However, I can share these photos of the beautiful windows of the La Grande Second Ward building. The story we were told was that when the historic La Grande tabernacle, which stood from 1908 to 1977, was demolished, the stake president was able to preserve the stained glass and have it installed in each of the four buildings of the La Grande stake. We couldn't help feeling inspired by these windows as we sang.
This morning, we said goodbye to the beautiful mountain scenery of La Grande --
-- and pondered President Monson's counsel about barnacles and repentance as we followed the path of the mighty Columbia River.
To some it may seem strange to see ships of many nations loading and unloading cargo along the docks at Portland, Ore. That city is 100 miles from the ocean. Getting there involves a difficult, often turbulent passage over the bar guarding the Columbia River and a long trip up the Columbia and Willamette Rivers.
But ship captains like to tie up at Portland. They know that as their ships travel the seas, a curious saltwater shellfish called a barnacle fastens itself to the hull and stays there for the rest of its life, surrounding itself with a rock-like shell. As more and more [of these] barnacles attach themselves, they increase the ship's drag, slow its progress, decrease its efficiency.
Periodically, the ship must go into dry dock, where with great effort the barnacles are chiseled or scraped off. It's a difficult, expensive process that ties up the ship for days.
But not if the captain can get his ship to Portland. Barnacles can't live in fresh water. There, in the sweet, fresh waters of the Willamette or Columbia, the barnacles dies and some fall away, while those that remain are easily removed. Thus, the ship returns to its task lightened and renewed.
Sins are like those barnacles. Hardly anyone goes through life without picking up some. They increase the drag, slow our progress, decrease our efficiency. Unrepented, building up one on another, they can eventually sink us.
In His infinite love and mercy, our Lord has provided a harbor where, through repentance, our barnacles fall away and are forgotten. With our souls lightened and renewed, we can go efficiently about our work and His. (Your Eternal Voyage, Thomas S. Monson, April 2000)
By noon, we were admiring the perfect, conical peak of Oregon's Mt. Hood, and by nightfall, we will be gazing on the waves of the boundless Pacific in Seaside, Oregon.
Photo credits: Jackson Graham and Andy Griffith
