"You Must Do the Thing You Think You Cannot Do"

I have not been posting as much in this blog lately because a few months ago I started a new job in, of all places, a call center.  The client is a health insurance company and I am helping members answer questions about their medical plans. A call center was the absolute last place I ever wanted to work, yet here I am and, perhaps even more surprising, I might actually be good at it.  This past week I completed my first full week of 8 hour shifts on the phone.

I started training back in June.  One of the things that put my mind at ease when I started was that the training course would last 11 weeks.  To answer the concerns and questions of the customers, agents need to have a strong understanding of health insurance and the resources they use to find answers.  In addition to learning about the business, I had to prepare myself for the idea of answering phones all day, every day.  I have done phone work before, mostly reception work, and it has never been something I have enjoyed.  Part of the preparation for this aspect would include role plays and presentations made before the class.

Then one night, several weeks into the training, I had an unexpected opportunity.  Spending eight hours a day studying health insurance can be tedious, and so the trainers would often try to break things up with different activities. The day before we had did paper survival exercise; what do you do after a plane crash in the country in the dead of winter, with a list of available supplies.  It was interesting -- first rule, stay by the crashed airplane.  In any case, the next day, after several hours of study, the trainer asked what we wanted to do to break things up.  I said I had an idea for a presentation that was sort of like the survival exercise, and could relate to active listening, and the trainer gave me the go ahead.

One thing that has interested me for many years is air combat, particularly dog fights between fighter aircraft.  My presentation dealt with basic fighter combat maneuvers.  Two planes, Ford 1 and Ford 2, are flying in a loose formation, which allows them to support each other; the wingman spots an enemy aircraft approaching from the left rear of his leader.  The leader can respond to the approach by breaking into or away from enemy, by diving or by pulling up.  Breaking into the approach is the best option, as the other three would still allow the enemy to approach and attack. It is the wingman's job to war the leader, and to do so in as few words as possible.  If you are the wingman, what do you say over the radio to your leader?

Read that paragraph again, if you need to, because it contains the answer to the question.  Still not sure? Okay, here is the answer: "Ford 1, break left."

The class enjoyed the presentation, and I really enjoyed giving it.  When I sat back down, it occurred to me that something remarkable had just happened.  I thought to myself that as recently as a year ago I probably would not have been able to do that -- well, I think I could have given the presentation, but I doubt that I would have been able to suggest the idea to the trainer in the first place.

Several times since then, as I have started taking phone calls, first a few weeks of two hours of calls a day, then an eight hour day, then a week full of eight hour days, I have been struck by the idea that I have been on a remarkable path for some time now, and not just since I started this new job.

A year ago I was working in Small As Is production at Deseret Industries.  I had been out of work for a long time, and I didn't have much confidence in myself.  In Small As Is, I learned to sort and price donations to the DI, including books, shoes and electronics.  While I was at the DI, I learned to do everything on the Small As Is line, which restored at least some confidence.  I also had the chance to interact with the people who were working with me.

I needed the confidence the DI gave me because my last few jobs had robbed me of confidence.  Years before I had left the family business, after 10 years, because it was starting to fail.  Working for companies owned by other people was kind of a culture shock, and somewhere along the way I got the idea that I had a communication problem -- I sometimes get tongue tied, but more significantly, I rarely have much to say.  Thinking I had a problem was one thing, but then I started telling people in job interviews that I had this problem -- hey, I thought that I had to be honest when they asked about weaknesses.

I took a job selling knives, not because I liked sales, but because I wanted to prove whether I could do it or not.  What I learned is that stumbling over my words occasionally did not get in the way of making sales.  If anything, it put the customer more at ease, which may then have led to sales.  I also learned that I do not have a communication problem.

From there I went to a temp agency and was assigned to a medical transcription company doing quality control.  I went in with the attitude that I had something to prove, and that attitude paid off.  I must have impressed my supervisors at the transcription company because they hired me to work from home.  I thought that I had successfully started over, but after one year that company laid me off -- last one hired, first one fired.

