First Chrismas (In the Mission Field)

Each Christmas Eve the California San Jose Mission had a mission wide Christmas Conference -- every missionary in the mission gathered at Cherry Chapel, the LDS meetinghouse on Cherry Avenue in San Jose.  Each zone would perform a skit or a musical number.  The Christmas Conference in 1988, when I had been out about a year, was my first.

My zone sang Far, Far Away on Judea’s Plains and I Stand All Amazed in Spanish.  The zone leaders of the Eastside San Jose Zone were Span Ams (Spanish speaking elders) and according to at least one of them, I Stand All Amazed is tons better in Spanish.

After each the performances of each zone, we broke for lunch.  My trainer, and an elder who was with us in my first apartment, came and sat with me and my current companion.  My trainer and I had not gotten along very well when we were together, but a few weeks before Christmas he sent me a card in which he thanked me for what he learned from our time together.  That Christmas Eve at lunch we had a nice conversation; I couldn't get over how friendly he was being.  Meanwhile, as part of reaching for a goal I had set to become more outgoing, I tried to take advantage of the opportunity to make conversation.

After lunch we had a surprise speaker, President Howard W. Hunter, who had some family in the area.  President Hunter had an informal, friendly chat with us about some of the neat things that are going on in the church.  For example, while the church did not have official recognition in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), some citizens in that country had found a priesthood leadership manuel and some other church materials and wanted to organize a branch inside the country.  Because the church was not recognized by the government, they could not baptize these people or organize a branch, but the church was looking for ways to help these individuals without breaking they laws of Myanmar.

After his remarks, those of us who wished to lined up to shake his hand.  When I shook his hand I had the feeling that he would be the next president of the church.  At the time, President Hunter was in a wheelchair due to some health issues he was experiencing; at recent General Conferences he gave his addresses while sitting down.  Some of my fellow missionaries were not sure when I told them of the impression I had recieved.  Nonetheless, a few years after I came home from my mission, President Hunter did become president of the church.  While he was the president only a short time, his example and teachings were endearing to many.  President Hunter would pass away not long after the dedication of a temple in my hometown, Bountiful, Utah.

The Christmas Conference was an opportunity to talk to missionaries I had not seen in awhile, from old companions and apartment mates, to some elders who were with me in the MTC.  After the conference, my companion and I went to a dinner appointment with a family in the ward we were assigned to.  After dinner we play Pictionary with the two older daughters who slaughtered us . . . seriously, it was not pretty.

The next morning, Sunday and Christmas Day, we went a combined Sacrament Meeting for three wards.  After the meeting we stopped by the home of the ward mission leader and watched his family open their presents; they found a few candy bars to give to us as presents.  Then it was off to lunch with another member family.  After eating we played another game, Whatzit, where you try to guess names or phrases from jumbled up images.  I had a difficult time with this game because it helps to talk it out as you try to guess, and I'm just not that verbal.  Otherwise, a fun time was had by all.  After dinner that night, with yet another member family, we stopped by the bishop's home on our way back to our apartment.

All in all, it was a good Christmas.

How Deep is Our Commitment to the Gospel?

In the Book of Mormon we read about a dream which was had by the prophet Lehi, in which he partook of the fruit of the tree which represented the love of God.  In his dream, Lehi saw "numberless concourses of people" following the path to the tree only to wander off and lose their way when a mist of darkness arose.  A second group of people was more fortunate as there was a rod of iron next to the path, which the people did cling to as they pressed forward through the darkness.  These people were able to reach the tree and partake of the fruit, but then things went wrong for them; "they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed."  Why did they do this?

In his dream, Lehi saw a "great and spacious building" in which there were people who "were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come . . . and were partaking of the fruit."  The people of the second group then "fell away into forbidden paths and were lost."  They had partaken of the fruit, "which was most desirable of all other fruit", yet they were unable, or unwilling, to "endure to the end."

Lehi then saw a third group which not only reached the tree successfully, but which also did not fall away after partaking of the fruit.  These people had pressed "forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree."  Elder Kevin S. Hamilton of the Seventy said in the October 2013 General Conference of the LDS Church that "The rod of iron represented for this group of people the only safety and security that they could find, and they held fast continually; they refused to let go, even for something as simple as a Sunday afternoon ride in the country."

Elder Hamilton then quoted Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve in regard to this third group: "The key phrase in this verse is 'continually holding fast' to the rod of iron. . . .  Perhaps this third group of people consistently read and studied and searched the words of Christ. . . .  This is the group you and I should strive to join."

In the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we can find stories similar to the experiences of the second and third groups in Lehi's dream.  Some such stories occurred during the Kirtland period of the church where the saints experienced difficulties in building up the Kingdom of God and then enjoyed the Pentecostal experience at the dedication of the Kirtland temple, only to have some then wander off in forbidden paths.  Others went through the same experiences, but remained faithful through the trials that followed in Missouri and Illinois.

I have written before about my great great great grandfather Frederick G. Williams, who joined the church in Kirtland, Ohio, and traveled with Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer Jr., Parley P. Pratt and Ziba Peterson on their mission to the native Americans living in the Indian territories (http://thewholemissionary.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-mission-to-lamanites-and-conversion.html).  Williams was later called to be the second counselor in the First Presidency, he donated land to the church for the construction of buildings to further the work of kingdom, and he saw an angel at the dedication of the Kirtland temple -- the angel was also identified as the Savior.  But there were also trials; there were disagreements regarding his role as a justice of the peace, an argument with the prophet Joseph Smith regarding business affairs of the Kirtland Safety Society, and his daughter married a man who would be less than faithful to the church.

