"For In His Strength I Can Do All Things"

One of my favorite stories in the Book of Mormon is the mission of the sons of Mosiah to the Lamanites; its also a good story to read when we feel discouraged.  The sons of Mosiah were going around with Alma the Younger, persecuting members of the church when an angel appeared and commanded them to repent.  After repenting, the sons of Mosiah wanted to bring others to the knowledge of God, but they didn't just pick any people to go preach the gospel to, they decided to go preach the gospel to the Lamanites.

"And do you remember, my brethren," Ammon would later say, "that we said unto our brethren in the land of Zarahemla, we go up to the land of Nephi, to preach unto our brethren, the Lamanites, and they laughed us to scorn?"

Ammon went on to say, "For they said unto us: Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as stiffnecked a people as they are; whose hearts delight in the shedding of blood; whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity; whose ways have been the ways of a transgressor from the beginning?"  (See Alma 26:23-24).

In fact, their brethren in Zarahemla suggested that, instead of going on a mission to preach the gospel to the Lamanites, that they should instead take up arms to destroy the Lamanites.  "But behold, my beloved brethren," said Ammon, "we came into the wilderness not with the intent to destroy our brethren, but with the intent that perhaps we might save some few of their souls." (See: Alma 26:25-26).

The sons of Mosiah went on their mission, but before even arriving in the Land of Nephi, they became discouraged, and they were even about the turn back; the trip through the wilderness was difficult, they didn't have much food, and the task ahead was daunting.  "Behold," said Ammon, "the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst they brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." (See: Alma 26:27).

With the Lord's promise, they continued on, reached the Land of Nephi, and separated from each other to preach to as many different Lamanites as possible.  To jump ahead in the story, the Lord kept his promise, and thousands upon thousands of Lamanites were converted.  "Behold," said Ammon, "the field was ripe, and blessed are ye for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves!" (Alma 26:5).

Ammon's brother Aaron became concerned that he was boasting in his own strength, but Ammon replied, "I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things." (See: Alma 26:11-12).

Several hundred years earlier, on the other side of an ocean, Nephi and his brothers labored to build a ship, but only after Laman and Lemuel had first rebelled.  They laughed at their brother and said that he could not build a ship.  Nephi told them that "If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them, If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I say it, it would be done; And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?" (See: 1 Nephi 17:50-51).

Lamen and Lemuel, it seemed, had short memories when it came to miracles.  They saw an angel outside of Jerusalem when they had been sent back to get the Brass Plates; they had witnessed their brother breaking free from the cords with which they had bound him; these and other amazing events did they forget.  Before they had bound Nephi with cords, their brother had said to them, "Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him?  Wherefore, let us be faithful to him." (1 Nephi 7:12).

I have been wondering recently if we really believe that God will do all things for his children.  I am sure that we believe he has the power to do all things, at least, we say we do.  But will he really help us?  Nephi does give an important caveat when he says "according to his will," but, if it is according to his will, do we really believe that he will help us do the impossible?

At the April 2014 General Conference of the LDS Church, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf recalled the story of Rip Van Winkle who, as a result of a 20-year nap, had slept through the American Revolution (or War for Independence).  President Uchtdorf then asked, "are you sleeping through the Restoration?"

President Uchtdorf explained, "Sometimes we think of the Restoration of the gospel as something that is complete, already behind us -- Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, he received priesthood keys, the Church was organized. In reality, the Restoration is an ongoing process; we are living in it right now. It includes 'all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal,' and the 'many great and important things' that 'He will yet reveal.'  Brethren, the exciting developments of today are part of that long-foretold period of preparation that will culminate in the glorious Second Coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  This is one of the most remarkable periods of the world’s history! Ancient prophets yearned to see our day."

 We believe in miracles, but perhaps we believe they mostly happen to other people, or mostly happened in earlier times, like the 19th century.  The prophet Mormon asked "Have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven, and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men. . . .  And because he hath done this, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased?"  Mormon then gave us the answer, "Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men."  Finally, Mormon gave us this warning, "It is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain." (See: Moroni &: 27, 30 & 37).

If we wonder why there seem to be fewer miracles these days it is likely because of a lack of faith on our part.  The work of the Restoration, begun in 1820, has not been completed, there is still work to be done and we are called to participate in that work, either as full time missionaries or as member missionaries, or as teachers, or as priesthood holders.  "The Standard of truth has been erected," and it is still standing, "no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing," and it is still progressing.

