Week 67
On Monday when we got to the institute a beautiful bouquet of 18 red roses was on our desk--from my Valentine! And now almost a week later, they still look that good; must be some kind of Oklahoma magic.

On Thursday at 9:30 am, we felt a very quick but distinct shake.  It was a 3.7 magnitude earthquake in Ripley, about 30 miles away.

Friday afternoon we spotted the first daffodils in bloom, so spring is trying to happen regardless of the calendar.

Friday evening we had the annual Evening With a General Authority--a broadcast from Salt Lake for all Seminary and Institute faculty (volunteer and paid) and staff throughout the world.  The speaker was Elder Gerrit Gong of the Presidency of the Seventy, and his topic was the accounts of Jesus feeding the 5000 in the four Gospels.  He had taken all four accounts and threaded them together so that all the details were combined in one.  Elder Gong read that to us, then talked about the 9 points he drew from the experience (I did write them down, but got these from MormonNewsRoom):

1. Christ is moved with compassion. Jesus knows “our hearts and circumstances,” “He is filled with compassion for our hopes and hurts, our desires and needs.”

2. Christ begins from where we are. Just as Christ began his miraculous feedings with what the people had (such as five loaves of bread and two fishes), “we begin with what we have, with who we are now. He can then magnify us and multiply our efforts.”

3. Christ does things in an orderly way. Instead of introducing the chaos of “a large crowd … shoving and grabbing for something it wants,” Christ has the people sit down in organized companies “with a higher shared purpose.”

4. Christ is grateful. Luke 9:16 says Christ took the loaves and the fishes, and “looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake.”

5. Christ feeds his disciples and has them feed the crowds. . . . a pattern of “teaching the teachers so the teachers can teach the students.”

6. Christ feeds the 5,000 and the individual at the same time. “This is a miracle we teachers seek—to teach our whole class and each person in the class.” “It invites addressing general concerns and individual needs.”

7. Christ makes sure nothing is lost. Whether the subject is souls or material things, “Heaven’s economy does not waste. Everything is drawn on in the beginning, nothing is left to be lost in the end.”

8. Christ helps us end with more than we began. With Christ, “we end with more love, more learning, more inspiration, more kindness.”

9. Christ teaches of “sacramental abundance.” This point speaks to the spiritual edification we seek during weekly sacrament meeting, which includes distribution of bread and water, symbolizing the body and blood of Christ.

Elder Gong said that the Savior's world is not a world of sticks and stones, but of loaves and fishes.  I really love that image.

The spiritual feast continued on Saturday and Sunday with stake conference.  We had an Area Seventy visitor, Elder Carlos Villarreal from Texas.  He has an incredible ability to be both engaging and uplifting at the same time.  His insights included:  "Coming to the meeting is as important as the meeting--it is an outward sign of our commitment."  "How can I make the Sabbath be part of the solution to my problems or concerns?"   "Saying, 'repent' essentially means to say, 'go get closer to your Heavenly Father' and the best way to get God's help is to be closer to Him.  The best way to be closer to Him is to repent."  "When life is hard, we need to stop asking 'why' and ask 'what' twice--'what am I to learn from this?' and 'what am I to do now?'"  I can't even begin to do justice to the remainder of his remarks.

We also heard from the temple president and matron (the Campbells) and from the mission president and his wife (the Mansells).  I've mentioned before that we have a marvelous stake president, President Bowman, so all the meetings were well planned and full of inspiring messages and beautiful music.  President Bowman stressed the importance of Sabbath day observance and also the importance of developing Christ-like attributes in order to become more like Him.  All in all the last three days have been a wonderful spiritual boost.