Anyway, back to the day, I woke up, got ready for church and headed to the chapel. On the way my roommate said that it may sound weird but she was really excited to take the sacrament, something familiar. It really made me think. Even though I am having this wonderful, amazing, crazy time it is just that, crazy. I haven't had a lot of time to think about the fact that I am a little homesick and very out of my element. That is when I thought about how taking the sacrament is familiar and so "grounding." It is the same sacrament I have been taking every Sunday since I can remember, blessed by the same prayers, and the same priesthood. It was beautiful and gave me a lot of peace.
We had a wonderful testimony meeting. The passion these members have was amazing. There was absolutely no lull in the people coming up to bear their testimonies. The bishop eventually had to tell the congregation to stop coming up (in a more subtle way then that but, you know). They all bore their testimonies on this truthfulness of this gospel, their knowledge of the Savior, and the blessings from living righteously. It was beautiful.
Afterwards we meet with the Stake President to get our assignments for our wards. He was such an amazing person. My guess is he is not older than 35 but probably not much older than 30. The love that was evident through his message to us concerning the members of the stake was beautiful. He spoke to us of their great zeal and commitment to the gospel. He said that some of these members have literally fled villages being chased by soldiers with guns to live the gospel. He then challenged us to go out of our comfort zone and give our all to these people in our wards. He then said that when we do that we will be able to discover ourselves. He challenged us to take time to ask Heavenly Father who we are and why we are here. The spirit he conveyed was so powerful and really the only reason his message had such an impact on me.
Tonight we had a fireside with the directors of the program in the flat upstairs. They kind of continued with the message the stake president gave us while adding to it the connection of the gospel and theatre. Rodger talked about rituals and how they involve us leaving our outside world, becoming changed through the ritual, and leaving altered for the rest of your life. This can be seen in the ritual of baptism as well as others. He then said that is how theatre is. You leave your life outside of the theatre, enter into a new one as the play is performed while learning from the performance, and leaving the theatre with a new outlook on the world.
The same with serving, you have to leave behind everything and go into this "world" that needs you and in the processes YOU become changed and then you leave a changed person. He read this poem by Emily Dickinson that I feel puts into words better than I can. It is beautiful.
I fit for them --
I seek the Dark
Till I am thorough fit.
The labor is a sober one
With this sufficient sweet
That abstinence of mine produce
A purer food for them, if I succeed,
If not I had
The transport of the Aim --
I love the part where she says "I fit for them...till I am thorough fit." I think we are the ones who need to change in order to serve others and that is when our lives will be affected. Then the line saying "that abstinence of mine produce a purer food for them," just says to me how the sacrifices we make will make our service that much greater. Anyway, great poem that everyone should ponder.
The spirit really confirmed to me the truthfulness of all that was taught today. I really hope to take to heart these challenges and become a changed person when I leave this country to come home. This is an experience of a lifetime that can change my life if I let it. My heart is full of joy at my many blessings and the opportunity in front of me.
Oh, I have to share this funny experience I should have posted yesterday but I forgot. Friday night I wake up at 3:30 in the morning to the fire alarm going off. I was extremely disoriented and slow to realize what was happening. Right as I started to toss my blankets off the bed my roommate runs in shouting a string of very angry "shoot, shoot, shoot, shoots." She then explains that she was cooking grilled cheese (yes, at 3 in the morning) and it burnt and set off the fire alarm. So I rolled over and went back to sleep after I laughed, a lot. Mostly because of the sound of scurrying footsteps above. Unfortunately everyone upstairs didn't know it was just burnt toast and went outside in the middle of the night. Lets just say that they were not too happy about it but I thought it was hilarious.
Well sorry no pictures today, didn't do too much, which was nice. Class tomorrow and then fun fun stuff!
I'm glad you had such a great day :)
ReplyDelete