Last Tuesday Eder
Rasband gave a devotional at the office. Daniel and I were outside to wait for
him as he came down the elevators joined by the area Presidency and their
wives.
In my mind, I thought
I was going to escort the women to their seats but Elder Rasband proceeded with
his wife Melanie to enter the room full of people waiting for him to come in.
He was followed by Elder Bowen and his wife, Elder Haynie and his wife, Elder
Shmutz and his wife and then us. This is the protocol of lining up in order of
seniority with your spouses. The Church is all about order even when you enter
a room.
The choir started
their prelude music and Daniel got up to welcome everyone and spelled out the
program from first prayer to the last prayer and sat down but right before
Sister Rasband was to start her talk, Elder Rasband felt impressed to ask
Daniel to share his testimony. This came to a big surprise for Daniel because
it wasn’t discussed beforehand but Daniel did a great job. He told of his
experience with Elder Dickson who said: “Daniel, I have decided to devote my
life to the Church, whether he takes me in a minute or for years to come.”
Daniel was touched and went to his office and prayed so he would do the same
thing. I had heard that story many times but for some reason when he repeated
it again this time, my heart was beating fast I felt so proud of Daniel. Late
on, Elder Rasband told the employees. “Daniel is a veteran and has worked as a
D.T.A. in many areas around the world. I met him in the Dominican Republic and
what I like about Daniel is that he is a humble man. “
Sister Rasband spoke
of gratitude, covenants we make in the temple and eternal life. She recited a
poem on serving others that she has memorized and has promised to send it to
the employees who have requested it. The poem and story will go on my poem file
I am keeping. Every time I come across a poem, I keep it so one day I will
write about them and how they have influenced my life.
Elder Rasband quoted
Elder Faust who was his Stake President and talked about the special moment
that occurred when they were setting apart President Nelson. He said he has
known President Nelson and he knew the Lord had preserved his life so he could
lead us today but he felt a confirmation of the spirit as they were in a circle
setting him apart as the new Prophet. He described it as a rush of the spirit
from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. That was his witness that Elder
Nelson is God’s Prophet for today. He asked for all of us to also seek the
spirit to confirm us of the same truth. It is important that we each have that
understanding. He said.
He told us of the time
he was at a Cathedral in Manila and learned from the tour guide that the
Spaniards brought Christ to the Philippines and the Americans brought freedom
of religion. He had an “epiphany” moment when the tour guide said that because
he understood the role of this country in all of Asia. The Filipino people he said,
play an important role in Asia to take the gospel to the rest of the countries
of Asia and he can foresee many missionaries been called to serve Asia. As
employees, he said, we need to be customer oriented and the customers are the
members. He read 1 Corinthians 1:10 to explain how as an office we need to be
united in what we do for the Lord’s Church. He read Mosiah 18:21 and warned us
to be careful with contention. That contention is a tool the devil uses
therefore we need to be united.
He also read D& C 29:34 and touched on the
fact that all things are both spiritual and temporal. We were spiritual before
we were temporal. To build multigenerational families in the Church. He asked
who in the room were first, second and third generation of members. He is the
sixth generation and not one single person in six generations has left the
Church. His great-great grandparents were baptized and were asked to move to
Utah from Europe. “Where is Utah they asked? But they had so much faith that
they left everything to move to Utah. The reason why they had to move was
because a temple in Salt Lake was being built and they needed to be close to a
temple.
They would have never dreamed that one day one
of their grandsons would be a member of the quorum of the twelve Apostles of
the Lord. “We don’t need to move to Zion anymore because Zion is where we
are. We need to be close to where there is a temple
and the Filipinos have two temples and two are in the process of being built.
He was going to do a question and answer but
there wasn’t enough time but he does read every question that people send him
and takes time to answer it so if you have any question, please ask, he said.
Another surprise was that on Friday he quickly decided to do a Facebook live. If
you want to see the interview, go to Facebook page lds Philippines. This was
not planned but the office people were ready for him and they went live. Elder
Rasband received special impressions which he gladly shared during his live
interview. “The Lord has great plans store in the Philippines. The Lord will
provide opportunities for more temples and greater access for members of the
Church. But right now, we should be happy with the two that we have and the two
new that are coming and leave the future in the hands of the Lord.”
In his facebook page I
found this quote.
Elder Rasband left
this morning and while he was here for ten days he visited stakes, districts
and mission. He went touring the Philippines and met with youth and single adults.
He visited two sites where new temples will soon be constructed. Daniel also
went with him to show him the sites and the preliminary plans. Where the photo
was taken.
And that dear family
is the message for you all.
Love,
Vero
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