There Is Hope Smiling Brightly Before Us

Today the words of someone's testimony in sacrament meeting triggered my thoughts back to the topic of HOPE. I love these words from PREACH MY GOSPEL (Chapter 6 p. 117 emphasis added)

"Hope is an abiding trust that the Lord will

fulfill His promises to you. It is manifest in

confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient

perseverance. It is believing and expecting that

something will occur. When you have hope,

you work through trials and difficulties with

the confidence and assurance that all things

will work together for your good. Hope helps

you conquer discouragement. The scriptures

often describe hope in Jesus Christ as the

assurance that you will inherit eternal life in

the celestial kingdom."

There is great power in knowing that good things are coming! It's easier to find joy in life. It's easier to be happy. It's easier to work though the hard times. Why is it sometimes so hard for us to trust that God will fulfill His promises to us?

A large part of this is understanding what promises God has made to us. We must go to the temple, study the scriptures, study the words of the prophets and our own personal scripture to find out what God has promised us.

I love the words in the hymn "We Thank Thee O God For A Prophet"

"When dark clouds of trouble hang o'er us

And threaten our peace to destroy,

There is hope smiling brightly before us,

And we know that deliv'rance is nigh.

We doubt not the Lord nor his goodness.

We've proved him in days that are past.

The wicked who fight against Zion

Will surely be smitten at last."

Even if we can only see the promises afar off (Hebrews 11:14) we can be persuaded of them, and embrace them. That is HOPE.

A Blood Donor Saved My Life

As I was taking the sacrament today and thinking about what the water represented, I had a quick flashback to the previous week. One of my favorite students, we will call her Becca, was wearing a t-shirt that caught my eye because it said "A Blood Donor Saved My Life". And I thought to myself, "Did she have a surgery or something? How did she almost die?" So I asked her, "Did a blood donor really save your life Becca? She just kind of looked at me embarrassed and said "not really". Well, a second later I looked at the shirt again and realized that the red cross was actually a Christian cross and then it all made sense.
As much as I am not a fan of taking sacred things like Christ's atonement and tying them to pop culture and commercializing...I am glad that the phrase "a blood donor saved my life" popped into my head as I partook of the sacrament today. I have come to realize that Christ really has saved my life in millions of ways both big and small. His blood really has sanctified me. I am grateful for the opportunity to become clean again after making mistakes, I am grateful for the strength that Christ affords. I am thankful for scriptures that teach me that He knows MY very own sufferings intimately the way that no one else could.

The Book of Mormon

I was reading through a study journal of sorts that I created for myself while on the mission and I came across a quote by Elder Marion G. Romney. As you read it, pay attention to the neat blessings that come from reading the Book of Mormon.

"I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, the spirit of that book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart."

Who doesn't want a home with more reverence and respect and less contention? I sure do, and I have decided to read the Book of Mormon more prayerfully. I love the Book of Mormon for so many reasons. I believe it is the most powerful conversion tool and I believe that because of my own experience with it. My testimony of Jesus Christ and of His restored gospel were gained after I came to know that the Book of Mormon was true.

I recall my first Christmas in Argentina, we went to a small hospital and sang to the patients. This was a considerably poor hospital and through the horrible conditions and the tragic reasons many of them were there that Christmas Eve; I saw peace in their faces. I watched as some Elders handed out Book of Mormons to any who would receive them and I was struck powerfully by the fact that there was no gift more precious that we could have given them that Christmas.

Sariah

I was reading tonight in 1 Nephi chapter 5. What I always remember about Sariah is how she doubted Lehi, her husband. Verses 2 and 3 use the phrase "complained against" Lehi. That always sounded so negative to me, like Sariah was just a whiner. But something caught my eye this time in verse 1. Upon her sons' safe return Nephi says Lehi was filled with joy, "and also my mother, Sariah, was exceedingly glad, for she truly had mourned because of us." I can only imagine how a mother might feel to not know where in the world she was and to not know what the future would hold and to believe that my 4 oldest sons had failed their mission and died. The suffering and fear that she was experiencing is probably something I can't quite fathom. I would probably have reacted the same way she did. Nephi adds in verse 7, "my mother was comforted" because of their safe arrival back to the camp in the wilderness. And now, verse 8,

"And she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath ^acommanded my husband to ^bflee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could ^caccomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this manner of language did she speak."

What I believe is that because Sariah suffered the way she did and been brought to such a point of despair that caused her to murmer, when the miracle finally did come, she recognized it and knew that there was only One who could have brought her sons back to her safe and sound. Sariah needed to gain a sure knowledge that she was obeying the Lord and not just her husband, she needed a sure knowledge that the Lord would take care of them during their journey. Like Sariah I come to know and trust in the Lord more completely through the trial of my faith.

Leaving

So this is just a quick thought I had as I was reading Alma 35. Se trata de Alma the younger (when he's older) teaching the Zoramites. Verse 14 says, "And Alma, and Ammon, and their brethren, and also the two sons of Alma returned to the land of Zarahemla, after having been instruments in the hands of God of bringing many of the Zoramites to repentance; and as many as were brought to repentance were driven out of their land". I just thought it was interesting the way that sentence is worded. Any of the Zoramites who repented had to leave their land. And I think leaving probably helped them to have a fresh start somewhere else. Leaving is an important part of repentance. Whether it's figuratively leaving something behind (a bad habit, bad influences) or literally leaving (a bad movie, a bad party). You can't "move on" until you're ready to "leave" some other place.