I went back to the temp agency and was placed with two more companies.  At the first I again appeared to impress my supervisors -- they said I was special.  But then there was a miscommunication regarding an important project, and my supervisor threw me under the bus.  She said that I had misunderstood the directions she gave, but she had failed to be clear in her directions.  Still, the lesson was that I should have asked for specifics.  Within a week my assignment ended with that company.  At the next company I made a couple of silly mistakes, and that assignment, too, was short lived.

I didn't get any more assignments from the temp agency, though I kept pestering them to let them know I was available.  It didn't help that the economy was struggling.  The temp agency had worked once for me, but now I couldn't even get an assignment.  It appeared that no company would hire me.  I went back to school for a year, studying history, but I wasn't sure if it was worth the debt I was incurring.

Finally, I went to the DI, where I started rebuilding my confidence.  The only problem was, I didn't want to leave Small As Is.  I got to be too comfortable there, besides, I still wasn't sure if any company would hire me.  Because of this, I might have stayed at the DI longer than necessary.  Eventually, however, they put me into a program called Accelerated Job Search, which basically meant that they paid me to job hunt.

The daily goals of AJS are 15, 10 & 2.  That is, 15 resources, 10 contacts and 2 face to face meetings with a hiring manager.  Getting the resources and the contacts is the easy part, but the face to face meetings are more difficult.  I spent 6 weeks in the AJS program, and got several interviews.  In the end, however, I only got one job offer.  And that is how I ended up in a call center.

It has been a long and difficult journey, and it isn't over yet.  But I am on a good path, and I am willing to see where that path leads.  Throughout this journey I have often reflected on a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt:

"You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

If we are willing to do that thing, we may be surprised to learn that we can actually do it, and even do it well.  But even if that doesn't turn out to be the case, we will still have learned something valuable.  As the poet Robert Frost wrote, we will profit more by taking the road less travelled.

"Walls Don't Work": No Subsitute for Character & Integrity

My wife and I spoke last Sunday in our ward's sacrament meeting; she spoke on the subject of pride while I spoke on character and integrity.  A good portion of what I said ought to be familiar with regular readers of this blog, but there was some new stuff, as well:

 

I recently came across a TED talk given by a retired Navy admiral named James Stavridis. TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, is a global set of conferences run by a private non-profit organization, under the slogan "Ideas Worth Spreading". Admiral Stavridis is a name I recognized, since I have been following Navy and military issues for a number of years now.

The title of Stavridis's autobiography is “The Accidental Admiral.” He attended to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis for the same reason many others have done throughout history, to get a free, quality education. He didn't plan on making the Navy his career and as his commitment neared its end, he was looking at opportunities for continuing his education. His mentor was an officer named Mike Mullen, who would later become the Chief of Naval Operations and then the Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Mullen recommended that instead of getting stuck with a huge law school bill, Stavridis should accept a scholarship he could arrange to the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University in Medford, Mass. While this would only add three years to Stavridis's original commitment, it ended up paving the way to a career. After commanding a destroyer, which won an award as the best-run ship in the Atlantic fleet, Stavridis went on to command a destroyer squadron and a carrier battle group.

In 2006 he became the commander in chief of the U.S. Southern Command, and it was about this time that I first heard of him. About that time I came across an article he had written for the periodical of the U.S. Naval Institute titled “Read, Think, Write, and Publish.” As an aspiring writer, this article interested me. Ben Franklin is credited as saying that we should either do something worth writing about, or write about something worth reading, Stavridis argued that we should do both.

In 2009, Stavridis became the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, which is the commander of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He once gave a presentation in which he talked about having a profile on Facebook, and he said that anyone could friend him at the social media website. A few newspapers picked up the story with the headline: “NATO admiral needs friends.” This led to a number of friendship requests, as well as several comments including one which said, “I heard you needed friends. By the way, what is NATO?”

After retiring in 2013, Stavridis returned to the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy to become its dean. In his TED talk, Stavridis showed an image from the World War I battlefield of Verdun. Referring to the trenches of the Great War, the Maginot Line of World War II, and the battle of Stalingrad during the same war, he argued that “walls don't work.” Despite this fact, he noted that we have continued to build walls, including the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall of the Cold War.

