Going Home

Since I'm the one who started this blog, I'm going to take the liberty of adding one last post before I publish it. I wanted to see my mom in her element before her mission was over, but fate and flights worked out so that I arrived on the day after her last day. Kindly, she hung around for me so we could spend the weekend with Lisa and I could still get a little bit of a tour. Things started out a little rocky since I flew in on a very wintery day but my plane landed safely before the snow picked up and the wind kicked in. Chrysta (who was flying in to meet up with us as well) was not so lucky. Her flight was scheduled just in time to compete with a somewhat scary storm. After we had been told by a terminal worker that her plane had been diverted back to Arizona, she came walking out of the airport all smiles and our disappointment turned back into excitement. I don't know about everyone else, but I thought the flight drama and the inclement weather were well worth the quality girl time that me, mom, Chrysta and Lisa got to spend together. We had breakfast AND lunch at the new City Creek Mall and met Kaitlyn there, (she had come up from Provo to get in on the action). The five of us tromped all around Temple Square in the snow, enjoying the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and the Church History Museum. Since that day was Lisa's birthday, we had to do a little bit of shopping, so we hit up Down East Basics and the book section of Deseret Industries, with much success. Aside from that, what I remember most is eating lots of warm, yummy soup and lounging around at Lisa's house. When I flew out of SLC on my way home to New Mexico, mom and Chrysta got on the road and headed for Arizona...and with that, mom's mission was officially over! I hope she knows how proud we are that she served so well and was still able to be our mom all the while. She remembered every single birthday (kids, spouses and grandkids) with cards and gifts. She flew home for all the important events that arose (an endowment, a baby blessing and a wedding - to name a few). And she fielded all our phone calls for advice, love, encouragement and support...like she always does. Congratulations on your completion of a very successful mission, mom! We all love you so much.

Ten Things I'll Remember

There are a hundred things I will remember with gratitude about this mission, but today I will only share:

Ten Things I’ll Remember

10. The food. This is both a blessing and a curse; so many places to eat, so many occasions to eat, and so much food in the office all the time. Still, I will associate many happy memories with eating here. I’ll remember staff birthday lunches and dinners, orientation and appreciation luncheons, pot lucks at the branch and with our social group, lunch at the C.O.B. cafeteria, and sack lunches in the break room of the mission office. We even ate breakfast once at the Lion House Pantry for prayer meeting. So I’ll leave here with my mission 10 pounds firmly in place, but I’ll have to smile when I remember eating here.
   
9. General Authority sightings. I remember everyone rushing to the east windows in the mission office when someone spotted President Uchtdorf down on the ground between us and the Church Administration building. Elder Holland stopped by our table at the Cheesecake Factory, I passed Elder Perry and his wife as they were going to the temple, and Elder Cook and Elder Perry were waiting for the elevator one day when I was walking on the mezzanine level. It wasn’t important that I see apostles walking around Temple Square, but it was always a thrill when I did, like an unexpected gift.

8. Attending a missionary branch. Being in an all-missionary branch has been a unique experience that I wouldn’t want to have missed. Where else are there nearly 100% home and visiting teaching, attendance, and tithe paying? I’ll remember abundant food at pot-lucks, a chorus line of dancing elders, and 70 young missionaries jockeying for position to share their testimonies on Fast Sunday. I’ll forever remember what congregational singing was like when everybody sings.

7. Wish fulfillment. There are three things I’ve wanted to do for a long time: attend Conference in the Conference Center, attend a live “Music and the Spoken Word” broadcast in the Tabernacle, and attend a session in the Salt Lake Temple. I’ve done all that here. Those were powerful moments for me! I don’t think I will ever forget them.

6. The Temple Square gardens. I think I will always be able to see in my mind’s eye tulips everywhere and trees covered with pink blossoms in the spring. I’ll remember the gardeners pulling the tulips out just weeks later and then watching as thousands of budding plants filled in every inch of hundreds of flower beds until they looked like English cottage gardens with giant Victorian flower baskets hanging from posts and garden walls.

5. Christmas at Temple Square. Temple square is a magical place to be at Christmas time. I remember watching the lights go up day by day starting way back in August and coming around a corner to see the Nativity for the first time between the Tabernacle and the North Visitors Center. I’ll remember the mission office flooded with poinsettias and snow falling outside our windows. I’ll remember walking into the Joseph Smith Memorial building just in time to hear a choir of children singing like angels. I’ll remember the Christmas programs here, in this setting. What a blessing it is to be at Temple Square for Christmas!
 
