December 17, 2012
Hello everyone. Merry Christmas from rainy Sacramento. Last night was our Christmas Devotional that we had worked so hard on with the Marshallese and Fijian members. It went well. To see our laid back, somewhat timid members get up in front and recite in English "The Christmas Guest" by Helen Stiener Rice was a beautiful site. Sister Downs loving way of cracking the wipe over the past few weeks paid off. Now this week we are taking our gifts of the Savior (different framed pictures of the Savior) to all those we have been working with. Today for the first time we were able to locate and get in to see a family that has been less active for several years due to hurt feelings. They have invited us back for a Family Home Evening night, which they say they have missed very much. So hopefully in our return visits we can help rejuvinate the spirit of the Lord in their home again.
Recently we were challenged by Elder Porter of the Seventy, who came to our mission, to think about some very spiritual thoughts and directions in our lives. 1. What are we doing now in our lives that is spiritually different than what we were doing before our mission? 2. Where does our commitment lie for this period of time that we are on our mission? 3. Are we assisting the Lord or is He assisting us? 4. What kind of Christlike attributes do we have in our lives?
Powerful questions that will take all the rest of our mission to think on and put into action. One of the best scriptures that seems to relate to these questions is found in D & C 84:88 "And whoso recieveth you, there will I be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up".
Here in the Sacramento Mission our Mission President Lewis had projected a goal of the mission having a little over 700 baptisms of people who would come unto Christ through the restored gospel in 2012. Presently the mission is at 670 baptisms and counting! What a truely wonderful White Christmas it has become for these people who have found the gift of eternal life through the Savior.
May we all reflect on that gift that He has given us and in some small way determine what we can give Him in return.
Elder John
Monday, December 17, 2012
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
December 11, 2012 I couldn't get into our blogsite for some reason on Sunday and here it is now Tuesday, almost Wednesday! The month of December seems to run much faster than the other months of the year, don't you think? I received a special package in the mail today from a dear friend sharing memories of a fun, girls only, road trip taken some years ago and it filled my heart with joy and sweet reminising. Thanks for the memories dear friends. As you can tell by our writings, John and I are entirely different in our approach to blogging so hopefully one or the other of us will inform, educate, uplift or just say something to brighten your day, or night, depending when you are reading our blog. Because both of our memories seem to be dimishing at times, we have decided that we will split the week up and each take a day to be "the one" with good memory recall for the day. The problem with that is that I know everyone's names and addresses, which he doesn't, but he knows how to get to everyone's homes, which I don't. Goodness,what a pair we are!! The most confusing thing is that many of the saints have the same last name and MANY of them look very much alike, so it is very easy to put the wrong name on the right person and vice versa. Our branch president's name is Naga. The "g" is "almost" silent but it is said VERY softly with a very loose tongue. So it sounds like Naa'na but I think it is Nanaa'. Needless to say, he really would like his name said correctly so we have reverted to addressing him as simply, president. We have learned that in the islands there is definitely a 'pecking order" or a class system. The Fijians are at the top, the Polanesians second, and the Marshallese third. Our people are used to being "on the bottom" so to speak and it's so hard to help them realize that with lots of work they can become the "top dogs" in island culture. I cannot imagine coming from a culture that you either walked or rode your bike anywhere you needed go and never had to deal with the complications that getting and driving a car can bring you. Now they are in a world that you have to be able to understand bus and light rail schedules, sometimes with several transfers and find the money to take pubic transit. John and I are trying to help several families learn how to read bus and train schedules and take them on their first public transit trip to give them the confidence to do it on their own. It was kind of like that saying, "the blind leading the blind"! :) Boy, we both have college educations and we looked at those schedules and just scratched our heads. So we have appointments with other families who need to develop the confidence to use public transit so that they can get to and from their jobs. We gave lots of "high fives" when we got back to the right bus station. We were really feelilng smug and smart like we had just aced an exam! The work goes slower than we like. We go to homes and give them Family Home Evening manuals and then offer to come to their house and do the first one for them (to do some modeling here), treats and all. Two have turned out great and the other two did not keep
their appointments. We were really excited after we visited with this one family and they seemed excited to have us back for an evening. We planned a really cool interactive lesson and of course, made some yummy treats. Well, we go to their door and no one was home!! In our state of
despair :) we ate over half the treat by ourselves! So now we have a new policy.....just FHE but no treats. I think we both looked at each other and said, "Hmmm, the devil made me do it." Got to have someone to blame. We are having our first missionary Christmas fireside this Sunday. Our Daily Dose (English class) students are reading Helen Steiner Rice's "The Christmas Guest". We are all pumped about it. I'm not printing a program to hand out because I imagine there will be lots of last minute changes. So I probably have to have Plan B through J ready to roll. I had to make sure that I had offered parts equally to the Fijians, Marshallese, Americans, and Samoans so everyone would feel validated. We have 2 very young, inexperienced Elders in our branch who need lots of guidance so John and I have been assigned to do a little bit of coaching/mentoring with them Always opportunities to grow here! We went to the stake nativity display and it was a bittersweet experience for me. It was simply incredible. It was what I had always hoped and prayed ours would become. It was held Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 1-9:00 p.m. They had enormous crowds from other churches who came on Sunday after their own services. The Stake RS president gave a tour of 25 Catholics who asked if they could go sit in a room with her and ask her questions about the church when they were done. She said the spirit was so strong in their conversation. Every room plus the cultural hall had nativities in them. We have made some headway with some folks in our little branch here and they are good people who are struggling to learn the gospel and how to apply to it their lives. All the while learning how to survive in a culture that is so different from their island culture. For example, in the islands if your bicycle did not work, you helped yourself to your neighbor's bike and this was not a problem. Here, if you take your neighbor's bike without asking, we call it stealing. When teaching a church lesson we often need to explain words like "honesty" or "compassion". We must constantly remind ourselves that many of these folks have been members of the church for less than 2 years! Well to close now....I love this Christmas season and the opportunity it gives me to testify of the divinity of our Savior, Jesus Christ. How deeply indebted I am to Him who was willing to die for all of our sins. How grateful I am to have found his restored church and to have learned about his great plan of salvation. Just a closing thought.....what do you plan to give the Savior for his birthday? Sure love ya!