This lesson that “walls don't work,” could have been learned as far back as the 14^th Century when the Great Wall of China was built. In the first 100 years of that wall's existence, China was invaded three times, but the wall itself was neither dismantled nor scaled. Instead, the invading armies entered through the gates, each time bribing a gatekeeper. The Chinese had put their emphasis on the physical integrity of the stone structure, but neglected the importance of insuring the moral integrity of their soldiers.

In his TED talk, Admiral Stavridis talked about about security threats we face in the 21^st century from piracy in the Straits of Malacca, the Gulf of Guinea and across the world's oceans – in 2011, 20 ships and 500 people were held hostage by pirates – to threats on the cyber-sea, the world wide web – the admiral spoke of two men who committed credit-card fraud worth $10 billion – to the trafficking of illegal drugs and illegal weapons.

There are other threats, to society, and to us as individuals. Many of us have probably felt concern for the moral integrity of society as we have followed the news in recent years. A 2006 Gallup Poll showed that 80 percent of Americans rated the moral condition of our country as fair or poor and thought it was worsening." As this decline in the moral condition has occurred, there have been some who have called for new laws and new regulations. While new laws may be appropriate, by themselves they will not be enough; even the greatest of walls, as we have seen, can be undermined by a lack of character and integrity.

Another wall that did not work, was the “hedge” or “fence” which Jewish leaders built around the Law of Moses. By building this “wall” the elders hoped to develop a system of rules and interpretations that would keep people as far from sin as possible. The Law of Moses was intended to point the Children of Israel toward the Savior, but instead, with additions, it became extremely burdensome.

Even Latter-day Saints can struggle with issues of character and integrity as we seek to serve God with all our heart, might, mind and strength, and with an eye single to His glory. Missionaries, too, can struggle with these issues. It is often said that 20 percent of missionaries do 80 percent of the work while 80 percent do 20 percent of the work. Many missionaries also struggle to live the mission rules; some may find specific rules difficult or even pointless, still others think it is cool to break the rules.

As with the Chinese and their soldiers, our first line of defense is not the "walls" of commandments, rules or laws, but is rather our personal integrity and character. A number of years ago I read another article in the U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings titled “The Whole Sailor.” In it the authors argued that character underpins our humanity; ultimately it defines us as individuals and has a significant impact on motivation and performance. Indeed, character is the foundation of all decision-making.

Further, the authors stated that integrity is a vital component of an individual's character; the word comes from the Latin integritas, which referred to the quality of a Roman Legionnaire's armor. With integrity, all was possible in battle and all was whole. Absent integrity, there was vulnerability; indeed, there would be a "disintegrity" or disintegration.

President Thomas S. Monson has often said that “decisions determine destiny.” In May 1968, he said, “Perhaps the word 'character' best describes one who is true to himself. For character takes no account of what you are thought to be, but what you are.” President Monson went on to say, “Character is having an inner light and the courage to follow its dictates. One who is true to himself develops the attributes needed to survive errors, to keep marching on the road that seems to be without end, and to rise above disappointment and distress.”

In his TED talk, Admiral Stavridis argued that “We will not deliver security solely from the barrel of a gun.” Neither can we strengthen the moral condition of society solely by passing laws or writing new regulations, and neither can we strengthen our personal character and integrity by relying solely on commandments and rules.

While commandments and laws are important, and should be kept and obeyed, there are other opportunities for strengthening our character and integrity. In Moroni chapter 7, Mormon gave us counsel on how we can have “every good thing.” The recipe is simple: Faith, Hope and Charity. If we come unto Christ, humble ourselves and have faith in him, that we might be lifted by his grace, then we must have hope, and if we have faith and hope, then we must have charity. Charity is the pure love of Christ, it endures forever, and without it we are nothing.

Mormon counseled us that when we pray that we should pray to be filled with this love. It is never too early to start, and we should continue to pray that we may continue to be filled with charity, that we may be purified and that we may truly be like Jesus. We must be careful to always have faith and hope, and to always pray and study the scriptures, so that we may never lose this charity once we have been filled with it.

