Week 22: Baptism Date Set

 
June 15, 1988

We tracted on Thursday, on a street that seemed to go on for forever and a day, and placed a copy of the Book of Mormon.  In the afternoon, we also checked on a referral.  In the evening we had a dinner appointment that turned out to be a take out meal.  The sister who invited us cooked the food and we brought it back to our apartment to eat.

We drove out to Salinas on Friday, to see Trudy in the hospital.  We were hoping to teach her the second discussion but , unfortunately, she had had another stroke during surgery yesterday and was not well enough for a discussion.  After returning to Seaside we checked on a number of referrals without any success at all, no one was home.

In the afternoon we stopped by to see Brother “Bud” Bartlett. Bud is a stake missionary who lives in a shack behind his daughter’s home just over the city boundary in Monterey. Bud also has something like Parkinson’s Disease and is losing motor function and coordination. His wife left him because she couldn’t handle his medical situation. Bud is also the friendliest and most positive member of the church that I have met so far.

On Saturday, we attended a wedding at the stake center.  The happy couple, upon hearing that I was a yearbook photographer in high school, asked me to take the wedding photos with their camera.  In the evening, we had a dinner appointment with the Bakers.  We seem to be spending a lot of time with the Bakers lately because they have a foosball table.

On Sunday, we had a dinner appointment after church, out in Carmel Valley.  In the evening we had another dinner appointment with the Bakers, followed by more foosball.  Alas, it was all for the last time, as the Bakers are moving to L.A. as the father got a new construction job down there.

Monday marked five months since I entered the MTC.  We went tracting in the morning and Elder Spandau tried out a new approach, pretending that we were taking a survey about the church.  In the afternoon, Brother Miller, a stake missionary, drove us out to Salinas to visit Trudy in the hospital.  This time we were able to teach her the second discussion.   We also set a date for baptism, June 26, and it should go through if her health cooperates.

Let me give you an idea of how platinum this investigator is. Out here we see a lot of bumper stickers on members’ cars with an image of the Moroni statue with the letters LDS underneath. Trudy already has such a sticker on her car. She has made three promises to the Lord if she gets out of the hospital: 1. she will take care of her daughter’s son, 2. she will take care of the older lady she is living with and, 3. she will be baptized.

On Tuesday, we took a copy of the Book of Mormon to Brother Bartlett.  We helped him bring in some groceries and chatted with him for a while. He used to be a California Highway Patrolman and spent much of his career in Palo Alto and Modesto. Bud is a huge classical music fan, but he does not like anything by Mozart.

This morning we went out to Pacific Grove for some sight seeing.

In addition to spending a lot of time with the Bakers lately, and playing foosball, there is something else Spandau and I have been doing too much of.  There is another member family that we have been visiting, and we have been watching television.  I am not at all happy about it, but its something my companion keeps wanting to do.

Well, that's it for the week

Love

Douglas

Week 21: A Witness from God

June 8, 1988

We had a teaching appointment scheduled with Trudy for Thursday morning, but when we arrived she wasn't there.  Her daughter informed us that Trudy had had a stroke and was in the hospital up in Salinas.  We got some directions and the room number and then left.

We went tracting, got in one door and met this really nice lady. She is a Jehovah’s Witness and as we were teaching she basically took over. But unlike the J-dubs I have met before, she didn’t bash, she was just so happy that she could not contain it. Also unlike other J-dubs, she used love and sincerity as she taught us. Her message sounded good, too. I was tempted a few times to bash, but fought the urge.  This experience was so unlike the one with those J-dubs in Menlo Park and it has filled me with some doubts. While things are starting off better here in Seaside, I am still awfully discouraged. If I am blessed to have the truth, how can I be so miserable while this J-dub lady is so happy?

After lunch we drove up to Salinas to visit Trudy in the hospital. I do not know the details, but apparently she has been under a lot of stress and this led to her having a stroke on Tuesday. We gave her a priesthood blessing, in which I did the anointing; then we went to the gift shop and bought her some gum and Life Savers.

On the way home we stopped at the Baker’s, a member family, and talked with them for awhile. After that we came back to the flat to check and see if we had team-ups, which we did not. The Baker’s had a son playing in a baseball game this evening and we went and watched. After the game we went to the Baker’s home to chat some more. Eventually it was time to come home and go to bed.

