Happy Sabbath!

I love Sabbath Saturdays! Our weeks are so jam-packed with scheduled activities, and so it's nice to have sabbath to sleep in a bit, and just have time to write in my journal, have a good personal scripture study, write letters, and call my family. I especially loved today, because our branch had it's primary presentation! This is something I have missed since being in YSA, and I loved it, I could not stop smiling the whole time! Tonight we have a fireside with an area seventy, which is really exciting, especially because it's up in the upper auditorium overlooking Jerusalem, instead of in the forum, where the branch firesides usually take place.

Me and & Kimberly happened to wear our matching dresses today! (That's what happens when you only have about 3 church outfits to choose from!)

Also, my New Testament teacher Brother Harper read this story to us in class yesterday, and I absolutely love it. Sorry, I don't know how to format it differently. Enjoy!

“Some years ago, it was my privilege to visit the country of Morocco as part of an official United States government delegation. As part of that visit, we were invited to travel some distance into the desert to visit some ruins. Five large black limousines moved across the beautiful Moroccan countryside at considerable speed. I was riding in the third limousine, which had lagged some distance behind the second. As we topped the brow of a hill, we noticed that the limousine in front of us had pulled off to the side of the road. As we drew nearer, I sensed that an accident had occurred and suggested to my driver that we stop. The scene before us has remained with me for these many years.“An old shepherd, in the long, flowing robes of the Savior’s day, was standing near the limousine in conversation with the driver. Nearby, I noted a small flock of sheep numbering not more than fifteen or twenty. An accident had occurred. The king’s vehicle had struck and injured one of the sheep belonging to the old shepherd. The driver of the vehicle was explaining to him the law of the land. Because the king’s vehicle had injured one of the sheep belonging to the old shepherd, he was now entitled to one hundred times its value at maturity. However, under the same law, the injured sheep must be slain and the meat divided among the people. My interpreter hastily added, “But the old shepherd will not accept the money. They never do.”“Startled, I asked him why. And he added, “Because of the love he has for each of his sheep.” It was then that I noticed the old shepherd reach down, lift the injured lamb in his arms, and place it in a large pouch on the front of his robe. He kept stroking its head, repeating the same word over and over again. When I asked the meaning of the word, I was informed, “Oh, he is calling it by name. All of his sheep have a name, for he is their shepherd, and the good shepherds know each one of their sheep by name.”“It was as my driver predicted. The money was refused, and the old shepherd with his small flock of sheep, with the injured one tucked safely in the pouch on his robe, disappeared into the beautiful deserts of Morocco.“As we continued our journey toward the ruins, my interpreter shared with me more of the traditions and practices of the shepherds of that land. Each evening at sundown, for example, the shepherds bring their small flocks of sheep to a common enclosure where they are secured against the wolves that roam the deserts of Morocco. A single shepherd then is employed to guard the gate until morning. Then the shepherds come to the enclosure one by one, enter therein, and call forth their sheep—by name. The sheep will not hearken unto the voice of a stranger but will leave the enclosure only in the care of their true shepherd, confident and secure because the shepherd knows their names and they know his voice.“The words of the Master Shepherd rang loudly in my ears: “But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. “To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. “And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. “And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers” (John 10:2–5) (Elder John R. Lassater, “Shepherds of Israel, Ensign, May 1988, p. 74)

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