Living in all of these places and visiting the many people, cultures and local costumes has certainly given me a lot of experience and knowledge of things and about living itself.
Joining the church was the one thing in my life that has made the difference, and I certainly wouldn't know how my life would have turned out without it... I cannot even begin to think how it could have been. My life is entwined with the life in the church... in service and working in the many callings I have had.
I was baptized on Sept 30th, 1973, and my first calling was as a teacher in Young Adults Relief Society, and in the sequence: Young Adults Stake Leader, missionary in the Portugal Lisbon Mission, Relief Society Activities leader, again as a teacher, while at BYU, Gospel Study teacher at the Provo MTC, 5 times RS teacher again, RS District Presidency as a counselor, 4 times ward RS counselor, ward RS President, Stake RS President, District and Stk Young Counselor, Stk Seminary Supervisor, twice early morning Seminary teacher, Teacher Development Coordinator, Sunday School Teacher for Gospel Principles 3 times, Youth Sunday School Teacher twice, Ward Gospel Study teacher 3 times, Primary teacher 4 times, Ward Primary President, District Primary Counselor... Taught at the Provo MTC for 4 years in the Portuguese Zone, SP MTC Sunday Speaker for 4 years... and all of these many callings have been held sometimes along 2 or 3 others at the same time.
Serving in these many capacities have certainly helped me develop so many talents and abilities, that I will be forever thankful to the Lord for all the wonderful people I was able to get to know and develop friendships with. My missionary companions are ladies I will forever love for their examples as women of God and friends. I have learned how to overcome so many shortcomings and by so doing strengthening my spirit and character and faith and love in the Lord. This is today one of the certainties of life to me!
My conversion story in itself makes me believe in the love that the Lord has bestowed on me, and makes me know that I am a daughter of God, and all that I have lived though these many years were preparation steps for the next level of experiences. By learning English as a young girl, I was 11 when i started, has enabled me to serve in the translation committee of the Book of Mormon published in 1995, an experience I will forever hold dear in my heart along with my missionary experience.
I had to overcome a lot of opposition in my family, but the Lord has blessed me with the strength to overcome it and to raise my two little boys in the church. They have both served missions, both in Japan, and they both have strong testimonies, and so far one who has already married, was married in the temple... the second son, is still looking for his helpmate!
Life has not been free of challenges or hardships, on the contrary, it was full of it, but by the same token, it has been blessed in greater measure!
Little by little I am getting closer of the Lord and getting to know Him more and more!
In later posts I will explore my memories for missionary experiences, and experiences in the many callings I have held. This is actually something I am committed to, rescue some of my missionary experiences for I have lost my missionary journals and many slides of that period! Which have really grieved me ... I used to have great pictures.
I plan on also posting all the many materials I have developed for the many callings I held.
But for now this post is a flashback of these many years since I joined the church since 1973; thankful for the sound testimony I have of the veracity of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