As President Uchtdorf said in April 2014, "I testify that the cleansing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the transformative power of the Holy Ghost can heal and rescue mankind. It is our privilege, our sacred duty, and our joy to heed the Savior’s call to follow Him with a willing mind and full purpose of heart. Let us 'shake off the chains with which [we] are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust.'”

Let us humble ourselves before God and exercise faith in him; let us acknowledge our weaknesses before him; let us repent and seek to do his will; then may His grace, which is sufficient for all, make weak things become strong, even help us to do those things He has asked us to do, even the daunting tasks.  This is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Uchtdorf, D. F. (2014) "Are You Sleeping through the Restoration?" Ensign, May 2014, accessed at https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/are-you-sleeping-through-the-restoration?lang=eng on August 28, 2014.

Week 5: Getting in the Door

February 17, 1988

I got in my first door last Friday and placed a Book of Mormon.  It was my door and after giving my approach, he asked how long it would take.  I said 10 minutes and he invited us in.  We told him about the Book of Mormon and asked him if he would read it.  He said yes.  I was so psyched after that.

On Monday we got in my second door.  It was my door again, but nothing I said got us in.  It was a Chinese gentleman in his fifties; he let us in after we identified ourselves.  He is over here from Shanghai, going to Stanford.  He is a doctor and he leaves to return to China in three months.  We are going to take him a Chinese copy of the Book of Mormon on Sunday.  We'll probably take Br. Gong, a ward member from China with us.

We had a zone activity today; we went up into the hills behind Portola Valley to a place called Rolling Hills.  From there we could see the blue of the Pacific Ocean to the west, and much of the Bay Area to the east, from San Jose all the way up to San Francisco.  We had a picnic and then a few of us played some touch football., it was a blast.

This zone is the greatest, not to mention the smallest.  It is really just a super district as there are only 14 of us.

I've had a couple of DAs since I got here, so my diet isn't suffering too badly.  The trouble is, I don't know what kind of food to buy.  Breakfast and lunch are okay, but I am lost when it comes to dinner.

Well, that is about all the exciting stuff happening in Palo Alto.  All the kids in our apartment complex think we are Stanford students.

So, send me some mail and raise my moral.  What's up at home?

Love
Douglas

Figuring out what to eat was a challenge early in my mission.  That was one area in which I was not prepared (see: http://thewholemissionary.blogspot.com/2012/10/temporal-tuesday-what-can-i-eat.html).

My standard door approach during my mission went something like this:

"Hi, my name is Elder Cox, and this is my companion, Elder so-and-so.  We are representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and we have a message about Jesus Christ that we would like to share with you."

A Real Life Letter Writer

The movie The Letter Writer, one of those independent LDS market movies, was released in 2011.  The synopsis at IMDB says "When a teenager receives a mysterious letter in the mail, she sets out to find the author. It's a journey that will change her life forever."  First she learns that an older gentleman, who is good at writing, writes a number of letters and notes which he sends and gives to people that need help.  The teenager is soon enlisted in helping the old man in passing out the notes.  Its a good story with, no surprise, a happy ending.

On Monday night, at the end of a difficult day, my wife was riding the bus home from work when a young lady approached her and gave her a note:

Beautiful Lady,

We all have bad days.  The fact you are still alive makes you stronger than you think.

Just because we have bad days, doesn't make us weak.  It's okay to cry sometimes. :)

You are a gorgeous woman and shouldn't ever let anyone or anything bring you down.

Keep your head up and smile, even on rough days.

You are loved.  Never forget that.

Wow!  And I certainly have to agree with the gorgeous part.  I did obey coat rule on my mission, after all.

I have written before about how small and simple acts of kindness can make a big difference, and here is another example of the phenomenon.  We all have talents, and we can use those talents to uplift others.  The teenager in the movie finds that her talent is in music.

I have some writing talent, to which I hope this blog can attest, which I inherited from my mother.  I also have a talent in photography.

 

 

What is your talent, and how can you use it to uplift others?

Life Without Adversity Means Nothing

Life without adversity means nothing, because without adversity there would be no purpose to life. It has taken me a long time to learn that. Our view of life tends to be shortsighted; we want what we think is right for us today and give little thought to the consequences.  I feel that I was given a great gift by going through all that pain. It taught me a lot about life and how to live it. One cannot expect it to be easy and never painful. Yet all of us do at one time or another.

