November 28, 2012
Where, oh where,does the time go? This was the first time that we didn't meet our goal to blog every Sunday night. I should say, "me instead of we" since it was my turn (as in Sister Downs) to blog. It is always a little challenging to think back over the week and pick one or two experiences to share in a blog. We try to take a different couple each week for a "temple walk" around the outside of the Sacramento Temple and talk with them about the blessings of going to the temple. I love this special time! I don't know who benefits more from our "temple walk", our guests or ourselves. We hope that by this March there will be 5-6 members who will be going to the temple for the first time. This past Sunday we had 22 "gradulates" from our first,large, "Daily Dose" class. 7 or those 22 had missed only 2 or less of the 24 classes. In this course, we recognize any effort made to grow and improve but for those 7 we made special little seals that showed that they were outstanding in their dedication to attend "Daily Dose". They were all so proud! To come consistently to class for 3 months is a really big deal because it is very difficult for islanders to make AND keep long term commitments. Most of our "students" have had some type of training in English speaking but theystruggle the most with the pronunciaton of words and being able to take their thoughts and put them into English that makes sense. We hope we are going to be able to start an additonal class on Wednesday evenings right after Daily Dose that uses the scriptures as the foundation for learning English. It is a truely inspired program called "Teach Ye My Words" that the church has written. I think this course, in addition to Daily Dose, will raise the bar for them so that they will be able to converse confidently in English to meet their daily needs and learn to read, pronounce and then learn how to write how they feel about what they have read. If you can't understand what you are reading in the scriptues plus not being able to apply to your life, it certainly kills your motivation to do so. I have always been a "Plan B" person in realizing that Plan A seldom works out so in order not to go stark, raving mad, one has to be willing to roll with a Plan B and do so graciously and with a good spirit. Well,, this missionary couple has now learned to roll with not only B but often times C through G. We used to spend hours planning out our day and who we were going to see and what we would share with them. Most of our fellow members do not have phones or computers to email and confirm appointments. They also seem to forget things easily so between their forgetfulness and OUR increasing senior moments of forgetfulness, we all just wing it and hope the Spirit will guide and direct us to whomever or wherever He needs us to be. We have all the members divided into geographical areas and so we start out in a cerain area and just scour the area until we find someone home. We are never at loss for things of the gospel to share so we have little checklists as we visit to see what topics of the gospel we have or have not shared with them. When we have days that all our plans go bellyup, we look at each other and say "I need a beer"! I am happy to say A&W frosted root beer mugs are alive and well here in Sacramento. Great to uplift the spirits, awful to put on pounds. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We spent the holiday with Amy and her family in Walnut Creek. We also got to spend some time with our son-in-laws family who we think are wonderful!! We were playing a game with Sam (10) and Oliver (7) and it was one of those strategy games that you have to think really hard which John and I do not do very well anymore. Sam was having pity on us and was helping us with our strategic moves and Oliver says, "Hey Sam, how come you're not helping me?" Sam, not missing a beat, says, "Oh Ollie, I only help the elderly." Wow, that was one, humbling moment. YOU know you're getting older but when your grandson puts you into the "elderly" catagory, you really feel old! All of our other children had a family reunion at our jeff City home and we got to skype and see them all! We were so pleased that they all made sacrifices to be together. We have a strong testimony of the work we are doing in sharing the restored gospel. Sure love ya!
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Sunday, November 18, 2012
November 18, 2012
Good evening. It's my turn tonight. Months and years from now I will always be able to say that through this mission experience Sherrie and I are the ones who have probably grown the most and been taught immensely by the Lord during this time. If we have played a small part in helping someone else grow or become closer to the Lord that will be an added bonus to us. I think I can safely say that all of us in our various faiths at some time or another seek answers, personal revelation, and direction from God, Jesus Christ, a higher being. We always wish that those answers would come to us immediately, in a strong "rush of wind", or in some way that would leave no doubt in our mind it was from the Lord. But I have found at least for me that isn't the way He works in our lives. I have found that His way of answering will usually come in small subtle ways, such as through the scriptures, through the words or actions of others around us or in other moments we would least expect it. Neal A. Maxwell said this unexpected direction or answers given is called "incremental revelation". Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. The Lord is our tender tutor, measuring and giving what we are ready for.
