Today after Sacrament Meeting at the MTC, Steven and I went out to Bro. Bankhead's car with him where he showed us his dad's first edition copy of the Book of Mormon that he had brought with him. He had been going to use it in his talk about the Book of Mormon, but had decided not to use it afterall. We enjoyed being able to see it. To handle it we put on the white cotton gloves that he had with the book. Tiffany would have been proud of us.
Bro. Bankhead was released today as Steven's counselor in the branch presidency. His wife, Jann, is still undergoing chemotherapy and Bro. Bankhead feels like he needs to be free to have more time to be with and take care of her. So he was released today. Pres. Breinholt, who did the releasing, told Steven that they hope to have a new counselor for the branch by next Sunday.
Speaking of new, we got a new stake presidency today at Stake Conference. I went there with Richard this morning. Bro. Craig Brady is the new stake president. His first counselor is Bro. Bateman (Pres. Bateman's son) and the second counselor is Bro. Burgi, our former bishop. Richard had guessed Bro. Bateman and Bro. Burgi as possibilities, so he was right about them. We had guessed that maybe Rick Romney would be the new stake president, but he wasn't. I guess he still needs to be at the MTC like Steven.
Elder Glenn Pace was our visiting General Authority and it was nice to have him there. He gave a good talk about facing new challenges and feeling the spirit in our lives. He related a visit he'd had with Pres. Uchtdorf after Elder Uchtdorf had been called into the First Presidency. Pres. Uchtdorf told him that he didn't know about his new call until he heard Pres. Monson say his name in the meeting with the Quorum of the Twelve last Sunday. He said that after Pres. Monson announced Pres. Eyring as his first counselor, he waited and listened to hear who the second counselor would be, then he heard his name. He was surprised. That would be a surprise! Elder Pace also talked about how feeling the spirit can be the same no matter where you are--whether you're in a meeting with the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve or whether you're in a meeting or class in your home ward. The spirit can be felt in many situations and it is available to all who prepare and take advantage.
Today at the MTC District A sang "Praise to the Man" for their departure number. Three of them don't leave until next week, but Elders Schow and Hatton leave this week for Mexico. I was able to greet new District E today--10 elders who came in last Wednesday. It's kind of funny, but in each of the three districts that have come in the last three weeks there is an Elder McAllister. We've had double names before, but I don't think triple names--especially in one district after another. So I told the Elders McAllister that they are #1, #2, and #3. We also have Elder McDonald and Elder McCollum to go along with the other Elder Mc's. We have two Elder Thompsons and an Elder Egan and an Elder Eakins. Sometimes is hard to keep everyone's name straight.
Tonight for Sunday dinner we had meatloaf and potatoes. Lindy and the girls came without Nate because he came home from church not feeling well. We hope he feels better soon. After dinner, Camden and Riley watched Star Wars with Richard while Sidney played with Grampa. Lindy and I cleaned up. Then we got to decorate valentine cookies. The girls did a good job and were very artistic. They even decorated a cookie to take home to daddy. We had a lot of fun.
Tiffany called and said she was having a problem with her car. She had started out to go get Alyson at school, but then her car died right there in the parking lot of her apartment. She tried to push it back into the parking place but couldn't do it by herself. Luckily, the guy parked next to her came out to get in his car and he helped her push her car back into the parking place. By this time her fingers were frozen. Steven told her to call AAA to see if they could help her out tomorrow. Hopefully it's just the battery and she can get it fixed without too much hassle. She was able to warm her fingers up with the help of the heating pad the Barretts sent her.