The Name of the Church

I may have been one of those people who didn't immediately understand why the Prophet asked us to use the full name of the Church, rather than "Mormon."  Last week in our MTC discussions we heard two amazing stories that strengthened our testimony of this Prophetic Counsel.

The first was from one of the men in our group who served in the Army in Germany during the early 1970s.  He was being trained to replace a young man in an office setting.  Our friend was very impressed by the demeanor and habits of the young man leaving, and asked what religion he was.  This young recently-returned missionary was ahead of his time and said that he belonged to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Our friend asked more questions and was obviously baptized.  He told us that if this new friend had said he was a "Mormon," he would have stopped the conversation and never pursued it because he had been taught powerful Anti-Mormon propaganda his whole life.

The other story came from another of our MTC district friends.  He said that when he was young his family had become friends in California with "Mormon" neighbors shortly before moving.  This was years ago, before the internet and the ability to stay in touch with everyone you ever met.  When they got to their new town, they looked in the yellow pages for the "Mormon" Church.  They couldn't find it, and continued to look from time to time for a "Mormon" Church.  After a few years they learned the correct name of the Church and were able to find a Chapel that was actually rather close to their home, pursued learning more, and of course were baptized.

Ahhhh - we are so blessed to have an inspired, living Prophet.

Our dear little Toyota Camry is packed to the brim and we are ready to head out.  Saying good-bye is so incredibly hard - I can't believe we volunteered to do it again!

One of the things I am really going to miss is Christian's
soccer games.  And, of course, these sweet little people!

I'll really miss these two dear friends, who are
 also my sisters.  (And the Utah sunsets!) 

We thought saying good-bye after ice cream, 
as opposed to a house, would be easier.
Nope - still incredibly painful!

(Craig said goodbye to friends and family too - he just never takes pictures!)