Four days in the office this week were much needed and appreciated as we attempt to stay on top of all the moving parts of our humanitarian projects. Raul and Roxanna Seguel stopped by the office to say hi. They were in Santiago picking up a new car. Raul is our field manager in the Concepcion area.
On Friday we headed back to Cumorah Casablanca Camp for another session of PFJ. The amazing youth from the Santiago West Mission assembled 590 school kits. Our faithful helpers this week were Elders and Hermanas Salgado and Acevedo. We couldn’t do this without them!
We attempted to simplify the process this year by having the school supplies sent to a second party who divided and delivered the items to each of the ten camps. Last year the supplies came to our office where we counted out and divided the school kit contents and then had supplies shipped to each camp. If it seemed too good to be true, it was. The problem is that six of the camps are at the same location and those school supplies are all mixed up with each other and with other PFJ items, so we must sort and count anyway. It’s heavy physical work but the special moments with the youth make it worth it.
To quote Steven J Lund, Young Men General President in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from his Oct 2022 conference talk: “During the past summer, over 200,000 of our young people all over the world grew in faith at one of the hundreds of weeklong sessions of For the Strength of Youth conferences. Coming out of pandemic isolation, for many, it was an act of faith in the Lord to even attend. Many of the young participants seem to follow a similar upward arc toward deeper conversion. At the end of their week, I like to ask them, “So, how’s it been?” They sometimes said something like this: “Well, on Monday I was so annoyed with my mother because she made me come and do this. And I didn’t know anybody. And I didn’t think it was for me. And I wouldn’t have any friends… But now it’s Friday and I just want to stay here. I just want to feel the Spirit in my life. I want to live like this.” They each have their own stories to tell of moments of clarity and of spiritual gifts washing through them and carrying them along that arc of growth…I have seen the Spirit of God relentlessly responding to the righteous desires of the individual hearts of these young multitudes who individually found the courage to trust Him with a week in his keeping.”
And so, as humanitarian missionaries, we feel it a privilege to be a small part of their experience, regardless of our logistical challenges. May you find joy this week, despite your challenges.
Abrazos, Élder y Hermana Lamb, (aka Ed & Debbie, Mom & Dad, Pop Pop & Tu Tu)
Lambs in Central Europe 