Temple Seminar #2

 Dear Family,

I am becoming more forgiving that my missionary children's letters began to fade and become less frequent in the closing months of their missions. I'm not sure what it was for them, but life here seems to have gone into overdrive, even our Sundays have been over booked. My apologies for going silent.

This last month has been the most intense of my time here. I think for Grandpa, he was slammed in the beginning months, but for me, it is these last 2-3 months. The last letter I wrote was a re-cap of the Returned Missionary Temple Seminar held in Bangkok at the end of April. That was an amazing experience, and when I got home from that I jumped right into planning the next one which was held the week of June 10th. The thing about this Seminar is that in too many ways it is a one man show-me being the one man! It's like planning an international girls camp without a committee or assistants no-one to brainstorm with, no one to bounce ideas off of, no one to puzzle through issues with.  In fairness, there is a travel department that purchases the travel tickets and books venues, but that doesn't happen until I tell them what, when, and who. Application process, agenda design, logistics, communication, execution in Bangkok--that's all just me. The Seminar is a pilot-program here and we've started from the ground up, so everything feels like an experiment and everything is plowing new ground. This isn't me complaining-I'm a bossy oldest child who loves being in control-I'm just saying it kind of tangles my brain! The first Seminar took me nearly three months to put together, The next one I had 6 weeks to plan, and now I have 3 weeks to pull off the third one which will be held July 17-20. After that we will fly back to Hong Kong long enough to pick up our bags, and we will be home! Tomorrow is go time!

Now we just need to  figure out who's supposed to book our tickets home--and what does it mean that our replacements are having trouble getting their visas and won't be arriving here as expected. But don't worry, we're coming home no matter what!

Thank heavens we had a great time with Jeremy and Carli, Miles and Penny, that was a huge shot in the arm that will take us to the end. Dad is sitting across from me writing a letter with all those adventures and pictures.

I'm doing the Seminar report. I won't drag you through anymore of the planning details, except to say again, that by the time I get to Bangkok, the pressure was building and  my head was spinning.  Luckily, we got to spend Monday with Diquattro's taking a guided tour of the city, which was so relaxing and fun. Meeting them at the train was a boost of happiness.  But when they left the pressure ramped right back up. 

By Wednesday morning when missionaries were beginning to arrive, I woke up feeling like I was being crushed by the weight of all that had to happen. Visas had been falling through, the temple needed to adjust the already tight schedule, my computer wouldn't sync with the church system, and then I got totally locked out of all church access because my Hong Kong phone would not receive the log in codes from Salt Lake. The communications team I also work with was dumping random assignments on me and I honestly could see the possibility of a complete seminar failure staring me in the face. As I knelt down in our room to say my prayers I was nearly wailing. As a tried to stay kneeling and listen, the only thought that came to me was to remember what happened to Joseph Smith in the grove. The darkness that came just before the light. That didn't give me much relief, but I did make note of the thought and then just got up and left the hotel for the office. The morning seemed to continue to be one long up hill fight. My whole body hurt with the effort. Then, at 2:45 the missionaries from India who were to receive their live endowment at 3:00 began to show up at the temple complex. They were so beautiful and eager. Like the last Seminar, there were 14 to be endowed, and 3 of their friends accompanying them. As I pointed them towards the temple doors they asked me about garments. What?? They were supposed to bring their garments with them from India! Somehow that hadn't happened and I hadn't been told. So, I took a deep breath and called them back and we headed to the Distribution Center to buy garments. We were now going to be very late. 14 missionaries to measure, teach about fabrics, and help find correct sizes and the styles they wanted. We were now going to be very very late. 

I told them they could buy one pair, and then we would buy the rest later.

One by one we got it done and I pointed them back to the temple. These two were some of the last two to make their purchase and since the buying frenzy was calming I escorted each of them individually across the courtyard from the Distribution Center to the temple doors. As I walked with the sister above on the right, I had my arm around her and told her to look up so she could see the spires of the temple, and asked her how long ago she had finished her mission. She told me it had been 3 years, and that she had given up thinking she would ever come to the temple. She was quiet and so reverent as I opened the temple doors and whispered, "Welcome to the Temple." She paused, took a deep breath, and stepped over the threshold. 

