I Hope They Call Me on a Mission

Never Doubt the Spirit

2008-08-13T06:40:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-03T13:58:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-17T06:11:00.001-07:00

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

2008-04-18T05:56:00.001-07:00

"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.

Some Old Experiences

2008-04-03T06:15:00.000-07:00

Lately, I have been pondering the mission and my life now. The mission was a great experience and a great tool for igniting the ever burning flames of my spiritual fire. Like two great stones striking each other and setting in motion the spark that would enlighten my path through life. For those of you who are heading out on the mission, I would ask you to reflect on your life now and then, in 1 1/2 or 2 years from now, to ponder again on where your life is at that moment. Hopefully, some of you have been keeping journals and will continue to do so. Hopefully, you have been searching those sacred scriptures. Hopefully, your prayers have been more meaningful, heartfelt and sincere.

The mission is a wonderful place to fine tune your senses and more importantly to fine tune your spiritual senses. Yes, you need to have fun on the mission and enjoy serving the people around you, but at the same time never forget who you are, where you come from and what you are doing.

I remember some moments in the mission that were very sobering eye openers. I have shared some of those in past posts. One moment was entering my second area, Pueblo Nuevo Viñas with my fourth companion Elder Storer. On our trip to the area, we discussed our goals and discussed the efforts that had been made in that area. Apparently, his former companion, didn't really care for the mission and really thought of it all as more of a vacation than anything else. He reasoned that he was paying for it and by that reasoning alone that there shouldn't be any rules or efforts made to preach, unless it was convenient for him. Unfortunately, this former companion was only transferred to our District Leader and his attitude had permeated into the rest of the companionships in the district.

It was hard for me to understand. I wasn't perfect by any means. Heck, I wasn't even trying. I was just trying to adjust to being in Guatemala and speaking Spanish and still trying to preach the Gospel. This attitude they all had was hard to comprehend. Why come to the mission field if you didn't want to preach? What was the point? What was the point of wasting your time and your money if you didn't want to participate? It made no sense to me.

My companion and I decided that we didn't care what the rest of them did, that we would continue praying, studying, and preaching the best we could. Did we have success? A little. The Pueblo had already been affected by many different Elders, that didn't want to preach there or just wanted to flirt with every girl in town. So it was difficult. But we plowed through it all. We had a tiny little branch of about 8 people that met in a run-down tiny cement shack. Somehow, through it all, my companion and I were able to baptize an awesome, humble young man named Byron. It was our only baptism there, but he was golden and later went on to serve a mission.

He was pretty much the only baptism in that area for a long time. Shortly after my companion and I had separated to different areas, Pueblo was closed.

Some years later, I visited that small Pueblo with some friends. I found my old Branch President, who was still the Branch President. I ran into his sister who had blamed me for getting married to some young man, that I only vaguely remembered. I asked her if was all that bad and she replied that he would work all day and get home late and hardly see him. I went out of my way and asked her if they were still praying and searching the scriptures and she replied that they were. Then I asked her if she really felt that I had made a mistake by assisting her in her decision to marry him. She only replied, "No, it has been a Celestial marriage since then."

The mission will bring you sadness, tears, and heart wrenching decisions that you'll have to make. You may miss the funeral of a loved one, have a girlfriend tell you that she is getting married or even have family and friends turn away from the Church. But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. You will find unsurmountable joy and answers to your prayers. You will find the angelic support like a soft blanket to surround you for serving. You will find love, a love that is so deep and beyond anything imagineable for the people you serve. You will find humility and direction for your life. You will find your tears of sadness converted to tears of joy.

All I can say, is never give up and never give in. Serve with all of your heart, with all your mind, with all of your might and with all of your strength and Heavenly Father will bless you. He will bless you and surround you with His love. Never forget that, never forget.

The MTC: Three Square Meals a Day...Including Lucky Charms

2008-03-22T06:53:00.000-07:00

Ahhh...the MTC. I remember those days. The sacred halls of the Missionary Training Center are always bustling with Elders and Sisters going from class to class, talking to old friends, parents wiping their tears away as they say their good-byes, and Missionaries taking pics in front of the world map. It's an exciting place!

