Bearing Testimony of Sacrifice

The Paulsens went home. That's right: we're all alone! Not really—we are just the only couple on the island. We are the face of the Church in Sri Lanka. The other day, we got a request to do something as the representative for LDSC (Latter-Day Saints Charities). When we said we did not represent LDSC, they said our names were given to them as the LDSC reps. So we are the first-line contact for the Church on the island. It just keeps us busy. When we lost the Paulsens, it was difficult for a few days. It felt like a real loss. We know they are home enjoying their family and readjusting to life in the states, and we wish them well. Still, we miss them. We just got an opportunity to watch General Conference. It was two weeks late, but better late than never. What a great conference! I'm looking forward to the May edition of the Ensign. Until you don't have access to the broadcast, you don't realize how much you need to hear the messages. We knew it before, but having to wait two weeks really brought it home. We really love and appreciate the Brethren for the great example they are us. They work so hard. Whenever we might be feeling overwhelmed, we look to their example to give us hope. What a powerful testament of Jesus Christ, His Church, and His prophet. There is no doubt about who we are and what we believe. We add our testimonies that Jesus is the Christ and that He lives. He is the Only Begotten Son of the Living God, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is His Church on the earth today. We testify that Thomas S. Monson is His prophet for this time and holds and is authorized to exercise all the Keys of the priesthood. We didn't get a chance to stand in solemn assembly and sustain President Monson, but the Holy Ghost has born witness to us and we know it beyond a shadow of a doubt. I guess General Conference is the same everywhere: a group of faithful Saints always attends and takes advantage of listening to a prophet's voice. There are always some that look at it as a time to do other things because they can catch up with what was said by reading the Conference edition of the Ensign, or they think they will listen to the archives file during their leisure time. It never happens. When you don't have that opportunity, you long for it and you pray that others who do have the opportunity would realize how blessed they are. Since General Conference we have had a roller coaster of events, mostly highs. We have some great gatherings of the Saints to study, learn, uplift, and fellowship each other. We have also had some sad events. Oddly enough, they have given opportunities to serve, learn, uplift, and fellowship each other, too. Well, guess this hasn't been much of a roller coaster at all—just different types of events give you these valuable opportunities in life. They always reaffirm your faith and testimony that Jesus is the Christ and He lives. Let's just review some things we have experienced over the last few weeks. The sisters here had a District Relief Society Birthday party. It was wonderful. They came from every point on the Island where the Church in found. Our District is very small and in terms of miles, it's pretty close; but in terms of ability to get there, it covers a huge commuting time. For example, Kandy is 115 km (about 80 miles) from Colombo; it takes seven to nine hours round trip. Negombo is 45 km from Colombo, and it is three hours round trip. The road is a lot better. Well, that will give you some idea of what the people have to go through to gather for one of these events. By the way, very few own cars or other means of transportation. They mostly travel by bus. Well, back to the party. MOre than 150 sisters came to the event. They were treated to uplifting remarks from a member of the District Presidency and members of the District Relief Society Presidency. They were served a very good meal and spent a few minutes fellowshipping, catching up with each other since the last time they saw each other. There was picture taking and dancing, lots of hugs and genuine caring for each other. What was amazing is that they put it all together in less than two weeks. They knew it was coming; they had one every year and they knew this year's event would happen also. The District Relief Society President was sick and in the hospital so it was cancelled until further notice. With God's blessing she was able to recover and direct the event. The Sisters were elated. Next they will get another opportunity to rejoice in their sisterhood when Sister Julie Beck, the Relief Society General President, visits Colombo on 19 June 2008. We are sure it will be another great occasion. Following the Relief Society bash, we had Zone Conference and District Conference the very next week. Zone Conference was very special; we had Elder Hallstorm of the First Quorum of the Seventy and Second Counselor in the Asian Area Presidency presiding. He gave us great training and some great counsel; we want to share just a few of the things he said with you. When we take on the name of Christ, we should actively ponder and reflect on our relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ daily and perform a selfless service daily. Always be mindful of how we use His holy name daily; sometimes we become too casual with His name and don't give it the reverence it should always have when we speak it. Well, it caused us to reflect, and we are better for it. When we found out Elder Hallstorm was coming, Sister Nichols (the mission president's Wife) asked Sister Mills if we could have something different for lunch. We were their last stop, and they were getting tired of rice and curry, pizza, and stuff like that. Sister Mills made a few suggestions; we could cater in from one of the restaurants around the area or she (Sister Mills) could fix some side dishes to go with KFC. Knowing we are the only couple on the Island, Sister Nichols said, "I'll leave it up to you. Surprise us; I'm sure it will be good." After pondering a while, Sister Mills decided she couldn't leave such an important meal up to a caterer. So out she went all over town, dragging her poor companion, Elder Mills, with her to find all the things she would need to make this a memorable meal. Sister Mills worked hard, got the perfect menu, and put together a meal that all were happy with. Everyone ate until they were full and more than once her lunch got praised in our afternoon training session. Unfortunately, Elder Hallstorm had to leave and was unable to stay for District Conference, so President Nichols presided over conference. We are aware that we keep saying "great," but we are simple folks and our vocabulary isn't adequate enough to express how we feel about these things. After saying that, it was a great conference! Of course, it was a two-day affair and again the folks came from all points to be here. Generally the sum of the average attendance