Jelgava

The cute city of Jelgava (yel-gava) lies on both sides of the beautiful Lielupe river. During WWI and WWII 90% of the town was destroyed but some historical buildings were rebuilt. Jelgava Palace, situated on the bank of Lielupe river, is one of the most visited sights there. It was first built in 1737 but was burned down in WWI and later restored to it's former glory. The palace was destroyed again in WWII (what a shame!) and after the war, was rebuilt again. It now houses the Latvian Agricultural University. It is beautiful....who wouldn't want to go to school there?
And this beautiful city of Jelgava is home to a small branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The members are small in number but mighty in spirit.

Elder & Sister Davis were down there to give talks in church. When you only have 12-15 people come to church there isn't much variety in speakers on any given Sunday. So members from other branches journey to Jelgava to speak.
Sister Davis spoke on the Giant Sequoia trees. She could just leave it at that and keep you all wondering why she spoke about redwood trees and what it had to to with the gospel of Jesus Christ...but she won't.
Sister Davis learned about the Giant Sequoia's one year while at Girls Camp, held right next to Yosemite National Park in California. There is a grove of giant sequoias there called "Mariposa Grove" and Elder & Sister Davis have been there many times. The Giant Sequoias are the worlds largest trees. They grow as big as a 31 story building and are up to 50 feet around.











You would expect these giant trees to have deep roots to keep them upright but they don't. They have very shallow root systems that are from 4-6 feet deep. Heavy winds and rains could easily knock these big trees down but they have a secret weapon. Their roots spread out 125 feet or more and intermingle with other Sequoia roots. These trees literally "hold hands" under the soil. Their unity is what keeps them upright through the storms of life. By staying close together they grow and progress for hundreds of years.

Now do you see the gospel application in the talk? As the trees need each other to grow and progress, so do members of the Church of Jesus Christ. We need each other. We strengthen each other. We help each other and nurture one another and we all grow together.
There are other things we can learn from the giant Sequoia's but Sister Davis may need to use those in another talk, so those will have to wait until another post.