Receiving Kindness and Gifts from God

Today I dropped my lunch on the floor of the MTC cafeteria. This is not the actual photo, because I (Elder Croft) was too busy dealing with it to take a picture. But, immediately a young sister missionary and a senior missionary were helping me. They didn't just offer condolences, they were on the floor picking up food, getting napkins and really scrubbing to clean it up. Also, no one laughed. It is such an honor and pleasure to be among kind, loving people who are looking for ways to help and serve!

Another highlight today was attending a devotional with Susan Porter, the church General Primary President. She taught us that the gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of joy because it invites us to receive gifts from God. We sang the Hymn, More Holiness Give Me and she asked us to choose one of the gifts that we would seek. She also taught that seeking gifts from God is not selfish. In fact, God asks us to do so (see D&C 46:8 and 1 Corithians 12:31.

We also had a disappointment today. We learned that our visa to Taiwan has not come through yet and may not come until November! That means we're unlikely to leave on October 15, but we don't really know what we will be doing yet.