Missionary Good-byes

Elder Keller (7/26)

One of the unique aspects of the San Bernardino Mission back when I was serving as a missionary was the Farewell Fireside.  I don't know how, why, when or where the idea came from, but it was a part of the mission before I arrived and I'm not sure if these firesides are something that other missions do.  Back then, they were held in the Rialto Stake Center (the mission home was also located in Rialto).  During my time as a missionary, I actually was able to get permission to attend a couple of them (one was when my trainer went home).  I don't know how many missionaries were going home the day it was my turn to participate and bear my testimony and thank those who attended for the help they had given me during my 2 years, but I do recall that the chapel was full and the there were a good many people in the overflow.  Out of the people who were in attendance, there was a small group who came to see me.  It was nice to see familiar faces--some who I hadn't seen for quite a while and to shake their hands and personally thank them for their support.
 

Elder Bowman (7/26)

Nearly 30 years have passed since I stepped off the plane at the Ontario Airport and saw palm trees, smog and densely packed houses (I'll wait until the actual anniversary to tell my tale of that particular day in May), but even though the California San Bernardino Mission no longer exists, the California Rancho Cucamonga Mission still continues the tradition of the missionary farewell fireside.  I've mentioned a few of them in some posts along the way (here and here), but haven't mentioned others, so I wanted to "catch up" on a few that have taken place over the last few months.
 

Elder Porter (10/18)

Before I was called as the ward mission leader, we went on our trip to New Jersey and visited Church history sites on the way home.  I've mentioned it before because it was such a profound moment for the four of us, but during that trip we met Sister West at the Hill Cumorah visitor's center and she, listening to the promptings of the Spirit, told us that we would soon have an opportunity to share the gospel with others.  Interestingly, a few months after we returned home, I happened across a blog from a sister missionary in the New York Rochester Mission and was able, through an email to her, to relay to Sister West the impact her statement had on us as a family and the calling that had come to me upon our return home.  I remember that the sister (Hawkes if memory serves) mentioned in her reply back to me that missionaries rarely heard from people they talked to at the history sites and she appreciated me taking the time to write.
 

Elder Houston (10/18)

I think it's easy to forget the sacrifices the elders and sisters (and their families) are making to come into the mission field to serve the Lord as missionaries.  Maybe with Ben now in Colorado doing that very thing, my heart is a little more attuned to this fact and a little more tender.  In that spirit, I want to say that the elders who served in our ward during the 2 years of my calling were monumental in assisting that prophesy from Sister West come true.  Because of them, not only did we find "someone" to share the gospel with--we met many someones and I know my life has been the better for it.
 

Ben & Elder King (9/6)

Now that these good brothers are returning home after completing honorable missions, we are quite happy to take them up on their invitations to come to their farewells.  Today, we were able to listen to Elder Jones bear his testimony.  He was a "greenie" in our area and was trained by Elder Keller, who returned home back in July.  We missed Elder King's farewell.  It took place the Sunday after we dropped Ben off at the MTC.  We had planned to go, but I think we were still trying to adjust to the fact that Ben was no longer with us and the farewell completely slipped our minds until it was too late.  Interestingly, Elder King (who was also a "greenie" in our ward and was the first transfer after I was called) lives in Arvada, Colorado which is in Ben's mission.  Ben's companion, Elder Morgan, was given permission to go to the Denver Temple to see a convert he had worked with in Arvada take out his endowment and Ben, being his companion, got to go too.  There at the temple, who should Ben meet, but our former Elder King!  So even if we didn't get a chance to see him before he left, Ben got to see him after he returned home. J
 

Elder Jones (11/29)

I am grateful that I was able to work with great missionaries like Elders Keller, Bowman,  King, Porter, Houston (from Austin, Texas J) and Jones.  There have been many more who served in our ward during my time in that calling, but these are some of the elders who have impacted our family and, hopefully, we were able to make their service with us a little better as well.  There are still a few missionaries who continue to serve who were in our ward during my time as ward mission leader.  I hope that we are able to see them before they return home as well.  We are so blessed to have been able to work with all of them during their time in our area. J

Peculiar People

Another verse that came up in both Sunday school and in the Aaronic Priesthood meeting has to do with the Peter’s 1st epistle and the use of the word peculiar.  My post from yesterday became long and I wanted to focus on this word and not tack it on to the bottom of yesterday’s post where it could become a mere footnote. J

 

As President Thomas S. Monson reminded us: “Each of us came to earth having been given the Light of Christ. As we follow the example of the Savior and live as He lived and as He taught, that light will burn within us” (Ensign, Nov. 2015, 86).  Going back briefly to King Benjamin’s recipe for putting off “the natural man” (Mosiah 3:19), as we internalize those six attributes (“submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things”), we allow the Light of Christ to shine in our lives.  In this world of increasing darkness, that light will cause us to stand out more to others, which will cause us to be viewed by others as a “peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9).  One of the definitions of peculiar is “uncommon” or “unusual”.  We become uncommon or unusual because we are reacting in a way that is not natural to the natural man.

