Oklahoma Reunion – 2015

OKLAHOMA REUNION – 2015

– By Donald W. Burnett

The 2015 South-Central States Reunion was again held at the Northeastern Oklahoma A&M University campus on June 20–26. Our theme this year was
“Finding the Path Less Traveled.” We had a well-rounded line up of speakers from around the South-Central States region.

We started our week off on Sunday morning with Patriarch Arthur Allen. He and his lovely wife Joann have gathered from Marlin, Texas and now attend First Branch in Independence, Missouri. He spoke to us about “Yielding to God’s Word.” On Sunday night, we heard from High Priest Elbert Rogers, the presiding elder at the Sperry, Oklahoma Branch. He spoke on “We Build Our Faith on His Promises.” The Monday evening preaching service featured High Priest John Atkins, the presiding elder at the Rogers, Arkansas Branch. His topic was “We Sacrifice Our Desires for His.” At the Tuesday evening preaching service we heard from Seventy Roger Tracy, a member of the Sperry, Oklahoma Branch. He spoke on the subject “We Acknowledge There Is More Truth to Learn.” The Wednesday night preaching service featured Bishop Benson Galbraith from Center Branch in Independence, Missouri and spoke on “We Accept God Offers a More Abundant Life.” At our Thursday night preaching service, we heard from Apostle Donald Burnett whose message was on “We Become Willing to Grasp the Rod of Iron.”

We had two adult classes. One was taught by High Priest David Van Fleet and the other one was taught by High Priest Elbert Rogers. The young adult class was taught by Seventy Bruce Terry while the children’s teacher was Sister Coral Rogers. On Tuesday afternoon we had a class by Bishop Ben Galbraith. Our afternoon sharing sessions were conducted by the Patriarchs which brought a lot of testimonies from the Saints. It is always good to hear how the Lord is blessing those who endeavor to follow after His teachings.

We had a campfire in the Commons area each night with songs and skits from many of the campers. It was a good time for fun and fellowship for all ages. Some of the Saints were glad not all of the antics in the skits were captured on film.

In our morning prayer services, we did something that has been done at other times with great results. The Aaronic Priesthood, along with our bishop, stood at the corners of the room and offered prayers and called for the ministering of angels as the Saints gathered for our morning prayer services. This raised the level of the presence of the Holy Spirit and inspired the Saints to reach a higher level of communion with our Lord. Also, on one particular morning, there were three of the Saints who were permitted to see the presence of Lamanite angels who visited our service. The morning prayer services were a great boost to the Saints as we prepared ourselves to commune with the Lord throughout the day. We found that the Holy Spirit was with us in great abundance for the entire week.

There were fewer Saints than usual at this year’s reunion. We had forty-four campers in all, but that just allowed us to draw closer to each other in our worship and fellowship. I know each year we say “this year we had the best reunion ever.” However, I can say this with great assurance: the 2015 reunion was the best all-around reunion for the South-Central States. The level and intensity of the Holy Spirit was in great abundance and the Saints were up lifted and richly blessed in every way.