Piantini ward

The Piantini ward is growing. New families have moved in and it's starting to look like a real ward especially when all the expat families come there for translation. Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting and the people got up one by one. Not one minute was wasted, so much that two people were left out. I don't like when this happens, I feel that people know it is time to rapt up and their testimonies will be brief and not get too extended and classes can be simply cut a little shorter. This happened to me and Daniel at the testimony meeting when all we did afterward was sing a long hymn, check out and eat lunch. There were at least 10 more minutes in the meeting that could have been spared  but the presiding elder ended the meeting. No dead air in that meeting nor in our Dominican ward. Elder Cornish and his wife even got up and said a few words.
One thing I wrote down was the fact that we do a fast and offer the money that we would have spent in eating as a offering to help the poor. This is not an added expense but what we would be saving if we had to prepare food to eat. We show our Father in Heaven by doing it this small sacrifice if we love food more than Him. He talked about prayer, family home evening, service. He said how the Church is true and not to say that the others are not good it is to say that the Gospel of Jesus Christ makes it possible for families to be together forever. Elder Cornish spoke so eloquently that I wish I had a tape recorded to review everything he said. In the Relief Society we also learned that people are generally good and that what makes a good person is not the religion but how he treats others. I saw this post on anther blog and feel the need to share because I do believe the words in this quote:

“Being a good person does not depend on your religion, status in life, race, skin color, political views or culture. It depends on how you treat others.” and the blogger wrote:

"So please know that I believe that each person has the right to choose what religion they will follow or they can choose not to follow any religion at all. I believe that religion is a deeply personal decision that no one can make for us and I think we should respect everyone’s agency in this regard.  That being said, I am incredibly grateful for religion in my life.  I am incredibly grateful to have discovered a religion that I believe in with all my heart.  It is my religious beliefs that have set my values in my life and those values have helped me to become the person I am today. My faith means everything to me." and I want to second this with all my heart.