That night I was feeling a bit disillusioned.  For two years I have been operating on the belief that I knew the Church was true. I recall praying one night to ask if it was true and I am not sure that I really felt anything. I thought that I felt good and took that as an answer. Who knows, but maybe my faith and sincerity were not sufficient. At the same time, however, I did feel that my faith had been increasing as I was reading the Book of Mormon for the first time. In any case I was left that night with a desire to know, to really know if the Church is true.

Before going to bad, I re-read Moroni's Promise, then I turned out the light and got down on my knees. I started with just a normal prayer, but then I stopped and tried to say what was in my heart. I found it difficult at first, but at length the words did come. I talked about my confusion and told my Heavenly Father of my desire to know if the Church is true. Then I asked if the Church was true, and I felt nothing. I cannot say that I really felt anything at all. I again explained my desire and the reasons behind it before asking a second time. “Father, I ask thee in the name of Jesus Christ is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth?” Again, I felt nothing.

Now I began to plead. “Father please,” I said, “I need to know.” Then I said that I perhaps needed an answer a bit more clear than others might. I asked a third time, and again I felt nothing. The tears welled in my eyes as I thought the answer to be no. Oh, how much I prayed that the Church was true. I wanted it to be so very much and I told my Heavenly Father so. The tears began to flow and for several minutes, or so it seemed, I could only cry. Then thoughts began to flood my mind that I had wasted four and a half months here in California; that I had wasted the last 19 years. Not knowing what to do I closed my prayer asking for knowledge and then crawled into bed.

The tears continued to flow and I wondered what it is that I shall do, for I thought that I was serving a false church. How could I continue to do so for another eighteen months or so until it was time to go home? I cried and I cried. “Why couldn’t it be true?” But there was something in me that fought back saying, “No Elder Cox, the Church is true, you know it is!” I guess that it was the desire of wanting the Church to be true. It must have been my love of the gospel and its message. The tears continued to flow. “Oh, why couldn’t it be true?”

Then something whispered to me, “Elder Cox, ask again.” My desire that the Church be true won out. I looked to heaven and my heart cried out, “Is the Church true Father, it is true?” Then it happened, my feelings of pain and sorrow fled and a new feeling of peace entered my heart. It was a warm feeling, and it was as if someone had lit a match in a darkened room. The feeling comforted my aching heart; all tears and sorrow melted away. That small feeling brought such great joy to me and all my burdens disappeared. My heart cried, “It is true, it is true! Thank you Father, thank you for answering my prayer.”

I think that maybe the Lord wanted to test my sincerity and faith. The Lord did answer my prayers, but it was not an immediate answer. I asked Him four times if the Church was true, and it was only after the fourth time that I received my answer, and only, I think, because I expressed such a sincere desire that the Church be true. I think that sometimes we expect answers to be immediate, and they do not always come so quickly. Sometimes it takes a while, as well as great sincerity and faith.

I know that the Church is true; that The Book of Mormon is the word of God; that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God; and that President Ezra Taft Benson is the Lord’s prophet today. This does not eliminate the need for faith, for I do not have a perfect knowledge of all things. But these things I know, because I received a witness by the power of the Holy Ghost in answer to my prayer.

So, that was Thursday, June 2, 1988.  On Friday, June 3, we had a breakfast appointment with the Bakers.  After that we came back to the flat so I could do some laundry.  In the laundry room I met a lady who expressed some interest in the church.  She said that she wanted to attend our church this Sunday, so I gave her a pamphlet with the address and meeting times, along with a copy of the Book of Mormon.

In the afternoon, I went with Elder Tango up to Marina -- on the other side of Fort Ord -- to visit a few contacts and members.  In the evening, Elders Spandau and Victor left saying they were going to get some fast food.  Instead, they went to the grocery story, where they ran into a member who invited them home for dinner.  They were gone for three hours.

We didn't get much work done on Saturday or Monday.  On Saturday we attended a youth baptism and then went to the member's home in Marina for dinner.  On Monday we drove out to Carmel Valley to visit an outlet store for Robert Talbot silk ties, only to find, ironically, that the store is closed on Mondays.

