Never Doubt the Spirit

Yes, it's been awhile since my last post due to work, life, etc. But I have found myself on here again ready to post a new....post.

Many times as a missionary you may feel like the whole "Follow the Spirit" thing is quite unnerving. You may even feel that the Spirit just isn't around and that everything you do is just happenstance. But, I have found that the Spirit works on it's own timetable and sometimes, not by our own understanding.

When I was in my first area, and with my third companion, Elder Eastmond, we happened to be tracking a part of our area known as La Montana. Only because to get to the top, you really had to walk straight up a very long road. And it wasn't one of those San Fransisco type hills you have seen, no this was much more steep and a basic pain in the foot to get up it. Well, we decided that we would give it a go, since no one had tracted that area before and it was probably due to the fact that many of the people who inhabited that area were very affluent and had like portones with timbres on the front...which is Slangish Spanish for a speaker on the front of a big iron/steel door or if you were lucky you got a butler.

We went up there and tracted all day, pretty unsuccessfully. But the homes up there were beautiful and the streets up there were paved and very nice. Generally a paved road meant you were in nicer areas...generally....but not always the case.

We were heading home that evening when we passed by a man who was trimming the bushes out in front of his home. My companion stopped and said something to the affect, "we aren't going home just yet. We have to talk to that man. The Spirit is telling me this." So we went back and approached the man trimming the bushes with his large lawn scissors. We introduced ourselves and began a conversation. He told his that he knew who we were and knew about the Church. We decided to ask him about what he knew.
He mentioned that his Sister lived in the States and was a member of the Church. He also mentioned, if I remember correctly that he had a daughter in the States too that was also a member. He told us that he had read the Book of Mormon and knew it wasn't coincidence that we happened to walk by him that evening as he had felt a strong impression to be outside. He began to relate to us his spiritual experiences and how he felt the need to be cleansed of his sins and follow the Savior. We were completely blown away. But he had tears standing in his eyes and apologized that he couldn't let us come inside at that moment but that he could meet with us next week. We set a appointment and followed up next week only to find out that he had left to the States.

We thought about it for awhile and kept the man in our prayers, but he didn't return at least not until after I had been transferred to my second area which was like a month later. He was baptized, he attended the little ward in our first area and did all he could to share the Gospel with his friends and family. He was so excited to be a member of the Church and excited to feel the Spirit. I found out a couple of years later that he had moved away, I think to the States, but I'll never forget that moment in time, when we followed the Spirit and found a man, after all of that tracting, a man who was searching out his soul and his salvation. A man cutting shrubs out in front of his house, a man that listened to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and found the sweetness of the Gospel that filled his soul. Follow the Spirit, heed's it's promptings and keep yourself always clean and ready to become vessels of the Lord. Never doubt Him and never doubt the Spirit.

I Wanna See The Golden Plates!

Too often it is the case that you'll find investigators or seekers of the truth out there that will say something along the lines of the following:

"Why did Moroni take the plates back with him? How convenient. If I could see the plates, I would for sure believe what you're telling me."


There were many times that I was presented with this comment and just kind of sat in silence pondering how to answer them. If I could go back and answer them now, it would probably be along these lines.

Granted we live in a world today full of "see to believe" kind of attitudes and we could probably pinpoint this problem to greed and dishonesty throughout the world today, which leads many of us to take everything with grain of sand or salt. But when it comes to religion, that whole "seeing to believe" shouldn't even enter the equation....but it does. Our human side tends to need to see the product before we decide to invest in it. The best way to answer this question and granted mine isn't the perfect way to do this, but an explanation of faith needs to be presented. Too many times, people have faith in Jesus Christ, without any real explanation of why.

"Because the Bible says so" or "My pastor told me so" or whatever the case, just doesn't explain it. One needs to find out on there own if Christ lives. How to do that?

Prayer.

Yep, it's that simple and I wish so many of the "see to believe" would really understand that.



It was Christ that said "Knock and it shall be opened, ask and ye shall receive." And not just once, but on many occasions. But here's the deal, you have to ask in faith. As James pointed out, you have to ask in faith, nothing wavering. I mean really, that's it. There's no magic equation to this and it frustrates me so that so many think that there is or that there should be.

Yeah I wish I could see the plates too or the Sword of Laban, heck even the Liahona would be nice, but it defeats the whole purpose of having faith. If I want to get real specific, I would love to see the letters Paul wrote to the Corinthians, not the translated versions, but the real thing on paper! I would love to see John the Beloved and chit chat with him! I would even love to see the actual Cross that Christ hung on! I mean if we are going to be choosy about what we believe in, why not these too?

As George Michael put it, "you gotta have faith". Or better yet, as Nephi put it:

"hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good."

So when someone wants to see the Golden Plates or Plates of Brass or what not, don't be afraid to answer that yeah it would be nice, but God just doesn't work the way we want Him to.

