I haven't been writing anything about my Sunday church meetings on this trip, but today I'll make an exception. I had a choice of meeting houses and wards to attend, and I chose to attend the Great Falls Ward on Crowell Road in Vienna, VA, at 10:00 am.
The Great Falls Ward is a very friendly congregation. Several ward members introduced themselves to me, and one generous sister even invited me to their house after church for a chicken dinner! She and her husband were very kind, and talked with me about my trip. They even took my blog address so they could follow my travels . She offered to give me her phone number in case I needed anything, but I declined since I plan on leaving the area after today. Maybe I should have taken it anyway... they both were very kind.
The opening prayer in Sacrament meeting was very sincere, and offered by a relatively new member who spent most of his life as an atheist before he found this church and became converted.
The Sunday School lesson was superb. A lot of the class members participated by adding their thoughts and insights. The lesson was from Alma in the Book of Mormon.
We read the verses listed on the whiteboard and discussed them. The main emphasis was growing in faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ -- comparing growing in the gospel to planting a seed, that you "give place" for it by planting it in your heart. The expiment is to notice the results as you nouish the seed.
If you plant a bad seed or you don't nourish it then it won't grow, but if it is a good seed and you nourish it, you will feel it swell (it will bring physical joy and positive emotions), and enlarge (increase your abilities to do good, etc.), enlighten you (as you grow in understanding), and be delicious (you'll want more and crave the peace and happiness it brings to you and your loved ones).
How do you nourish it? By prayer, studying God's word, and following His teachings. It was a very good lesson.
After church, I still wanted to go back to the Smithsonians at the National Mall, so I declined the dinner invitation. (I didn't want to "eat and run"). The invitation was very thoughtful, though. I'll write about the Smithsonians in another blog post.
The ward bulletin that I got at church today had an announcement about a presentation at the LDS temple just North of Washington, D.C., in Kensington, MD. The presentation includs a collection of photos of space taken by the Hubble and Webb telescopes, some scriptures, and a video presentation set to music.
I called the temple visitor center and was told they are open today until 9:00 pm. The Smithsonian museums close at 5:30 pm, so I decided to go to the temple visitor center after visiting the museums.
I didn't catch the artist's name, but the visitor center lobby had this painting that put me in the mood for viewing the wonders of space.
I took two astronomy classes at Sierra College, but I really felt humble this evening at how little I really undertand about star formation and what is going on in the photos of gas clouds, nebula and galaxies.
Each photo had a QR code next to it, providing a link to more information about the photo. I'll give 3 examples. Information about the Tarantula Nebula, pictured below, is available here.
The scriptures on the wall made me sit and contemplate God's role in the creation of our universe. I don't have a good grasp of God's role in creation, but contemplating it brings questions and expands my respect and awe of God. If He can create the universe and keep it functioning then He certainly knows how to help each of us in our circumstances of life.
It was dark went I left the visitor center. I drove north and am spending the night tonight at the Walmart in Germantown, Maryland. I think I'll drive to Gettysburg tomorrow, but I'm not sure.
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