Which brings me to another point that I have learned. The Lord doesn't answer all of our prayers. That's because he expects us to sometimes use our free agency, our common sense, our experiences that we have learned thus far in our lives to make some decisions on our own without waiting for His answers or revelation to come. That doesn't mean we should be independent of Him, nor that we should not ask Him for direction, and guidance. It just means that He wants us to in some ways gain our own spiritual self-reliance rather than becoming "spiritual robots" to Him.
As our mission continues and I have some "aha" moments, I know that I am gaining more confidence to make the right decisions, I am learning more how to help someone in some small way, and how to listen to what The Lord has to say.
Have a good week.
Elder John
Good evening. It's my turn tonight. Months and years from now I will always be able to say that through this mission experience Sherrie and I are the ones who have probably grown the most and been taught immensely by the Lord during this time. If we have played a small part in helping someone else grow or become closer to the Lord that will be an added bonus to us. I think I can safely say that all of us in our various faiths at some time or another seek answers, personal revelation, and direction from God, Jesus Christ, a higher being. We always wish that those answers would come to us immediately, in a strong "rush of wind", or in some way that would leave no doubt in our mind it was from the Lord. But I have found at least for me that isn't the way He works in our lives. I have found that His way of answering will usually come in small subtle ways, such as through the scriptures, through the words or actions of others around us or in other moments we would least expect it. Neal A. Maxwell said this unexpected direction or answers given is called "incremental revelation". Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. The Lord is our tender tutor, measuring and giving what we are ready for.
Which brings me to another point that I have learned. The Lord doesn't answer all of our prayers. That's because he expects us to sometimes use our free agency, our common sense, our experiences that we have learned thus far in our lives to make some decisions on our own without waiting for His answers or revelation to come. That doesn't mean we should be independent of Him, nor that we should not ask Him for direction, and guidance. It just means that He wants us to in some ways gain our own spiritual self-reliance rather than becoming "spiritual robots" to Him.
As our mission continues and I have some "aha" moments, I know that I am gaining more confidence to make the right decisions, I am learning more how to help someone in some small way, and how to listen to what The Lord has to say.
Have a good week.
Elder John
Monday, November 12, 2012
November 11, 2012
Once a year, the children within the church present the program during Sacrament meeting, which is our main church service. This morning was that special time. The children are between 3-12 years of age. The theme this year was, "Being a good missionary" so the theme was near and dear to our hearts. It is so amazing to see these normally very active children sitting so reverently (except of course when they are waving to their family in the congregation) and singing out with fervor all the songs that they love. Each child has one or more speaking parts and they get up in front of lots of adults and speak their parts with such a sweet spirit. There couldn't have been more than 25 children but they sounded like a choir of 60! One of our main goals while on our mission is to help strengthen members who have not yet been to the temple to be sealed together as a family for all eternity if they remain worthy We took 2 different families to the Sacramento Temple this week and did what we call a "temple walk about". The main purpose is to have them see the temple and feel of the special spirit that abides on that sacred, holy ground. Although they can't yet enter into the temple itself yet, this little "walk about" helps motivate and inspire them to set higher goals of spirituality so that they can return and enter the temple. It is hard to describe the special spirit that we all felt when we were with these folks talking and teaching about the importance of the temple. What a blessing it is to have a temple 30 minutes away!! We usually attend the temple once a week now and feel so very fortunate to do so. We have FINALLY, after many years of inconsistency, gotten where we can't go to sleep without reading the scriptures and truly enjoy studying them. We reflect back on the many years that we read the scriptures because we had been commanded to do so. What a delight to do something now that brings so much joy and knowledge instead of reading the scriptures because it was on our "checklist" of good things to do. Boy, it takes some of us a long time to grow up and see the 'big picture"! :) So glad I know God is a patient God. We had a little celebration party this week. Our first "Daily Dose" participant "graduated" to the next level of lessons. We made a certificate for her and had punch and brownies for her family. She was just beaming! It was a sweet, sweet time! In one week we will have about 15 more Level 1 "graduates". Exciting times! Some, of course, have dropped out due to lack of commitment. BUT, we concentrate on those who want to change their lives and continually pray for a change of heart and desire for those who do not want to grow. Many of the trees are changing color here and remind us of Missouri. We joined a group of Asians doing "Confu" and "Tia Chi" in the park last week. Their leader's name should have been "killer" because I could hardly move the next day! I'm sure I saw a little smirky smile on his face when he saw we couldn't keep up with him. They would be chattering back and forth in Chinese and then to us and speak perfect English! Unfortunately, we were not able to chat bilingually. I did throw out a "Yuckway" to them (that's hello in Marshallese) but they just looked at me and smiled politely. Wish I could have read their minds. Well, back to a week of trying to understand the Marhallese culture! Friday brings our Heather and Kate and Allie to us from Missouri. We can't wait! Up and grateful here in California! Press forward with faith!!
