Gathering Israel

In this month's zone conference, Pres. Holmes taught us an in-depth study of Jacob 5 in the Book of Mormon.  As he was talking about grafting in the branches from all over the vineyard, the thought struck me that "gathering Israel" is not just finding the lost tribes of Israel - it's gathering everyone who ever has, is now, and ever will live on the earth into Jesus Christ's church.  Our young missionaries are doing an outstanding job all over the globe of finding, teaching, and baptizing those whose hearts the Lord has prepared.  Here in our neck of the woods, we had two beautiful baptisms in March, Enit and Lesly.  And our wards received a companionship of sisters to join our companionship of elders - we're excited to see what April will bring!

Lesly - Enit doesn't like pictures!

However, gathering Israel doesn't stop there.  In the October 2020 General Conference, Pres. Russell M. Nelson said, “Anytime we do anything that helps anyone — on either side of the veil — to make and keep their covenants with God, we are helping to gather Israel.”  Part of our mission responsibility has been to help gather Israel on the other side of the veil - those who never had the opportunity to accept the gospel while they lived on the earth.  We do this by helping people search out their ancestors and then stand proxy for them in the temple to receive the ordinances necessary for exaltation.  Neil and I, working with our ward Family Search Consultant Mary Aillery, have seen some exciting progress in our ward as we've instituted a Family Search Help class twice a month, offered in-person help, taught Preparing for the Temple classes, and organized temple trips.  It's fun to feel the interest and excitement growing as more people feel the spirit of Elijah work in their hearts.

We have also learned that beauty and fun exist on both sides of the curtain as we continue to be awed by the beauty of the old theatres on Broadway.  We treated each other to Aladdin for Christmas and, while we couldn't take pictures during the magically entertaining show, the incredible New Amsterdam Theatre was a show by itself!

We love March because it goes from this:

to this:

and it marks the one-year point of our mission!  We can't believe it! We are so grateful for this opportunity to serve and to grow and we're looking forward to six more months of gathering!