I spent Tuesday in Salinas with Elder Juliett, whose comp went with Elder Tango to the monthly leadership meeting up in San Jose, so I got to spend the day with a friend from the MTC.  We went tracting in the morning, got in one door and had an hour long teach with an old lady who is too set in her ways. By chance, we had a referral on the same street – okay, maybe it wasn’t a coincidence. Anyway, we checked on the referral and they asked us to come back at 5:00 p.m. After a few more doors we went to see a contact to teach a first discussion, but we got dogged. We tried to cheer ourselves up by eating pizza for lunch. After eating we taught a third discussion an investigator, with whom we almost got to set a baptismal date.

After the teaching appointment we went back and finished the street we had started this morning. Once we finished the street we went to teach the first discussion to the referral we had contacted earlier. As it turns out, they have a grandson going on a mission soon and just wanted to know what he would be doing. From there we were off to another teaching appointment; unfortunately it turned out to be a bad time for the investigator.  It was a good day.

Today we had a Zone activity up near Santa Cruz at Sea Cliff State Beach.  At the beach is this old ship sunk at the end of a pier.  As it happens, the ship was built during World War I out of concrete.

It was naivety on my part in wondering how this lady we had tracted into could be so happy if she did not have the truth, and how I could be so miserable if I did have the truth. I have since come to learn that God accepts all sincere expressions of faith. While other churches might not have all truth, they do have some truth, and if that is enough to make people happy, who am I to argue. As a missionary, I only sought to add to the truths that others had.

Week 20: A Hot Start

June 1, 1988

We got right to work on Thursday and did some tracting; then we checked on some referrals.  We were able to set up a teaching appointment with one referral for Friday night.  Interesting fact, the contact lives in the same apartment complex that we do.

Friday was an eventful day.  We went tracting in the morning; our ward mission leader treated us to lunch at Wendy's; we delivered a copy of the Book of Mormon to a ward member who has a friend they want to give it to.  At one point today we had the chance to drive by the beach and we saw a U.S. Navy destroyer and nuclear attack submarine in Monterey Bay -- too cool for words!

At 6:30 we went to our teaching appointment; his name is Charles and he had a friend of his join us.  The both of them were prepared for our visit with a few concerns, and we ended up talking for two and a half hours!  Here is a list of their questions:

1. In the book Doctrines and Salvations, it says that the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the gospel, yet there is no mention of Baptism for the dead or celestial marriage -- no mention in the Bible, either, of course.  I was able to point out that baptism for the dead is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:29.  Also, celestial marriage could be inferred by 1 Corinthians 11:11, but Charles said that would be taking the verse out of context and, in any case, there is Matthew 22:30.

2. Moroni 8:18 says that God is not partial, neither changeable, being an unchangeable being from all eternity to all eternity; yet Joseph Smith in the King Follett discourse stated that God is an exalted man.  Charles stumped both of us with that one, so we promised that we would study up on it.

3. Certain prophesies of Joseph Smith have not come to pass in the time frame prophesied.  Specifically, Joseph prophesied that he would dedicate the temple in Independence or Far West "with his own hands."  Additionally, they claimed, Joseph made some false statements refuting (contradicting) the "Word" (Bible).  Deuteronomy states that false prophets will come and if they say something that is not "in the Word" they must needs be destroyed and, Joseph was, of course, assassinated.

We did our best to answer their concerns, and promised to do some research on their concerns.  I bore my testimony and read Moroni's promise and said that everything depended on whether the Book of Mormon was true or not.  We then closed with a prayer, which was another interesting thing as Charles asked if all four of us could pray at the same time.  Elder Spandau's and mine were rather short compared to theirs -- I thought they were repetitious at times.  Also, I thought I heard Tim, Charles' friend, pray in a second language here and there.  Both Charles and Tim are in the Air Force and are currently students at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey.

Alas, our day was not yet done.  Later, as we were preparing for bed, we got a phone call from a ward member; someone at their home was in need of a priesthood blessing.  We quickly got dressed and headed over.  There we met a fellow who had been driving from San Diego to San Fransisco, he was on his way to the VA hospital in the City by the Bay.  He started to experience a pinched nerve in his back and he had almost no strength in in right arm.  He could travel no further, but fortunately he had some friends here in Seaside, so he got off Highway One to get some help.

