My Daughter's First Baptism Trip (and How Youth Serve in the Temple)

I would have liked to have been there for my sons' first baptism trips, but it made more sense for their father to go. When my daughter turned 12, I was looking forward to the opportunity to enjoy that milestone with her.
A snowstorm cancelled the ward trip that had been scheduled for her birthday. As the closure date for the Washington DC Temple neared and our ward still didn't have a new appointment, we took matters into our own hands and drove up with a couple family names.

The temple workers assigned us to tag-along for a ward baptism trip (though I think they would have preferred for us to have called for an appointment a few weeks in advance). We were very fortunate, because we were able to see some recent changes in action. The priests from the ward were called ahead of the group to get special instruction so they could take turns baptizing the youth in their ward. Then the temple workers spoke to the young women. In addition to being a proxy for baptism, the young women were able to serve by passing out towels and bringing the paperwork for completed baptisms to an assigned area.
I could tell my daughter was itching to volunteer, but as we were tag-alongs and this was her first trip and there were lots of others ready to take that opportunity, I persuaded her to wait for another trip.
I'll admit, when I had read about these new opportunities that youth would have, I didn't think much of it. To me, they seemed like little things. Watching the youth in action completely changed my perspective. This was their temple trip. They weren't passive assistants to the adults who do the real work. They were doing the work. Temple work had become their work.

5 Things We Love about Elder Ulisses Soares

Do you have a strong but quiet man in your ward or family? That's what I imagine Elder Soares to be like.
Why?

Well, with all the conference talks he has already given, I thought I would find lots of stories about him to share.
I was wrong. It turns out that in most of his talks he didn't share a personal experience at all! When he does speak, you can tell he loves God, the church, the scriptures, his wife and his family. 

1. We like his name. If you need to spell it, remember that it is spelled like the English word “soar,” with an “-es” attached. For pronunciation, I’m trusting President Eyring, who pronounced it “swahrr-ez.”
2.  He was born in Brazil. My husband served his mission in Brazil, so it’s definitely our family’s favorite South American country. After two years of eating black beans and rice (and some of the most amazing fresh fruit), he still sometimes we occasionally visit local Brazilian restaurants, because nobody makes black beans as tasty and satisfying as they can. But that isn’t the only foreign country Elder Soares has ties to. He has also lived in South Africa, and served as president of the Portugal Porto Mission. He also speaks four languages: Portuguese, English, French, and Spanish.
3. He filled out his mission papers at the age of 11. This probably says more about his bishop than about him, but it is a unique way of planning for your future.
4. Elder Soares loves his wife. In fact, his love for his wife and their family might be his defining characteristic. “The couple rarely says ‘I’ and ‘me’ when discussing their respective lives—opting for the pronouns ‘we’ and ‘us.’” In fact, we love his wife, too! She was first invited to visit the church when she was eight or nine years old, but her parents didn't allow her to be baptized until she was seventeen! That didn't slow her down. Only a few years later she was a missionary serving in the Brazil Rio de Janeiro mission. After her mission, she married another convert to the church who had served in the same mission: Ulisses Soares!* 
5. Elder Soares is humble. He said so himself. Kidding! (Although he did once give a talk titled, “Be Meek and Lowly of Heart.”) Actually, the real reason I believe Elder Soares is humble is that in the seven times he has spoken in General Conference, he has only shared personal stories twice. For some people, a microphone is an invitation to monologue, but when Elder Soares takes the podium, his focus is clearly on scriptures, doctrine, and Jesus Christ. He knows it isn’t about him.

REFERENCES

• Hear President Eyring’s pronunciation of “Soares” during the April 2018 solemn assembly.
• Read about Ulisses Soares' family's conversion, his mission, and courtship in LDS Living's article, "5 Things You Should Know About Our New Apostle Elder Soares."
• Elder Renlund reviews the homemade Brazilian pizza made by Elder and Sister Soares in a caption in the September 2018 New Era article, “Take the Savior’s Hand.” (The online version is unfortunately missing the photograph and caption).
• An interview with Elder and Sister Soares was published this April: "Meet Elder Ulisses Soares: Committed to Serve and Testify Worldwide."
• An infographic of his life was published in the September 2018 New Era.
• The talk, “Be Meek and Lowly of Heart,” was given in October 2013.
• You can see all the talks Elder Soares ever gave by going to the General Conference homepage on lds.org. At the top of the page is the option to select a speaker. Scroll down until you see his name (it’s currently number 15).

* Elder Soares was six when his family joined the church, so he will say he grew up in the church, but his family was converted.

Sometimes We Struggle with Small and Simple Things

This weekend was our stake's turn to help with the hurricane clean up in North Carolina. I had been wistfully watching clean up efforts for years, wishing one day my children could be part of that kind of service.
Many members of our ward signed up to serve. So many, in fact, that it was decided that the home ward would only have a sacrament service today due to the lack of teachers and leaders. It felt good knowing there were so many true-blue service-oriented members in our ward.
My two oldest sons decided to go. So did my daughter. When it came down to which parent to send, there really wasn't even a discussion. The parent who bought all the mallets and crow bars was obviously the one who could most effectively handle them, and that parent wasn't me.
I helped pack a bag of travel food, and helped my husband rearrange the garage so we could get to all the tools.
When it was time to see them go . . . without me, I was surprised by how sad I felt. Part of it was being left out of an adventure with my husband. We travel so frequently together that it felt unnatural not to. But I knew another part was my desire to be part of this special service project, to be part of something big and uncommon and memorable and noteworthy.
My job was to stay home with the three year old.

Our short church meeting today was mostly testimonies. The first was given by my 10-year old's Primary teacher. In his testimony, he mentioned the Bible story of Naaman the leper. Naaman goes to the prophet to be healed. The prophet doesn't see him in person. Instead, he sends his servant out to tell the leper to bathe seven times in the river. Naaman is insulted, and might not have obeyed if his diplomatic servant hadn't suggested that if the prophet had asked Naaman to do a mighty thing, that Naaman certainly would have done it.
Brother S. went on to compare that to small and simple things the Lord asks us to do. He must have been inspired, because that resonated strongly with many members of the congregation, myself included. I would have been happy to wear the yellow t-shirt and work with the other Helping Hands . . . or at least have taken pictures of them working. My small and simple assignment was to stay home with my youngest two children. It wasn't difficult. I've done it many times before. But it was not what I had hoped to be doing.

My mind went back to a conference meme I saw this week. Maybe you've seen it. It had a photograph of President Nelson with the message: "You thought last conference was exciting? Buckle up!"
I had idly wondered to myself what other exciting things could possibly happen that hadn't already happened. Most of my ideas were improbable, if not unlikely. Then, during sacrament meeting, I had a startling thought: what if no new exciting thing was announced during conference? What if we went in with high expectations of excitement, only to be told to read the scriptures as a family, serve our neighbors, and keep going to church? Could we handle that?

At this point, I would almost be more surprised if the October 2018 conference didn't have surprises than if it did have surprises. Either way, the Lord is at the helm. Either way, these are his servants that he has sent to us with a message. Are we willing to hear, even if it is a small and simple thing?