If we are filled with charity, then might our character and integrity be strong, then, like the barges built by the brother of Jared, might we be “tight like unto a dish.” These barges were not unlike submarines in that they at times needed to be able to withstand being completely submerged under water. The phrase they use on a modern submarine is “watertight integrity.”

Even if we are praying regularly to be filled with charity, there will still be threats to our character and integrity and constant vigilance may be the price we pay. Yet we can also be assured that the Atonement is there for us. The Lord said to Moroni that He gives us weaknesses so that we may be humble; He also said that "my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”

This is open to all of us; if we come unto Him he will show us our weaknesses, and if we humble ourselves before Him and exercise faith in Him, He will lift us with His grace and make "weak things become strong". If we desire to increase the strength of our character and integrity, we need only come unto Christ and humble ourselves.

Sources:

Stavridis, J. (2012): A Navy Admiral's Thoughts on Global Security (Video):

Lille, B (2012). "Open-source security: James Stavridis at TEDGlobal 2012." TED Blog, accessed at:

http://blog.ted.com/open-source-security-james-stavridis-at-tedglobal-2012/

Stavridis, J. (2008). "Read, Think, Write and Publish." U.S. Naval Institute: Proceedings, Vol. 134 (8).

It Is Not Your Mission

 
Today I came across a blog post by Jason F. Wright, a bestselling author and motivational speaker, which included a letter to his daughter, who recently entered the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah.

Letter to my daughter — A mission isn’t for you

No, he isn't saying that a mission is a bad idea, or that is daughter isn't up to the task.  Rather, he is saying that a mission isn't about you, it's about the Lord, and about the people you will teach and serve.  I wanted to post a link to Wright's post because I whole heartedly agree with it.

One of my first posts in this blog quoted remarks Elder Jeffrey R. Holland gave at the Provo MTC on August 24, 2010 (as witnessed by my nephew, who was then an elder in the MTC):

He said that a mission comes once, so "give it all you have."  Missionaries should be dedicated to the work "every hour, every day, every minute, all the way."  Elder Holland made the point that this is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it is His church, His gospel, His work, and HIS MISSION. This is not your mission, it is the Lord's mission, he argued.  Elder Holland also said that a mission is not Burger King, "We don't hold the pickles," making the point that missions are not tailored to the needs of the missionary.  "Don't do this your way," Elder Holland added, "do this the Lord's way."

Pray to be Filled with Charity and Give it All You Have

To repeat: "This is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it is His church, His gospel, His work, and HIS MISSION.  This is not your mission, it is the Lord's mission."

Wright also had some advice for his daughter regarding her companions:

Speaking of prayer, invest many of them in your companions. They’ll be different than you, but no less wonderful.

Some will be more knowledgeable, some less so.

Some more confident, others may struggle.

Many will teach with great power and authority, others with a soft, humble voice.

Celebrate and embrace those differences. God gives us all different talents, and as long as they all have arrows pointing to Him, it doesn’t matter what they look like.

Love them all. Serve them endlessly. Put the Savior first and your companion second. Do that, and you’ll never be forgotten nor left behind by either one.

I had some similar comments in my early blog post:

In my mission, there were missionaries for whom it took everything they had to get 25 hours of teaching and tracting each week, there were others for whom 25 hours wasn’t really a challenge, and still others who easily did more. . . .

There are . . . realities that each missionary must deal with: realities about himself, about his companions, about his areas, and about life in general.  In these realities are to be found opportunity -- the opportunity to develop charity. With charity we can have compassion and understanding towards those missionaries who at first glance look like buckets (the term in my mission for a lazy missionary), but with another glance might be seen as those who are giving their all even if they are doing less. . . .

If we have charity, we might be instruments in the hands of the Lord in helping others to become stronger.  In dealing with the realities about ourselves and others, while humbling ourselves before God, and while praying to be filled with the pure love of Christ, we can become powerful tools in the service of the Lord.

