Stake Conference

Our Stake Conference was last week and I had to sneak a few pictures of the beautiful decorations that they make for the chapel.  Sister Jollet, our Relief Society President in Laura, always helps and this time was no exception.  She always beams when we tell her what a good job she has done. 

One of the Stake Presidency Members got up and gave a great talk. He is one of the language translators up above our office.  I work with him often because he is the one in charge of the missionaries leaving from the Marshall Islands, and I am the one who is doing their visas.   I was especially interested in one story that he told about buying a Book of Mormon from the Mission Office.  I remember that day that he came down and asked to get one.  At the time we were all out of soft cover copies of Marshallese Books of Mormon, but I still had a few hard copies.  The soft are free, but the hard copies cost 60 cents.  I sold him a book and he left. 

I was surprised to hear him tell the rest of the story in the conference.  After purchasing the Book of Mormon that he felt he had to have that day he was left without enough money to catch a taxi home.  (A taxi here is not like a taxi at home; it is an old car or truck that gets filled to the brim and charges a dollar to ride for each rider.) 

President Betti told how he was a dime short, and he would have to walk the 6 miles home that night.  President Betti is one of the hardest working, faithful men that I have ever know, and his schedule is extremely full.  He is truly one of the great pioneers here in the church.  I would never have let him pay for that book if I had known!

 He walked out to a popular pick up spot by the office wondering if he could ask the taxi driver to allow him to be a dime short, but he was pretty sure that wouldn’t work.  As he was struggling with his dilemma, he looked down on the ground and there was a dime.  He felt overwhelmed as he picked up the tender mercy and paid his fare to the taxi driver.  He bore testimony that The Lord is aware of them and loves them.