After talking for a minute or two, the gentleman asked me to give him the blessing, which would be a first for me.  I just blessed him that he would be able to continue his travels in the morning and that he would arrive safely in San Fransisco.  I didn't know what to expect as I tried to listen for the guidance of the Spirit, and nothing really popped into my head; I just figured that blessing him with the health to continue his drive was reasonable and so I went with it.

On Saturday morning, we went to the library at the stake center to do some research on the concerns raised the night before by Charles and Tim.  I read the King Follett discourse and, I have to say, was rather impressed by it.  Here are the answers we came up with:

1. Mormon Doctrine states that what is meant by the fullness of the gospel is what the Nephites had and needed.

2. In the footnotes to Moroni 8:18, we see that God is unchangeable in his perfectness.  John 5:19 states that the Son can do nothing but what he seeth the Father do.  In his discourse, an address given at the funeral of King Follett, Joseph Smith states that the Father is an exalted man, that he did what Jesus did, suggesting that He was the savior of a world or worlds before the creation of our universe.

3. Elder B. H. Roberts stated that Joseph Smith reached his height as a teacher in the King Follett discourse, which was given in April 1844.  The work given by God to Joseph Smith was largely complete, and there was only one thing left for him to do: seal his testimony with his blood, and he did so three months later at Carthage.  Such is not the life of a fallen prophet.  It might also be pointed out that, throughout the Bible, prophets are rejected and killed by the people, and their deaths did not make them false prophets.

4. Regarding unfulfilled prophesies, Elder Tango, our district leader, pointed out that Joseph Smith could still dedicate a temple with resurrected hands.

It is a good thing we spent the day doing research, because that night, Charles stopped by our apartment.  We invited him in and had another long chat.  We presented the four answers listed above, then I kind of took over -- I had a lot to say.  Charles tried to interject, but I asked him to allow me continue without interruption.  I taught him the Joseph Smith story and talked about the apostasy and restoration.  I even talked about the Plan of Salvation as found in the fourth discussion.  I then bore my testimony, expressing my gratitude for the plan and for my Savior.  I also explained some of the sacrifices involved in serving a full time mission.

I then challenged Charles to read Alma 32 in the copy of the Book of Mormon that we had given him, and to pray about the book and the things we had discussed.  Then we closed with a prayer, and this time only I said it.  As I said, I just took over, and at one point my companion decided he could leave the room! -- yeah, I don't recommend that.

We went to our meetings in the Carmel Ward on Sunday morning.  In the afternoon, at Charles' invitation, we attended services at the church he regularly attends.  For the first hour or so I thought I was at a concert rather than at church as the congregation stood and sang along with some Christian music on the audio system.

We had another teaching appointment on Monday night, this time with Trudy, who is already committed to baptism.  She is praying on a date, and we only taught her the first discussion that night.  We might end up with a baptism this month.  How could would that be?!

Love
Douglas

June 2, 1988

The May 28 issue of the Church News arrived today in the mail run.  I opened it up and on the front page found a story which reported that a sight has been acquired for the building of a temple in . . . . wait for it . . . Bountiful!  Can you imagine, a temple in Beautiful Bountiful?!

I'm also writing this short note to ask you to pray for Trudy who had another stroke this week -- she has had four in the past few months.  She is currently in the hospital up in Salinas.  She might need someone to fast and pray for her health.

Gotta run
Douglas

Week 19: Transferred

May 25, 1988

I have been transferred, but first let me tell you about my last week in Palo Alto.

Our teaching appointment with Leslie on Thursday came through.  We practically flew down to her place but she showed up a little late.  When we knocked on the door, her daughter answered and told us that her mother was at her new store in Redwood city.  Thinking we got dogged and feeling dejected, we crossed the street, sat in some shade and decided to wait.  Maybe we could still get lucky.  Then, just as we were about to give up, Leslie drove up.