I walked back to the Distribution center and two minutes later I put my arm around Madubala and we took the same short walk. What you can't tell from this picture is that the Distribution Center is almost where I'm standing and if you don't look up you don't know where you are and it feels like one big building with a center courtyard. So as I asked her the same question, "How long have you waited to be here?" she wasn't aware of where we were. As I began to open the doors she stopped suddenly and her shocked smiling eyes became so big and she looked at me in disbelief. "Is this the temple?" she exclaimed. "Am I at the temple? Am I really here?" I realized I had failed to have her look up. I pulled her back and pointed up. She looked up to the spires, and she began to weep. She threw her arms around me and just cried. She could not believe she was finally there. She simply radiated joy as she walked in. 

And then, as I walked her back to the Temple Recorder I became very aware that, instead of the garment buying fiasco adding to my stress and tension, all the pressure of the past week, and horrible day had seemed to have evaporated. Not only was I finally relaxed, but looking around the room at 17 beautiful Indian's preparing to participate in temple ordinances, I was filled with a quiet, but remarkable joy of my own and a peace I hadn't felt for days. This was the light after the dark. This was what the adversary did not want to have happen. But light had prevailed and Israel was being gathered home.

This would become the repeated routine for the next three days. So many things went wrong; my carefully crafted temple schedule for each individual was scrambled by last minute changes from the temple scheduler; moving from activity to activity during the day was comically like herding cats, catered meals were 45 minutes late, working with RM's from cultures that don't understand that punctuality matters at the temple etc etc etc. And yet, every time we actually entered the temple, even in the confusion of shifting schedules, the temple ordinances brought an extraordinary calmness and focus. 

After several attempts at herding the cats, we finally got this picture on Friday afternoon.
 Elder and Sister Tai represented the Area Presidency for this Seminar.

A few stories:

We talked to Rama, on the right, for a long time as we waited on the promenade for the dinner cruise. We asked him for his story and he shared how he is the only member in his family and when he joined the church at about the age of 18, his family declared they would no longer support him or pay for his schooling. He finished school on his own and went on a mission. He now owns a growing business and  is reconciling with his family as they can see that his beliefs and lifestyle have actually made him a better man And then he laughed as told us that it also helps that he can now help support them.

This story of being an only member and having to live at odds with their family for years, is a story we heard repeatedly over the weekend.

Back to Madubala. After her parents were divorced she spent many years in what she called an orphanage. She was there until her Mom could get her and her siblings. They have since joined the church and she served her mission and is now helping her siblings prepare for theirs. Dad and I worked late into the night on Thursday helping her find a computer (mine) and a  quiet place so she could take one of the entrance exams for BYU-Hawaii. She has tried 4 times to take this test and she still missed passing by 1 point. I was so sad, but she sighed and gave me a lopsided smile and said she would just try again next semester. 

Sister Yoon Akari is from Myanmar. She is the only member in her family and served a mission in Thailand. We had to make special visa arrangements for her because her country is in the middle of a brutal civil war; she often has no water, power, or food. She goes home hopeful that she can immigrate to Thailand soon because the option will be that she will be drafted for three years to fight. Much of the branch in Myanmar has already left the country but she has her family to think about. Here she is with Sister Tai who took her to the airport so she didn't have to go alone. She had to leave the seminar early in the day so she could get home before dark because the Myanmar isn't safe for a woman after the sun goes down.

Of course the dinner cruise was a highlight

And the dancing was loud and gorgeous. It just can't be captured in a picture. They are such great dancers, such joy!

In the middle of all this chaos we had another surprise:

As I walked out of the temple Wednesday afternoon this young lady in the white dress came squealing across the courtyard and nearly tackled me. As my eyes focused, I realized this was Theary Ruen, one of our Cambodian young women. Dad had helped Theary fill out her papers for her own mission to England. She served and come back and worked with us in her branch,  all during our time in Cambodia.

And Sister Ey, one of our own loved missionaries was with them. This group of sisters had planned to come to Bangkok the next week for Sister Ey's birthday, but at the last minute they had changed their plans and come this week. They felt like it was a miracle, as did we. It means the world to us to see these young people still faithful and so happy. 
 

On the Saturday morning Theary came and found Dad and asked him to give her a blessing. She is in the middle of a painful divorce and her reason to come to the temple was to seek some comfort. I should have Dad tell the story, but he was emotional as he shared his experience with me and the distinct impression that he had only been a conduit for Heavenly Father's love for sweet Sister Ruen.

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There is more to tell, but I will just make myself stop talking. This temple week was like drinking from a spiritual firehose. 

Please have a wonderful week. Even though we haven't written we have had long conversations with each other about how much we love and miss you.

Take care of each other,

Love Mom and Dad/Grandma and Pampa