Time REALLY flies when you’re busy!

This week has been amazingly busy. I have helped with lunch at MLC, traveled to interviews and devotionals, and helped with colds, stomach viruses, and the ups and downs of missionary life.

Can I just tell you how much I love walking in our beautiful world and fresh air!!! I appreciate that the hotels where I stay when traveling have workout rooms. But with that appreciation I still very much dislike walking on a treadmill. I force myself to go 2 miles but then I have to go outside to cool off and get a breath of air even if it means walking a mile around the hotel parking lot.

Monday I walked at the river. 

Sister Barker and I walked past the rose garden. The roses aren’t blooming yet but the rhododendrons along the fence are in full bloom. Love it!

Tuesday I went to the ER with a missionary having abdominal pain. (No major issue thank goodness). Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I “enjoyed” NOT the treadmill. 

Nice work out room but isn’t this blooming tree in the parking lot much better to look at. LOL

I was happy on Saturday to once again be on the river side.

Sister and Elder Crump walked with me on Saturday.

 

We walked around the pond at Alton Baker Park

I’ll share my week through pictures.

I enjoyed the clouds along the highway from Eugene to Medford

Tuesday before leaving for Medford, we served lunch to 75 missionaries who came from all around the mission to Eugene for leadership training. Sisters Barker and Crump preparing the serving tables.

Tuesday we attended the Restoration Devotional in Grant’s Pass on our way to Medford. After the devotional, refreshments were served in the cultural hall

Having some training while waiting for interviews

Sister Cornelius always takes snacks along to the interviews. A couple of OCD missionaries decided the snacks needed organization. Love it!!

SIDE NOTE: I received a phone call from a missionary asking me how much Pepto Bismol would he have to take before it became an over dose. I asked him why he was taking Pepto Bismol and he sent me this picture. 

Gotta love ‘em 

Waiting for the devotional to start in Central Point

Going over the pass from Medford to Klamath Falls. Snow all around but roads clear and dry

I didn’t get pictures on Friday. We were trying to keep the interviews moving along quickly as there were 26 missionaries to interview. President only had a few hours to get them all done before the devotional started. 

We had planned to stay in Klamath Falls Friday night but decided to go back to Eugene. It was a lot of travel in 4 days but worth every minute to get to see and talk with the missionaries. I love my mission. My brother, John, told me that I had found my fountain of youth. He is right. These wonderful young people keep me on my toes and keep me feeling young right along with them. 

I have had the opportunity to talk with a few missionaries this week who have been a little down and hard on themselves. I shared the following poem with one of them and thought I would share with you as well. 

Thinking

By Walter D Wintle

If you think you are beaten, you are

If you think you dare not, you don't,

If you like to win, but you think you can't

It is almost certain you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you're lost

For out of the world we find,

Success begins with a fellow's will

It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are

You've got to think high to rise,

You've got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man,

But soon or late the man who wins

Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!

Our Savior and Heavenly Father are always with us. They know us and love us and will help us with whatever we need. With that being said we must do our part. We will be lifted and guided along the way when we ask but ultimately, it begins with a desire to improve and a willingness to do the Lord’s will. We can do it!

I love my Savior.

I love you my family and friends.

There is always hope.

As I work with and serve the missionaries, I sometimes try to help as a missionary goes through a difficult time for one reason or another. Perhaps one is experiencing homesickness, rejection, anxiety or worry, physical health problems, a “down” day, or a myriad of other problems that can beset any of us. It can be difficult to stay positive when it may seem that everything around us is falling to pieces. 

I’ve had cause to see that hope is the brightness that each of us carries deep in our hearts and can help us through troubled and dark times. I like to find talks that I can share with missionaries, family, or friends that can help us to see that we can draw on hope to get us through difficult situations.

I read one such talk this week from which I would like to share a few thoughts. In a BYU Devotional speech given in 1984 by Elder John H. Groberg of the Seventy titled There Is Always Hope, Elder Groberg shares some meaningful ideas.

The subject I wish to speak on is one that I hope you will appreciate. I know I do. It is simply this: there is always hope.

I have read and heard from different psychologists and teachers that we must hear something at least twenty times before we really hear it. But, in any event, to make sure we all hear, I will use the phrase “There is always hope” not just twenty, but at least thirty times this evening. I hope that you don’t get tired, but that you understand.

There is always hope. No matter how dismal things appear, no matter how problem-prone we seem to be, no matter what reversals and setbacks we suffer, there is always hope. Hope is the thing that keeps us going. We sing the hymn “We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet” all the time, but do we listen to the words? What do you feel when you sing “When dark clouds of trouble hang o’er us And threaten our peace to destroy, There is hope smiling brightly before us, And we know that deliverance is nigh” (Hymns, no. 196)? Do we really believe that?

Part of the thirteenth article of faith reads, “We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things.” Do we really believe that? Are we literally supposed to hope all things?

