Dearest Sister Kayla and Elder Jared,
What a great stake conference we had this weekend!
Our new general authority is Senator Gordon Smith from
Oregon. He shared how when in office he
always instructed his personnel that no matter what he was doing, or where he
was, that if a call from Salt Lake came they needed to find him. Well about 11 years ago, his assistant told
him a heavily accented man called from Utah and she was going to hang up on him
but because of his request to receive calls she put him on hold. It was the newly ordained Elder Deiter F.
Uchtdorf. Elder Uchtdorf then proceeded
to tell Elder Smith that in Italy the church was restricted in owning property
and in building buildings. He ask Elder
Smith to use his connections to look into this.
Elder Smith then made the appropriate calls including to the Italian
Ambassador to the U.S. and in time got an appointment to go to see a government
administer to discuss this issue. Elder
Smith called Elder Uchtdorf and told him about the invitation for the meeting
in Rome to discuss these concerns; Elder Uchtdorf on hearing this update, asked
to accompany him.
At the meeting in Italy, the government administer brought
along with her a professor of religion and together they listened to Elder
Smith share how members of the church have been in Italy since the 1860's and
even though there were tens of thousand of members currently, they were not
given the same religious benefits as other religions. He even stated and used the USA NATO agreement with Italy that allowed for this
equality.
The government administer turned to the professor of
religion and asked what could he do to help the Gentleman. The professor of religion then shared how he and
his family had been to Utah a few months before and had toured a beautiful
square with an even more beautiful building on it. The government administrator looking at Elder
Uchtdorf, asked if the church could build one of those in Rome. Elder Uchtdorf smiling said, "We could
start tomorrow."
The religious professor went on to share how their tour
guides were two beautiful girls from Italy.
He continued by expressing that if the LDS church in Italy could produce
such wonderful, confident girls and people then they needed to do all they
could to give the same powers and privileges to its members as it did other
religions.
About 4 years later, in general conference, the Rome, Italy
temple was announced. Elder Smith was in the general authority seats and in
attendance at that session. When the announcement was made he looked up to
then, President Uchtdorf, to find him staring right at him. President Uchtdorf then gave him his
beautiful smile and a thumbs up sign.
The Rome, Italy temple is currently being built in the shadow of the
Vatican, in the same land and streets as the ancient apostle Paul walked and
administered.
Elder Smith shared this story not because government
officials met but because two simple missionaries bore witness and testimony
just like D&C 1:23 says, " that the fullness of my gospel might be
proclaimed by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the world, and before
kings and rulers."
I am eternally grateful that you two are among the weak and
simple whom declare strong testimony and help move the gospel and work
forward. I have felt the blessings in
our home because of your efforts and dedication. I love you so very much, keep passing it on!
Love mom
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