We just had our first Sacrament Meeting at the Hill Cumorah. The Work Crew and some of the Work Crew staff members were in attendance. We hold it as a testimony meeting so that we can get to feel of the spirits of those we will be working with for the next month. it was a very spiritual meeting and many of the young men bore testimony of the power of God in their lives. The overwhelming message was that God loves us each individually and knows who we are are what we are dealing with daily. 

        Brother Hess and I have been praying for months and months that your son will have the experience that God has planned for him and that he will come to understand how much Father in Heaven loves him and wants him to know of His love. There are so many opportunities to feel the Spirit here if we are prepared and looking and seeking for those experiences. 

        We will be challenging the young men regularly to ask for that blessing while they are here at the Hill Cumorah. It would be wonderful if in your letters you could also encourage your son to pray for experiences with the Spirit that would change his life in some way. Miracles happen here regularly. Some are quiet, personal, and small and require a willing heart and mind to recognize them and others are very obvious and easily recognized, (like the healing of broken limbs).Both kinds can have a powerful impact on their lives. I know they have done that for me.

       We love these young men so much. It is hard to explain how much you can love and care about others and their testimonies when you hardly know them, but we truly do. We want more than anything for each and every young man to leave here with the understanding that God is aware of them personally. That He loves him. That the Gospel of Jesus Christ is here on this Earth and the Joseph Smith restored it through the power of God. We want them to have an experience with the Spirit that will be undeniable, so that they will return home a changed man.

       Today will be a very spiritually packed one. After lunch we will go to the Sacred Grove and spend some time pondering on some sacred principles regarding what happened in this most sacred place. Then we will all go to upstairs room of the log home where Joseph Smith was visited by the Angel Moroni. We will read the account of that experience while we are upstairs (thankfully it is cool today!). Then the young men will walk the 3 miles that Joseph walked back to the Hill Cumorah where he received, met, and was instructed by Moroni for 3 years and where he eventually was given the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated. Then we will have dinner with the Pageant Presidency and their wives after which the Presidency and Work Crew leaders will individually set each young man apart as a member of the Work crew and the staff of the Hill Cumorah Pageant. These blessing are very powerful. you will want to ask your son about his when he returns and remind him in your letters to write about it in his journal. Lastly we will go to the Visitor's Center where they will be able to watch a video recording of the Pageant, so that they can see what it is that they are going to be doing during the performances. Most of them have never seen the show, even those who have been in the cast have probably never seen the show in its entirety. We will then return to the Wind Tunnel and close out our day with a spiritual devotional and of course HUGS! Tomorrow is another full day of construction so they will hopefully go to sleep and get some well needed rest.

        They are all doing very well and have bonded very quickly with each other (one of the miracles we see every year). What a great group of young men!! Thank you for allowing your son to share this month with us.