I had many different companions on my mission; some were confident, others less so.  Some were willing to work hard, while some lacked motivation.  Some were good at teaching, but a few seemed to be little more than warm bodies.  But as I try to have charity, I can see that, despite their weaknesses, these elders were doing the best they could and, in their own way, giving it all they had.

L. Tom Perry: Nagasaki Churches

L. Tom Perry served as an LDS missionary in the Northern States Mission during 1942-1944, after which he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.  During his military service, he was sent to the Pacific, to the island of Saipan and later to Japan as part of the occupation force.  His recent passing has prompted me to share the following story:


I was among the first wave of Marines to go ahsore in Japan after the signing of the peace treaty following World War II. Entering Nagasaki was one of the saddest experiences of my life. A large part of the city had been totally destroyed. Some of the dead had not yet been buried. As occupation troops, we set up headquarters and went to work.

The situation was very bleak, and a few of us wanted to give more. We went to our division chaplain and requested permission to help rebuild the Christian churches. Because of government restrictions during the war, these churches had almost ceased to function. Their few buildings were badly damaged. A group of us volunteered to repair and re-plaster these chapels during our off-duty time so they would be available for the holding of Christian services again.

We had no command of the language. All we could accomplish was the physical labor of repairing the buildings. We found ministers who had been unable to serve during the war years and encouraged them to return to their pulpits. We had a tremendous experience with these people as they again experienced the freedom to practice their Christian beliefs.

An event occurred as we were leaving Nagasaki to return home that I will always remember. As we were boarding the train that would take us to our ships to return home, we were teased by a lot of the other Marines. They had their girlfriends with them saying good-bye to them. They laughed at us and indicated that we had missed the fun of being in Japan. We had just wasted our time laboring and plastering walls.

Just as they were at the height of their teasing, up over a little rise near the train station came about two hundred of these great Japanese Christians from the churches we had repaired, singing "Onward, Christian Soldiers." They came down and showered us with gifts. Then they all lined up along the railroad track, and as the train started down the tracks, we reached out and just touched their fingers as we left. We couldn't speak; our emotions were too strong. But we were grateful that we could help in some small way in reestablishing Christianity in a nation after the war.


Source: Saints At War: Experiences of Latter-day Saints in World War II, Robert C. Freeman and Dennis A. Wright (Covenant Communications: American Fork, Utah, 2001) pgs 380-381. 

A World On Fire

A popular American television show recently ended its 2014-2015 season with a story that involved the recruitment of kids by a terrorist group via the Internet.  While this was a fictional story, it was based at least in part on news stories which appeared this past winter regarding the use of the Internet for the recruitment of teenagers by ISIS.

See: ISIS Recruiting U.S. Terrorists on Social Media

"Through the Internet and social media they can reach these kids and there is a small percentage of disaffected Muslim youth in America that, for a variety of reasons, feel alienated from this society," said former CIA analyst Patrick Skinner.

"Groups like ISIS have a very sophisticated propaganda machine, in fact the most sophisticated propaganda we've seen from any terrorist organization," said Matt Olsen, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center.

"There are vultures on social media who try to take advantage of our children," said Omer Mozaffar, a Muslim chaplain at Loyola University.

This idea of terrorist groups recruiting teenagers via the Internet is astonishing.  We can add yet another threat to the many facing the youth of today.  While these groups are primarily targeting Muslim teenagers, the Adversary has plenty of tricks up his sleeve to endanger today's youth.  The Internet, through smart phones, tablets and other devices, is full of other dangers, from pornography, sexting, cyberbullying, gaming, social networks to, of course, predators hiding behind fake personas to "befriend" children.

See: 7 Dangers of the Internet for Kids

It may seem that the youth of today is surrounded by fire on every side, or that we may, in fact, be living in a world on fire.  How can we protect ourselves and our children from the flames?

Recall, if you will, the story of Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who were carried away as captives from Jerusalem to Babylon.  The four young men were trained as members of the kings court, and were provided meat and wine for nourishment.  But the four refused to partake, and Daniel proposed that they be allowed for ten days to eat "pulse" and drink water.  After ten days, the king saw that "their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat." (See Daniel chapter 1.)

