Greetings!
We recently had the opportunity to go to a cashew "factory". Before going, we were able to see some cashews growing on a tree. The woman in charge of the factory store told us about how they process the cashews. If the fruit is freshly picked, they eat the fruit but if it has been a couple of days, they can't eat it. They dry the nut out for 2 to 3 days then they begin to process them. One woman cuts the cashew in half. There were two at the table using a metal pick to take the nut out of the shell. Two young men were cooking the cashews in oil over an open fire. They would drain them and set them out to dry. When the cashews were cooled and dry, they took them into the building where two ladies would bag and seal them. We were humbled by their willingness to work so hard. The tediousness of their work made the nuts we purchased from them even more precious.
Kent has been busy this past week making arrangements for our AATS Conference. There are many things to be planned and prepared and he will be doing most of that. He's gotten really good at power point presentations. Kent also gets to be the problems solver for issues that come up with anything to do with technology and callings. The employees do all the work with the equipment and they support the other employees but there are senior missionaries who come to him with problems they have with the work they do and he helps them. We have both learned a lot about technology on this mission. We came with no answers and lots of questions. We learned how to find answers and who to ask. Now we (Kent more than me) can answer many questions without asking our workmates for help. They are still looking for a replacement for us so if you know someone who is up for the adventure, let us know. They don't even need to know anything about computers, it's on the job training here.
This past week a new group of missionaries came to the MTC. A young man came to the clinic with a large lesion in his jaw - probably not cancer but the lesion destroys the jaw bone. This is the second one we've seen and it always leaves me with such mixed feelings. I mourn for the missionary and sorrow for the disappointment he must feel at having to go home for treatment. At the same time I rejoice for the tender mercy that the lesion was found and can be treated and pray for the full recovery of the missionary.
During General Conference the past year, encouragement was given for us to live so we would be prepared for the Second Coming. I wondered what that meant, what we needed to change and do better. In the country-wide stake conference that was held while Elder Holland was here, he answered my question beautifully. He also shared a quote from many years ago by George Q. Cannon that I would like to share with you in case anyone else had the same question I did:
"By the Saints refusing to be led by the influences of Satan, and not yielding to his seductive temptations, he is virtually bound so far as they are concerned; and, when the head of the family can attain unto this power, and persuade his wife and family to do likewise, the power of Satan will be bound in that habitation, and the Millennium will have commenced in that household; and if all should take this course, man and the earth would soon be prepared for the coming of Jesus and the ushering in of the full Millennial glory, and the complete binding of Satan, of all of which glory they would already have a foretaste. (George Q. Cannon, 17 July 1864, Millennial Star, XXVI:514)
May we all do our best to prepare for the Second Coming individually and in our homes.
Love,
The Tuckers
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