Once a year, the children within the church present the program during Sacrament meeting, which is our main church service. This morning was that special time. The children are between 3-12 years of age. The theme this year was, "Being a good missionary" so the theme was near and dear to our hearts. It is so amazing to see these normally very active children sitting so reverently (except of course when they are waving to their family in the congregation) and singing out with fervor all the songs that they love. Each child has one or more speaking parts and they get up in front of lots of adults and speak their parts with such a sweet spirit. There couldn't have been more than 25 children but they sounded like a choir of 60! One of our main goals while on our mission is to help strengthen members who have not yet been to the temple to be sealed together as a family for all eternity if they remain worthy We took 2 different families to the Sacramento Temple this week and did what we call a "temple walk about". The main purpose is to have them see the temple and feel of the special spirit that abides on that sacred, holy ground. Although they can't yet enter into the temple itself yet, this little "walk about" helps motivate and inspire them to set higher goals of spirituality so that they can return and enter the temple. It is hard to describe the special spirit that we all felt when we were with these folks talking and teaching about the importance of the temple. What a blessing it is to have a temple 30 minutes away!! We usually attend the temple once a week now and feel so very fortunate to do so. We have FINALLY, after many years of inconsistency, gotten where we can't go to sleep without reading the scriptures and truly enjoy studying them. We reflect back on the many years that we read the scriptures because we had been commanded to do so. What a delight to do something now that brings so much joy and knowledge instead of reading the scriptures because it was on our "checklist" of good things to do. Boy, it takes some of us a long time to grow up and see the 'big picture"! :) So glad I know God is a patient God. We had a little celebration party this week. Our first "Daily Dose" participant "graduated" to the next level of lessons. We made a certificate for her and had punch and brownies for her family. She was just beaming! It was a sweet, sweet time! In one week we will have about 15 more Level 1 "graduates". Exciting times! Some, of course, have dropped out due to lack of commitment. BUT, we concentrate on those who want to change their lives and continually pray for a change of heart and desire for those who do not want to grow. Many of the trees are changing color here and remind us of Missouri. We joined a group of Asians doing "Confu" and "Tia Chi" in the park last week. Their leader's name should have been "killer" because I could hardly move the next day! I'm sure I saw a little smirky smile on his face when he saw we couldn't keep up with him. They would be chattering back and forth in Chinese and then to us and speak perfect English! Unfortunately, we were not able to chat bilingually. I did throw out a "Yuckway" to them (that's hello in Marshallese) but they just looked at me and smiled politely. Wish I could have read their minds. Well, back to a week of trying to understand the Marhallese culture! Friday brings our Heather and Kate and Allie to us from Missouri. We can't wait! Up and grateful here in California! Press forward with faith!!