Countless times it has been explained to me that the reason we get depressed is because we want to be. We should always try to look for the good in everything. There is always good in something and everything; most of us, however, are too scared to look for it.

I believe that everything that happens does so for a certain reason. We may not always be able to see it and, therefore, we find ourselves depressed. Although we cannot always find the good that does not mean it is not there. We must believe that there is good and therefore be happy.  I am making it a goal to search out the good in what problems I experience. Often the reason is right under our nose, but we cannot see it because we are depressed.

For a long time I was not able to see any good in my being unpopular. I was depressed as cause and by result. I would always say, “Who does my being unpopular benefit? Not so-and-so, certainly not her, and definitely not him. No one is better off because of my suffering.” What I could not see was that I was the one benefiting from my life as an outcast. I learned so much because of it, not least that I should not hurt people they way I was being hurt. I feel that today I am a far better person for the adversity I experienced. We all must realize that we are the beneficiaries of our own suffering and not anyone else.

The above is from a journal entry I wrote on January 4, 1986, during my junior year in high school.  I wrote it during a particularly difficult period of time.  I had just asked a girl I really liked to the junior prom and was sweating out her answer; at the same time, I was experiencing a whirlwind of emotions over another girl, whom I had taken to the prom the year before.  I was torn between the one girl and hope for the future and the other girl and the past which I could not seem to forget.

Yet while within that storm of emotion, I stumbled upon a few of the great truths of life: that without adversity, life has no meaning, and that we are the beneficiaries of that adversity.  Looking back I am more than a little surprised that I had come to such a realization while still in high school; from the vantage point of a few decades, it appears sometimes that many people struggle to learn these lessons even in adulthood.  I don't say that to brag, because at the time (high school) I probably thought these were truths that most others had already learned and that I was the one who was late to the party.

Of course, as humans, we have a tendency to forget lessons we have already learned.  Over the next few years, as I finished high school and served a mission, I had to be reminded of these lessons more than once.  Because I was human, I still had weaknesses that I struggled with, and those struggles often led to discouragement that robbed me of the peace I should have had with the knowledge that adversity had made me a better person.

As I have written before, the girl I had asked to the prom that year first said yes, but then changed her mind.  I also tried to be friends with the other girl, only to find that to be challenging enough (see: Waiting Until After Your Mission).  I made a lot of new friends my junior in high school, and at first I was happy to bask in the light of these new acquaintances, but sooner or later I felt the need for more.  I always wanted to be with my friends but often when I was around them, because of my quiet personality, I had little to say.

The theme of our senior year was "no man is an island," yet, ironically, I sometimes felt separated from my friends by the coral reef that was my quiet personality.  One day I was feeling down and called a friend to talk, only to find that I did not have the words to describe how I was feeling, and my friend ended up doing all the talking.  On another day, when I was again feeling down, this friend asked me how I was; I wanted so desperately to tell this friend how lonely I was, but I said instead that I was doing fine.

That high school theme, "no man is an island," is nonetheless true.  We are social animals that need to associate with other people; we need the positive regard of others.  While everything might happen for a reason, sometimes that reason is that others are weak and make mistakes.  I know I was weak then, and that I made mistakes; I know that I am still weak, and that I still make mistakes, all these years later.  Because I was weak, I sometimes expected too much from my friends, yet, at other times, I doubted that I had a right to have any expectations at all.

Occasionally, a few decades after the fact, I get indications that I really didn't know what others were going through in high school.  I am reminded of the old television series Hogan's Heroes and the character Sergeant Schultz.  We are all like Sgt. Shultz, we know nothing . . . nothing! Everybody is dealing with something. Everybody is weak. Everybody makes mistakes. Generally speaking, nobody is better or worse than anyone else. We are all children of God, and as such, we all have value.

There are many self help books out there that tell us we need to be strong and confident, and as a result we may get the idea that admitting weakness is a bad thing.  We may also find it difficult to allow that others might be weak.

Yet, as the Lord told Moroni, God gives us weaknesses that we may be humble, and that if we humble ourselves and exercise faith, then His grace is sufficient to turn our weaknesses into strengths (see Ether 12:27).  It may seem counter intuitive in today's competitive world, but great things can happen when we acknowledge our weaknesses to God (see: "Because In My Weakness, God Made Me Strong." & His Grace is Sufficient).

Week 4: To Be Like Thee!

February 10, 1988

Dear Mom, Dad & Family,

I made it to California okay.  I love my mission president, he is so cool.