4. Family History research. I requested this mission because I knew the Lord wanted me to be involved in redeeming the dead, especially my own family. I needed to learn more. This seemed like the best place on earth to learn more. It is. I loved learning in the training zone and our Sunday School Family Tree class taught by Elder Meyers. I want to keep learning when I get home. I’ll remember happy hours finding evidence of my family and the lives they lived.

3. Historic Church sites: the Salt Lake Temple, the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, the Tabernacle, the Beehive House, the Lion House, the Assembly Hall, and the Church Administration Building--- all right here on Temple Square and it is only a short drive to much more. There is something about being here where the pioneers were and seeing their artifacts that is so testimony strengthening. History comes alive when you see the fruits of their labors. These things have become a part of my testimony and I will remember them.

2. Prayer meetings. Tuesday through Friday my day has started on a spiritual high because of prayer meeting. I’ll remember singing, praying, and reciting scriptures with the mission office staff. Their spiritual thoughts will be one of the most valuable things I take with me when I leave here. When I hear the same gospel principles they taught, I’ll remember their stories, ideas, and the strength of their testimonies.

1. The people. Lucy Mack Smith said, “We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another, and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together.” This sounds exactly like what we do in the mission. It would be wonderful to someday sit down with all of them in heaven and have a grand reunion. My leaders and co-workers have helped, taught, and encouraged me. More than anything they teach who they are, so I’ve had some great lessons. I got to learn all day, every day from the examples of Christ-like people. It’s been a joy to be a part of this group. I’ll remember the teasing and joking and all the kindnesses, large and small. I’ll remember them and always be thankful for this time I had with them.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Here is why we have so much to celebrate at Christmas. Merry Christmas Everyone!

 

The Atonement: The Ultimate Gift

A. Redeeming and Cleansing Power

A mission president, Brad Wilcox, told this story:

One day a missionary called and asked if I would interview a woman for baptism…

When I met with her, she tearfully told me details of her past she had never shared before with anyone. As a young bride she had become pregnant. She was joyful, but her husband was furious. He scolded her and demanded she get an abortion. He claimed they could not afford a baby. When she refused, he beat her severely and promised that the beatings would continue until she agreed. For her self-preservation, she finally conceded, but she never forgave her husband or herself.

Years later the marriage ended in ruins. On her own she sought a better life, yet she still carried the constant memory of the baby she had given up. Through her tears, she said, “There is not a day that passes that I don’t think about how old my child would be now and what my child would be doing. There is not a day that passes that I don’t privately beg for forgiveness from my child and from God.”

No one knew about this woman’s private prayers. Even her closest relatives were unaware of the abortion or the sorrow that followed it. When she met the missionaries she found new hope as they taught her of Jesus and the Atonement. They spoke of baptism and the chance to be cleansed, but it seemed too good to be true. She convinced herself they were only making such a promise because they didn’t know of her dark deed.

As my interview with her concluded, she said, “Now that you know, I am sure you will tell me I am not worthy to be baptized.”

“On the contrary,” I said, “With all my heart I testify that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ you can be forgiven, cleansed, and made totally whole again.” I explained that the consequences of the choice could not be changed, but the pain she felt could be replaced with peace.

She smiled sweetly and said, “President Wilcox, you have no idea how much I wish I could believe you, but I really don’t think there is anything that can make me clean again. I am afraid that if I got baptized God would curse me for daring to enter such holy water unworthily.” We both left the interview downhearted.

Several days later she requested another meeting. In this interview she told me of a dream in which she was dressed in white ready to be baptized, but when she approached the font it was filled with white flowers instead of water. “What does it mean?” she asked. “What is God saying?”

I responded, “Perhaps this is His way of telling you to not be afraid of baptism. He wants you to be baptized so you can become as clean as those white flowers.”

Together we read the words of Jesus in 3 Nephi: “Return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you.”

She… committed to be baptized the next weekend.

No one attending [her service] realized how many years she had carried the grief, shame, and remorse that accompanied her private decision. No one else knew about her dream and why the [white flowers I brought] meant so much to her. She held them throughout the entire meeting. (The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox)

I am so grateful the Atonement lets us start over with a clean slate.