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Hello from Sacramento. Time to adjust to the time change again. The clock may have said I was to get an extra hour of sleep this morning but my body was still up at the normal time, and now tonight it's later that usual and my body is saying let's go to bed right now. Oh well, life goes on. Today there was the proverbial group that arrived at church early because they forgot to change their clocks last night, and for Marshallese people who are almost always late, that was a blessing. Maybe they won't change their clocks before next Sunday either or the next Sunday after that or . . . . you get my drift.
As each week of experiences go by for us I have more and more respect for the single missionaries (young and old) who have either previously served or are serving missions now. I've watched some of the young missionaries here in our mission be faced with many challenges and life changing experiences, but one of their most difficult they have faced at times has been learning how to work and live with a "difficult" companion 24/7. For Sherrie and I it's a little easier because our "companion" is the one we have known for many years and we get along well and have worked out the kinks. But I've been watching how the Lord has been blessing those that try the hardest. The more spiritual they are or try to be, the more the issues of the "difficult" companion tend to disappear and are no longer a problem.
I think another growing point about missions is how to face and deal with issues of contention and disagreement that we are faced with at times. That has occured often already with Sherrie and I. A week ago we had a situation occur in a leadership meeting that has bothered us for the last seven days. It probably affected our activities and accomplishments for the entire week. And we were even dreading going back to that meeting today, for fear that the same situation would occur again. However, we had prayed and pondered over it all week long, had emersed ourselves in the scriptures, and had talked it over with our wonderful mission president, and amazingly enough, the atmosphere in the meeting today was completely different, and the spirit of the Lord definately was in that meeting. Elder Russell M. Ballard once said to avoid confrontations "We must show compassionate concern for others. We must control the tongue, the pen, and the word processor. We must remember as in Proverbs 11:12 and 17:28 where it says He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour; but a man of understanding holdeth his peace. Through the love of God, the pain caused by the fiery canker of contention will be extinguished from the soul". I certainly saw that change occur in our meeting today. I'll always be greatful for what the Lord gives us if we are willing to receive.
Have a good week,
John (Elder) Downs
As each week of experiences go by for us I have more and more respect for the single missionaries (young and old) who have either previously served or are serving missions now. I've watched some of the young missionaries here in our mission be faced with many challenges and life changing experiences, but one of their most difficult they have faced at times has been learning how to work and live with a "difficult" companion 24/7. For Sherrie and I it's a little easier because our "companion" is the one we have known for many years and we get along well and have worked out the kinks. But I've been watching how the Lord has been blessing those that try the hardest. The more spiritual they are or try to be, the more the issues of the "difficult" companion tend to disappear and are no longer a problem.
I think another growing point about missions is how to face and deal with issues of contention and disagreement that we are faced with at times. That has occured often already with Sherrie and I. A week ago we had a situation occur in a leadership meeting that has bothered us for the last seven days. It probably affected our activities and accomplishments for the entire week. And we were even dreading going back to that meeting today, for fear that the same situation would occur again. However, we had prayed and pondered over it all week long, had emersed ourselves in the scriptures, and had talked it over with our wonderful mission president, and amazingly enough, the atmosphere in the meeting today was completely different, and the spirit of the Lord definately was in that meeting. Elder Russell M. Ballard once said to avoid confrontations "We must show compassionate concern for others. We must control the tongue, the pen, and the word processor. We must remember as in Proverbs 11:12 and 17:28 where it says He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour; but a man of understanding holdeth his peace. Through the love of God, the pain caused by the fiery canker of contention will be extinguished from the soul". I certainly saw that change occur in our meeting today. I'll always be greatful for what the Lord gives us if we are willing to receive.