One thing to note is that the MTC feeds their missionaries. I mean really feeds them and feeds them well. I distinctly remember, at breakfast time, there was sooooo many varieties of cereal you could eat. It was like an all you can eat cereal bar. Everything from Fruity Pebbles, Fruit Loops, Special K, Basic 5, Grapenuts, to Lucky Charms were available. You could even get your fix of juices of all varieties and even chocolate milk. Yes, they had chocolate milk! On top of that they always had something being made for breakfast in the line like french toast, pancakes, hashbrowns, grits, etc. From time to time there was even the Crepe Cart with all of the delicious jams and fillings. Incidently Lucky Charms were pretty much available all day long for all three meal times. Maybe the MTC had a surplus of Lucky Charms or they were hoping the Missionaries needed extra luck...who knows.

I vividly remember this cafeteria worker, whom upon reaching him in the line, he would just look at you and say "Elder" and you would say whatever food you wanted that was in front of you. He was superfast at the delivery too. It was common to be moving up the line and hear every 5 seconds "Elder, Elder, Elder, Sister, Elder". He was a food delivering maniac...it was awesome.

I have to say though, that this is usually what happens:

All that food+three meals a day+sitting in classes all day = extra poundage!!!

So to assist you in losing your extra poundage....well...there's Preparation Day. On that day you can wash your laundry, write letters and/or emails, and exercise! Unfortunately that's only one day per week. I gained like 20 extra pounds which I quickly lost from all that tracting in the field. If there is anything I can say about the food, is that they feed you good, but don't eat more than you usually would. Remember that "man does not live by bread alone."

The Beautiful Wife Points Equation

2008-03-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, you probably don't know this Elders, at least I assume you don't. While in the mission, you may come across the saying "Beautiful/Celestial/ ETC. Wife points". As far as I know, I haven't heard yet, though I wouldn't be surprised, Sister's saying talking about "Handsome Husband points." Don't be alarmed when you hear this! It isn't false doctrine...per sé. It's just one of those underlying themes during the mission which helps...well, how can I explain this?? With keeping your sense of humor during the mission?

Here's an experience.

I was in my last area, called Los Jardines de Asunción. It was an area in the middle of Guatemala City, right next to the legendary Zona 5 or as the locales called it "La Limonada". No one really could explain to me why it was called that...I took it to mean that, if you were there after sunset, the gangs there would find you, stab you, shoot you and then turn you into limonada...limonade for you non-Spanish folk. That's not the topic for this particular article, but maybe at a later date.

So, my companion Elder Weston Ward...I swear he's a comic book hero, just look at the name Weston Ward...both names start with the same letter, like Peter Parker or Clark Kent, the C isn't a K, but the sounds are the same...hmmm...

Anyways, we were out tracting one day, during the beginning of the cyclical rainy season, when it began to rain...then it began to rain some more...and then a whole lot more. Of course we had on our appropriate raingear, but the water came down, so much, so fast we were utterly soaked to our bones within minutes. My companion remarked, "Just remember, this is beautiful wife points." I replied, "Tracting in the rain would get me a more beautiful wife?? How do you figure? What's the equation for that?"

Apparently the equation is Suffering + Preaching the word of God + unusual suffering = Beautiful wife.