B. Enabling power

Elder David A. Bednar taught the following:

I suspect that many Church members are much more familiar with the nature of the redeeming and cleansing power of the Atonement than they are with the strengthening and enabling power…

… Most of us clearly understand that the Atonement is for sinners. I am not so sure, however, that we know and understand that the Atonement is also for saints—for good men and women who are obedient, worthy, and conscientious and who are striving to become better and serve more faithfully. We may mistakenly believe we must make the journey from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves, through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline, and with our …limited capacities.

Nephi is an example of one who knew, understood, and relied upon the enabling power of the Savior. [When the sons of Lehi were returning from Jerusalem where they enlisted Ishmael and his household in their cause, Laman and others in their party rebelled. Nephi exhorted his brethren to have faith in the Lord, but Nephi’s brothers bound him with cords and planned his destruction. Notice how Nephi prayed for deliverance]: “O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound” (1 Nephi 7:17; emphasis added).

Do you know what I likely would have prayed for if I had been tied up by my brothers? “Please get me out of this mess NOW!” It is especially interesting to me that Nephi did not pray to have his circumstances changed. Rather, he prayed for the strength to change his circumstances. And I believe he prayed in this manner precisely because he knew, understood, and had experienced the enabling power of the Atonement.

I don’t think the bands…just magically fell from his hands and wrists.] Rather, I suspect he was blessed with both persistence and personal strength beyond his natural capacity, that he then “in the strength of the Lord” (Mosiah 9:17) worked and twisted and tugged on the cords, and ultimately…was enabled to break the bands…(“The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality” by Elder David A. Bednar)

I’m so thankful the enabling power of the Atonement of Christ strengthens us to do things we could never do on our own.

C. Power Over Death and All Sorrow

Elder Robert E. Wells of the First Quorum of the Seventy lived in South America, where he worked as an international banker. Because of the great distances they had to travel, both he and his wife had pilot’s licenses and owned and operated their own planes.

On one occasion they flew from their home in Paraguay to Uruguay with some friends, where they attended the Saturday sessions of a Church conference. They planned to attend the Sunday meetings as well, but were advised of a bad weather report and decided to leave early, trying to return home ahead of the storm.

Everything was going as planned until they flew into some thick clouds and lost visual and radio contact with each other. Elder Wells flew on to the next airport where they had planned to refuel, only to be informed that his wife’s plane had crashed and neither his wife nor the two passengers had survived...

Elder Wells remembers: “…Words will forever be inadequate in expressing the pain that swelled within me, consuming my emotions and numbing my senses. Profound tears of sorrow simply wouldn’t stop flowing. To make matters worse, as my mind was attempting to deal with the devastating realization of my wife’s passing, I found myself experiencing tremendous guilt for having somehow caused the crash…”

…he berated himself for not having had the plane checked out better before they flew. He chastised himself for not giving his wife adequate instrument flying instructions. He felt he was guilty of neglect. Elder Wells continued: “That combined with the remorse and loss of two dear friends in addition to my…sweetheart became almost more than I could bear. Once the tears stopped, I simply lost my desire to continue on…

Following my wife’s funeral in the United States, and after returning to Paraguay with my three [young] children, my mind went into a dark daze. I became a walking vegetable, able to function only on a minimal level. This I did for the sake of the children and for no other reason…Everything I saw was in black and white and had no beauty to it. I simply existed---nothing more.

Then one evening, while on my knees in prayer, a miracle occurred. While praying and pleading to my Heavenly Father, I felt as though the Savior came to my side and spoke these words to my soul and to my ears: ‘Robert, my atoning sacrifice paid for your sins and your mistakes. Your wife forgives you. Your friends forgive you. I will lift your burden. Serve me, serve your family and all will go well with you.”

From that moment, the burden of guilt was amazingly lifted from me. I immediately understood the encompassing power of the Savior’s Atonement, and I now had a testimony that it applied directly to me. While I had previously felt like I could have been swallowed up to destruction, I now realized that Christ had comforted me. Just as my mind and emotions had been at the darkest level, I now experienced light and joy like I had never before known. I was filled with a new desire to serve Christ, His Church, my family, and my employer. The guilt and despair had disappeared.” (Wells, Family History by Elder Robert E. Wells)

As long as we face discouragement, injustice, abuse, disease, and hurts of every kind---even when they come as a result of unintentional mistakes and accidents---we are not alone. Just as trials are a continuous part of life, so too is the Savior’s Atonement continuous.

