4th of July

'Ello!

 

What a great 4th of July week! I'll have to start from the top of everything it seems.

 

So first of all, there is an Elder in our district whose birthday is July 4 and he's from Australia. We planned on making red, white, and blue swirled cupcakes and a personal cake for him. We didn't want a white cake, so we made a lemon cake, but when dying the batter we realized that yellow + blue = green, hahahaha. And then the cake we made Elder Shore was the most awkward brick shape, but hey... c'est la vie. We ended up sticking fancy red, white, and blue decorative things out of the cupcakes along with Australian and American flags. Elder Shore is also a fellow Doctor Who fan, so I made him a themed birthday card that I secretly just wanted to keep.

 

As for the 4th of July... talk about crazy crazy madness. Bishop Smith had the wonderful idea to have Sister Hall and I play our violins in the parks and have others hand out water and otter pops (known out here as "icies"). So we did! We played at Trexler Park at 7:30 am and had some ward members and the Allentown Spanish and Whitehall South Elders hand out water to people. It was really fun, even if it was already hot that early in the morning. The crowd was mostly older or exercising people, but we talked to a couple people who were curious why we were out there. One guy even wanted to take our pictures because he'd never seen people playing live music in that park before. It was neat!

 

After district meeting, the birthday party, and practicing our song for Zone Training next week, and running around in the heat, we went to Cedar Beach Park to play in the evening. Now talk about a completely different crowd of people from Trexler Park. The Allentown Spanish Elders affectionately said, "These are our people." I can't remember how many thousand people were estimated to be in the park, but there were people barbequing, playing, swimming, and all sorts of things. (Side note: East Coast parks are legit! Like... massive parks that are more than just a field with a playground.) We played for a little bit, but since there was a lot more noise than before, we mainly handed out ice pops and water.

 

Needless to say, it was SUPER FUN. People were really surprised that someone would be handing out free water, but it helped us get exposure and talk to people. But one awesome miracle that came from us playing in the park was a baptism! Story time:

 

We invited the Allentown Elders to come to the park with us and they went around and talked to people. They came across Victor, a young man who used to go to church last year who had wanted to be baptized but wasn't able to at the time.  I'm not entirely sure all of the details, but long story short, they talked to him and set up a baptism. For today. Today. How amazing! Victor is in the Whitehall South Elders' area, so imagine their surprise when Allentown called them and said Whitehall would be having a baptism on Monday! It was the craziest thing-- they had to call President Anderson and get special permission, but we're so excited!

 

Friday we helped out Sister Pendleton with yard work. The Whitehall Elders the Brother and Sister Stofko came and helped out. We were able to get a lot of work done and were also able to help out the neighbor's yard, whose wife is sick and can't keep up with things. I still have a bunch of rashes down my legs from all the plants, but I really love doing yard work for people.

 

As I was pondering about how wonderful of a blessing it is that we have a country in which we can worship our God freely, I thought about how without the United States, the Restored and true church of God wouldn't have been restored to the earth. There's actually a chapter in the Book of Mormon where the prophet Nephi is talking about a vision in which he see Christopher Columbus, the Revolutionary War, and the Book of Mormon. 1 Nephi 13 says:

 

"12 And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land.

13 And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters."

(Christopher Columbus)

 

"16 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles who had gone forth out of captivity did humble themselves before the Lord; and the power of the Lord was with them.

17 And I beheld that their mother Gentiles were gathered together upon the waters, and upon the land also, to battle against them.

18 And I beheld that the power of God was with them, and also that the wrath of God was upon all those that were gathered together against them to battle.

19 And I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles that had gone out of captivity were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all other nations."

(Revolutionary War)

 

How amazing! How wonderful that this land truly is a promised land of freedom, and that because of the ability to worship, God restored his one and true church to the earth!

 

Thanks for all of your love!

Sister Singleton

Okay, I took ZERO pictures of our 4th of July adventures in the park, 

and this is the only one I have of the cake. The awkward cake...