Hola!
Last night we had a great ward activity. It was a recreation of Lehi's dream (Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi ch. 8 & 11). The church has two entrances, the main one and a back staircase that leads out into the court below (the church is on the second floor of a building downtown, I'll have to get a picture one day). Instead of having everyone come in the main entrance, we divided them all into several groups of 8-10. My job was to lead the groups up the staircase, representing the pre-earth life and then into the hallway where life begins. We had an "iron rood" which was really a steel cord we found in the attic leading down the hallway. Each room represented a different temptation: fashion, food, gambling, sleeping, sports, dancing, etc. Most of these things aren't wrong in themselves, but the problem comes when we put these things ahead of reaching our goal. The objective was to "hold to the rod" and not be distracted from reaching the goal. At the end, we had several bowls of water where people washed their hands, representing repentance. They then had to pass through the "brume tenebrose" or the mist of darkness (cut up garbage bags taped to a tent frame) into the chapel, where the iron rod led to the tree of life (see picture). So many people spent FOREVER working on that tree. It was a bunch of copper pipes wrapped together, with smaller pipes as branches and stripped copper wires as twigs and tin foil leaves. Then it was painted brown and placed on a "rock" (wooden pedestal wrapped in tin foil). It was a beautiful tree and the light shone off of it just right to make it shine. Then we stuck apples rolled in sugar to represent the white fruit.
Quick background: In the Book of Mormon, there is a prophet named Lehi. He dreams that he is in a large field, representing the world. "And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy. And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen.And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy." The fruit of the tree represents "the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men;wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things... and the most joyous to the soul." After he partakes of the fruit, he sees "numberless concourses of people, many of whom were pressing forward, that they might obtain the path which led unto the tree by which [he] stood... and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree." This iron rod, which leads people to the tree, represents the word of God, which, if we "hold tight" to it, will lead us to the fruit of the tree, or eternal life.
It was a great activity. Many people came and several were able to know the Church for the first time and leave with a positive image.
On another note... It's transfer week again! Transfers are completely different as an office Elder. We already know several weeks beforehand if we'll be transferred because we have to train our replacements. So we've known what's happening to us for a while. That excitement's gone. Also, transfer week means lots and lots of back and forth driving with new missionaries, departing missionaries, lost luggage, and everything in between. I'm looking forward to it. One of my favorite parts is watching the new missionaries come out of the terminal. It reminds me of when I came in and how many wonderful experiences I've had since then!
Lots of crazy things happened with transfers. We've got a Zone Leader who's also a District Leader, some Sister Training Leaders who are also training new missionaries at the same time, and we'll have a third companionship of Elders in our ward! Usually max is two companionships of Elders and one of Sisters, but I guess we need lots of manpower in Navigli! Eight missionaries in one ward will be quite the experience.
Sorry this letter's not as long as usual. We've got a lot to do today, such as plan for a baptism tonight! It should be nice. He didn't want to announce it in church because he said he gets nervous in front of lots of people. Most people ended up finding out anyway and we'll still have a nice attendance.
Happy week! I'm sure I'll have lots of crazy transfer week stuff to talk about next time.
Statemi bene.
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