I’m profoundly grateful that our loved ones will live again.  I’m just as grateful that the Savior comforts us in all our sorrows and wipes away all our tears.

D. No Other Name

- Because Jesus was the one foreordained by the Father, He was the only one authorized to atone for us.

 

- Because He had an immortal Father and a mortal mother, He was the only one capable of atoning for us.

 

- Because of His completely perfect life, He was the only one qualified to atone for us.

 

- [And because of His infinite capacity to love, He wanted to atone for us.] 

“For there is none other name under heaven among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). This crucial teaching is so important that it is repeated in all four of the standard works (see Moses 6:52; Mosiah 3:17; D&C 18:23). (The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox)

Perhaps it will take a lifetime or even an eternity for us to fully understand and appreciate the ultimate gift given us by our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ when they gave us the Atonement.  In this season of gift giving it’s good to remember how much we have been given by them.

The East Conference Room

20 Aug 2012  The East Conference Room

Here is a picture of our current mission office staff in the East Conference Room of the third floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. 

For prayer meeting we meet Tuesday through Friday in this room and we sing a hymn (they wouldn’t make a bad choir), someone gives a spiritual thought (they are often excellent, really inspiring), and then someone closes with prayer.  Occasionally we have a brief announcement before we start our work day.  Prayer meeting is one of the perks of serving in the mission office (sort of like the 20^th zone of our 19 zone mission).  These people are experienced (they have been bishops and stake presidents, Relief Society, Primary, and YW presidents, temple workers and presidents, mission presidents, etc.), tried (two of the couples are second marriages because of the death of their first spouses, three of the sisters are widows, they have had children and grandchildren die, and they suffer with various illnesses and limitations – like Parkinson’s and Asperger’s), true (they are always where they are supposed to be, doing everything they are asked and more, and choose not to complain), and genuinely charitable (quick to forgive, slow to criticize and judge, anxious to bless). They may not be perfect, but they are awfully good.  Living the gospel makes people great.  See how blessed I am to serve with them?

We have a monthly staff meeting in this room.  They used to be long and rather repetitive (same problems brought up each time) and were held once a week.  Early in my mission, President Peterson and Sister Peterson were concerned that I was working too many hours and asked about my various assignments.  One of the changes they made was to go from once a week staff meetings to once a month and limit the topic of discussion to only what concerned the entire staff. Private meetings with the members of the presidency addressed matters that only concerned one or two people.  It has saved time for people to work on their own assignments and President Peterson has mentioned that making decisions has been more efficient without so many cooks to stir the pot.

Once a month (usually the first Wednesday), we all meet in this same room for a birthday lunch.  Everyone brings their lunch to eat together and the people who have a birthday that month bring the cake (or whatever dessert they want).  We enjoy it so much that we asked and were granted permission to do it every month, whether or not anyone had a birthday. 

Occasionally we have used this room to send off someone who is going home.  All the sisters brought their lunches and a dessert to honor the sisters who were being released that month.  We all liked it much better than meeting at the Church Office Building cafeteria.  It was private and quiet so we could reminisce and ask about their plans when they got home.  Of course, being sisters, someone just had to run home for a tablecloth and a centerpiece before we could have lunch.

It’s my responsibility to schedule the East Conference Room.  There are lots of other meetings held in this room: Zone and District Leader meetings, interviews with new missionaries to place them in their assignments (kind of like speed dating, they meet briefly with each member of the presidency and their wives and then move to the next couple), meetings with potential missionaries to explain the various service opportunities in our mission, and so forth.  I’ll definitely have lots of memories tied to this room.

September Spiritual Thought

Mom said, "Use this for my blog letter. This is where my thoughts are these days." I think she's got some pretty good thoughts...

Be Still My Soul hymn #124

James E. Talmage wrote “The Parable of the Unwise Bee” which I now share with you.

A wild bee from the neighboring hills once flew into the [upper room in the tower of a large building where I spent many peaceful and busy hours with books and pen]; …at intervals during an hour or more I caught the pleasing hum of its flight.  The little creature realized that it was a prisoner, yet all its efforts to find the exit through the partly opened casement failed. When ready to close up the room and leave, I threw the window wide, and tried at first to guide and then to drive the bee to liberty and safety, knowing well that if left in the room it would die as other insects there entrapped had perished in the dry atmosphere of the enclosure. The more I tried to drive it out, the more determinedly did it oppose and resist my efforts. Its erstwhile peaceful hum developed into an angry roar; its darting flight became hostile and threatening.