Reflections on Daniel

Having been on vacation for most of this month, I haven't had quite the opportunity to blog. Actually it was a repreive to get away for awhile and not worry about work, home, blogging, etc.
While I was back home in good ole Chattanooga, I had the opportunity to attend Stake Conference. Boy was I surprised when I pulled up to my home Stake Center. Every parking spot had been filled. The Ushers or Parking Attendants quickly directed me to an elementary school 5 miles away where they would have a shuttle waiting to bring us back to the Center. I dropped my family off and made my trek to the elementary school. This same school served as our temporary ward building for a year or two as the Church was constructing the new Stake Center. As I was sitting in the shuttle, on my way to Stake Conference, I remembered the quote by Joseph Smith in which he said,"no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done."

That stake will soon be two stakes, wards will become two wards, and the work will continue to go forth like the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had. Never doubt the Church nor the Gospel. Yes, you may find some members who don't live up to the Gospel standards, but we are all sinners, and fall short, and that's why we go to Church every Sunday. That's why we pray every morning that we will be a better person than we were yesterday. That's why we search our Scriptures for the answers to our ponderings of eternity. That's why we try to emulate Christ the best way we can. Never doubt that, never doubt yourself. This work will go forward until it has fulfilled the promise and prophecy of Daniel.

Now go forward and lose yourself in the pushing of the Stone.

Languages y Idiomas

"Guatemal...what? Where the heck is that?!" I asked after reading my call. I read it again just to make sure. Back then we didn't have Google maps, so I had to look it up on the internet doing a search on Yahoo.
"Under Mexico? I thought that all of that was Mexico," I said to myself. I reflected on my mission interview with Bishop Burke and the application I filled out.
"So, you would like to serve in Japan?" he asked.
"Yes, I would. I mean 'hai'," I replied. He rubbed his chin a little in his usual way then placed his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair.
"Well, I can't say that you'll go there. It's been my experience that you generally don't go where you want to. But who knows?" he said with an all knowing smile.

"Who knows is right," I said to myself staring at my mission call. Then it dawned on me.
"Spanish, they speak Spanish down there....coool!"

Languages are a natural part of any mission regardless of where you're called to. Even if it's state-side you'll need to brush up on local customs, traditions and languages. I remember running into a few missionaries in the MTC that were called to the Knoxville Tennessee Mission, which is my home mission. I told them that they needed to really brush up on the Bible and try to get used to the Southern Twang we have down there.
"Instead of saying 'over there' you need to say it like 'oer thar' or 'oer them thar ther'", I would instruct them.

Guatemala has over 10,000 languages smushed into a tiny country the size of Tennessee. There's Mom, Quiche(with various dialects), Caqchiquel, Kekchi, and host of others and THEN there's Spanish. Spanish is the linking language among all the peoples of Guatemala. Reminds me of Aladdin, "GREAT COSMIC POWERS!, in a tinyyyyy little living space."

Spanish is a fascinating language and really not too difficult to learn if you have the drive for it. Once you master it pretty well, you'll be surprised to hear Portuguese, Italian, or even Romanian, because they will sound a little bit familiar to your Spanish mind and you will be able to distinguish, mas o menos, what they are saying and what's going on. French though...well that's a whole nother ball game.

Any language you will learn on the mission has some basic steps or things you can do NOW to help you learn it quicker. Here are some suggestions:

1. Get a bilingual dictionary with both the english words and the words in the other language.

2. Label everything in your home with words from the other language. For example label the wall with the word for 'wall'. Label your bed with the word for 'bed'. Do this throughout the whole house, including inside the refrigerator and make sure the words are big enough for you to read even from a short distance. I have found that 3 x 5 index cards and a marker are the best tools so far for labeling.

3. Buy music in that language and listen to it as much as you can tolerate it. After the first couple of hours you are probably going to get sick of it and may want to hurl. Turn it off for the rest of the day and listen to some more tomorrow.

4. If you can find TV stations that have programs in that language, watch them for about 30 minutes to an hour each day.

5. Get Scriptures, like a Book of Mormon, in that language and read it aloud for about 30 minutes a day. Try to get the words and the pronunciation as best as you can.

6. Do some prayin' and don't get frustrated.

In essence what you are doing is reprogramming your brain to hear and understand the language you will be speaking, which is generally how it will happen in the field. These exercises will just assist you in that process. I have been told that you will start to get the language down, when you start dreaming in that language. But the experience is different for everyone. Don't give up! It will be frustrating at first, but this after all is a language and will take some time to master.

One other thing to remember is that while you are a missionary there will be times that some words, though you won't be able to really define them in your brain, will just make sense. I have found that the Holy Ghost really bridges the gaps in your brain when trying to speak and listen in that language. I can't count the times, I heard someone speaking and saying words that I didn't quite understand, because in my head I was trying to process it all into English, and the Spirit would just open my head and plop the words into Spanish and then, though it had no real meaning in English, it made sense in Spanish.

Practice, practice, practice. It will all make sense in the end.