What do we mean by hope? What is hope? Why should we have hope? What do we hope for? What are some of the signs of true hope? How do we get more hope? Let’s take these questions and discuss them.

What is hope? I suppose that it is like trying to define faith or love; it is very difficult, but we can use some examples. As near as I can tell, hope is light. It is a light within us that pierces the darkness of doubt and discouragement and taps into the light (hope) of all creation—even the Savior.

I think that in some instances we may be able to substitute the word hope for light and get some understanding in the scriptures, i.e., we talk about Christ as being the light of the world—he is the hope of the world (see Mosiah 16:9).

You will have to think of your own definition, but one other is:

And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light [be filled with hope], and there shall be no darkness in you [no discouragement]; and that body which is filled with light [filled with hope] comprehendeth all things [isn’t that what the article of faith says, we hope all things?]. [D&C 88:67]

Hope, in a word, is the Savior. Hope is a part of the deity in us that attaches us to the Savior. Don’t let that thread be cut. No matter how tenuous or thin it might be, there is always hope.

Where does hope come from? Why should we have hope? Why do we keep on hoping even after we blow our diet or get a bad grade or lose a close game or get turned down in some way or another?

In all ages of time and in all dispensations, people have felt a need for hope. 

Why do we keep on hoping? They say, “Hope springs eternal,” and it’s good it does, for it gives us something to live for, to strive for, to hope for. But why? Why does hope spring eternal? Why do we keep coming back and back after so many defeats? Simply because God is eternal and God is hope (as well as love—and they may be the same) and we are his children. Therefore, as he is the embodiment of hope and has a fullness of hope, there is planted deep within each of us something we cannot deny, for it is part of the very essence of ourselves and that is what we all, in mortality, hope.

No matter what people try to say, it’s always there—that hope is within us. It just depends on how brightly we allow it to shine in our lives. The degree of “shining” (or the strength) of this hope that is in all of us is in direct proportion to our faith in God and particularly to our faith in (belief in, love of, hope in, etc.) Jesus Christ. Specifically then, the basis of all righteous hope is the person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In him all hope has its existence. Without him there is no hope. But because he was and is and ever will be, there is always hope—hope in all areas. He is hope.

What are some of the signs of true hope? Calmness, optimism, or all those things that are the opposite of downheartedness or being disturbed. You can almost measure the level of hope you have in the Savior by the depth and frequency of depression and discouragement you allow yourself to sink into.

Just as discouragement and depression feed on themselves (can’t you just hear Satan saying, “You can’t do it, you are no good, you’ll never make it”—sometimes he says that right to your heart, and sometimes he uses others as his agents), so does hope regenerate itself. Can’t you likewise hear the Savior saying, “You can do it, you can make it, you are worth something. I laid down my life for you. I love you. I redeemed you. I paid for you because I know you can make it. You can come home. Trust me. Follow me.” Again, sometimes he speaks directly to our hearts and sometimes uses others as his agents. But there is always hope in him.

This is an excellent speech to help us see how hope, our Savior, can bring us peace and happiness in times of struggle. I wish I could share it all but it is lengthy. I pray that each of us will always have hope to see us through all aspects of our lives.

This has been another busy week of missionary interviews and devotionals. I went to Roseburg on Tuesday and Grants Pass on Wednesday. 

While in Grants Pass, Sister Crouch and I went to get pizza for lunch to take back to President and Sister Cornelius and the missionaries traveling with us.

Thursday and Friday, the interviews were local in Eugene so no distant travel.

There were devotionals on Tuesday and Friday and a dinner on Thursday for ward and stake missionary leaders. It was a time for the ward and stake leaders in the Eugene Stake to meet with our missionaries and mission leaders to develop relationships and to encourage a spirit of working together. 

Sister Barker and I helped with the dinner set up.

Dinner pics

Thursday I got a nice surprise when Koby Hansen came back to the mission to visit. He finished his mission just last month.

Springfield Zone missionaries enjoying pizza before interviews began on Friday

It has been a mix of rain, snow, and sunshine this week. I managed to walk every day but Saturday when the wind was blowing and it was snowing. The snow didn’t last long but I was a little lazy and talked myself into staying in. 

Sister Barker and I enjoyed a rainy morning walk

Sisters Barker and Crump

The ducks and geese are more prevalent now. I think we should be seeing babies in a month or so.

Saturday morning snow

I didn’t get many pictures this week to share but it has been a good week. Every day/week is good when I get to be with the missionaries. I have talked and texted with my family at home too so all in all, it has been a truly blessed time for me.

I pray that your coming week will be full of love and hope.

I love my Savior.

I love you my family and friends. 

Spring is here! Daffodils and blossoms all around

Monday was the only day I walked by the river this week. 

Haven’t seen the great white egret for a few weeks until Monday. Welcome back friend.

I walked Tuesday and Wednesday in my neighborhood.

Thursday I walked the treadmill (I very much dislike the treadmill) in a Medford hotel while there for a zone conference. Friday I walked in lovely Mingus Park in Coos Bay as I was there for missionary interviews.