I taught the first two principles and the steps of prayer. It went really well and she was very open with her concerns. It turns out that Leslie has a degree in anthropology and she has a concern with how the seed of Lehi got here, or that the American Indians are 100% direct descendants from Lehi. She says it does not fit with what she knows. Because of that Milo figures it would take three months to get her into the water.

As we started for home after the teaching appointment, Milo got a flat tire. So we enjoyed a ninety minute walk home.  The teaching appointment was really the highlight of the week.  At one point, we were turning to a scripture in the New Testament we wanted her to read and I gave the page number as found in the LDS edition of the King James Version.  It turns out that the LDS edition numbers pages differently, "There's no such page!" Leslie said.  They didn't teach us that in prep, ha ha.

On Friday morning, Milo and the other elders going home, went to the temple in Oakland.  They then spent the rest of the day across the bay in San Fransisco.  I spent the day with Elders Lake and Able.  Milo did not get back until midnight.

On Saturday, the Menlo Park Stake held a heritage fair.  The zone had a booth with many foreign language copies of the Book of Mormon on display and we spent most of the day there.  At one point, Elder Milo had a disagreement with Elder Baker and my companion told the zone leader to look him in the eye and tell him if he could see even an ounce of concern.  Wow.  As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, Milo does not appear to be intimidated by anyone or anything.

On Monday, I followed Elder Able in the First Ward elder's car while he ran up to the Stanford Clinic for his radiation appointment.

Transfer calls came out at noon on Tuesday.  The call said I was being transferred to Carmel, down by Monterey; in actuality, I have been transferred to the Carmel Ward, but am in a town called Seaside.

Elder Milo left Tuesday afternoon to spend his last night in the mission home before flying back to Louisiana.  I spent part of the evening with Elders Whopper and November and went to a dinner appointment with them at a mansion in Menlo Park.  The mansion belonged to the owner of the Mervyn's department store chain; his housekeeper happens to be a member of the church.  Mr. Mervyn was out of town, and the housekeeper gave us a tour. 

I finished packing this morning and Lake and Able drove me up to meet the transfer van at Edgewood chapel.  Once aboard, the van headed south. At one stop Elder Golf got aboard. He is going to the mission office to become the new mission secretary and be companions with Elder Lima, the financial secretary. We talked a little and I even helped him with his luggage. I do not know about him, but I had no hard feelings.

There were several stops before the van arrived in Salinas, and that is where I met my new companion, Elder Spandau from Hope, Indiana. He has a cast on his left leg because he tore some ligaments while jogging recently. Because of the cast we have a car.

Also transferred in as the new district leader was Elder Tango, who trained Elder Lake. His companion is Elder Victor. We drove over to the coast and our apartment here in Seaside. How ironic is that? In that sub-line transfer joke they played on me in Palo Alto, they said I was going to be transferred to Seaside Apartment. After Tango and I got settled in, the two of us went to Wendy’s for some dinner.

I am excited about this new area and it is great to have a fresh start. Even so, it was not easy leaving Palo Alto. I left behind a lot of members and contacts that I had grown close to. I left behind the coolest ward mission leader, a great bishop, and some great members, that was not easy. But I figure I will be able to settle in here in just a few days.

As the name suggests, this town is by the sea, with Monterey Bay to the west, Monterey to the south, and Fort Ord to the north.  The town itself seems to lie on a series of sand dunes as many of the north-south streets rise and fall along the hills.  This place is the opposite of Palo Alto, which was almost entirely flat; there are also significantly fewer trees as compared to my last area.

Life is Good!

Love

Douglas

Week 18: Learning is Success

May 18, 1988

Things are starting to pick up a little around here.  Tomorrow, if all goes well, I will teach my first standard discussion to Leslie.  Woo Hoo!

Last Thursday we went out to check on some old call backs that we hadn't managed to get back to.  The first was not interested, the second was not home, and the third was busy and asked us to come back.

On Friday we stayed in and studied.  There does not seem to be much work to do; we could tract but the fact that it is typically fruitless is not very appealing. We could try to see members, but they are usually not home as both parents typically work.  I can see Elder Golf's point of view, but he taught and baptized here. He had success here. The most success I have had is getting in off a door approach. I also have not had success anywhere else as this is my first area.