Have a good week,
John (Elder) Downs
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Oct. 28 2012 Fall is in the mornings and evenings and then Mother Nature thinks it's summer again in the afternoons. Each week, Thursday mornings, we meet with 3 other companionships in a district meeting or once a month we meet with our entire "zone" which consists of a total of 7 or 8 companionships. We are the only "seniors" in this zone and everyone else is between 19 and 21 years old and all are males. We have sister missionaries serving in other parts of our Sacramento Mission but not here. How we admire these young men! In the past, we have always admired the sacrifice of these young folks, particularly our own children, but we really had not totally appreciated the unique lifestyle that they chose to embrace for 2 years. I just read that missionary applications have gone from 700 per week up to 4000! Wow, the work of the Lord should be on fire soon! We continue to do our "Daily Dose" classes and just this week went to 3 public libraries to offer to teach this wonderful English course in the libraries. We have not gotten their approval yet but are praying for a positive response. We, of course, will not be able to include anything religious like we do in our church classes, but know the Lord will bless us with his Spirit to be there and that hopefully will lead to missionary contacts outside the library itself. Our class today at church was entitled "Being Punctual". Because most of the folks we work with are from the islands, punctuality never has been a priority. We talk about it a lot though because it is so critical to maintaining a job and fulfilling church responsibilities. A very special family is moving to Utah this week and will be sorely missed. They are such an incredible example to all the Marshallese. We had a "farewell"/Halloween party last night. It was quite an evening! The Marshallese and the Figians both sang songs in their native tongue and then a group of young Marshallese did a native folk dance. The place was really rocking especially since there were dozens of children on a massive sugar high running about. It was really quite emotional as well since this family is so loved by all.
Yesterday we went to Amy's home for the day. Many of you will remember our telling you of Amy's dear friend who died of a heart attack a few months back at the age of 41. He had been trying to work on his back yard before his death. My son-in-law, Alph, organized a gigantic service project that John had the privilege of helping with. A large group totally landscaped the back yard, shrubs, trees, sod, irrigation system, gardening boxes, etc. Eleanor was gone for the week-end and when she arrives home tonight she will be so surprised! Wish I were a little mouse and could see her expression! Isn't it wonderful to serve one another!! I wasn't at the service project but I was on the Wise homefront doing grandmother service! The older Wise children have matured so and the twinners keep everyone hopping! This grandma is definitely getting older! :) Being close to them helps us (a little bit)not miss our other kiddos quite so much!
:) Have a wonderful week full of happy service!
Yesterday we went to Amy's home for the day. Many of you will remember our telling you of Amy's dear friend who died of a heart attack a few months back at the age of 41. He had been trying to work on his back yard before his death. My son-in-law, Alph, organized a gigantic service project that John had the privilege of helping with. A large group totally landscaped the back yard, shrubs, trees, sod, irrigation system, gardening boxes, etc. Eleanor was gone for the week-end and when she arrives home tonight she will be so surprised! Wish I were a little mouse and could see her expression! Isn't it wonderful to serve one another!! I wasn't at the service project but I was on the Wise homefront doing grandmother service! The older Wise children have matured so and the twinners keep everyone hopping! This grandma is definitely getting older! :) Being close to them helps us (a little bit)not miss our other kiddos quite so much!
:) Have a wonderful week full of happy service!
Sunday, October 21, 2012
October 21, 2012
Hello again. Time goes so fast when working for the Lord. We continue to marvel at the changes in those that are attending our Daily Dose classes. Those that were once reserve, shy and even non-committal to us are now very friendly, supportive and eager to learn more. Recently in one of the classes that we teach in someone's home there were five people in attendance and they were all non-members of our faith. We were teaching the subject on how to give a prayer. Again, we are talking about people who speak limited English and haven't been very religious in their lives. At the conclusion we asked if anyone would give the closing prayer, and one fellow said he would, and in his simple prayer he stated how grateful he was for us to teach him English. A simple prayer but very much from the heart. Today that man and his wife and children showed up at church today and attended all the meetings! What a joy to see how much he has changed. Then earlier this week we met in another person's home for an evening meal. He had invited some non-member friends over to fellowship with and talk about having The Lord in all of our lives. One of those individuals showed up at church today also! The Spanish, Chinese and Mien groups we helped set up in Daily Dose are going well now also.
