"Out in California we are rocking temperatures in the 70's and 60's, with 50's in the mornings. This morning we got up to thick fog, the visibility was about a quarter mile. I took some pictures, but I've got to get myself a USB SD card reader to load pictures at the Mission Office computers. We flip between these and the ones in our Stake Center in Fresno (North) depending on where our Preparation Day errands take us. We just went to A&W for lunch, and after email Elder Noyes and I are looking forward to getting poked--we have to get flu shots today. It's a little late, but we're still healthy so far.
Things are going well for us still. Hearing about some of the youth activities at home made me laugh a bit. All youth activities mean well, but sometimes they don't go as planned. We were invited to teach about the Book of Mormon during Mountain View's mutual. The activity went well, but when it came time for us to share, everyone went silent and put up their blank looks. We couldn't get anyone to participate. It was a bit rough.
This week three things happened:
1) We packed boxes of supplies for Zone Conferences all day Tuesday and Wednesday. Er, well, half the day. Everything is of course, a game to me, so I moved as fast as I could by running boxes from the supply room to our "factory floor," (the cultural hall). Unfortunately for some packing boxes does not come naturally, so one of the senior Elders, Elder T, cut himself a few times with the packing tape roller. It's the roller with the metal teeth and a plastic square so you can cut your tape with force. So some supply boxes have a few suspicious drops of blood on them....
2) Elder Echo Hawk, a member of the First Quorum of Seventy, visited our Mission for a Mission Tour this week. He came by and toured the Mission Office on Wednesday, then attended Zone Conferences on Thursday and Friday. To answer your question, we still attend Zone Conference, and ours was Thursday this time. Elder Echo Hawk shared some neat experiences with us and had great teachings. He even shared his conversion story of how his family joined the church when he was 14, but that he didn't understand the value of that during high school until his senior year. He was talking with his friends and turned his eyes right into a ball someone had thrown at the right time. He was rushed to the hospital and informed he may likely lose his eyesight. He said he attempted to strike a deal with God that if his eyesight would be restored he would read all of the Book of Mormon, with a minimum of 10 pages a day. (He hadn't read much of it previously!) His sight was recovered, and he kept his deal. His life got notably better from the moment that he completed the Book of Mormon. He went on to be his high school's star quarterback that senior year, even after missing a few games from his eye injury. He also shared his account of being called to be a member of the Seventy. All of it was awesome. He opened the end to time to share testimonies of what the Spirit had taught us. I felt impressed and almost "constrained" by the Spirit as Nephi says, to share a brief thought: "Every moment in our lives count! The Mission is valuable and sacred time, but that won't end when we depart home. Christ can use any moment we are willing to give Him to make us something better, something stronger, and someone greater. Make use of the time you have! Allow the Lord to work in you daily! I know these things to be true."
3) We visited a less-active Sister in our Ward with our ward mission leader. This Sister has been away from the church for 3 years but still firmly believes in the doctrines and teachings of the church. She masked her feelings and attitudes initially, but opened up to reveal a struggle of how she can continue to love her son who has declared himself "gay." We had the opportunity to explain to her that her attendance to church does not result in a disdain for her son. I've never had to use this approved website before, but Elder N and I looked into https://mormonandgay.lds.org and found joy in the church's teachings and stance on these things. The church is able to stand for God's revealed principles of marriage between a man and a woman while also holding true to Christ-like love and accepting one another. One talk described how Christ found himself worthy to Atone for every individual...so can't we all be considerate and loving? She seemed to take comfort and hope after our meeting, and we hope it will return a sheep to the Shepherd. (the following is a quote from the website mentioned above)
Elder M. Russell Ballard stated:
“Let us be clear: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes that ‘the experience of same-sex attraction is a complex reality for many people. The attraction itself is not a sin, but acting on it is. Even though individuals do not choose to have such attractions, they do choose how to respond to them. With love and understanding, the Church reaches out to all God’s children, including [those with same-sex attraction]’” (“The Lord Needs You Now!” Ensign, Sept. 2015, 29).
While same-sex attraction is not a sin, it can be a challenge. While one may not have chosen to have these feelings, he or she can commit to keep God’s commandments. The parent of a child who experiences same-sex attraction or identifies as gay should choose to love and embrace that child. As a community of Church members, we should choose to create a welcoming community.
I wanted to thank Uncle Nate and Aunt Miranda for the package. I'm not sure if my system has their emails, so you'll have to forward my thanks to them. Someone should have seen my surprise to get an unexpected package. It wasn't very dramatic, but it made another round of sorting mail a whole lot better. So thank you!!! My companion and I have enjoyed the beef jerky. Quality stuff there.
I wanted to end with a tribute to what the church should focus on: Jesus Christ. (And it does) But sometimes a culture of who we are supersedes the why of what we do as members of the restored church. A member gave us this quote, which we enjoyed: "I left the Mormon Church years back and joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was one of the best decisions I've made in life." His comment was interesting. Consider in yourself, how can you make Jesus Christ more of your center? As you do so, I promise you, you'll always be firmly planted on the rock instead of the culture of what the people on the rock do.
May "scrumdidilyumpcious" be the word you use to describe your next week!"
--Elder Schaff
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