We did more studying on Saturday before going out in the afternoon.  When we returned to our flat in the evening, we ran into a group of born-agains in the parking lot of the apartment complex.  They saw us and pounced.  The ring leader asked us how we were "saved."  I answered by talking about accepting Christ as our Savior, repenting of our sins and being baptized into His church.  I was interrupted and the discussion went off on the necessity of baptism.

"Do we need to be raised on a cross to die and be resurrected to follow Christ's example?" asked the ring leader.  My companion answered, and when it appeared that he was getting the upper hand, the born-agains immediately changed the subject.  The ring leader claimed that the Book of Mormon is false and said that “no man could add to the Bible.” He said that he had read parts of it and knew it was not true. He said that Joseph Smith was a thrill seeker.

When they changed the subject from baptism I just stopped talking, as I realized it would do no good.  At one point, however, I was about to respond when Elder Milo stopped me.  The discussion continued for a few more minutes between my companion and the ring leader, who kept changing the subject each time Milo started making a good argument.  Then the born-agains claimed that they had to leave, but in a show of bravado challenged us to attend a revival the following week.  If we had any guts we would be there, the ring leader claimed, but the location is out of our zone.

It rained on Monday, so we stayed in and studied.  That night I followed Elder Able on my bike as he went running.  As we were going along, a thought hit me: “The fact that I have learned so much here makes this a successful area.” Wow, what a true statement! I am not the same person that stepped off the plane in San Jose.  I have learned so much there is just no way that I can list all the lessons. I have learned and I have grown. I have overcome challenges. In four months I have noticed a lot of improvement in my ability to communicate with others. But I am ready to move on to the next battlefield.

On Tuesday, we taught a new member lesson to a member of the Palo Alto First Ward who was baptized last November.  After that, we hopped down to Corina to see Leslie, and that is when we scheduled the appoint for tomorrow.

I am having some mixed feelings.  As I said, I am ready for the next battlefield, yet there is a small part of me that actually wants to stay here in Palo Alto.  I want to see where the discussions go with Leslie, but outside of that I am truly ready to move on.

Hope all is well at home.

Love

Douglas

"Judge Righteous Judgements"

I like a good sea story, and a number of years ago I came across the following:

On board a four-pipe destroyer proceeding through the quiet waters of the Caribbean, the executive officer was not convinced that the engine room was giving him the precise speed he ordered, and so set about measuring the ship's actual speed. He would throw a chip of wood into the water from the bow, start his stopwatch, run the length of the ship, and stop his watch when the ship's stern passed the chip in the water. Knowing how long it had taken the 341-foot ship to pass the stationary chip, he could calculate her speed.

The only problem was that every time the exec started his dash aft, he ran into various crew members, and never made it to the stern in time to see the chip pass. A particular bottleneck was the galley passageway, where all traffic had to funnel through a narrow aisle on one side of the ship.

The skipper watched this operation with growing irritation, until finally he told the exec that he would run interference for him. So off they went, the skipper in the lead, with the exec holding his stopwatch aloft as they headed for the stern at full speed.

As this strange procession reached the galley passageway, the skipper began to shout, "Look out for the Exec! Look out for the Exec!" in order to clear out any approaching traffic. The ship's baker, busily baking pies in the galley and unaware of the circumstances, looked up from his work, took the situation at face value, and did his duty as he saw it. He waited for the skipper to pass, who obviously was being threatened by the beserk exec pursuing him, and laid out the exec with a single blow of his rolling pin.

Things are not always as they seem -- they might only rarely be what they seem, in fact -- so taking things at face value can be risky.  We often judge people based on first impressions, but sometimes we find out later that our first impression of them was ill informed.  In the Sermon on the Mount, the Savior warned us about judging: "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."

In the footnotes, we read that in his translation this passage, Joseph Smith rendered it this way: "Judge not unrighteously, that ye be not judged; but judge righteous judgement."  In a March 1998 address at BYU, Elder Dallin H. Oaks talked about the difference between final judgements and intermediate judgements:

"I have been puzzled that some scriptures command us not to judge and others instruct us that we should judge and even tell us how to do it. But as I have studied these passages I have become convinced that these seemingly contradictory directions are consistent when we view them with the perspective of eternity. The key is to understand that there are two kinds of judging: final judgments, which we are forbidden to make, and intermediate judgments, which we are directed to make, but upon righteous principles."