Last Friday night Sherrie and I needed a little more culture in our lives so we attended the Sacramento Ballet Company's performance of Romeo and Juliet. It even brought tears to old John's eyes, or was that from me imagining the pain in my toes if I was standing on them in ballet shoes!! Tonight the Fall rainy season is starting. It hasn't rained here since last February, but then that's why everything is connected to a sprinkler system!
We have several friends back in Jefferson City who are recovering from painful surgeries or have other trials in their lives right now. Our hearts in prayers go out to them all.
Until next time,
Elder (John) Downs
Hello again. Time goes so fast when working for the Lord. We continue to marvel at the changes in those that are attending our Daily Dose classes. Those that were once reserve, shy and even non-committal to us are now very friendly, supportive and eager to learn more. Recently in one of the classes that we teach in someone's home there were five people in attendance and they were all non-members of our faith. We were teaching the subject on how to give a prayer. Again, we are talking about people who speak limited English and haven't been very religious in their lives. At the conclusion we asked if anyone would give the closing prayer, and one fellow said he would, and in his simple prayer he stated how grateful he was for us to teach him English. A simple prayer but very much from the heart. Today that man and his wife and children showed up at church today and attended all the meetings! What a joy to see how much he has changed. Then earlier this week we met in another person's home for an evening meal. He had invited some non-member friends over to fellowship with and talk about having The Lord in all of our lives. One of those individuals showed up at church today also! The Spanish, Chinese and Mien groups we helped set up in Daily Dose are going well now also.
Last Friday night Sherrie and I needed a little more culture in our lives so we attended the Sacramento Ballet Company's performance of Romeo and Juliet. It even brought tears to old John's eyes, or was that from me imagining the pain in my toes if I was standing on them in ballet shoes!! Tonight the Fall rainy season is starting. It hasn't rained here since last February, but then that's why everything is connected to a sprinkler system!
We have several friends back in Jefferson City who are recovering from painful surgeries or have other trials in their lives right now. Our hearts in prayers go out to them all.
Until next time,
Elder (John) Downs
Sunday, October 14, 2012
October 14, 2012
Sunday night has come again! Time to share just a few thoughts from this week's experiences! The highlight of the week was undoubtedly our visit yesterday from our oldest daughter Amy and her 5 kiddos. They live in Walnut Creek, CA, about an hour + from Sacramento. As Senior Missionaries, we can have visits from our children upon occasion as long as we do not neglect our work here. Our only negative in being on a mission is our distance from our children and grandkids. Hopefully, they miss us (which we hear that they do:), but they also realize that sometimes in life you need to stretch and serve outside of your comfort zone if you want to grow in your faith and service. Friday night we went to a large ward (unit within the church) that has a small group of Chinese within that unit. Most of the younger Chinese know English quite well but as is usually the case, the older ones (like us!) do not know how to speak English. The church had badminton games set up in the cultural hall and there were quite a few folks there. They had us do a quick overview of "Daily Dose" and soon hope to have regular classes going. This morning we went at 10:30 and met a small group of people who are Mien (I think!) and had come from the foothills within Viet Nam. This group, and probably some of their grandparents, were instrumental in assisting the United States during the Viet Nam War. The majority of them have immigrated to the states because if they had remained in their country, they would have been destroyed for helping the U.S. Right after we met with the Miens we met with the Spanish Ward's Council and introduced them to Daily Dose. Many of them speak both languages but often need pronunciation help as well as conversation skills. Soooo, this Tuesday evening we will be presenting the first Daily Dose classes to Spanish, as well as Mien, speaking people. We will teach this first class, then a couple who have just returned from a mission in Mexico have been called to teach Daily Dose in that ward. Then, today, we came back to our little Marshallese LDS Church and watched the Elder's Quorum president substitute for us in teaching the Marshallese. He did a fine job!We have had a very busy week-end and week!! We get a weekly newsletter from our mission president, Pres. Lewis, and this is a quote that I thought worthy of passing along as possibly your "thought for the week": Obedience is the price, Faith is the power, Love is the motive, the Spirit is the key and Christ is the reason." (Unknown author.)
Have a great week! We are praying for those of you who are having some extra health challenges right now!!
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