their appointments. We were really excited after we visited with this one family and they seemed excited to have us back for an evening. We planned a really cool interactive lesson and of course, made some yummy treats. Well, we go to their door and no one was home!! In our state of
despair :) we ate over half the treat by ourselves! So now we have a new policy.....just FHE but no treats. I think we both looked at each other and said, "Hmmm, the devil made me do it." Got to have someone to blame. We are having our first missionary Christmas fireside this Sunday. Our Daily Dose (English class) students are reading Helen Steiner Rice's "The Christmas Guest". We are all pumped about it. I'm not printing a program to hand out because I imagine there will be lots of last minute changes. So I probably have to have Plan B through J ready to roll. I had to make sure that I had offered parts equally to the Fijians, Marshallese, Americans, and Samoans so everyone would feel validated. We have 2 very young, inexperienced Elders in our branch who need lots of guidance so John and I have been assigned to do a little bit of coaching/mentoring with them Always opportunities to grow here! We went to the stake nativity display and it was a bittersweet experience for me. It was simply incredible. It was what I had always hoped and prayed ours would become. It was held Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 1-9:00 p.m. They had enormous crowds from other churches who came on Sunday after their own services. The Stake RS president gave a tour of 25 Catholics who asked if they could go sit in a room with her and ask her questions about the church when they were done. She said the spirit was so strong in their conversation. Every room plus the cultural hall had nativities in them. We have made some headway with some folks in our little branch here and they are good people who are struggling to learn the gospel and how to apply to it their lives. All the while learning how to survive in a culture that is so different from their island culture. For example, in the islands if your bicycle did not work, you helped yourself to your neighbor's bike and this was not a problem. Here, if you take your neighbor's bike without asking, we call it stealing. When teaching a church lesson we often need to explain words like "honesty" or "compassion". We must constantly remind ourselves that many of these folks have been members of the church for less than 2 years! Well to close now....I love this Christmas season and the opportunity it gives me to testify of the divinity of our Savior, Jesus Christ. How deeply indebted I am to Him who was willing to die for all of our sins. How grateful I am to have found his restored church and to have learned about his great plan of salvation. Just a closing thought.....what do you plan to give the Savior for his birthday? Sure love ya!
Monday, December 3, 2012
Good evening. Yesterday began the Christmas season and as always it brings feelings of excitment and joy from all ages in and outside of our family. We've just received a wonderful package from our grandchildren that has 12 small gifts in it representing the twelve days of Christmas. We can't wait for December 13th when we can open our first gift! Tonight we put up our 3 foot Christmas tree that was given to us by another departing missionary couple. We also opened our first gift to each other which is a beautiful Nativity set from Willow Tree that somehow survived our jam packed car on the trip here in August.
When I think of that jam packed car and that there was not room for one more item, I think of my life and contemplate how much room do I have inside of me for the Savior. Do I have space left for Him? Our "simplistic" missionary life tends to allow us to reflect more on "what can I give the Savior" rather than the traditional thought of "I wonder what I am getting for Christmas"? I think my best gift I can give Him is to move out a lot of stuff inside of me and make more room for Him to the point that I am able to share Him with other people.
An analogy of this might be of a perfectly round beautiful piece of pottery. It was completely enclosed such that no light could get in. If one would gently shake it something could be heard rolling around inside. But sadly other than to put it on a shelf and admire it, it didn't have much use. Then one day it was jostled off the shelf onto the floor and cracked enough that light was allowed inside. The pottery was about to be thrown out until the seed inside start to receive light and from the broken pottery came a new form of beauty, a new form of life.
Maybe that's what our lives are like. If we clean out, make more room for Him, something new will grow out from us and our growth will flourish. As it says in the scriptures "ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God, and for all men. If we press forward feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, we shall have eternal life".
Elder John
When I think of that jam packed car and that there was not room for one more item, I think of my life and contemplate how much room do I have inside of me for the Savior. Do I have space left for Him? Our "simplistic" missionary life tends to allow us to reflect more on "what can I give the Savior" rather than the traditional thought of "I wonder what I am getting for Christmas"? I think my best gift I can give Him is to move out a lot of stuff inside of me and make more room for Him to the point that I am able to share Him with other people.
An analogy of this might be of a perfectly round beautiful piece of pottery. It was completely enclosed such that no light could get in. If one would gently shake it something could be heard rolling around inside. But sadly other than to put it on a shelf and admire it, it didn't have much use. Then one day it was jostled off the shelf onto the floor and cracked enough that light was allowed inside. The pottery was about to be thrown out until the seed inside start to receive light and from the broken pottery came a new form of beauty, a new form of life.
Maybe that's what our lives are like. If we clean out, make more room for Him, something new will grow out from us and our growth will flourish. As it says in the scriptures "ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God, and for all men. If we press forward feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, we shall have eternal life".
Elder John
Thursday, November 29, 2012
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!
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!
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
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