Not long after this, however, the king decreed that anyone who did not worship an image of gold that he had had created would be cast into a fiery furnace.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to worship the idol and "certain Chaldeans" went to the king to accuse the three of not worshiping according to the decree.  The king commanded that the three be brought before him, and when they were, he challenged them on the matter of worshiping the golden idol, adjuring them to do so lest he order them thrown into a fiery furnace in that same hour.

"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up" (Daniel 3:16-18).

True to his word, the king ordered the three young men to be cast into a furnace so hot that the servants who threw them in were killed by the heat.  "And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God" (Daniel 3:23-25).

Instead of being burned by the fire, or harmed be the heat, the three young men were protected by their God because of their faith in him.  "Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, came forth of the midst of the fire. And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God" (Daniel 3:26-28).

The king was so impressed that he issued a new decree which forbade anyone from speaking anything amiss regarding the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell said: “We will [not] always be rescued from proximate problems, but we will be rescued from everlasting death! Meanwhile, ultimate hope makes it possible to say the same three words used centuries ago by three valiant men. They knew God could rescue them from the fiery furnace if He chose. ‘But if not,’ they said, nevertheless, they would still serve Him!”

See: A Brightness of Hope

But as President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “The Lord would want you to be successful. He would. You are His sons and His daughters. He has the same kind of love and ambition for you that your earthly parents have. They want you to do well and you can do it.” (See: Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley (1997), 614

Additionally, as Nephi said when he was commanded to return to Jerusalem to retrieve the Brass Plates, "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them" 1 Nephi 3:7).

In facing the challenges of today, in staying clean, keeping his commandments, and preparing to serve a mission and marry in the temple, he wants us to succeed and he will prepare a way for us that we may accomplish that which he has commanded us if we humble ourselves before him and exercise faith in him.  His grace is sufficient and he can make weak things become strong (see Ether 12:27).  "Wherefore, let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord" (1 Nephi 3:16).

How Important is Integrity?

Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has observed:

"The bedrock of character is integrity.  Worthy character will strengthen your capacity to respond obediently to the direction of the Spirit.  Righteous character is what you are becoming.  It is more important that what you own, what you have learned, or what goals you have accomplished.  It allows you to be trusted.  Righteous character provides the foundation of spiritual strength.  It enables you in times of trial and testing to make difficult, extremely important decisions correctly even when they seem overpowering."

Earlier in the same talk, given at the April 2003 General Conference of the LDS Church, Elder Scott stated that:

"God uses your faith to mold your character. Character is the manifestation of what you are becoming. Strong moral character results from consistent correct choices in the trials and testing of life. Your faith can guide you to those correct choices. Clearly, it is what you do and what you think about that determine what you are and what you will become. Therefore, the choices you make need to be inspired by the Lord. Others can encourage you to make the right decisions, but those choices must not be prescribed by them. You need to ponder, pray, and exercise faith to willingly make choices consistent with the teachings of the Master. Such choices are made with trust in things that are believed and when acted upon will be confirmed. Only enough guidance is given to lead you aright and not to weaken your growing character. That guidance will solidify your trust in Heavenly Father and the Savior.

Faith will forge strength of character available to you in times of urgent need. Such character is not developed in moments of great challenge or temptation. That is when it is used. Character is woven patiently from threads of principle, doctrine, and obedience. In James we read: 'The trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing'" (James 1:3-4).

See:

The Sustaining Power of Faith in Times of Uncertainty and Testing

How important do I think character and integrity are?  They are among the first things I posted about in this blog:

"Are character and integrity important? The answer can be found in the fourth section of the Doctrine and Covenants, which missionaries everywhere repeat in groups as often as once a week – they did in my day, at least, and in San Jose we also recited The Standard of Truth. 

"'. . . See that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.'

"What do character and integrity demand of the missionary? They demand hard work. I hope that you are not disappointed in the simplicity of the answer. Actually, hard work might be an understatement when it sits along side serving with all your heart, might, mind and strength."