Then it caught me off my guard and stung my hand---the hand that would have guided it to freedom. At last it alighted on a pendant attached to the ceiling, beyond my reach of help or injury. The sharp pain of its unkind sting aroused in me rather pity than anger. I knew the inevitable penalty of its mistaken opposition and defiance; and I had to leave the creature to its fate. Three days later I returned to the room and found the dried, lifeless body of the bee on the writing table. It had paid for its stubbornness with its life.

To the bee’s short-sightedness and selfish misunderstanding I was its foe, a persistent persecutor, a mortal enemy bent on its destruction; while in truth I was its friend, offering it ransom of the life it had put in forfeit through its own error, striving to redeem it, in spite of itself, from the prison-house of death and restore it to the outer air of liberty.

Are we so much wiser than the bee that no analogy lies between its unwise course and our lives? We are prone to contend, sometimes with vehemence and anger, against the adversity which after all may be the manifestation of superior wisdom and loving care, directed against our temporary comfort for our permanent blessing. In the tribulations and sufferings of mortality there is a divine ministry which only the godless soul can wholly fail to discern. To many the loss of wealth has been a boon, a providential means of leading or driving them from the confines of selfish indulgence to the sunshine and the open, where boundless opportunity waits on effort. Disappointment, sorrow, and affliction may be the expression of an all-wise Father’s kindness.

Consider the lesson of the unwise bee!

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 2:5, 6) 

Faith in the Lord is trust in the Lord. We cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord’s will and in the Lord’s timing. As a result, no matter how strong our faith is, it cannot produce a result contrary to His will. That’s important to remember when our prayers don’t seem to be answered in the way or at the time we desire. The exercise of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is always subject to the order of heaven, to the goodness and will and wisdom and timing of the Lord.  Bette’s story illustrates this.

 

Find Her by Allan K. Burgess and Max H. Molgard

Bette had a dream about a little girl and was told in the dream to find her. She realized that this was not going to be easy, because she only saw the girl from the back. Bette recorded in her journal that she seemed to be about six or seven years old and had long, dark, wavy hair down to her waist.

Bette lived with her husband and family in Florida at the time. They already had four little children—ages six months, two, four, and five years old.  They decided to contact an adoption agency because they didn’t know any other way to find the little girl. After several months, they were accepted as worthy candidates to adopt a child.

They spent two years in Florida searching through hundreds of little faces in books of children waiting to be adopted. They didn’t feel that she was among any of them. They were then asked to transfer to San Diego, California for his job. They prayed about it and didn’t feel that it was the place their family belonged. They also turned down Mesa, Arizona, and asked for a transfer to Utah. They were told that there was only a one percent chance they would be able to move there.

They continued to pray for a move to Utah. When Bette’s husband received a call at work and was told they could transfer to Tooele, Utah, he accepted immediately. He just felt it was right for his family.

They called the adoption agency, thinking that their adoption records could be transferred to Utah. They were told that they would have to start the process of qualifying all over again. Bette was afraid that someday she would have to face Heavenly Father and tell him that she hadn’t found the child He told her about. But she didn’t really feel that He was giving her a lot of help.

Shortly after arriving in Utah, Bette discovered that she was expecting again; they decided that this would be the little girl that she had seen. September found them with a new son instead.

Then her life was filled with complications. A teenage nephew moved in with them, she was called to be the ward Young Women’s president, and a few weeks later developed a painful arthritic condition. She thought to herself that Heavenly Father would understand if she didn’t pursue finding the little girl for a while.

A few weeks later, her Young Women’s counselor called to say that a badly abused girl had been brought into the medical center the counselor worked in. She had been beaten with a two-by-four until most of her body was a seeping purple bruise. The counselor felt that she and her husband should become foster parents to the little girl. She couldn’t call her husband until that night about the girl because he was out of town for his job.

The counselor called Bette the following day a little confused and said that her husband had felt that with their other obligations they wouldn’t be able to spend the necessary time with a child that needed so much help.  The counselor couldn’t understand why she had felt so strongly about being a foster parent to the abused girl. Two days after Bette’s counselor had called, the still, small voice quit whispering and started shouting at her. The message was, “That is the little girl you’ve been looking for!”

