A Rare Opportunity

I know many of you are Mormon and already know the "logistics" of  how the Church stays organized and meets the needs of it's members, so I wanted to break it down for those of you that aren't Mormon.

In our Church we have a group of men we call General Authorities.   Since we number about 14 million members it is just not humanly possible for our Prophet, his counselors and the 12 apostles to be everywhere trying to meet the needs of members throughout the world.  We believe that "Jesus Christ is the head of the Church. Under His direction, General Authorities and local leaders lead and teach Church members throughout the world."

General Authorities are assigned to different areas throughout the world and "travel frequently within the assigned area to teach and encourage local leaders and members of the Church..."

Because of my Dad's calling as Stake President he has the opportunity to meet several of these men and even host some of them in my parent's home.  It's been a real pleasure to for us to also meet some of these men.  A few weeks ago they hosted Elder David F. Evans.

My girls and I had the opportunity to meet him.  I'll never forget an experience we had at breakfast with him.  We were talking about the meeting from the night before and my mom told him that she really enjoyed hearing his stories about President Monson.  She said it made him seem so real.  It was a lighthearted conversation but he stopped, pointed his finger and with every serious fiber of his being said "he IS real."  Of course we believe he a real prophet, called of God, but to hear his firm testimony of it was pretty remarkable.  Lucy was sick the weekend we were there and was able to have a blessing by my Dad and Elder Evans.  What a neat experience.

Like in Christs' time we also have 12 apostles.  Twelve men we sustain as Prophets, Seers, and Revelators.  We respect, honor and love them and since there are so many members and just 12 of them, getting the chance to meet one is a very rare opportunity.

Today we had the opportunity to meet Quentin L. Cook.

He attended our Stake Conference, along with Elder Micheal Pickard of the Seventy.  It was a great conference and meeting Elder Cook was the icing on the cake!  Normally I wouldn't wait around to see anyone, I'm just not that kind of person, but someone like this was worth waiting for. He first talked with Addie, complimented Lucy on being a beautiful baby and then talked with Kimber.  He then told me and Jared that it wasn't fair that one family should have three such cute girls.

It will probably be a very long time before we ever have an opportunity like that again so I want my girls to be able to look back and know that they were able to shake the hand of a Special Witness of Christ.

To those that are not members of our Church this may seem a bit insignificant, but to me it's rare and it's special.  My religion and belief in Jesus Christ is what defines me.  It makes me who I am.  It makes me happy.  It makes my life worth living.  There are so many wonderful Churches that do so much good in the world and bring peace and joy to so many people. No matter what you may have heard from your Church about ours or what you may have heard from other people, please take it from me, a member of the Mormon Church, we are just happy that you have found happiness and joy.  I am glad you have a Church that is the right fit for you.  If you are truly happy then I am truly happy for you.