Carta de Mayordomia

I have been slowly moving into my new house and while unpacking some things I found my "Letter of Stewardship". Basically it's something we do in the Mendoza mission to reflect on our mission, account for the things we have done and learned as well as discuss our future and set goals for the type of people we want to be. I wish I had included more memories from my last area in the letter so I will add them now in a different color font. Here's my Carta...

MY MISSION

What can I say about my mission? I have so many stories to tell my grandchildren.

Doctrines.
I learned so many things. I learned by study but I really grew learning by faith. I learned that faith in God means faith in myself. I can do whatever He wills if I put forth the faith (like sing the alto to "Come Thou Fount"). I struggled and at the same time succeeded throughout my mission to develop hope and patience. They are so connected! I am grateful to Hermana King and Hermana Throup who taught me important lessons and gave me excellent examples about those attributes. I'm learning how to patiently and cheerfully submit to all the will of the Lord. It's the cheerful part that's hard sometimes:) I'll never forget what Elder Turley taught me the week before he died, he said that the general authorities of the church are always talking about "the basics" reading the scriptures and praying EVERY DAY because it's impossible to go inactive with that type of daily constancy. There might be people in church on Sunday who don't do those things, but they may not stay active forever.

Culture.
I had to change a lot of my personal culture and learn to work HARD. I had to find joy in doing the same thing every day, knowing that I was fighting for a greater cause. I recognized how even without the tugs and pulls of worldly media for a year and a half I still had a need to consume. Spending money, buying anything, a piece of gum, oddly made me feel better. Wierd. I love the language; it really does shape the culture like Hermano Ivers says. I love the people, I love the colors of Argentina. I love that they give me candy instead of change, that the people wait 10 minutes in a bank line without getting angry, the expressive hand gestures, the besos, the home remedies for health, the bikes, the noisy motos, the dogs, the sequias, the mullets, the cumbia, zonda winds, chorillero winds, the meat, lampazos, overcrowded buses, crazy bus drivers, the trash baskets...I could go on for a few more pages, but I'll stop here.

Members.
So many of the members have taken me in and to me they are my heroes and my family and my dear friends. The Serra and Arenas families (San Luis), the Lombino family (San Martin), the Gonzalez, Montenegro and Suriano families (to name a few from Lujan) are people that I know will be my friends forever, they have all in very special ways taken care of me. They've been my mothers and fathers and sisters here in Argentina. Hermana Orozco (San Martin) and Hermana Casari (San Luis) are 2 of my Argentine heroes. They are such amazing, constant, steady women. They have both been through so much, but to them their trials are blessings. They continue to develop their talents. Lovely Hermana Buonamico (San Luis) taught me how to be the best wife I can be, no matter what the circumstances. It has been a blessing to be in their homes and love them.

Investigators.
I learned that the work is not about me. I had to overcome silly little fears but in the end witness great blessings like seeing Claudia and Fernando baptized and now so close to being sealed. What if I had never climbed up that green spiral staircase by myself? I realized it's the power of the spirit and the message of the gospel that touched Walter and Natalia so deeply that we seriously didn't do a thing. I learned that it's not what I say but what the spirit says...it's what made Mirtha Benegas finally get baptized after 5 years...it was the power of a humble prayer. I loved looking into their eyes and feeling how much God loved them...especially when they realized it too. They are not my converts, they are children of God who I got to help come unto Christ. I learned my job is just love love them. I've never had to give so much of myself. It was never so hard as it was with Agustin, Liliana (Matias, Emilse) and Luciana but I don't take back spending so much time to help them and how much I cried because I love them.

Companions.
It's been so fun to live and learn and work with 9 very different sister missionaries. They are wonderful friends. I am so glad Hermana Terrazas was patient with me, she showed me how to teach and let me help her--I grew a ton. Hermana Gunderson showed me how to love the mission, I have never laughed or cried more with any other companion. Hermana Casady showed me how to work hard "si o si" and we learned how to share everything. I mention these 3 sisters in particular because of the profound love I feel for them, I never doubted their love for me as they showed me in various ways. I hope that I can make other people feel as wonderful as they made me feel. My final companion was one of those. Hermana Goodwin was so incredibly sincere and I felt so much joy with her in my ultimate transfer.

Advice.
Don't forget that we are only instruments, it's not OUR work. This is the great work of the Lord Jesus Christ and it will not fail, it will triumph. Therefore as instruments and servants in this work, we too will succeed no matter what. Pray for eyes to see the triumphs--they are everywhere.

Testimony.
As a representative of Jesus Christ I testify that His church is again on the earth. I have seen miracles in this work that leave no doubt in my mind that it is His. I know that His atonement is real, it heals, sanctifies and strengthens us. Joseph Smith is the prophet of the restoration. The Book of Mormon is the greatest conversion tool we have, it testifies of Christ and is a treasure and a labor of love. Gordon B. Hinckley is the prophet today, he is God's mouthpiece and I sustain him. Every day of my 18+ months in the mission God has shown me in miraculous and simple ways that He loves His children, he listens when we speak to Him. I know that He loves me. I leave my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

March 2007

Something I read today...

"I fear that some of us understand just enough about the gospel to feel guilty--guilty that we are not measuring up to some undefinable standard--but not enough about the Atonement to feel the peace and strength, the power and mercy, it affords us...It's quite the irony--that the gospel of the great Jehovah, which contains the power to save every human being and to strengthen every soul, is sometimes interpreted in such a way that feelings of inadequacy result." -Sheri Dew