Saturday I hiked with Sister and Elder Crump along Wild Iris Ridge Trail.

It was foggy in the valley below

Now you have my walking history, LOL, I’ll get on with the opportunities of the week. It has been a great week. I have been blessed to see every missionary in the mission. Zone Conferences were held Tuesday in Eugene, Wednesday in Roseburg, and Thursday in Medford. Each conference begins with lunch followed by training and learning opportunities. President and Sister Cornelius speak, each member of the mission presidency speaks, and the assistants to the president and the sister training leaders all do presentations. It is quality time to feel the Spirit and to be guided to become better missionaries and servants of the Lord. 

Elder Barker gives a short informational presentation regarding cars and maintenance and driving skills.

I gave a short presentation about requirements for going to doctors and insurance and what to do if they are ill.

Morning sunrise on drive from Eugene to Roseburg

Eugene lunch and training

Singing to the Relief Society sisters who prepared lunch in Roseburg

Afternoon break time for cookies in Medford

Friday interviews were held in North Bend followed by a Restoration Devotional that evening. I didn’t get back to my apartment until after 11:00 P.M. but it was worth the late night. 

In North Bend at interviews, Sister Budge brought me some cute white flowers. Elder Wellock had a long arm so helped me get a picture of us and my flowers.

Sisters Cornelius, Davis and Sutherland waiting for interviews.

Sister Sutherland and our traditional “silly” picture

Saturday evening Sister and Elder Barker invited me to go with them to Creswell to take two elders serving there to dinner. We ate at Toxic Burger. Strange name for an eatery but the pulled pork sandwich I had was delicious. 

Elder Brown, Sister and Elder Barker, and Elder Welch

All during the week, I have been thinking about the Come Follow Me lessons for this year and the blessing of studying again the Book of Mormon. 

My goal is to read/study the Book of Mormon daily. I must confess that I fall short in this goal all too often. I read at least one chapter daily but my desire is to spend more time in this book. I have come to value the teachings and lessons I can find in the Book of Mormon. I have recently read several conference addresses discussing this book. One I liked a lot was given in October 2017 by then President of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, President Russell M Nelson titled The Book of Mormon: What Would Your Life Be Like without It?

President Nelson begins his talk with this story: 

In 1986, I was invited to give a special lecture at a university in Accra, Ghana. There I met a number of dignitaries, including an African tribal king. As we visited prior to the lecture, the king spoke to me only through his linguist, who then translated for me. I responded to the linguist, and the linguist then translated my responses to the king.

After my lecture, the king made his way directly to me, but this time without his linguist. To my surprise, he spoke in perfect English—the Queen’s English, I might add!

The king seemed puzzled. “Just who are you?” he asked.

I replied, “I am an ordained Apostle of Jesus Christ.”

The king asked, “What can you teach me about Jesus Christ?”

I responded with a question: “May I ask what you already know about Him?”

The king’s response revealed he was a serious student of the Bible and one who loved the Lord.

I then asked if he knew about the ministry of Jesus Christ to the people of ancient America.

As I expected, he did not.

I explained that after the Savior’s Crucifixion and Resurrection, He came to the people of ancient America, where He taught His gospel. He organized His Church and asked His disciples to keep a record of His ministry among them.

“That record,” I continued, “is what we know as the Book of Mormon. It is another testament of Jesus Christ. It is a companion scripture to the Holy Bible.”

At this point, the king became very interested. I turned to the mission president accompanying me and asked if he had an extra copy of the Book of Mormon with him. He pulled one from his briefcase.

I opened it to 3 Nephi chapter 11, and together the king and I read the Savior’s sermon to the Nephites. I then presented the copy of the Book of Mormon to him. His response lodged in my mind and heart forever: “You could have given me diamonds or rubies, but nothing is more precious to me than this additional knowledge about the Lord Jesus Christ.”

In 3 Nephi 11:14 we read: Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

I have come to love the teachings found in the Book of Mormon and the spirit that comes to me as I read and study it. It IS more precious than diamonds or rubies! I can grow closer to my Savior, Jesus Christ, as I read and ponder. I have a greater desire to be more Christ-like in my actions and words.

I would encourage you to read this conference talk given by President Nelson. At the end of the talk are several lists of what you will find in the Book of Mormon compiled by President Nelson. I know that if you will study and read the the Book of Mormon you will find greater joy in life. I would invite you to make reading the Book of Mormon a part of your daily life.

During my mission in New Zealand a few years ago, I took the opportunity to get a new Book of Mormon and as I read it, I marked every reference to my Savior throughout the book. It was an amazing experience.

I am grateful for my testimony of the truthfulness of the message of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. I know through the gift of the Holy Ghost that Jesus Christ is my Savior. That he atoned for my sins and was resurrected. He has shown me the covenant path by which I can return to my Father in Heaven and live with him again if I am worthy. Families are eternal. 

I love my Savior, Jesus Christ.

I love you my family and friends.