Before my group got off the plane, we all switched name tags; I was wearing Elder November's tag and was the first to meet President Douglas.  He called each of us by the names on the tags we were wearing, until he got to a Hispanic elder wearing a tag with name of Juliett on it.

"That can't be right," he said, and then he proceeded to match, from memory, our faces with the pictures we had all mailed to the mission office before we entered the MTC -- "You're elder Juliett, you're Elder November and you must be Elder Cox."  And then he laughed this great and wonderful laugh, and I knew right then that I was going to love my mission president.

From the airport we went to the mission office for a quick tour, then over to the mission home for a nap, lunch, orientation, interviews with President Douglas, more orientation, dinner, a testimony meeting and then a good night's sleep.  After breakfast the next morning, we had some more orientation before meeting our trainers and heading off to our respective areas.

At the testimony meeting, I picked up another new favorite hymn, "With Humble Heart."  I was particularly struck by the end of the second verse and the beginning of the third.

Help me remember, I implore
Thou gav'st thy life on Calvary,
That I might live forevermore
And grow, dear Lord, to be like thee.

To be like thee! I lift my eyes,
From earth below toward heaven above,
That I may learn from vaulted skies
How I my worthiness can prove.

Too be like the Savior!  To think that as I serve Him here in California that I can grow to be like Him.  Wow!

In any case, we arrived in my first area, bought a bike, some food and some bed sheets, and moved in.  So, I bet you are wondering where I am.  I live in a four-man flat with my trainer, Elder Golf, our district leader Elder Fox and his companion Elder Lima.  Elder Golf is from Kingman, Arizona -- my second comp in a row from Arizona -- Elder Fox is from Calgary, Canada, and Elder Lima is from, get this, Bountiful!  Grounds and I are on bikes, but the good thing about our area is that it is flat.

So, where am I?  One thing out here that is interesting is that P-day is on Wednesday, which is why it took so long for me to write this letter.

On Saturday we went to a stake baptism and then to a dinner appointment with the family in our ward who the baptism was for.  On Sunday our ward mission leader gave us a ride to church -- the chapel is at the far end of our area -- and his wife invited us to dinner afterward -- she also invited a neighbor to dinner.

My comp was sick on Monday and Tuesday.  I read the entire book of Luke on Tuesday, which was great.

We played basketball this morning, and I didn't do too bad.  Later we did some sightseeing around town.  Even on P-day, when we are out and about town, we have to dress in our suits and ties.

Getting back to last week, on Friday we went tracting.  We didn't get in any doors, but there were a few door approaches where I thought I did a good job.  More tracting on Saturday, but this time it was different.  On each of the doors when it was my turn to give the approach, I barely got one word out before the man or woman of the house cut me off.  Still, not one of them slammed the door in our faces; Californians, it seems, are just too polite to do that.

On Monday, we started out on our bikes, but my comp's pace was slower than usual -- I had no trouble keeping up with him that morning, which was definitely unusual.  My comp led us in a short loop that took us right back to the flat.

Oh, by the way, I'm in Palo Alto!  It is a great area.  I'm in the Stanford District, serving in the Palo Alto II ward of the Menlo Park Stake.  Everyone here has got money; we see a lot of BMWs and Mercedes Benzes, even some Italian sports cars.  The highest tithe paying ward is in this stake.

Well, life is good.  I'll write again soon.  I miss everyone.

Love
Your Missionary
Douglas

Week 3: "Stay out of Your Comfort Zone"

February 2, 1988

Dear Mom, Dad & Family,

I'm doing my laundry right now; we get a half-day P-day before we take off tomorrow.  The past two days have been full of goodbyes and picture taking.

It was hard to fight back the tears as we said goodbye to our morning teacher today.  It is hard to believe that we could all become friends so quickly, all in just three short weeks.

The second counselor in our branch presidency said to me on Sunday that there comes a time every now and then when we have to leave our comfort zones.  It is time now for me to leave my comfort zone here.  He also counseled me to always strive to stay out of my comfort zone as a missionary by working hard continually and taking on new challenges.

It is going to be tough leaving here tomorrow, but it is time for me to move on.  I am excited to go; I can't wait to get to San Jose.

