Today's sacrament meeting

We had 5 in attendance today. That may not seem like a lot, but it's a good crowd for us! We would have had others, but their work assignments would not allow it. After the sacrament portion of the meeting, we discussed Matthew chapters 6 and 7, on what it means to serve and put the things of God first. Everyone participated and the Spirit was with our discussion; it was wonderful to feel that comforting, heavenly influence. God loves soldiers; I can testify to that. My preparation for lesson was not what it could/should have been, but we still had the spirit with us.

Sometimes I forget that having LDS chaplains in the Army is important. I am not the leader of the LDS congregation (servicemen's group) here at Camp Alamo; I am here to support it. Yet, church services would still roll on if I was not here. So, sometimes I wonder if there is much need for LDS chaplains. In the closing prayer, one soldier expressed his gratitude that they had an LDS chaplain here. I forget that it really does matter. Even though there are not as many LDS soldiers as there are some other denominations; it still matters to the ones who are LDS. We had a great meeting today, and we all felt strenghthened by it. One of the scriptures we read today was Matthew 6:24, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

Camp Alamo service

Greetings from Camp Alamo! Sorry there is no picture; I will post one in a bit. Beautiful weather here; and we even had some rain to cool things down yesterday. Had LDS sacrament meeting this morning; had two soldiers attend. It was great and the Spirit was there! We talked about President Eyering's message from the Ensign magazine on tithing. It is a preparatory law that prepares us to one day live the law of consecration. We looked at Genesis 14:18-20, where Abram paid tithes to Melchizedek. We also looked at Acts 4:32-35, where the church that Christ established had all things in common, so that they were all of one heart and there was no poor among them. This reminds us of the scripture in the Pearl of Great Price, that describes the city of Enoch: "And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness, and there was no poor among them" (Moses 7:18).