The Three-Word Promise

During my morning reading session, I came across a striking phrase in Helaman in the Book of Mormon. As I reflected on it, I realized how significant they are.

Three simple words. If my grammar is correct, it’s a pronoun and two verbs. They hold out an eternal promise to the entire human race. And they place in the lap of all of Adam and Eve’s children the responsibility for their own future.

May they be of some comfort and encouragement for all of us.

    Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked—

So many things get in the way. So many intellectual philosophies muddy the water. But there it is, plain and simple. The secret to happiness, in three simple words.

Lehi and Jeremiah

    Yesterday was the mid-point of our term as missionaries. Hard to believe it’s gone this fast. For the past two and a half months, we have had a temporary assignment in the mission office in order to bridge the gap between two sets of office specialist missionaries. So that chunk represents a good third of our mission so far.

    We have enjoyed our time there. We have enjoyed getting to know the people there. But it is now time to resume our normal missionary labors. And as we face that prospect, I find myself thinking about Lehi and Jeremiah.

    Both of these men were prophets. Both lived at Jerusalem at the same time. Both were pleading with their fellow citizens to repent in order to avoid destruction. Both loved the Lord. Both ended up making significant sacrifices to follow their prophetic calling.

    However, their settings were quite different. Although Jeremiah remained in Jerusalem, Lehi and his family were called to begin a severe wilderness experience. Did they meet and discuss this change in their mission assignment? Would Jeremiah have been tempted to beg Lehi to take him with them on their exit from Jerusalem? Did he refrain from doing so on the basis of his understanding of the finely designed nature of missions?

    Neither experience was a picnic. Both men suffered for their callings. I found myself contemplating the change from structure to innovation as this transition back to a “regular” mission commences.

    And yet who’s to say where the greatest blessings were? It was from the wilderness that we received Lehi’s magnificent dream (in which Lehi did a double journey...a trip through a visionary wilderness in the middle of a real one). The miraculous Liahona was given to alleviate some of the directional challenges of the voyagers. The women were made physically equal to their circumstances. Some in the party crumbled under those same circumstances, including Lehi and Sariah temporarily.

    All who went provided a saga worthy of the most epic movie (which paradoxically has so far been beyond the realm of the film producers). All who followed them in the story taught us of the subsequent generations lessons of which they may have been totally unaware, but lessons which strengthen us in our own individual wildernesses.

    So goodbye, Jerusalem! Goodbye regular routines and easy contributions. Goodbye days automatically filled with things to do. Goodbye friends who have also taught us impressive lessons as we worked side by side.

    Hello again to our beloved, struggling, heroic, challenged friends in the ward. We’re glad to be back, even if it is the wilderness again!

End-of-day rejoicings

As we near the end of this phase of our mission (in the future, we'll probably refer to it as our "office time"), we are struck with Heavenly Father's precise timing in arranging the affairs of His children on the earth.

We ended up in the office because there was going to be a gap between the last office specialist senior missionaries' departure and the arrival of their replacements about three weeks later. So we were asked to come and fill in, which meant learning the office procedures as best we could in about a month and then transferring what we had learned to the new office specialists.

Elder Quillon learned how to administer the vehicle coordination portion of the process while I learned the secretarial aspects. Despite his initial misgivings, Elder Quillon became a very effective "Car Czar," knowing how to answer those phone calls which scared us every time they arrived. We prayed fervently that the missionaries would be protected, and for the most part our prayers were answered.

We had good teachers. Elder and Sister Clark worked diligently to get us ready. The other office staff members include Elder and Sister Jones (full-time seniors who will be going home to Idaho in mid-November), Elder Bingham, Elder Coleman, and Elder Quiton (service missionaries. Now the Hadlocks have come with their own set of special gifts and talents. But Sister Hadlock made an observation today during the office meeting that she never fathomed the work that went into supporting the work of the mission.

And I think that is what I am rejoicing over tonight. We've had a chance to see the mission field from the perspective of senior MLS (Member and Leader Support) missionaries working to serve the members of our ward. And now we've also gotten a taste of the office role, which gives us an additional appreciation and has allowed us to better acquainted with our Mission President and his wife and the other truly great people who serve in different capacities.

Before we came, I was told I would have reasons to rejoice. Tonight, I am rejoicing over this newest evidence of our Heavenly Father's tender mercies through the assignments we have received.

Late summer in Tacoma

A few photos for you to enjoy. Funny, looking at the first ones, I realize how much the seasons have advanced. We have occasional "sun breaks" now, but the sky is generally overcast and often drippy. It's OK, though. Things change and there is something to be enjoyed about each. (Hope I can still say that in the middle of December and January!)

I'm not sure we've ever lived in an area where there are more vintage car enthusiasts. This one actually doesn't qualify as a "vintage" type, but we thought it was quite whimsical and merited a closer look.

One morning on my walk around the parking lot, I noticed these drippy ferns. Had Anna been here with her talent and equipment, I'm sure they would have been much more spectacular.

There seem to have been a lot of striking sunsets lately. Just wanted you to know that we have our share!

Rethinking missionary work

Just had an opportunity to write a message home to a friend who has to teach a lesson on missionary work this Sunday. That was really fun! Hope it will be for her as well...and helpful also.

All alone in the office!

Our first day basically on our own (although there were a couple of calls to the Clarks to ask those questions I probably should have known the answers to had I been paying total attention during the training). But it was a 12.75-hour day, beginning at 7:45 and ending at 8:30 after we delivered two suitcases to the Elders in Stadium 1 Ward who hadn't had room to take them during the transfer. I felt like water was constantly being poured over my head as more and more things to do kept coming in. Nevertheless, I persisted in breathing and survived (even though I didn't get lunch because my companion was so late getting back from the car sale transaction in Bellevue).

We then went to the Ward Council meeting and enjoyed being back with our friends in the Wapato Park Ward. One of the Office Elders has been put out to pasture in our ward, and he's going to do a great job. However, we are missing one of our adopted Elders who got transferred up north. And so goes the mission. The Clarks drive away tomorrow morning. Thank goodness for cell phones!!!

Better get to bed since tomorrow will be starting off about the same time today did. New missionary training (for Elder Quillon) for half the day. And I'm going to see if I can't finish up the jobs in the "In Box" on my desk!

One rather desperate note to the day...the replacement couple is going to arrive later than we were thinking they were. In the famous words of one of Elder Quillon's sisters-in-law, "Hurry back and save us all!"

September 20

As we sat with our friend in a local McDonald's celebrating what has become a typical Friday night together, I realized what good friends we had become and how much we enjoyed spending time with him. Even better tonight was the opportunity to share some gospel thoughts with him. Our conversation usually centers around his work and his very unappreciative boss. My companion is definitely right. It's so important to let people know how much you care about them.