I thought to myself, "Our discomfort for tracting in the pouring rain, encountering an unusual supply of mocking denizens that opened their doors to see two completely swashed...if that's the word for defining soaked beyond all soakedness, wrinkling fingers and toes, fogging glasses and finding, somehow someway every inconveniently placed, over-the-complete-shoe-and-into-my-socks puddle...basically a mini-pond complete with worms, for my feet to step into, 19 year old men speaking a strange form of Spanish, not to mention, the cars screaming by throwing a tide pool of water on top of me, and if we are going to talk about suffering as part of the equation, then let's not forget everything else, like the amoebic parasitic bu water(that's pronounced 'boo'), the lice, the flying fluttering sounds of cockroaches at night, the strange spasdic spiders that drop all of their legs when frightened only to grow them back to scare the bejesus out of you, the ginormous grizzly tarantulas that seem to somehow slip under the front door and onto your bedroom wall while you are sleeping, the community toilets complete with roaches and crawling things and only a bucket of water to flush the toilet, the bu, and more bu, the rat infestation that live in your roof and then crawl down and sleep on your head at night, the mice, the bu, the endless streams of Pepto Bismol and other medicines like Tinidazol to kill the worms, parasites, and bu inside my body, the heat, the rain, the fact I am taller than half the population by at least 2 feet, the gangs that want my 'dollars' when I have none, the biting, rabid dogs complete with all manner of insects known to kill a man within seconds living on them, the slithering snakes of all shapes in sizes, corals, boas, pythons oh my!, the steep mountain trails, the fact we can't ride bikes or have vehicles to ride on or in, and the lady who we pay to cook our food that only gives us some black bean soup complete with a chicken foot jutting out of the middle and turns on Dragonball Z to watch as we are trying to eat........... then by Jiminy Cricket, I better get one hell-uva knock-out of a wife when this is all said and done!!!!!!

And I do.

Good Shoes

2008-03-07T11:36:00.000-08:00

There is nothing like a pair of good shoes on the mission. Whether you are in a car or in a pure walking mission, a good pair of shoes can go a long way. I remember my very first area call Las Lomas. It was exactly, terrain-wise, what it was called, the Hills. I had purchased a pair of cheap construction boots to aid me in my tracting, not knowing, that these boots, were already destined to an early grave because of hiking. A note to the wise. Construction boots do NOT a hiker make. Those boots were worn through within two months till there were holes in the treads.

Completely.

I had to double my socks, which still didn't help with the blisters and the callouses I was receiving from the intensive hikes. I had to borrow some old Dock Martins from an Elder that had left the field months ago. Of course they were a tad too small, but I didn't really have a choice...since I had gone through my boots AND my tennis shoes. These held up fine, but when I finally got some fundage from home, I purchased the best pair of shoes, hands down, that survived the whole mission. It was a pair of Caterpillars, but they were shoes with the typical Caterpillar treads. I could shine these shoes as well, which was a bonus. They were a little heavier than the typical dress shoe, because of the tread, but they were by far the best in terms of traction. I hiked the mountains of Guatemala and they still survived. They finally gave up the ghost in 2001, two years after the mission.

Elders or Sisters, if you are going to serve in an area that has jungles, mountains, and tiny snakes trying to bite your ankles, get some really good shoes for hiking. I had two pairs of shoes, the nice ones for Zone Conferences and the Cats for tracting. Never buy cheap shoes for the mission. There are all kinds of good shoes out there. Payless usually has some good pairs. Even the specialty stores, like LL Bean, Rock Creek Outfitters, and Dock Martin, have great shoes. And if you feel a little adventurous you can always get a good pair of Cats here...http://www.cat.com/cda/layout?m=37821&x=7

The Pastor's Wife

2008-02-29T13:16:00.001-08:00

Now, I have nothing against any religion out there, but there have been a few times where I wondered why in the world some people chose to follow a certain sect or branch or religion, just based on the type of person their pastor displays. One such time, I was serving in my second area, Pueblo Nuevo Viñas, and my companion and I found a really receptive family. After teaching them the 3rd principle from the first discussion (that's the lesson on prophets for you Preach My Gospel students) the Spirit was there. We were all feeling the Spirit and we were about to get the lesson on Joseph Smith, when, there came a tap, tap, tap at their front door. Now for those of you who have been in the field, you know, that the lesson on Joseph Smith, is always greeted with a baby crying, two dogs fighting, cats screeching, some lady in another room yelling out unintelligible things...because she's possessed...I kid you not, that's another story for another time, or something going on and a partridge in a pear tree...until you get to the part where the you talk about the First Vision...