We have been doing a lot of hymn singing in the last three weeks, at the beginning and end of every meeting, and I have been collecting some new favorites such as "I Believe in Christ" and "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief."  You need to sing all seven verses of the latter to get the full impact; we did that yesterday morning at the end of our morning class and my heart was full.  Last night, as I lay in bed, I sang all seven verses in my head and I got a little misty when I got to the last two

Today I got a care package from a friend from high school, and it was great to hear from him.  I think I have changed some in the last three weeks, for as I read his note I again got a little misty.  Some things seem to mean so much more now.

I will write again soon from California.  Life is Good!

Love
Douglas

Week 2: Trouble in Paradise

A few weeks ago I posted edited versions of the first letters I wrote home from the MTC (see: http://thewholemissionary.blogspot.com/2014/07/week-1-sock-story.html).  Since then I have been thinking about continuing to post my weekly letters home, like a voice from the distant past.  At the same time I have been debating whether to skip my letter from week two; it was a difficult week and I really messed up.  On the other hand, maybe someone will learn from my mistakes.

Additionally, I did not write home about how the week started.  To provide some balance, here is what I wrote in my journal (names have been changed to protect the innocent):

Tonight Elder Fox and I had a big argument. We went to meet the new Laei District for which my companion was acting DL, and he told these missionaries that Laei would be their first district in the mission field. Because I am joined at the hip with Elder Fox (figuratively speaking) I attended the same ADL orientation meeting he did and read the same material that was handed out. I have no idea where he got this idea from, and I contradicted him in front of the new district. Big mistake.

We then took the district over to our branch meeting room to meet with the second counselor of the branch. We left them there and returned to our class room. On the way Elder Fox said something about not being able to believe what I said. I don’t remember exactly how he said it. Initially I thought he was referring to a joke I had just made in the branch meeting room. He clarified that he was talking about my contradicting him on whether Laei would be the new missionaries district when they got to Hawaii. I then compounded my error my saying “Well, they’re not going to Laei as their first district. That’s just the name of the district here.”

“No, Laei will be their first district.”

“No it won’t,” I said. “Their mission president couldn’t have called the MTC and told them where their first district was going to be. He doesn’t know that yet. In any case, three of them are going to different missions than the rest. And for all we know, Laei isn’t big enough to be a district.”

We walked into class arguing. It wasn’t long before I started feeling guilty. I suddenly remembered my brother Geoff telling the prep class that we should never contradict our companions in front of others. I had just done exactly that, and now I was feeling low. Fox and I went out into the hallway and he apologized. I was the one who should have. He said he was trying to impress the new district, and he said he was wrong. This just made things worse for me and I struggled for something to say. I forgave him and we went back into class. I missed the opportunity to apologize for what I had done.

January 27, 1988

Dear Mom, Dad, and Family,

Life is great here at the MTC.  It's hard to believe I've been here two weeks already.  One more left.

About my comp, he's a big guy from Arizona.  About all he ever talks about are the relationships he had with girls back home.  He tried to get to know me, but every time I started talking, it seemed, he interrupted me with his own story.  Sometimes this guy really drives me bananas.  I'm doing all I can, I just don't know how to deal with him sometimes.  There are times, however, when things are good.

Then there was this morning   He starts getting up at 4:45 so we can go to the temple, but I didn't want to go.  I'm concentrating so much on my mission that I guess I'm not into the spirit of temple work right now.  Last week I went but I couldn't get into the spirit of the whole thing.  Last night, when our district was talking about going to the temple to do sealings, my companion didn't ask whether I wanted to go or not.  This morning he didn't say anything until he was ready to go, and I said that I'd rather not go.  So we didn't go.

At 6:30 I was up and ready to go to breakfast, but my companion had gone back to sleep.  I woke him up and mentioned breakfast and he said he wasn't hungry.  I couldn't believe it, that he would do that just to get even.  He then proceeded to sleep until 10:30.

Now, you don't have to tell me I was in the wrong this morning, I already know that, but I did not do it to spite him.

One minute things are great, but the next there is a little contention between us.  It's getting hard to tell which end is up.  I don't know what to do.

I get a long great with my other roommates and the rest of my district, they are a great bunch of guys.  The spirit is so strong here it is incredible, I'm learning a lot.  The food is pretty good and I am eating well.  Ever since my first Friday here I just haven't had time to get homesick.

Well, life is good.  I'll write you next P-day.

Love

Douglas

Perhaps one reason I didn't feel like going to the temple that morning was the guilt I felt over contradicting my companion in front of the new district.  Maybe, if I had found a way to apologize, things could have been different.