During the weekend we spent time with Nancy and her family. On Friday night we were able to go to Cohen’s game. They won by a landslide. I loved the halftime. The band, the dancers, and the cheerleaders were amazing. I have never seen so much variety on a football field. They had about 6 big marimbas or similar keyboard instruments. There were huge flags. There were metal platforms that they climbed up on making it more three-dimensional for some of the dancers. There were white, heavy, somewhat curved poles that the girls twirled and swung and they changed the length to suit the dance. I found it all very impressive. The music was more complex and not at all what I heard at Van Nuys High School. So fun. This group wins all over the country Nancy tells me. I believe it. Below is a photo of football at Spanish Fork High School. You can see the Timpanogos Temple in the background and there were fireworks that evening. I don't know the boy who was caught in my photo.
David had lost his wallet and retraced his
steps for the whole day and was unable to find it. Two days later he went back
to Lowes and asked again and they found it under one of the cash registers.
Prayer works, He is so grateful he didn’t have to re-do all of the things that
are in a wallet. On Sunday, the Mission Preparation class
was at the Evan’s house after church. We met a young man who had been called to
Ghana in a town very far from Accra. The newly returned missionary that David
had invited to come and speak had just returned from that same mission. It was
wonderful for the new missionary to learn about the pros and cons of the area
and to hear the great love that the return missionary felt for the people he
lived among for 2 years. Challenges can bring great blessings.
We went back to the MTC in time to attend the devotional.
Learn and Live the Doctrine of Christ – Discipleship. Only the young
missionaries who have been here for 3 weeks or less were invited and the Senior
Missionaries. The room looked packed to me. There is another meeting in another
building for the rest. President and Sister Calderwood spoke. The music was
amazing. One of the young missionaries played for the last half hour before it
started and there was a piano solo after the prayer. It was the Lilies of the
Field song with lots of extra embellishments. I loved it. President Calderwood
had a very gripping opening. He played football in High School (and later at
college too) They were in the state finals playing the most popular and biggest
school in Denver. He was in a very small town that was devoted to football and
it was a major event in the lifetime of the town. He had a black and white film
to show us how he made the first touchdown and the whole room erupted with noises from the bleachers as if we were at the game. Then he showed us the film of his second touchdown on
the next play. He was at the top of the world and thought it was the best day
of his life. His current wife was a cheerleader and he had a film of her as
well. Then they lost the game by a very small margin and he was at the lowest
point in his life. He identified himself as a football player. He wanted us to
remember who we are and identify as a child of God and a disciple of Jesus
Christ. We need to see the big picture.
The focus tonight was the Holy Ghost and how we can make
ourselves ready and capable of receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and allow
Him to guide our lives. It is not an on-or-off situation. Elder Renlund
described it as an ascent up a mountain. Lots of circles around the mountain in
order to arise. Cycles for all of our life but ever ascending to a higher
ability to receive the reception of the Spirit. PMG, chapter 3 has a great activity to
improve our understanding. President Nelson has said it is impossible to survive
spiritually without the Holy Ghost. They also showed us the Bednar video “Is it
the Holy Ghost or just me?” A wonderful video that is available on YouTube. It also includes the story of the 20 German Marks. We need to quit worrying, keep the
commandments, keep moving forward, and follow the impressions we feel as long as it is a
good thing to do. Do not just sit still and wait for further inspiration. 2
Nephi 31:20 – note the action words – press forward, with steadfastness in
Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men,
feasting upon the word of Christ and endure to the end. Do these things to
receive eternal life with Heavenly Father.
Our week began with information from the Handbook The new mission of the church is stated this way. Handbook 1.2
Our Purpose:
Four divinely appointed responsibilities
1. Living the gospel of Jesus Christ
2. Caring for those in need
3. Inviting all to receive the gospel
4. Uniting families for eternity
(For we old people - It used to be the threefold mission of the church -
1982 President Kimball
First, to proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people;
Secondly, to perfect the Saints by preparing them to
receive the ordinances of the gospel and by instruction and discipline to gain
exaltation;
Thirdly,
to redeem the dead by performing vicarious ordinances of the gospel for those
who have lived on the earth.)
Another thing I want to do is find The District on Gospel Library and watch these older videos of missionary experiences. There are 3 seasons. I've seen a couple and I remember thinking they are both honest and inspirational. We are all just practicing in this world. And we practice on each other.
We were challenged to step out of our comfort zone and do what the Spirit directs.
Take on the assignments we are given. Our goal is to point everyone to the
Savior. When we do this well, we are much more effective. Improve with our prayers,
scripture study, unity, etc? Be good planners. Stephen Covey object lesson - Put the big rocks in first
(essential) then the small rocks (necessary) then the sand (the things we would
like to do.) We can do many things. Make sure our mission is bringing us closer to Jesus Christ. Learn
to turn outward as our Savior does. Be concerned for others. Serve them. Focus
on speaking of Jesus Christ - the atonement of JC, faith in JC, the gospel of
JC, endure to the end by following JC. Thank others for their Christ-like
service. Connect principles to JC. What other ways can we connect people to JC?
