It was fun having the Vandor family go to the Embera village with us! The Vandors (Daniel and Lina) came from Sweden to adopt two children. They are siblings. The boy, Matthew, is 8 years old and his little sister, Madeline, is almost 4. They have another sibling who is 6 and being adopted by another Swedish couple. While they've been here, both couples have made the effort to get together twice a week so the 3 siblings can spend time together. Daniel and Lina told us that the other couple live about an hour and a half from them in Sweden, but they are making plans to visit once a month. There is also an older sister, but she was past the age of ten and apparently anyone 10 or older is not eligible to be adopted. They said they will do what they can to try to maintain a relationship with their children's other siblings. Elder Bjarnason said he was told they want to help the older sister have the opportunity to have a better life so are planning on paying for her schooling. It's been fun to see this little family blend together! I know there will be challenges, but these children are so blessed to be going to a strong LDS family!
On Sunday the Vandors got to church a few minutes late. When Matthew saw me he came running over to the bench where we were sitting and threw his arms around me! Children have so much love! Both kids kept moving between their parents and me. I say 'me' because Jim woke up not feeling well and didn't go to church.
I'll need to take a picture of the Vandors before they leave.
Jim and I usually go outside on Sunday afternoons to sit on the ledge of the wall separating the church from the driveway up from the road to the temple. Jim was still sick and I had cabin fever so I went outside to our usual spot. I had spent a little over an hour outside when I decided I should be going in before the mosquitoes came out at dusk. I walked towards the temple and saw the newly reguilded Angel Moroni and decided to take a picture. As I walked away I noticed that the sky was turning pretty shades of pink and purple so went back to take another picture. 
I've posted this picture before in my maintenance blog, but it matches this story. When I went back to take the picture one of the security guards walked past me. I mentioned how pretty the sky was and as I started to walk away he called me back to see the moon. I mentioned how beautiful the Angel Moroni was with the new layer of gold. He then asked what the angel represented. I told him that it represents the angel spoken about in the Bible who would blow his trumpet announcing the preaching of the gospel in the last days. He said it was his first week on the job at the temple and it will be something for him to think about because he remembers reading on the internet that people in several European countries heard trumpets blowing in the skies. I haven't heard anything about this.
We continued talking and I mentioned that I had hoped to see a sloth in the trees across the street from the temple. He pulled out his tablet and showed me the pictures he had taken of a sloth about a half hour earlier. He had also taken a picture of an iguana that was on the driveway just beyond where I had been sitting. : /
I asked him where he was from and he told me Boquete. I told him we had gone there the other week. He then started showing me photos of his family's farm and a picture of his wife and son. I told him one of the things we do in the temple is seal families together for eternity. He said that Hermano Phillips, the chief engineer, had also mentioned this to him and he had spent time thinking about this.
He then told me about his cousin's son who took some venom and killed himself nine years ago, and that his cousin's youngest daughter had just done the same thing. He asked me if she was going to hell. I explained to him about the three degrees of glory and that every person who has ever lived on earth would inherit one of these glories, even murderers. That Satan and his angels, who were cast out of God's presence in the pre-existence were those who were going to purgatory. I also reminded him that God is kind and merciful and knows his cousin's daughter's heart and would be her judge. He said that was something else he would think about.
By now it had gotten dark, the mosquitoes were biting and I knew if Jim woke up he'd be worried about me. I told the guard, Jose, that I needed to go in so my husband wouldn't worry about me, but that I wanted to give him a card that told our thirteen basic beliefs. I didn't have one with me so I told him I'd give it to him the next time I see him. I've been carrying it around ever since. I've added the church's websites to the back of the card, plus the mission office phone number.
In case any of you want to find out what we believe I'll post the websites here.
www.mormon.org
www.lds.org
No comments:
Post a Comment