Beginning Again

The future comes at a steady rate--sixty minutes an hour--whether we are prepared or not. The old saying is still good, "Be the change you want to see in the world." How are we using the precious minutes we are given? This time of year brings a feeling of optimism to many people. And well it should. Being able to start over in some way gives a feeling of hope. It is a time to think of goals and assess what we did in the past. If we fail to look at the past we will not benefit from the experience and the past becomes the future for good or ill.

A good way to find a worthy goal is to ask yourself: What attribute of the Savior would I like most to become part of my life that would do the most good to me and to those around me?

As I ask myself that I am struck with the thought that I should be more focused on others. Instead of secluding myself when I relax, I could be doing something to make it easier for others to also find calmness.

Try reading the scriptures and note the attributes of Christ. Then see which of those would benefit you the most.

Christmas Time

We attended a wonderful Christmas missionary conference today. Good music, good food, and Elder Steven E. Snow and his wife to speak to us.

As President Hinckley once said at a missionary conference, "It's a wonderful thing you are doing but it's the least you can do." That applies to all those who are not full-time missionaries as well as those who are.

The birth of Christ was something so wonderful the world would never be the same. Just think of the circumstances of His birth. He was born in a cave used by animals. The flies alone must have been incessant plus the smells that attracted the flies. Now think, how often do we make room for Him in our hurried world.

Sister Snow talked about her collection of creches and the meanings of the parts. The star was set in place at the creation in order to be ready for the foretold event. Do we as individuals let our light shine as an influence to others?

The shepherds when they heard the glorious message came with haste and joy, not slowly. They made known what they saw and felt. Do we make known to others what we know?

The wise men listened and learned from the Spirit. Do we notice the signs and do we give our gifts of time and talents to God?

Joseph, quiet, humble Joseph. He gently followed the right even though others doubted. He taught the young boy and prepared Him.

Mary--noble and great raised and counseled the Savior. She pondered in her heart which means that she thought about what she was doing and what was happening. How often do we pause to really think of what is important?

The holy babe, the center of the nativity should be the center of our life. How many people leave Him in the manger at Christmas time and live life without the rest of the year?

And yet, the real miracle of Christmas is the Atonement. There is no other foundation to our world that has more meaning. Elder Steven E. Snow of the First Quorum of the Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints said he thinks of the levels of Christmas. The first is "Jingle Bells" the superficial, the Santa Clause, the tree, the lights, the "fun" stuff. The next level is "Silent Night" which is the birth of the Savior. The third level is the greatest gift of all, the Atonement when He took not only the sins but the pains and afflictions, the suffering and the infirmities of the world.

His church has been fully restored. We can bear testimony of this. We can sing with the angels that Christ is born and lives to love and guide us today.

The Sky is Blue

Today as I look out the window the sky is clear blue with white mountain peaks above the valley. The week past has been full of thoughts of family and friends. The warmth of kinship of all kinds is what makes life full. The love of our Savior is the highlight of the whole season. Often we get so caught up in the grit of life we don't take time to see the gleam of life. Life is really quite simple--we do the best we can with what we have. When problems come, as they always do, we need to keep the eternal perspective in view. By looking at things the way our Heavenly Father looks at them we can know we have His help in all we do. We don't really accomplish things on our own. We just muddle along until we either miss the mark or stumble on the plan He had all along. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could remember to ask His help before we mess up rather than ask Him to rescue us after?

Transfers

Sometimes transfers can be hard when you can't say "good-bye". Today at the zone conference we saw some of the people who got transferred. We went to the Thursday conference, even though we were assigned to the Friday conference because we have people we visit with every Friday. It's easier for us to change than it is for them. I'm sure the messages are similar in the three days it takes for the whole mission to have conferences.

We are meeting with a wonderful family who lost a two-year-old son a few months ago. The parents quit going to church in their early teens and their children have never been. Early this week we were thinking of asking them if we could start teaching family home evening. Well, we didn't even have to ask. At the next appointment, as we were setting another time to come, they said they didn't want to cause a problem for us but if possible, Monday nights would be much better for them. How about that! Do you think we were guided to think that? Now we are preparing a lesson for next Monday night and they are excited.

It is really the Lord's work and He is in charge and guiding us at all time. He loves all his children and everyone we see in the world is a child of God. Look in the face of the begger or of the criminal and think what his father thinks of him. He was created in the image of his father.

The work is true. We just have to run harder to keep up.

What we learn as children stays with us for life. Church leaders have long said that the first years of a child's life are vital in who they will become. It is very hard to go against those early lessons whether those lessons are positive or negative.

A child abandoned young will feel unloved for life no matter what happens later. Unless he sees a strong reason to change that belief it remains part of who he is. Even then, the basic belief will color all future views of life and human interaction. A person raised with particular beliefs, even though the person later turns their back on those beliefs, is still of a mind-set that is very difficult to break.

The influence of parents on young children remains in some form for life. Whether those early effects are good or bad is the choice of the parent. The child has a very hard time changing those early values. Thinking our actions do not affect others is a lie Satan would like us to believe.

Well I finally got a picture to post. It's frustrating when I think I know what I'm doing but it won't work. I just don't have the time to play around. Some days I think the paper work on this mission is going to get me. However it is a necessary thing because when we don't keep up with it, we are lost!

The people we are meeting are so great I don't want to risk losing any of them.

After the MTC we landed back in the field with a whoosh! It seemed like we had been gone much more than a week and life had gone on without us. Tuesday is always a busy day and we had to really run to catch up. We started out being 15 minutes late for our first meeting because we didn't get the word it was moved up 15 minutes.

Killing Goliath

Before you kill your Goliath you have to kill a lion. Each of us will, at some point in life, have a large problem to overcome but often, before we can really tackle and defeat that problem we have other problems that must first be faced. If a person is inactive in the church because of a Word of Wisdom problem then struggling with that problem alone will not be successful. The first problem to attack is a matter of testimony.

The power of the Holy Ghost is essential in gaining a testimony and truly becoming converted. Being converted means changing your heart, your habits, your way of thinking. Keeping small commitments helps us to be able to keep larger and larger commitments. I think David learned to kill rabbits for food before he was called upon to kill lions or bears. I also think he learned to pray effectively and often. His confidence was not in himself but in the Lord. When we rely on the Spirit in every aspect of life, we can be strong enough to slay the giants we encounter.

When a person, through study and prayer, gains a testimony of the gospel and really comes to understand the atonement, a problem with something like the Word of Wisdom fades in magnitude. It does not become easy, but it does become possible.

David did not set out to defeat Goliath until he had been challenged and had learned to overcome other problems. He was able to kill a lion and a bear before the challenge of Goliath was possible.
"The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine."

Note that David preferred to not wear the armour or carry the weapons he was given. He stayed with the things he was sure of. In other words, he stayed with the basic principles he had been taught to help him through problems.

What are the basic principles we have learned in our life and how do they help us with our Goliaths when we remember to use them?

At the MTC

A wonderful week learning so much. Who would think there could be so much in so little time. We became very close to many people who are going all over the world.
This is our group at the Missionary Training Center. Our last evening there was hard because it meant good bye.