Week 3
Every Monday at noon we meet with Brother Valletta (institute director) and Jeanne (administrative assistant) for a coordination meeting.  We prepare by reading sections of Gospel Teaching and Learning and take turns giving a spiritual thought out of our reading.  It was my turn this week and I was so struck by a statement by Elder Eyring:  "Never, never underestimate the spiritual value of doing temporal things well for those whom you serve."  The statement resonated with me because a big part of our call is to feed the institute students (and their friends) each week--something that may not, on the surface, seem terribly spiritual.  I really believe, though, that providing good food in a good place can be a blessing.  Even the cleaning up is less tedious when done with a spiritual focus.

The rest of the week was a good test of that insight.  On Monday, FHE was a pot luck Thanksgiving dinner at the institute for the YSA ward.  We cooked a turkey (the counselor smoked a turkey, and someone brought a ham), dressing, and gravy, and worked with the setup and clean up.  About 45 people participated. The short FHE lesson was about gratitude, and every person said something they were grateful for.  One young man said "Soup Tuesday!"

The beautiful mahogany turkey

The next day for Soup Tuesday we made lasagna soup and garlic french bread, and a big bowl of Blessings Mix--a fun snack mix of savory and sweet components that represent things to be grateful for. On Thanksgiving day, we had dinner, again at the institute, for those in the ward who didn't go home for the holiday.  For that one we made pie, whipped cream, cranberry relish, and mashed potatoes, and the bishop's family supplied almost everything else.  There wasn't a very big crowd, but we had fun.

Our little Thanksgiving family dinner

Friday morning we went to STM (Special Training Meeting) with our whole zone, so we met more Elders and Sisters. We are so impressed with the missionaries serving here--they are dedicated, full of testimony, and ready to share the gospel.  Several of them gave short talks on various aspects of pride and the need for unity in companionships and districts.  Then attention turned to the Christmas Initiative to use the Church Christmas video as a missionary tool.  We were all given a pack of pass along cards with the message A Savior is Born and the christmas.mormon.org address. Yesterday we both got our hair cut, and gave a card to the stylist, then to the clerk at Hobby Lobby where we went to get a few Christmas decorations.  The video truly makes me feel like rejoicing!

The Oklahoma equivalent of the BYU-Utah rivalry is the OSU-University of Oklahoma rivalry.  They call the annual football game Bedlam--it was last night and OSU lost miserably.  Because three of our YSAs play in the marching band (we mentioned one in the drum line last week, one plays the clarinet and another the french horn) we did something I've NEVER done for a BYU game.  We went to the student union to see the team go from there over to the stadium about 2 hours before game time, not because we cared to see the team, but the whole marching band was there so we wanted to see our girls do their thing.  It was cold but fun, and once again the sea of orange and black was amazing.

The weather was rainy and cold almost constantly from noon on Thursday until today.  The rain on the car was frozen when we went out on Saturday, and freezing rain fell on and off, but didn't stick to the road.  Thousands are without power all over Oklahoma due to the ice, but that severe weather went around Stillwater (so thankful!!).  

We taught our Old Testament class on Monday, and this week will give the last lesson of the semester Monday and Thursday.  It has been good to think and pray about the principles to be learned from the Children of Israel and their difficulties in trusting in and worshiping the Lord.  We end this week with the wonderfully uplifting book of Ruth.  She reminds us that people can be good, kind, and righteous despite what is going on around them.  A good lesson for our day.