Elder Oaks added that, "We must, of course, make judgments every day in the exercise of our moral agency, but we must be careful that our judgments of people are intermediate and not final."  The question, then, is how do we make righteous, intermediate judgements?  Elder Oaks gave some guidelines in his talk:

"First, a righteous judgment must, by definition, be intermediate. It will refrain from declaring that a person has been assured of exaltation or from dismissing a person as being irrevocably bound for hellfire. It will refrain from declaring that a person has forfeited all opportunity for exaltation or even all opportunity for a useful role in the work of the Lord. The gospel is a gospel of hope, and none of us is authorized to deny the power of the Atonement to bring about a cleansing of individual sins, forgiveness, and a reformation of life on appropriate conditions.

"Second, a righteous judgment will be guided by the Spirit of the Lord, not by anger, revenge, jealousy, or self-interest. The Book of Mormon teaches: “For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain … as the daylight is from the dark night.

“For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil” (Moro. 7:15–16). . . .

"Third, to be righteous, an intermediate judgment must be within our stewardship. We should not presume to exercise and act upon judgments that are outside our personal responsibilities. . . .

"Fourth, we should, if possible, refrain from judging until we have adequate knowledge of the facts."

Elder Oaks quoted William George Jordan as saying:

“We do not need to judge nearly so much as we think we do. This is the age of snap judgments. … [We need] the courage to say, ‘I don’t know. I am waiting further evidence. I must hear both sides of the question.’ It is this suspended judgment that is the supreme form of charity.”

The ship's baker in the sea story above made a snap judgement without possessing all of the facts.  BYU professor Arthur R. Bassett related in the June 1991 issue of the Ensign the following experience in which he did not have all the facts in a class he was teaching:

“I was troubled when one person whispered to another all through the opening prayer. The guilty parties were not hard to spot because they continued whispering all through the class. I kept glaring at them, hoping that they would take the hint, but they didn’t seem to notice. Several times during the hour, I was tempted to ask them to take their conversation outside if they felt it was so urgent—but fortunately something kept me from giving vent to my feelings.

“After the class, one of them came to me and apologized that she hadn’t explained to me before class that her friend was deaf. The friend could read lips, but since I was discussing—as I often do—with my back to the class, writing at the chalkboard and talking over my shoulder, my student had been ‘translating’ for her friend, telling her what I was saying. To this day I am thankful that both of us were spared the embarrassment that might have occurred had I given vent to a judgment made without knowing the facts”

Elder Oaks offered another guideline for making intermediate judgements as he acknowledged that there are circumstances where we have to make at least a preliminary judgement while waiting to gather more information:

"A fifth principle of a righteous intermediate judgment is that whenever possible we will refrain from judging people and only judge situations. This is essential whenever we attempt to act upon different standards than others with whom we must associate—at home, at work, or in the community. We can set and act upon high standards for ourselves or our homes without condemning those who do otherwise."

There are two more guidelines for making righteous intermediate judgements:

"Sixth, forgiveness is a companion principle to the commandment that in final judgments we judge not and in intermediate judgments we judge righteously. The Savior taught, “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven” (Luke 6:37). In modern revelation the Lord has declared, “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men” (D&C 64:10). . . .

"Seventh, a final ingredient or principle of a righteous judgment is that it will apply righteous standards. If we apply unrighteous standards, our judgment will be unrighteous. By falling short of righteous standards, we place ourselves in jeopardy of being judged by incorrect or unrighteous standards ourselves."

The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of love; the Savior commanded us to love God with all our heart, mind, might, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt 22:37-40); he taught us to "love one another; as I have love you" (John 13:34).


"May God bless us that we may have that love," concluded Elder Oaks, "and that we may show it in refraining from making final judgments of our fellowman. In those intermediate judgments we are responsible to make, may we judge righteously and with love. . . . May we be examples of His love and His gospel."


Sources:

Jamison, J. P. (1998) "Look Out for the Exec." Proceedings, September 1998.

