Good morning. Where has the last 12 months gone! I truly feel we are a part of the "stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands, and is rolling forth until it has filled the whole earth". (Daniel 2 and D & C 65: 2). The speed at which Sherrie and I are going forth in our responsibilities is amazing to us (as two "old people"). We are but a small granulated portion of that rolling stone but the exhilaration of being part of that movement brings much satisfaction to us. Six months ago I was saying that maybe we would only serve 12 months rather than the 18 months. We felt stymied in our efforts because in our perception we weren't doing much good. Lack of progress and response from the Marshallese people was our biggest frustration. But then we requested from the mission president that we be given more to do, he responded by giving us two additional wards or congregations to work with. Goodness, now we are busy and we love it! This past Tuesday night we held the first session of two different "Strengthening Marriage" classes that we will be teaching. The other class with the other group will be taught on Friday nights. This is something we really enjoy teaching and look forward to sharing our many years experience.
We are also teaching several New Member lessons to people who have been baptized into the church in the last 12 months or so. Very enjoyable. They all come from such different walks of life and it is exciting to seem them grow in the gospel. Some of these new members bring on good challenges for us as they ask thought provoking questions about the gospel that cause us to search deep into the scriptures. One women is still holding onto her Pentecostal believes which provides for some interesting discussion. As we were visiting and teaching another young couple, we were so surprised to hear that the somewhat laidback and mild mannered wife is a fast pitch softball coach for young women. Ashley has been a semi-professional pitcher for several years. Back when she was pitching regularly her husband-to-be James was the only one who had the ability (and courage) to catch for her!! Thus the reason they began dating which eventually led to marriage.
Last night the full time missionaries had asked Sherrie and I to go with them as they were having discussions with a single lady who is interested in the church. The evening progressed well and Sherrie and I felt we had contributed to the discussion. The woman said "You know I was ready to say to you tonight, to not come back anymore, but after tonight's discussion I've decided I want you to keep coming back". Then she asked us to step into her other room that like the rest of the house was somewhat cluttered with her entanglements of life, and there was a beautiful mahogany baby grand piano. The piano glistened like a diamond amongst the cobwebs and dust. She asked one of the Elders that she previously knew was an accomplished pianist, play a arousing number from the theme of the movie "Polar Express", and then the lady played a beautiful number of her own. The evening was magical and we hope it will continue with her in wanting to know more about the church.
Well, today we finished two days of inspecting missionary apartments! 14 to be exact! Phew! Time for a rest. Some Elders or Sisters in some cases live in apartments while others live in members homes. From a low score of 0 to a high of 10, we gave evaluations from 0 to 9. Some have not been taught well by their moms! It is interesting also with the ones that live in member's homes, however good or not so good the homeowner keeps their home clean is exactly how the missionaries respond to keeping their bedroom and bathroom clean. But they are all great Elders and Sister missionaries.
To close off this post, I give a couple of amusements! As I bike the greenways around here almost every early morning I have to use my horn almost all the time because the great abundance of Asian and Japanese decent citizens that take up the whole pathway as they chitter chatter away in their language. Then when I tweak my horn they scatter like a flock of ducklings until I get by. When I ride by a particular field each time there is a solitary Asian woman standing out in the middle of the field doing her Tai Chi. A refreshing sight.
And finally, every time we have a Zone meeting where there are 15 to 60 young Elders around I challenge them all to doing my "Russian pushup" (lying flat on the floor, on my stomach, arms extended forward, and then proceed to do pushups from this position). They are so stymied as to why a 68 year old man can do something that they can't! It's a challenge they can' let go. Recently, I watched a West Point cadet/missionary and a big Tongan missionary finally do it.
Got to go, love you all, John
"Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured"
(Gordon B. Hinckley)
