So it was a Sunday like any other, except when we went into the chapel for sacrament meeting it was kind of crowded. Chris had volunteered to help set up extra chairs in the chapel earlier that day because they were expecting a big crowd. We were able to get a seat near the back and settled down. I was talking to the people behind me and we figured that something was going on, because in the summer our ward tends to be a lot smaller because of vacations and such. Chris was helping to pass the sacrament today because we don't have very many young men in our ward. He came all the way to the back and whispered in my ear that the prophet was going to come to sacrament today, then he went back and sat down.
A couple minutes later we all stood up as he came in the room! Chris even had a front row view of him for the first half of the meeting. Chris was sitting in awe - (very grateful for the fact I make him wear suits to church) looking up at him - basically straight across from him on the stand - he even winked at Chris. Which is really cool itself because that is something we always do to each other, and have since we dated - not many people do that, but we do - and the prophet winked at Chris! So cool!
So on to the important stuff. I took notes on what he said and here they are :
Of course he told some awesome stories and I will tell those first.
The first story he told was about how one time at church there was a boy sitting in the front row who was copying everything he was doing. He even moved certain ways to see if he would copy him, and of course the boy did. Then the prophet looked at him and wiggled his ears. The little boy got excited and told his dad that the prophet was wiggling his ears but by the time the boy and his dad looked back up the prophet had his arms folded giving him that look saying - I don't know what you are talking about. He said that was probably the worst thing he has ever done at church.
He told another story about when he was in a mission home, and how they had these neighbors that were Jews. He talked about how the little girl loved coming to the mission home on certain days because they always had ham sandwiches, and she never got those at home, and she just loved them! Hehe.
The other funny story he talked about was how he would read letters that were written in Spanish by a missionary to the missionaries father. He said he loved to read the letters in a way that would make the dad cry. He said he just loved making him cry like that, really loved making him cry like that.
Now on to my notes. They are just little things he said that I wrote down that really struck me, enjoy!
"We are where we ought to be" - speaking of being at church today. Really struck me of how important it is to show up every week because you never know who is going to show up!
He encouraged us to be loyal to truth and to honor our parents.
He told us not to live lives of criticism, but of lifting others up so we can be filled with joy.
He told us "There is safety in walking the way Jesus walked, and living the way Jesus lived."
He said, "Others are watching us and making their decisions, on what we do and what we don't do"
He said to pray and ask "what would Jesus do?" Then almost as important to do it!
He said that "when we are in the service of the Lord we are safe, and able to sleep well at night"
He strongly encouraged us to be examples of truth to those around us
He talked about how he loves people, and he knows there are so many problems everywhere. He talked about how one of his favorite things to do is to restore blessing to those who have lost them, then encouraging them to ask "What would Jesus Do?"
He insured us that "Jesus is always on the side of mercy"
He told us to live every day to it's fullest.
And ended by telling us how much he loved us and to begin and end each day in prayer.
Basically the best sacrament meeting ever! What a wonderful blessing!
