Saturday President and Sister Cornelius invited me to attend a baptism with them on the coast in Newport. It was a wonderful opportunity to have a spiritual note and an adventure too. It is about an hour and forty five minute drive to Newport driving north almost to Corvallis and then west to Newport..
The baptism was for a man in his 70’s who is a Vietnam War veteran. He is a native American born in New York and is an Iriquois Indian. He was very interesting to talk with. He had a lot of stories to share.
After the baptism, we drove along the coastal highway to Florence before cutting east back to Eugene. Before leaving Newport, we stopped for lunch. I had a nice bowl of clam chowder. Delicious!
We stopped in a couple of places for pictures.
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| We stopped at the Heceta Head Lighthouse. The big white building is a B&B that was originally the lighthouse keeper’s home I believe. The trees hide the lighthouse itself out on the point. |
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| We drove a few miles down the road and looked back and then we could see the lighthouse. |
It was a fun way to end a busy week.
Monday morning I walked in the rain. I never mind the rain. It is actually quite refreshing. Everything is so clean and beautifully green.
Monday evening Sister and Elder Barker came over for dinner. Afterward we played Azul. Fun game!
Tuesday morning we had the weekly office meeting to go over the schedule and plan for the week Afterward, I worked on following up with missionaries to make sure that they had the medications they needed and also continued to prepare for the new missionaries who would arrive on Friday. I was invited to lunch with Sisters Crouch and West at Gotcha Burgers. What a great way to get two rays of “sunshine” in the middle of your day!
Thursday was transfer day where the missionaries are moved to various areas around the mission. Not everyone moves every transfer (transfer period is 6 weeks) but a good number of people change locations.
The office becomes a lively place as missionaries wait for the change and incoming companions. Others wait in their areas too far away to come to Eugene.
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| Waiting in the parking lot |
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| Sister Barker prepares bags for the new missionaries who arrive on Friday. Each bag contains a mattress and pillow cover and a blanket. |
Thursday evening was dinner at the mission home where President and Sister Cornelius live. They provide a dinner for the departing missionaries who have completed their mission. This transfer only 4 missionaries went home. They will be missed!
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| Sister Hadfield |
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| Elder Hansen |
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| Elder Nelson |
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| Elder Varty |
Friday we received 12 new missionaries. 5 of the 12 will be here temporarily while they wait for visas to go to their assigned foreign missions. As you may recall, we serve them lunch and then the president interviews each missionary. I interview them also to get a current health history from each one. It is exciting to meet these new missionaries who are so enthused (and I think a little frightened) at a new beginning.
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| Tables set up and training missionaries waiting for their new companions |
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| Lunch – meatballs, garlic bread and salad |
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| Sisters Cornelius and Crouch waiting the arrivals |
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| Sister Sutherland and our traditional “silly” pictures that happens when we see each other. LOL |
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| The newly arrived – finally!! |
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| Sister Barker says “Let’s get the food on the table” |
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| Sister Ables (new arrival) and Sister Maile (trainer) already giving service |
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| Lunch is served |
This week I was talking to a missionary and as we chatted, a BYU devotional speech that I had read some time ago came to my mind. We all struggle. That is a given. We all need to heal. That is our desire. Healing is not always a physical ailment that we are healing from but can be a spiritual or mental ailment that needs to heal.
“Healing is much more than “getting better” or “having our problems go away.” Healing is growth, development, and maturation. In a word, healing is change. It takes time and energy and struggle, but healing teaches us.”
Jonathan G.Sandberg was a professor in the BYU School of Family Life when this talk was given in 2014. It is titled Healing = Courage + Action + Grace.
He begins:
That brings me to today’s topic: healing. We all need healing. For some of us that need is great today. There are likely among us those who are brokenhearted because a relationship has ended badly. Others are in pain because their parents have decided to divorce or a loved one has renounced the Church. Some have learned recently that they have a chronic illness, and others have just relapsed into addictive behavior for what seems like the hundredth time. I would guess that there are some today who have wondered if depression or anxiety will always be a suffocating influence in their lives, while other students are going through a loss that seems both unfair and unrelenting. Others are drowning in loneliness and isolation while still others are constantly placed on the margins.
My hope today is to encourage you that healing is possible if you apply the principles that lead to healing. I will try to explain clearly—and I ask for your prayers that we can understand one another by the Spirit—three principles that can lead to healing and to knowing that all healing is a gift from Jesus Christ, for, as Isaiah said, “with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
My talk is entitled “Healing = Courage + Action + Grace.” And in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., who was recently listed in Ted Stewart’s The Mark of a Giant2 as one of seven people who changed the world, I start with an example from his life that so clearly highlights these principles. Look for courage, action, and grace as I read his words:
Almost immediately after the [bus boycott] started we had begun to receive threatening telephone calls and letters. They increased as time went on. . . .
One night . . . I couldn’t sleep. It seemed that all of my fears had come down on me at once. . . .
. . . I had heard these things before, but for some reason that night it got to me. . . . I went to the kitchen and . . . I sat there and thought about a beautiful little daughter who had just been born. . . . I started thinking about a dedicated and loyal wife, who was over there asleep. And she could be taken from me, or I could be taken from her. And I got to the point that I couldn’t take it any longer. . . . With my head in my hands, I bowed over the kitchen table and prayed aloud . . . : “Lord, I’m down here trying to do what’s right. I think I’m right. I am here taking a stand for what I believe is right. But Lord, I must confess that I’m weak now, I’m faltering. I’m losing my courage. Now, I am afraid. . . . I have nothing left. I’ve come to the point where I can’t face it alone.”
It seemed as though I could hear the quiet assurance of an inner voice saying: “Martin Luther, stand up for righteousness. Stand up for justice. Stand up for truth. And lo, I will be with you. Even until the end of the world.”
I tell you . . . I heard the voice of Jesus saying still to fight on. He promised never to leave me alone. At that moment I experienced the presence of the Divine as I had never experienced Him before. Almost at once my fears began to go. My uncertainty disappeared. I was ready to face anything.
Can you see in this example the pathway to healing? Courage to face a difficult situation and stand for truth, acting in faith by turning to God in prayer, and peace and strength from the Lord through His grace—courage, action, grace.
This talk has a wonderful message full of instruction and hope. I would encourage you to read it.
I pray that you will have a great week ahead
I love my Savior.
I love you my family and friends.
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