The sun slowly inched toward the west as seven of us gathered in the chapel. Dress was multicam uniforms or PT uniforms. Pews made from 3/4" plywood made neat rows for us to sit in. We placed our weapons on the pew, the floor or left them on our person. CPT Bates stood and organized the meeting, "Could I get a couple of volunteers for the opening and closing prayers? Who wants to bless? Pass?" and so on until we were ready to begin. A laptop provided accompaniment for our hymns, sung by seven soldiers with varying degrees of ability but all with total conviction. I could hardly choke out a prayer as we began the meeting, not sure why other than I knew the spirit was there with us. Matt 18:20 says, "For where two or three are agathered btogether in my cname, there am I in the dmidst of them." I felt His presence there with our small number.
We then had the sacrament blessed and passed with a moment of silence following for our reflection. It was weird not having the sounds normal to us; kids talking, people shifting in their seats or the random cell phone during the sacrament, but we all appreciated the moment to be able to worship and renew our covenants.
The lesson was based on the talk by Sister Dalton from the October 2011 conference entitled "Love their Mother". We discussed the teaching points and how they applied to us. All in all everyone contributed and all were edified. What a unique experience! Emotions were near the surface for many of us as we shared our testimonies and taught each other. It was a great church experience. I look forward to enjoying those moments with my fellow soldiers deployed here in this remote corner of the world.
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