Only the Holy Ghost converts people. Questions are the heart
of learning. Seek inspired questions. They help us find answers and can
point us to principles and doctrine. Think of the answer you want and craft
your question with that in mind.
"Begin study by praying that the Holy Ghost will help you learn. He will bring knowledge, understanding, and conviction that will bless your life and allow you to bless others. Open your mind and heart to the impressions and insights you receive from Him." PMG pg viii The Holy Ghost can be with someone at any time but to be worthy of the gift to have Him with us always takes work.
Use your efforts to nourish others. How can we help Heavenly Father to nourish his children? The Book of Mormon is an important component. It is never easy. We all must be connected to Jesus Christ. Share what the person needs. Look for the good in their lives. Be patient. No judgment. Seek to understand a person's concerns. Ask questions and listen to their answers. Actively listen - it is OK to think before speaking. Express empathy. What do you want? need? aiming for? looking for? What do you cherish? hold dear? What matters most?
How would I answer these questions myself?
Jacob 5:3-5: The whole world needs to know that this is true.
3 Now in this thing we do rejoice; and we labor diligently to engraven these words upon plates, hoping that our beloved brethren and our children will receive them with thankful hearts, and look upon them that they may learn with joy and not with sorrow, neither with contempt, concerning their first aparents.
4 For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we aknew of Christ, and we had a hope of his bglory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy cprophets which were before us.
5 Behold, they believed in Christ and aworshiped the Father in his name, and also we worship the Father in his bname.
Lewis and I liked the idea of open-ended questions. It is a skill to be learned. We made a list of questions we could ask each other or people we care about. There are so many questions that are worth thinking about and discussing. What do you think?
- How do you feel about your goals in life?
- What could you do to achieve those goals?
- What obstacles do you have to deal with?
- What do you anticipate feeling when you accomplish one of your goals?
- What would bring you more happiness?
- What activity makes you feel cheerful?
- What do you do to feel optimistic?
- What kind of help would you welcome?
- How do you avoid discouragement?
- Are you willing to share a favorite memory?
- Tell us about a positive event in the last week.
- Tell us about your family members.
- What are you looking forward to?
- What are three possessions you are grateful for?
- What are you proud of?
- What makes you sad?
- How do you feel about Jesus Christ?
We had several opportunities to talk with young missionaries and a more formal lesson with a young person posing as a fake investigator with certain concerns. We got to decide what he needed to be taught. Including an invitation and what blessings he could receive if he followed through. It was so fun to interact with our fellow young missionaries. We did OK with the teaching situation but really felt the pressure to say things that would be useful to this one individual at this point in his life. The previous week we had the opportunity to have a teaching experience with another senior couple. We were challenged to find an area where they felt perhaps unsure or concerned. Then in the next meeting, we exchanged our suggestions and thoughts that we both might find helpful. It went really well. They decided that we needed some additional ways to interact with people and gave us a lot of family history ideas to engage both members and investigators. We felt they were very concerned about the family members that they were leaving behind. One child is feeling very negative about the Gospel and the church currently. We bore testimony that the Lord would bless their children especially while they are away and told them about positive things our children experienced while we were away from home. It was a great way to get to know another couple and we both learned very helpful things from each other.
We had a class from a former Seminaries and Institute couple. Their boss was visiting because he will teach the class next week. He has recently moved to the USA to work for the church and is from the Philippines. He is a former mission president of the mission that the Fitz couple will go to at the end of this week. What a blessing they had to get a chance to talk with him!
The goal of this type of mission is to gather and rescue young adults. First, they reminded us that we should share our experiences on paper so that our own young family members can learn from us. They quoted Elder Holland who said: "Go on a mission. Those little darlings will be just fine!" There was a video of the true experience of President Monson when he was 12 years old. He was in a small rowboat and came across a young girl who was caught in the current and drowning. He grabbed her arm and was able to pull her into the boat and get to the bank on the other side. Her family knew she was in the water but they were powerless to save her. They were so very grateful that he saved her life. He said that there are many young adults that are caught in the current and their parents can't save them. Perhaps teachers or friends might be able to save their testimonies and bring them closer to Jesus Christ. We need to meet people where they are but not leave them there. Pray for love. That gift will allow us to offer personalized help.
They told us the story of Shrek. He] was a Merino wether (castrated male sheep) belonging to Bendigo Station, a sheep station near Tarras, New Zealand, who gained international fame in 2004, after he avoided being caught and shorn for six years. Merinos are normally shorn annually, but Shrek apparently hid in caves, avoiding muster. He was named after the fictional ogre in books and films of the same name
After finally being caught on 15 April 2004, the wether was shorn by a professional in 20 minutes on 28 April. The shearing was broadcast on national television in New Zealand. His fleece contained enough wool to make 20 large men's suits, weighing 27 kg (60 lb) – an average Merino fleece weighs around 4.5 kg (10 lb), with exceptional weights up to around 15 kg (33 lb).
Shrek became a national icon. He was so bound by his huge coat of wool that he could barely eat and drink and he was carrying 60 pounds of wool. He was covered in filthy dirt but when he was sheared the inside was perfectly white.
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