Someone "BIG" Spoke Tonight

We never know who is going to be speaking at the MTC each Tuesday, but tonight it was even more of a mystery. When Steven and I went to the cafeteria for dinner, we saw Pres. and Sis. Boone leaving the cafeteria. Usually, they and other members of the MTC presidency have dinner with the evening's speaker in the VIP dining room. Because we saw them in the cafeteria, my first thought was that we wouldn't be having a general authority speaker tonight. We were eating with Bro. Rampton, who said he had passed the VIP dining room on his way in and it was empty. When I said I didn't think a general authority would be speaking, Steven said, "That might be, or else the general authority who's speaking chose not to have dinner beforehand." My feeling was that the speaker wouldn't be a general authority; maybe members of the district presidencies would be the speakers, which was the case at one of the devotionals about a year ago.

When we went in to the auditorium, Steven and I found our places way up on the back row. That's where we were assigned to sit since Steven and some of the elders from the branch would be helping with the ushering. He went off to usher and I stayed in my seat. Two sisters from our branch came by and were happy to see me. We greeted each other, then they asked, "Do you know who's speaking tonight?" I said, "No. But I'm thinking it might not be a general authority." They said, "Oh, we were thinking that it's going to be someone 'big' because we've seen Security checking under the seats, and we've never seen them do that before. We're really hoping to hear someone 'big' speak before we leave." Then they went off to find their places. It seemed to be taking longer than usual for the picture of the speaker to come up on the big screen. When it finally did, it showed Elder Holland as the speaker. You could hear all the missionaries start chattering with anticipation. The sisters passed by again a few minutes later and Sis. Crabbe gave me a big smile and a "thumb's up," so I guess that meant they were excited to hear from someone "big."

Elder Holland came without Sis. Holland, who was taking care of some grandmother duties. So we just got to hear from Elder Holland. He gave a great talk, as usual. The last couple of times we've heard from him he's been very animated. He can be funny one minute, and then serious the next. He spent quite a bit of time on his introduction, telling the missionaries, "I love you, I honor you, I envy you, I'm proud of you, I admire you." Then he talked about his own mission saying, "No young man was ever more affected by a mission than I was...My mission meant everything to me...Every significant thing that has happened to me in my life has happened because of my mission...That's why I love you, because I loved my mission." He then said, "I have more in common with you now than I did prior to my apostolic call; because an apostle is a missionary, a witness for the name of Jesus Christ in all the world. As I am a missionary, so are you apostolic. I'm an Apostle (big A) and you are an apostle (little a), a witness, going out to declare the name of Christ in all the world...Don't you dare go out there and miss the opportunity to apostolic...We (Apostles) get up on time, so we want you to get up on time...Don't miss a minute (of your mission). In a matter of moments, this is going to be over...Don't you dare go home with a regret...Pull up your socks and go to work...We grow up when we show up at the MTC. We put away childish things. We grow up overnight....Welcome to the work."

He told the missionaries that "people pray for you all over this Church. Missionaries are probably the most prayed-for people in the Church, next to Pres. Monson. You and Pres. Monson are neck and neck, with people you don't even know praying for you." That reminded me of something that happened a couple of years ago. I think Camden was almost three. I had been with her during the day on a Tuesday, and I told her that I was going to be with the missionaries that night. Her eyes got big and she asked, "Will you see the Prophet?" I told her, "No, I probably won't see the prophet; but I'll be with his helpers, the missionaries." When I told Lindy what she had said, Lindy said that when Camden says her prayers she prays for the Prophet and for the missionaries. So to her, the Prophet and the missionaries go together. If I was going to see the missionaries, then I would surely see the Prophet. In our meeting with District C after the devotional, I told the missionaries that story about Camden and they liked the thought of little children praying for them. All in all, it was a great evening. What a treat and blessing to be able to hear from Elder Holland!