Well, we didn't get that far, because the Pastor's Wife, just "happened" to be dropping by for a visit from a local branch of the Assambleas de Dios. The Spirit said his goodbyes, packed up his bags, and headed for the nearest window when she said ,"Ohhhh....who do we have here?" in her sweetest tone. Now don't get me wrong, I have met some extremely nice Pastors and their wives, but this one was definitely ready to start a Bible Bash.

Now she seemed like a nice enough women, so we continued. When we asked about the need for prophets, she chimed in, "Well, back in those days yes, they were needed, but not today." My companion decided to take the reins on this one, "I understand why you would think so, but if that's the case then we do not need pastors, nor teachers, nor evangelists and so forth." She gave a short smile and replied, "We will always need someone to help us find the way." So this tennis match of comments and rebuttals continued for about 45 minutes with that poor family in the middle watching like spectators trapped in an endless Wimbledon match. After about the 45 minute period, my companion decided it was time to leave as nothing was really being accomplished and honestly I was kind of dozing off. He basically said, "Look, we are going to obviously aren't going to be able to preach anymore because the Spirit has left here. The only Spirit that's here is the one of contention and we don't participate with him."

Now I thought that was it and we were going to pack up our bags and leave with our heads held high, but out of nowhere, she arose from her seat, looked up into the air and yelled loudly, "I AM FILLED WITH SPIRIT OF GOD!" I was awakened...no literally, because I had half-fallen asleep and almost fell out of my chair. My companion got up gently and said in a sincere, gentle tone, "I do not hear the still, small voice, we are leaving." We tried to offer a prayer but she was praying to loud for us to do so. We thanked the family for having us and we left. She seemed pretty proud of her efforts.

All I can say, is don't go into the field thinking of fancy verses to bash with investigators or preachers because in the end, such bashing generally never works. That isn't what converts a person. You aren't going to convince the people with earthquakes, whirlwinds, or fire from heaven or your fancy shmancy language skills. The only "thing" that converts, is that still, small voice.

Learning to Cook on a Brick

2008-02-21T07:11:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, I served my mission back in 1997-1999. It wasn't too far back. Really it wasn't or isn't for me.

While serving in Guatemala, I had the opportunity to serve in a small town in the mountains/volcanoes, called Pueblo Nuevo Viñas. I tiny pueblo in the middle of the southern mountain region. My fourth companion and still to this day, good friend, Elder Storer from Coral Springs, Florida was excited to have a new companion and show me around what had become his home away from home. We had a nice little hole in the wall, actually it was more like a corner, with a pila (stone sink/bathtub), running water...most of the time...and no telephone. We had to use the tienda's phone which comprised the front part of our little corner in the wall. Next to us was the Pepsi delivery man for the little town who drove a maroon, at least 1970's, Datsun pickup truck which he used to deliver the Pepsi goods.

The streets were dusty, the people friendly, and the night sky full of twinkling stars. It wasn't exactly paradise, but it was a town that moved slowly as if time had decided to pack up and leave this little town hidden on the mountain side and invest his efforts somewhere else. We were surrounded by vast mountains and volcanoes divided by deep green jungle valleys. It didn't get much more campy than this. The nearest stake center or regional center was at least 2 hours on a bus.

While in this area, I learned another valuable lesson. When you don't have a stove, you still need to cook. So if you don't have a fire burning, which we weren't permitted to do. You get a brick.

No... seriously... a brick. It had grooves throughout the top portion of the brick that contained a tightly wound wire that at the one end was connected to a plug-in. We plugged it in and it warmed up the brick. It took at least 15 minutes to boil water! Needless to say, we didn't cook the 3 minute ramen...took about 18 minutes to cook. I am so thankful to have a stove.

A Bible! A Bible!

2008-02-21T06:34:00.000-08:00

I had an experience while in the MTC which shook me a little. It wasn't necessarily a bad one, but it kind sucked the air out of my lungs and left me breathless, like a cold crisp Michigan winter night.

