stirs my soul and calms me when troubled. I am grateful
for the influence that each of you has and is having on my life. May you
feel the love those around you as you gather to feast and may you feel
the love of the Savior as you make time to approach him. Have a blessed
week.
Elder Bruce Taggart
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