of each unit in a Stake or District is more than the attendance at the conference. Here it's different. The attendance at District Conference is greater than the sum of the average attendance of each unit. We don't know if that is good or bad, just different. Anyway, more people get to hear the outstanding spiritually uplifting messages. There was standing room only. President Anton, the District President, gave one of the best talks we have ever heard in a Stake or District conference. His topic was feed my sheep; you can find the text in John 21. We all know the circumstances and most of us almost always associate the scripture with missionary work—going out among those not of your faith and declaring the word until them and inviting them to come unto Christ. President Anton came from a different approach. It's not the first time we heard this approach, but it was one of the most powerful times. He came from the perfecting the Saints point of view; the brothers and sisters already in the community of Christ. We need to feed them also; that's why we have home teachers and visiting teachers. Not just those who have fallen out of fellowship or gone less active, but those who are there every day. We all need a kind word, a selfless act of service, a gentle smile, a hug spiritually as well as physically sometimes. He talked about how we owe every effort we have to find the ones that are lost and we know in our hearts if we have done all we can do. He made a very interesting observation. Sometimes we are feeding the sheep and we are feeding them poison. We are supposed to nourish them with the good word of Christ (President Hinckley said that), not poison them. How do we poison them? We do it with our back-biting, gossips, rumors, and negative attitudes. That is just a taste of the talk, and if causes one of you to think about that Chapter of John in a different way, that would be good. Next we had our first Institute fireside and Seminary scripture bowl. It has been so hard to get everyone together so we had to combine everything. So while the Institute students watched a CES fireside on DVD, the Seminary-age students were doing scripture matches and scripture crossword puzzles. Thanks to Karen Crapo, they played scripture basketball and they loved it. We brought them all back together and played games with an Old Testament theme. We later divided into teams and competed for candy by answering questions from the Old Testament. They all had a great time. We served a good meal and all of those that were present had a wonderful time. We must give special recognition to Sister Mills again. Elder Mills was in the midst of very nasty sinus infection and couldn't help with the planning. She managed to drag him along when shopping for materials and food. She organized the Branch members to help with the games, activities, and food. They are always willing to help. Fortunately, Elder Mills was able to feel well enough to help with the implementation of the plan. Again, it was great. About the other work, we are doing everything. Happy days are here. We don't have to wait until October to get another couple. We are getting someone for Kandy on June 12. We are elated, but we think Kandy has mixed emotions. They are used to seeing us and they know they want see us often now that the new couple is here. That will last about two days and they will forget the Mills and will love the Fullmers. As far as the other stuff is concerned, let's just say it is a lot. Going into details may come across as whining. We are busy and we love the work and the people. The situation over here makes one's heart very heavy, so we cry a lot. We see the faithfulness of the Saints and it gives us joy. Now for a few of the sad things that have taught us so much and have strengthened our testimonies. Since we have been here, there have been four funerals in our small Branch of either members or very close relatives. Elder Mills has attended all the funerals and Sister Mills three. Elder Mills has dedicated the graves of three of those that have passed, and the other was cremated. The district president's mother died and so did the branch president's mother. In order to have his mother buried in the family plot, the district president had to agree to an Anglican gravesite service. They were members of the Anglican Church before they became LDS. All the cemeteries are divided into sections over here; Christian, Hindu, Muslim, and of course the largest area is Buddhist. LDS are not welcome in anyone's part of the cemetery. So you have to do what you have to do get your relative buried. After their service we dedicated the grave. The branch president's mother had been sick for a very long time and for the last year and half she had been in an invalid state. Her suffering was unbearable for the family, so her passing was a blessing as well as a deep loss. He agreed to participate in a ritual Hindu service so he could have some prayers said and hymns sang at the wake and he could have someone dedicate the gravesite. Elder Mills was happy to do it for him. We would go into the Hindu service but it was beyond any words we could use to describe it. We are still searching the Internet and trying to get private explanations of what we saw. We can only say it was very interesting. The other funeral that taught us something was one of the sisters in the branch, Sister Chandra. She was the first in her family to travel, the first female to pursue a career. She married outside of her race and she joined the Church. Because of all she did, she was estranged from her family for 27 years. She had a twin sister that she didn't see for all those years. She finally came back to Sri Lanka and reconciled with her family; she was a role model for the young women in the family. She always was true to herself and to her faith. She battled cancer in the last stages of her life, but never complained. She was at Church every Sunday when she wasn't in the hospital; she bore her testimony every fast and testimony meeting. It was always full of praise for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and gratitude for the many blessing she received as a member of his Church. Oh! She was endowed and kept a current temple recommend, even though the nearest temple is in Hong Kong. She kept her own set of temple clothing and left instructions that she was to be buried in them. Her sister honored her request, and Sister Mills was one of the endowed sisters that helped dress her before she was buried. Yep! You guessed it. Elder Mills dedicated the gravesite. It was a very spiritual experience and taught us a lot about what you should be willing to do and suffer to live the gospel when the Holy Ghost has born witness to you that is true. We love all of you and miss seeing you. Brother and Sister Mills The Mills are serving in Sri Lanka and can be reached by mail at: N Mills 2 Anderson Road Colombo 5, Sri Lanka