I was studying the New Testament during one of our in-class study breaks, when my MTC Companion, Elder Neel, from Springville...or was it Mapleton, Utah, asked why I was studying the New Testament. I basically replied something like "I just want to get a better understanding of Christ's life. I mean I have read this before, but there is always something to be gained by rereading it." And I don't know if it was the Utah Mormon in him or just his innocent nature, but he was concerned that I wasn't studying the Book of Mormon at that moment. He said something like, "Ya know, Elder, I know that the Bible is a good book and don't take this as an offense, but you should be studying the Book of Mormon." I then replied something like, "I do, just right now I want to study the New Testament. You know, because it talks about Christ and the Apostles and the history of the ancient church." He seemed to be okay with that answer, but then Elder Taylor, also from Utah, decided he'd like to have a debate. We used to joke around with him that he was an old man, because he didn't have much hair.

"Joseph Smith said that the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion and that it was the most perfect book on Earth. I mean, really, why study the Bible then?" he said with that childish sneer that indicated that I was indeed crazy for even thinking anything different. No offense to Elder Taylor though, he was a great missionary.

Breathless...

I didn't know what to think. He was quoting the Prophet in an effort to persuade me to study the Book of Mormon over the Bible. At that point I looked around the room and noticed that the other 10 Elders in the room were also waiting for a rebuttal. They too, it seemed, wanted to know why this 19 year old from Down South was studying the Good Book. It suddenly dawned on me...

Statistically speaking, 10 Elders from Utah, one from Illinois and one from Tennessee, and the Utahn's wanted to know why, I was studying the Bible. I thought to myself, "you have got to be kidding me?"

So then I opened my mouth and don't quite recall exactly what I said, but it went something like this, "How can you not study the Bible?? How can you say that we are honest Christian s, preaching the Gospel of Christ, if you don't study the Bible?"

Elder Taylor chimed in again with his rebuttal, "Ya' know we studied it in Seminary, it's not exactly necessary to study it after that, except in Sunday School." I was in shock, dismayed, breathless again.

"Do you know the story of Moses?" I asked. He nodded yes.
"Do you know the story of Elijah the Tishbite?" I asked. He gave a semi-nod I think was a yes.
"How about the Lamentations of Jeremiah, or the Psalms of David and how he repented everyday of his life to try to obtain forgiveness for his terrible sins?" I asked. This time there was no nod and no smile on his face.

"Or how Christ was sent as the Messiah to be the sacrifice for our sins and then die and then be resurrected and then seen by his Apostles and thousands more after His Resurrection?" I asked and this time with no reply but another semi-nod.

I continued, "I am a convert to the Church. I was raised on the Bible as a Catholic, yes a Catholic from Tennessee, hard to believe, but I am not from Tennessee, but a military brat. I read and recited the Lord's Prayer countless times. I know the majority of the stories that go on in the Bible and we are all going to Guatemala. A Catholic majority with a keen, if not ultra devoted fanatical people who study the Bible and know it backwards to front. How can you not study the Bible?"

This time, they were breathless...

What Joseph Smith stated is true, but this came from a man, who studied and revered the Bible as a boy and gained the insight of learning to ask Heavenly Father in Christ's name for all things, even knowledge.

"Ask, and ye shall receive. Knock and it shall be opened unto you." Those were His words and they ring true today.

How can you not study it?

Study those Scriptures

2008-02-13T06:18:00.000-08:00

One thing I remember from the MTC days, was a video that was shown of President Ezra Taft Benson in a General Conference setting. He was warning and basically condemning the members of the Church for taking lightly the Book of Mormon. This was a powerful sermon on the importance of the Book of Mormon which can be found in the January Ensign of 1988, I quote him below:

"Now, we have not been using the Book of Mormon as we should. Our homes are not as strong unless we are using it to bring our children to Christ. Our families may be corrupted by worldly trends and teachings unless we know how to use the book to expose and combat falsehoods in socialism, rationalism, etc. Our missionaries are not as effective unless they are “hissing forth” with it. Social, ethical, cultural, or educational converts will not survive under the heat of the day unless their taproots go down to the fulness of the gospel which the Book of Mormon contains. Our Church classes are not as spirit-filled unless we hold it up as a standard. The situation in the world will continue to degenerate unless we read and heed the words of God and quit building up and upholding secret combinations, which the Book of Mormon tells us proved the downfall of ancient civilizations."