Bette called her counselor for a description of the girl and was told that she had long, wavy, dark hair down to her waist and was about six or seven years old. Her friend said that she couldn’t tell Bette more, because she had only seen the girl from the back.

Bette called the local family services, who told her that the girl was in temporary custody and would be returned to her natural family within the month. Bette felt confused but somewhat relieved because of her other pressures.

When the girl’s situation changed and they needed someone to take her in a long-term placement situation, family services called Bette back. Because Bette worked part-time in the office next door to theirs and they had come to know her, they said they could skip the usual paper work and waiting period.

Leslie was placed in their home two days later. Family services told them that this was definitely a temporary placement and they also stressed that adoption was very unlikely.

Nevertheless, two and one-half years later Leslie was adopted by Bette and her husband and then sealed to her new family in the Salt Lake Temple.

Bette learned a great lesson from this experience. She thought Heavenly Father wasn’t helping to find Leslie, but He knew all along what had to happen.  He had to get the family transferred to Utah where Leslie was, and have Bette called as the ward Young Women’s president so she could call as her counselor the woman who worked at the medical clinic. He then had to help Bette become friends with the family services people so they would accept her as a foster mother on the spot. And He also had to guide everything that happened to allow Bette and her husband to adopt Leslie when family services said that would not happen. Now when Bette wonders if her prayers are being answered, she remembers this experience and trusts in the Lord’s loving care.

As in everything else, Jesus Christ gave us the perfect example of trust in our Father in Heaven.

In the premortal life He trusted His Father, saying, “Thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.”  The scriptures teach us that throughout His youth, He went “about [His] Father’s business” and “waited upon the Lord for the time of his ministry to come.”  In Gethsemane, He trusted His Father, declaring, “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” Through the humiliation of a public trial and the agony of crucifixion, He trusted His Father, willing to be “wounded for our transgressions … [and] bruised for our iniquities.” He trusted and carried out our Heavenly Father’s plan. The Savior, who knows our Heavenly Father better than any of us, trusts Him completely and so we should, too.

 Tests and trials are given to all of us. When health fails, when a spouse dies, when financial hardship befalls a family, when children wander from the path, or when we pray sincerely and persistently for a righteous desire and our request is not yet granted, we may question. To trust in the Lord requires faith, patience, humility, meekness, long-suffering, keeping the commandments, and enduring to the end.

It may help us to remember who our Father in Heaven is.  He is the great God of the universe, the father of us all, the most intelligent being, and the creator of all things.  Jesus said He did nothing except what He had seen His Father do. He knows all things, He sees all things, and He loves us perfectly.  It was He who presented the plan to create this beautiful earth, give us a mortal experience, and provide us with a savior so that we may someday not only have all that He has, but be all that He is.

We can trust Him.  We can trust His superior wisdom and loving care. We can trust Him enough to do what His Son has taught us to do to be happy in this life and in the world to come. I testify of this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Holy Ground

August 5, 2012

Mission Letter

This week one of our young missionaries didn’t wake up in the morning.  Elder Jesse Kingston passed away sometime in the middle of the night.  His older brother, Charlie, was also serving here in our mission.  Charlie was devastated, as you can imagine.  Their family lives in Layton, not too far for them to come be with Charlie in a short time.  In the meantime, our young missionary coordinators, Elder and Sister Brandon, and our mission president and his wife, President and Sister Peterson, were with him and with Jesse’s companion, Elder Hurd.  Our young elders are shaken, as you can imagine.  It was particularly unexpected for everyone in the mission to lose one so young.

This all happened Friday, the 5^th of August, on my son-in-law’s birthday.  I was leaving after work to spend the weekend with the Hardins so I have not heard the final plans, but on Friday there was a discussion about a possible meeting Sunday night for all the young elders to comfort them and strengthen them and answer their questions.  They were also considering allowing the young missionaries to attend Jesse’s funeral.  The Salt Lake Temple has been closed for maintenance and the missionaries have been traveling in mission vans to various other temples while it is closed.  They will employ the same system to get all the young men that want to be there to the funeral.  I think it will be a large number (we have about 70).  It was very touching all day Friday to see the young elders embrace and sometimes shed tears when they met.  They are a close group, kind of like a small branch where everyone knows everyone.