Oaks, D. H. (1999). "'Judge Not' and Judging." Ensign, August 1999. Accessed November 11, 2014 at LDS.org: https://www.lds.org/ensign/1999/08/judge-not-and-judging?lang=eng

Week 17: Commitment

May 11, 1988

On Thursday, my new companion and I walked down to the bank on University Ave, got haircuts, and then hopped over to Walgreens to pick up slides I had taken to get developed.  The slides are from the first three rolls of film I have shot on my mission, beginning in the MTC.  In the afternoon, we went to check on a referral; he said he was not interested, but we were able to give him a audio cassette of Our Heavenly Father's Plan and our phone number.

We called Lloyd, one of our contacts, on Friday morning.  When we asked if we could set up an appointment he replied, "Well, like I said at the onset: I'm Catholic and I'll probably die Catholic and I'm not really interested in changing."  He went on to say, "I don't know that I'm really searching.  I thank you for your dedication, but I think you would better spend your time teaching someone who is interested."  Essentially, he dropped us; as it was, however, I was considering dropping him if we had been unable to set up an appointment.

In the afternoon we rode our bikes all the way down to Leslie's place on Corina.  We chatted with her for ten minutes, and hopefully built a relationship of trust by getting to know her.  She is opening her own shop on the fifteenth, she fixes up antiques and makes quilts.  After the opening, her schedule should ease up so we can start teaching her.  She is interested in learning more and looks promising.  Leslie is one of the few reasons I might want to stay in Palo Alto.

After that, we went tracting. At one house we almost had a Book of Mormon placed when this lady acted like we offended her. She gave the book back and told me to cross her name off the tracting card. This bummed Elder Milo out bad.

On Saturday, we stayed in the flat most of the day and studied.  In the early evening, we hopped down to the ward mission leader's home but missed the WML again. We talked to his wife, who said their son Josh wasn’t feeling well, in fact rather bad. She asked us to give Josh a priesthood blessing; I did the anointing.

Elder Milo is incredibly outgoing; he doesn’t seem to be intimidated by anyone or anything. So imagine my surprise when he told me that before he came out he was so shy that he couldn’t even order a hamburger at a fast food restaurant. In fact, he didn’t even speak at his farewell; he has a twin brother and the meeting was for both of them. He didn’t even show up to the meeting until the last five or ten minutes. The bishop asked if he would come up and bear his testimony and he declined.

After being out awhile another missionary pointed out that it was all just intimidation. Milo realized that he was allowing that girl behind the counter at the fast food place to intimidate him and that struck him as ridiculous. I wrote about Elder Sierra last week, he and Milo demonstrate that remarkable transformations are possible on a mission.

We had a zone conference on Tuesday up (or down, according to the locals) in San Mateo.  If there was a theme it would have been obedience to the mission rules.  I got up during the testimony session in the afternoon and talked about how I had committed to living the mission rules.  I read 1 Nephi 3:7 -- "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded. . . ." -- and then Helaman 10:4-5:

"Blessed art thou Nephi, for those things which thou hast done: for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people.  And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.  And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word; for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will."

I then said that in the MTC, it was easy to live the mission rules, but when I got out here, I was timid of what others might think, so I have not been diligent in keeping my commitment to live the mission rules.  I blamed myself for the lack of anything going on in the Palo Alto Second Ward.  I considered breaking my commitment to be a transgression, and I apologized to President Douglas.  I then committed with him to live the mission rules.  I said that it didn't matter what others thought because I knew I would be blessed in the long run.

After I sat down, it occurred to me that some might think that I was brown-nosing, but mostly some missionaries told me that what I did took guts. My flat-mates said I did a good job. President Douglas thanked me and said that he knew I would hang in there.

Meanwhile, Milo is driving me crazy, trying to get me trunky.  But I am looking forward too much to what lies ahead in the next 20 months.

Today was a hot one, the hottest since I got here.  We played basketball this morning then went to the hills in Woodside to play nine holes of golf on the worst course ever.  Seriously, there were gopher holes everywhere.  Perhaps the shoddy grounds keeping explains why a group of missionaries was able to afford playing a round or two here.  In my third ever round of nine holes -- the priest quorum played on a course in Park City two years ago as an activity -- I shot a 54 on a par 29.

All is well here.

Love

Douglas