And goes on to say that missionaries need to be better prepared:

"Reading the Book of Mormon is one of the greatest persuaders to get men on missions. We need more missionaries. But we also need better-prepared missionaries coming out of wards and branches and homes where they know and love the Book of Mormon. A great challenge and day of preparation is at hand for missionaries to meet and teach with the Book of Mormon. We need missionaries to match our message."

In the November Ensign of that same year President Benson stated this:

"The Book of Mormon is the instrument that God designed to “sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out [His] elect” (Moses 7:62). This sacred volume of scripture needs to become more central in our preaching, our teaching, and our missionary work."

"At present, the Book of Mormon is studied in our Sunday School and seminary classes every fourth year. This four-year pattern, however, must not be followed by Church members in their personal and family study. We need to read daily from the pages of the book that will get a man “nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”

So that begs the question, have you been studying your scriptures? No seriously, are you?

The late Prophet Gordon B Hinckley reinforced Benson's words by setting the standard that we should be studying our scriptures everyday for at least 30 minutes a day. And that, is just for the Book of Mormon.

As a future missionary, this is a very important habit to start and if you haven't already done so, start it NOW! Your MTC teachers will set aside time in your classes to study your Scriptures, but this is something that you should be doing now. While you are in the field, you will be studying every morning before you head out that door. Read them, search them, study them, feast on them.

Don't wait until your at the MTC, because if you do, then you will part of a thriving throng of head bobbing missionaries falling to sleep while trying to pick up the habit. You will find this habit rewarding and it will make you a better missionary.

As President Benson urgently stated, "Read the Book of Mormon everyday!" And your Scriptures too.

Stones and Silence

2008-02-08T05:57:00.000-08:00

As a servant of the Lord, there will be times on your mission that circumstances will be grim and difficult. I am not going to beat around the bush on this one. The Lord said that there would be times that people would persecute you and mock you. I have to say there were times I didn't know what to do.

There was one time in my first area called Las Lomas, that my companion and I were visiting a less-active family. My companion at the time was Elder Lopez from Honduras. After visiting with them, we were on our way back down the street we came, which was sort of enclosed with a fence in front of each little home. There were children playing outside with the assorted gravel that adorned, if that's the word for it, the front of each home behind the fences. The parents were outside talking to one another on both sides of the road, which was pretty common back then. One of the kids tossed a rock at Elder Lopez. In which he, characteristically asked the child to be careful. Another child tossed a rock at me, then another child and then another.

What resulted was the closest description of a stoning that I had ever encountered. The parents, instead of reprimanding their children, were encouraging them and laughing at us. They started to shout at us "Grin-go! Grin-go!" which became a chant while children and some adults began to throw more rocks at us. Elder Lopez and I walked a little quicker, trying to use our backpacks as shields, but to no avail. We couldn't block all of the stones. Lopez told me not to say anything and to just keep walking, that this happens sometimes to the servants of the Lord. We got to the end of the street and brushed ourselves off and checked to see if we had any real injuries. Lopez had a scratch on his cheek and I just had a few bad nicks on the hands. Nothing serious. So we kept on working.

I reflected that night upon the scene in my bed and wondered how these people, who called themselves Christians, persecuted other Christians. I understood that the children, were innocents and were just being children, but the parents and their encouragement of the scene was what bothered me. I wondered how it was that Christ, who was a Jew, was persecuted by fellow Jews. The same ones that claimed to be strong adherents to the faith, still spit on him, struck him, laughed at him, etc. And he said nothing. He held his peace. I looked on the bright side, at least it was a cool story I could share with my children.

Never give up hope neither your faith in Christ nor your service, just because of the circumstances. The Lord promised that we would be blessed for our service.

"And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved." Mark 13:13

"And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you." John 16:22

Beware the Water!