I have not worried about Elder Jesse Kinston.  As his mother said when she arrived, what better place for him to be when he was called home to his Heavenly Father than here serving his mission?  He was happy here and enjoying success in serving. We know he is in a wonderful place, excited about all he is seeing and learning.  It is his brother and the rest of his family I feel so much empathy for.  There is no way to lose someone you love without pain.  However, I know they will draw strength and comfort from their belief that he lives on, that he is happy, and that they will be with him again someday, never to be parted from him again. And nothing comforts like the Comforter.  This I know.

Charlie was finishing his mission in August anyway and going to be released at the end of the month.  He and President Peterson talked it over and decided he would leave with his mother and help her with the funeral.  I spoke to a man from their ward (on the phone) who said they had another brother on a mission out of the country.  They were trying to work out how to reach him and let him know about Jesse. 

As sad as all of this has been, I have felt once again that I walk on holy ground here.  There is so much brotherly love and kindness between the young missionaries and between their leaders and them.  The gospel of Jesus Christ makes good men and women better.  It is evidence to me that the gospel is good and therefore true.

Visitors Are Welcome!

Mission Letter June2012

One of the unique blessings of the Family and Church History Headquarters Mission for senior missionaries is that I can have visitors.

My first visitor was Chrysta, who helped me move up here and cart all my stuff up three flights of stairs to my apartment. I already posted that story with pictures.

My next visitor was Shana who used her spring break to come up with her roommate, Zana, for a visit. That has also been posted with a few pictures.

Jonny and Chrysta flew up and spent a couple of nights. They visited old missionary companions, girlfriends turned moms and their new babies, and me. They went to church with me on Sunday and we toured temple square and the Salt Lake City Cemetery. I’ll post a picture I have of them in front of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building where I serve. I know we took more pictures, but I don’t know where I stashed them.

Mark and Lisa’s family moved to North Ogden and became my fourth wave of visitors. I got to help them move into their new home, see their new ward, and they came and visited me in my apartment. I’m posting a few pictures of moving day. I didn’t pull out the camera until the end of an exhausting day.

Last Sunday, Lori, Brogan, Kimbrie, Makenna, Hayden, and Brynlee spent Sunday with me. They came to Utah to bring Kaitlyn to BYU to start school and take Brogan to basketball camp. We took the tour of the Conference Center and spent quite a bit of time at the Church History Museum.

Thursday they picked Brad and Tanner up at the airport to start their family vacation and surprised me in the mission office. That was such a fun surprise. I left a little early from work and we went across the street to City Creek to see the mall.

Saturday we met the Hardins at This Is the Place Heritage Park. I’m including pictures from our day at Heritage Park. That was a great place to hang out with family. Friday all the Nallys except Trevor (we’ll excuse him since he is serving a mission)came back and we all went to dinner at the Roof Restaurant on the tenth floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Then we went to the Salt Lake City Cemetery to see all the famous people buried there. Lori, Kaitlyn, and I found it interesting but I think we lost the rest of them after we saw President and Sister Hinckley’s burial site. Still, I enjoyed seeing all of them very much and really appreciate the time they took from vacationing to come visit me.

Jeff, Melanie, and all their kids came next. They were only here half a day on July 6th, and yet we managed to fit quite a bit in. They came to the mission office, toured the Conference Center, the Church History Museum, and City Creek Mall. We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

Chrysta and Jonny came back the 8th and we met Kaitlyn at the Hardin’s Sacrament Meeting. Jeff and Melanie and kids came over from her mom’s to hear Mark and Lisa speak in church, too. Then we went across the street to Hardin’s afterward.

Yesterday, Mary Jane and two of her friends met me at the Deseret Bookstore so we could spend the afternoon visiting Temple Square and City Creek Mall. She came up for the wedding of a friend. We see each other about once every ten years.

Today, July the 15th, Kaitlyn and Tanner are coming to dinner after church. Kaitlyn is picking Tanner up at the airport to spend a few days at a BYU sports camp.


July 17th Brother and Sister Montgomery are meeting me at my office to go to lunch while they are in town. They were my home teachers in Surprise.
 

This mission is a great place to attract visitors! It really is perfect for single sister missionaries. I think I might have Mary Jane sold on the idea of coming back here for a mission some day.

I love my family and I enjoyed their visits so much. I look forward to seeing more of you and repeat visitors are always welcome!