See:

A Blog is Born

In another early post I used and analogy with the Great Wall of China:

"'The Great Wall of China, built as an impenetrable defense against barbaric hordes to the north, is a magnificent structure. . . .  Many believed the wall guaranteed that no army could penetrate the country's borders" they continued. "However, during the first hundred years of its existence, China was invaded three times. Not once was [the wall] torn down or scaled by invading armies. Rather, each time invaders entered by bribing a gatekeeper and simply marching through the gates. The Chinese had so relied on the physical integrity of the formidable stone walls that they overlooked the importance of ensuring the moral integrity of their soldiers.'"

See:

The Importance of Character and Integrity 

I came back to the subject of character and integrity a few weeks later:

"Even missionaries can struggle with issues of character and integrity as they seek to serve God with all their heart, might, mind and strength, and with an eye single to His glory.  It is often said that 20 percent of missionaries do 80 percent of the work while 80 percent do 20 percent of the work -- I always thought the split was more like 90-10. Many missionaries also struggle to live the mission rules; some may find specific rules difficult or even pointless, still others think it is cool to break the rules.

"As with the Chinese and their soldiers, our first line of defense is not the "walls" of commandments, rules or laws, but is rather our personal integrity and character.  Character underpins our humanity; ultimately it defines us as individuals and has a significant impact on motivation and performance.  Indeed, character is the foundation of all decision-making."

See:

A Return to Character and Integrity

Week 28: Kind of Dull

July 27, 1988

After the excitement last week, this week was kind of dull.  Though it did get off to a good start with a zone conference up in Salinas.  On the way back down to Seaside, we hopped over to the the Robert Talbot tie store in Carmel Valley, where I bought six more ties for a dollar apiece.

While I was cooking my dinner in the evening I suddenly remembered that we had a dinner appointment with the Nesbits and with Brother Bartlett. We were an hour late when we finally got there. I was so embarrassed, but it all worked out. We went on team-ups after eating.

It was back to work on Friday.  We tracted a street in the morning and had a teaching appointment in the evening.  We taught Victor in the home of a member family, the Syphuses, and it went well.  The Syphus family is also working with another friend, James.  We set up an appoint to show both James and Victor some videos.

We did some more tracting on Saturday, and place two copies of the Book of Mormon.  We had a teaching appointment scheduled with Robin for that evening, but it fell through.  After church on Sunday, we had a dinner appointment out in Carmel Valley with the Higgenbothams.  Brother Higgenbotham is a counselor to President Douglas in the mission presidency.  That evening, another appointment with Reuben and Robin fell through.  Instead, we went over to Monterey to attend a baptism for the sister missionaries in a member's swimming pool.

We went to show Trudy Together Forever but found out that she had just had a kitchen fire. So we went and showed the video to Sister Nesbit instead. We then talked about Nancy Oaks with Sister Nesbit. In the afternoon we went tracting.

In the evening we had a dinner appointment at the Crowley’s on Fort Ord. Sister Crowley forgot to buy some food for the dinner so she got out some Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) which is the modern equivalent of the Army’s K Rations of World War II. We had spaghetti which was actually pretty good. After dinner we did some member work at a family home evening.

We started tracting Yosemite on Tuesday morning. This street runs parallel to Noche Buena which we had so much success on. Transfer calls came out that day and we got our call at 12:30 p.m. Elder Victor is being transferred to Foster City and Elder Tango has been called as a trainer. Elder Friend and I are staying. This was a five week transfer period, usually transfer periods are just four weeks long. We went on team-ups in the evening and Brother Miller and I stopped by Trudy’s to help her move some furniture.

We left early to get Elder Victor up to the transfer van in Salinas. Since Tango is going to be a trainer, we didn’t have to wait around for the van to come back. We stopped by the Clifford’s in Toro Park on the way home and they invited us to stay for breakfast. After that we went to Carmel by the Sea and bummed around. We did some laundry and letter writing in the afternoon. In the evening we had a dinner appointment on Fort Ord.