2008-01-29T13:29:00.000-08:00

It's been a nice while since I have posted, only due to the fact my wife and I had our third son last week, so I have been pretty busy without much sleep. One experience from my mission days that I want to share is that of the food and water. Food and water are resources we take for granted here in the US of A. I mean we have regulations and policies in place that regularly keep us from intaking too much E. Coli and other harmful bacteria...at least to a minimum.

I served a mission in Central America and there, well, there isn't much of any regulation down there in regards to food and water. Pretty much nil on anything like unto it. I was cautioned, while being set apart, to be wary of any food and water that may be harmful. Which was completely odd to me at the time, because let's be totally honest, how many of us actually think about that when being set apart?

I don't mean to be offensive to anyone just straight up honest but, wary I became after the first week of intense constipation and many Pepto Bismol's after eating the food and water. The food there is fresh, to say the least, but it doesn't exactly go through any kind of treatment for diseases or bacteria, so, you are basically playing toilet roulette whenever you eat, unless you ask for everything well done or burned to a crisp.

I remember my first dinner that a member prepared for us, which was a rarity in our mission, of caldo de pollo. Basically what it consists of is boiled chicken grease soup with a chicken claw sticking out of the middle of the bowl. With the caldo, were boiled black beans and some Orange Crush. Orange Crush was sooo good.
Now, I wasn't complaining about what they prepared for us because to be honest it was all they could afford and they invited us. So it would have been extremely offensive to turn them down. So we ate it and thanked them for their hospitality. It was all I could do to keep it together because within the hour I needed a bathroom and quickly. That's where my wonderful high school Spanish came in to play when I asked "¿Dondé está el baño?"

This couldn't be compared to the one time some members of the Church invited us over for dinner. I was with my second companion at the time, Elder Lopez from Honduras, who was allergic to everything imaginable. We sat down to roasted chicken, corn tortillas and black beans. It was a feast! Next to them were glasses of cold water. After a long day, we were famished. As we were eating I remarked how good the food was and thanked them for the food and water. At this time my mind reflected on the words of my Stake President as he set me apart, to be cautious of the food and water. I then sipped the water and noticed that it had a kind of smell to it. I then carefully, without offending them, asked them which tienda was selling this delicious water. They told me that it wasn't bottled water. I ate some more food and then asked if the water had been boiled or had iodine drops, because if they did, I couldn't even taste it. They replied that it wasn't boiled. At this time, my companion Elder Lopez was gulping down his glass of water, when they told me that they retrieved the delicious water from their stone sink outside. My mind raced. That was the last place anyone would want to drink water. The local water supply was never cleaned or had any kind of chemicals in it like the USA. There were parasites, amoebas and all kinds of nastiness in the water. Elder Lopez's eyes enlarged with surprise as he was finishing his glass of water. It was that look of terrified surrender that one sees in the movies when an opposing army descends over a hill with its plethora of shouting troops and you know the terrified soldier is about to die.

As the dinner continued, Elder Lopez deftly switched glasses with me and drank my water. He mentioned that the deed had been done and we didn't need two sick missionaries. After the meal, we thanked them and left for our apartment. Later that night, my poor, allergic, brave companion paid homage to the porcelain god and entreated a blessing at my hands, which I gratefully performed.

Beware the water! You never know what's in it or from whence it came. It's best to boil your water or use water purification drops, like iodine(though it gives a very bitter taste) or some kind of chlorine. If you happen to drink some and get sick, get a blessing and if the condition worstens talk to your mission nurse. Do all this, unless of course you are serving in a First World country.

Why serve a Mission?

2008-01-16T08:49:00.000-08:00

I am sure that throughout countless times in your younger years, you have heard plenty of talks and firesides on the importance of preparing for a mission. You probably turned to your fellow pew buddies in a half-dazed grin, nodding in agreement of the importance of serving an honorable mission. You probably stored away all the information you heard back in your brain somewhere near the "remember to brush my teeth every morning" and "look both ways across the street" areas.
Well, fellow members, I have to ask the question of you. Why serve a mission? No really. Why? And follow that question with next one, why do you want to serve...or do you?