Despite the trials, it could be said that President Williams had success, prominence and spritual fulfillment in Kirtland.  When he left Kirtland, he would lose almost everything.  At a conference in Missouri, members refused to sustain him as second counselor in the First Presidency and he lost this position.  An invalid son, whose healing had been promised if he and his wife remained faithful, passed away.  His son-in-law became involved with other members turning against the church and collaborating with its enemies. Finally, Williams would be excommunicated from the church as the saints departed for Illinois.

A descendant of Frederick G Williams would speculate that he suffered guilt by association as he tried to mediate with his son-in-law and others who were turning against the church, trying to persuade them to return to the fold.  Additionally, Williams was absent when the saints were making the trek to Illinois, and many who were absent at that time were excommunicated.  Williams may, however, have been absent because of his work in settling an estate belonging to a member of the church, for which he spent three days in court in Far West in March 1839.  The business of settling the estate allowed Williams to visit Joseph Smith who was then in Liberty Jail.  In later years, Brigham Young appeared to admit a mistake had been made when he would teasingly ask Frederick's wife Rebecca if she had forgiven him yet.

It is certainly possible that Williams had committed an offense worthy of being excommunicated, but no documentation can be found regarding what that offense might have been.  Even so, when Joseph Smith arrived in Illinois, he counseled Frederick G. Williams to submit himself before the church and ask for forgiveness.  Williams did so in April 1840, and was received back into the fellowship of the church.  There may have been some hard feelings, however, as Dr. Williams chose to set up his practice in the town of Quincy, rather than in Nauvoo.  Still, Williams remained faithful until his death in October 1842, at the age of fifty-four.

Frederick's wife, Rebecca, and his son, Ezra, would cross the plains to settle in the valley of the Great Salt Lake.  Ezra Williams would establish the first hospital west of the Mississipi in 1852, when the Williamses converted their spacious two-story, seven room adobe home, which stood at 44 East North Temple in Salt Lake City.

Despite everything he had lost, despite the difficulties he had experienced, Frederick G. Williams remained faithful to the end.  Whatever disagreements he may have had, even emotional scars, what mattered to him was that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon was the word of God.  His commitment to the gospel was deep enough that he died full in the faith.

Will we be able to say the same thing?  We live in a world, it seems, where personal attacks are okay, but standing up for your beliefs is not.  In the church, "he said/she said" disagreements or other actions by imperfect people drive others from the church because they are offended.  Others, despite such wounds, choose to remain faithful, to continue holding fast to the rod of iron.  What will we do?  How deep is our commitment?


Sources:

Williams, F. G. (2012). The Life of Dr. Frederick G. Williams: Counselor to the Prophet Joseph Smith. Provo, Utah: BYU Studies.

Hamilton, K. S. (2013). "Continually Holding Fast. Ensign, vol. 43 (11).
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/continually-holding-fast

Not For Sale

"What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

This was the rousing finish to the now famous speech given by Patrick Henry in St. John's Church, Richmond, Virginia, on March 23, 1775.  Henry was speaking to men who hoped to avoid war between the colonies and Great Britain.  "Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace, but there is no peace," Henry declared. "The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms!"  He was very nearly right, for in less than 30 days the "shot heard round the world" was fired at Lexington in Massachusetts.

A few thousand years ealier, a prophet of God explained that we have the ability to choose between liberty and death:

"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man.  And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself" (2 Nephi 2:27).

Few, if any, would consciously choose captivity and death, but we often face choices that could lead us into captivity.  We may even think we are choosing liberty, when in fact we are choosing the opposite.  Another prophet has warned us that we may be flattered or lulled into choosing captivity instead of liberty.

"For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.  And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well -- and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.  And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none -- and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance" (2 Nephi 28:20-22).

Patrick Henry's words may echo, "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?"  Is anything we may find desirable worth such a price?

For McKay Christensen, the answer was no.  Mckay expected to attend college, serve a mission, and work for his family's business, but all that changed during his senior year.  On the baseball diamond he found unexpected success, batting .500 and stealing 62 bases in 62 attempts.  He was named to the all-American team and was rated among the three or four best athletes in the baseball draft.

When Mckay told the scouts that he wanted to serve an LDS mission, they told him that he would be among the first few players chosen in the draft and at least one team then offered him a million dollar signing bonus to skip his mission.  McKay Christensen answered by saying "My mission is not for sale."  Most major league teams turned their attention elsewhere, but the California Angels took Mckay with the sixth pick and offered him a two year break in which to serve his mission.

While he was serving his mission in Japan, the Angels traded Mckay.  After returning home, the once hot prospect would play for three different major league teams over four seasons.  As the Lord said in 1 Samuel 2:30, "for them that honor me I will honor."

Most of us will not have an opportunity as great as playing a major league sport.  But there will be other challenges and temptations.  Some may have a hard time leaving their girl behind to serve a mission.  Others may settle for a less than honorable person in order to avoid a life of loneliness.  We would do well to remember what Patrick Henry and McKay Christensen said about the choices they faced.


Sources:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/600159905/Closer-to-home-Christensen-hangs-up-cleats-joins-family-business.html?pg=all

http://www.history.org/almanack/life/politics/giveme.cfm