Office Angels not Office Elders

How much do I love our office elders? They'll do anything and everything we need.  I don't want to take advantage of them but really wanted the Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission Logo on this blog and for the life of me couldn't figure out how to do it. In hopes of not interrupting their work, I imposed on their time and got exactly what I wanted! Did you see the temple and logo? It's absolutely perfect thanks to Elder Adkins and Elder Watkins--the computer geniuses! Is it possible that they could NOT be transferred out of the office?

Lots of letters to get out today--47 to be exact. Which also included 47 envelopes. I now consider myself queen of cut & paste. Thank goodness for that brilliant feature or I'd still be working. Also, one of my favorite office gizmos is the label maker. My new best friend! Now that's fun. And I can order name tags like a pro. Hooray! Two jobs conquered and only about a thousand left to go.

As I typed, copied, pasted, compared, matched, printed, licked and sent letters today I couldn't help but think of the scripture in Matthew 25:21--the parable of the talents. "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. . . enter thou into the joy of thy lord."  That's pretty much what these letters and certificates are saying. These precious beloved young missionaries have given everything they had for the past 18-24 months and can go home and report to their families, Stake Presidents, Bishops and friends that they were, indeed, "good and faithful servants." Have I mentioned how much I love being here and love getting to know the wonderful elders and sisters in the LABRM?

On the heels of yesterday's  presentation on recording baptisms and confirmations, we had a phone call that could have been a very timely example. Today an elder called with a question on said subject. A young man, age 22, is now getting reactivated in the Church. He was baptized when he was 8 years old and has a picture with his dad just before the baptism was performed. The picture isn't dated, but the dad and mom are both living and remember the occasion. The ward clerk has searched but for some reason it appears that the ordinances weren't ever recorded, so there's no membership number. Apparently it is possible to recreate the record because there are witnesses who can attest to the event. There are a few other steps that will need to be taken, but it can be done. So, the lesson here is to be sure the ordinances get recorded or the person is not counted as a member of the Church.

Just a note:  It may seem as though I'm not including many spiritual experiences, and that is correct. I'm trying to incorporate as much as is appropriate for a public blog.  Perhaps you've noticed that under the header "Louisiana Laupers" are the words "Large Leaves of Laupers." Yes, it's sort of a poor play on words from the Large and Small Plates of Nephi.  These large "plates" or leaves are a bit more secular and a little less spiritual because some of the things I've already experienced are of a sensitive nature or too personal to be publicly shared.  They're faithfully kept in another location so I don't forget the events with time.