You need to ask yourself these questions. The mission is not what it used to be in my day, when some Elders arrived with no testimony of the Gospel and no desire to really serve. Their parents figured it would be good for their young adults and it would help them find their testimony and their path for life. Parents, if they don't have a testimony now at say 18 years old, then a mission isn't the best place to find it. Some may disagree with me, but as the Bar has been raised on the Call to Serve, they need to have a testimony of their own before they serve.

That brings me to the next question, why do you want to serve? Hopefully, like the millions of Church members, you have found what is uniquely yours and yours alone ant that is your testimony. There are plenty of articles on LDS.org from the General Authorities and others about how to do that, but in a nutshell refer to old the Primary song, "Search, Ponder, and Pray".

To serve a mission, you really should want to serve. Yeah, it's good for getting you out of the house after high school and will teach you pretty valuable lessons on being independent, spiritually and temporally, but you got to want to do it. Don't let your parents or friends pressure you, though they are generally doing it because they know the mission will be a good experience for you, but don't serve just because they want you to.

Doctrine and Covenants states it pretty clearly in Section 11, where the Lord is speaking to Hyrum, "Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men."

Remember, that the mission is going to be an exciting and challenging experience for you, prepare now before you go.

So You Are Leaving...

2008-01-14T06:56:00.000-08:00

This is it! You have been called by a Prophet of God! You have the letter, you have your dress shoes all shined(don't forget to permanent marker your Dock Martins), you have your suits all steamed and pressed, you have the instructions on what to wear, and you are reving to get going! Well, HOLD ON THERE PARTNER! Let me share with you some wisdom and experience from someone who served a mission in two parts of the world.

First thing's first, are you excited? Good. You should be. You will be joining a preaching throng of over 54,000 missionaries over the entire world(I think the number is higher now, not sure yet). You will not only share the Gospel, but also your experiences of life to those you serve. You will be out of your Mommy and Daddy's home and in the real world. Time for you to straighten up, adjust that tie and put a smile on your face. The next two years or if your a Sister 18 months, are going to go by as my son says "Super Fast".

So what should you do in between the MTC and now?

Well, one thing is for sure, you should do a search on the place where you're going to serve. If Google was more prominent back when I served a mission, I would have been all over Google Maps, like a hound on a hunt, just gazing at the vast jungles and volcanoes of the country where I served. That's a hint, by the way, go over to www.maps.google.com and take a look at where you're going.

The next thing to think about is what language will you be speaking? I had to learn Spanish and let me tell you, that two years of Spanish in high school measured up to about "Where's the bathroom?" on the list of phrases I was able to ask. Make sure to learn a few phrases before you go. I found this website VERY handy with my current occupation http://www.elite.net/~runner/jennifers/index.htm.
I know it will help you out as well. Don't be afraid though, after about six months of hearing gibberish your brain WILL begin to adapt to the language. You'll begin to understand simple words like "milk" and "food" and "hello". Soon you will be an expert, well, as much as any missionary can be in the language. I found that after I returned home and continued my study of Spanish, that I was just barely a novice at the language. Don't be discouraged though, I found that the Holy Ghost filled in the gaps in my communication, or lack thereof, and so will you. Just stay faithful and keep reading your Scriptures in whatever language you are learning.

Besides the language it would a VERY good idea to check out their local customs and traditions. It was an eye opener for me, a skinny little "gringo" from the Southern U.S. to see Semana Santa (Holy Week) for the first time. A Procession of statues of Christ, Mary, Joseph and various Catholic Saints in a kind of parade throughout the first area I served in. It was surreal but very enlightening.

What else can I mention? Be sure to get your shots before you go. Yeah, you could probably get them at the MTC, but go ahead and do it before you go. Saves a pain in the...arm or arms, while you stay there. Every county has a Department of Health that can fill you in on which shots you'll need. Also, be sure to look at inside that package, more than once, you received with your mission letter. Inside you will find a wealth of information for you on shots, clothes, etc. that you'll need to get...BEFORE..you leave.

For now, that's a little advice I can give.