Why the Samba Party?

"The labors of the day [in completing the Nauvoo Temple] having been brought to a close at so early an hour viz; half past 8, it was thought proper to have a little season of recreation, accordingly, Brother Hans Hanson was invited to produce his violin. He did so, and played several lively airs, among the rest some very good lively dancing tunes. This was too much for the gravity of Brother Joseph Young, who indulged in a hornpipe, and was soon joined by several others, and before the dance was over several French fours were indulged in. The first was opened by President B. Young with Sister Whitney and Elder H.C.Kimball with Sister Lewis. The spirit of dancing increased until the whole floor was covered with dancers. After this had continued about an hour, several excellent songs were sung, in which several of the brethren and sisters joined...

After dancing a few figures, President Young called the attention of the whole company, and then gave them a message, of this import, viz; that this temple was a Holy place, and that when we dance, we danced unto the Lord, and that no person would be allowed to come on to this floor, and afterwards mingle with the wicked. He said the wicked had no right to dance, that dancing and music belonged to the Saints."
--Nauvoo Journal of William Clayton

Monday, February 1, 2010

lepote flom Taiwan missionaly namba wan

Yo 'sup y'all,

I've left my abode in XinDian AnKang (see pic), I love that place. It was a ghetto little piece of city nestled in steep-cliff mountains coverd with thick jungle. I saw MANY miracles there, to share a few:

Cui [my non-English speaking Korean companion] & I had an impression to go to a certain aera of the city & contact people/knock doors. When we got there we came to a place where the small street we walked divided into 4 small lanes, we both felt to walk down a certain one, and the first door we knocked a small Taiwanese came out, she listened intently as we briefly shared about Heavenly Father & His restored gospel. She didn't really understand what we said (many of them really have no idea who Jesus Christ is, so his 'restored' gospel has even smaller import) but she felt the spirit & wanted the blessing we promised her family - she is doing great & LOVES church, she's progressing so fast.

One day Cui I were contacting in a park, & I saw an apartment building across the river & thought to go there & knock a bit. When we got there, we had several doors to choose from (each door leads into a complex of probly 50+ appt.) We rang one of the 50 doorbells, and someone let us in without checking to see who we were- Cha Ching! We started knockin' the complex without much luck, when we only had 5 min. left, Cui said, "K, just knock the ones that feel good we only have a few minutes" "This door seems good" We knocked & met a college-aged girl, gave her a tract & welcomed her to church- expecting nothing of it... Next sunday she showed up!!! & started meeting with the sister missionaries, she will be baptized this month! It's a great feeling to be a sharp RAMBO knife in the hand of the Lord.

There were many more miracles, I will miss that place..
-Elder Pietr Mikkelsen
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