Some people look at our religious peculiarities with disdain, others with indifference, still others with curiosity and a few with a genuine desire to learn more about them.  No matter the reaction of the world, the word peculiar has a greater meaning in a gospel setting.  The footnote for peculiar in 1 Peter 2:9 states that the translation of the Greek word translated in English as peculiar is “purchased” or “preserved”.  Considered in this way, we are purchased through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  Paul taught that we are “bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20).  That price was the Savior taking upon Him our individual sins.  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland explained: “The Savior’s spiritual suffering and the shedding of his innocent blood, so lovingly and freely given, paid the debt for what the scriptures call the ‘original guilt’ of Adam’s transgression (Moses 6:54). Furthermore, Christ suffered for the sins and sorrows and pains of all the rest of the human family, providing remission for all of our sins as well, upon conditions of obedience to the principles and ordinances of the gospel he taught (see 2 Nephi 9:21-23). … What an expensive price and what a merciful purchase” (Ensign, Nov. 1995, 67)!

More importantly, our Elder Brother purchased us that He “might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14, emphasis added).  Just as Adam and Eve’s transgression, and subsequent fall, cut them off from the presence of Heavenly Father, our sins also cause us to spiritually fall from Father’s presence.  Since “no unclean thing can dwell with God” (1 Nephi 10:21), if there was no way to overcome the stain of our sins, life would be bleak indeed.  However the great perspective of the gospel message teaches us that we need not remain in captivity to our sins.  It is possible, as Isaiah declared, to wash scarlet sins “as white as snow” (1:18) and overcome our personal, spiritual falls “by the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 12:11).  Elder D. Todd Christofferson taught: “Among the most significant of Jesus Christ’s descriptive titles is Redeemer. ... The word redeem means to pay off an obligation or a debt. Redeem can also mean to rescue or set free as by paying a ransom” (Ensign, May 2013, 109, emphasis in original).  This is what Jesus did for us through His atoning sacrifice; He became our Redeemer.  He declared to His meridian disciples that He came “not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28, emphasis added).

The footnote for peculiar in 1 Peter 2:9 goes on to state that the definition of the Hebrew word translated as peculiar is “special possession or property.”  If we accept the Savior's offer of redemption from the stains of our sins through baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost, we become part of His family—He becomes our rescuing Father and we take His name upon us and renew that familial relationship with Him each Sunday as we partake of the sacrament.  This is why Elder Dallin H. Oaks testified that “Following Christ is not a casual or occasional practice but a continuous commitment and way of life that applies at all times and in all places” (Ensign, May 2013, 97). 

As we take more fully take upon us Christ's attributes, we become more like Him and we show His “image in [our] countenances” (Alma 5:14) and all of these things work more in tandem in our lives.  As we improve in incorporating the Christ-like attributes listed by King Benjamin, we become a more peculiar people which, in turn, points to our greater reliance on the Lord to preserve us through the purchase or redemption He made for us through His blood.  This allows us to become more like Him and helps us to stay on the “strait and narrow path” (2 Nephi 31:18) when it travels through treacherous areas on our way back to the presence of Father.  If we keep our feet firmly planted on the Rock as we walk along the path, Jesus will preserve us because we have accepted His purchase of us.

We can trust that through the Atonement Jesus “hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows … was wounded for our transgressions, … bruised for our iniquities … and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5).  Elder David A. Bednar testified: “The power of the Atonement makes repentance possible and quells the despair caused by sin; it also strengthens us to see, do, and become good in ways that we could never recognize or accomplish with our limited mortal capacity” (Ensign, May 2015, 47).  Truly, Jesus is our “Redeemer of Israel, … Our King, our Deliv'rer, our all” (“Redeemer of Israel,” Hymns, no. 6) and we are His peculiar people!

Putting off the “Natural Man”

For our Aaronic Priesthood lesson this morning, we took the time to focus on an aspect of King Benjamin’s final address to the Nephite people.  I feel this is a masterful speech designed to bring Benjamin's people to Christ.  As this beloved king works his way toward his ultimate goal, he seeks to help his people understand of how to overcome the “natural” part of themselves and to prepare to “becometh a saint” (Mosiah 3:19).  The “natural man is an enemy to God” because of the stark contrast between what people in “the world” (John 15:19) would deem as important and what God knows is important. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf defined people in the “the natural man” state as those Satan has encouraged to “believe in the fantasy of their own self-importance and invincibility. He tells them they have transcended the ordinary and that because of ability, birthright, or social status, they are set apart from the common measure of all that surrounds them. He leads them to conclude that they are therefore not subject to anyone else’s rules and not to be bothered by anyone else’s problems” (Ensign, Nov. 2011, 20).

To help combat the self-centered tendencies of those who have taken residence in the “great and spacious building” (1 Nephi 8:26), King Benjamin lists six ways in which to “putteth off the natural man”, they include becoming “submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love,” and to be “willing to submit” to the will of the Lord in “all things” (Mosiah 3:19).  In order to incorporate these six attributes, it is important to understand them and we took the time to discuss and define these attributes and their importance.  I have felt impressed to flesh out those definitions for this post.

“Submissive” – The definition offered by Webster's Dictionary for submissive is “willing to obey someone else” (merriam-webster).  In the spiritual context of King Benjamin’s discourse, the “someone else” in this case would be God.  Obedience to Father in Heaven’s commandments is vitally important in this life, yet it is an attribute treated with disdain by the natural man.  Conventional “wisdom” is that God’s commandments are archaic, out of date, and out of touch with modern lifestyles; they stifle personal freedom and are meant only to punish—none of which is true.  Sister Carole M. Stephens explained, “We may feel at times that God’s laws restrict our personal freedom, take from us our agency, and limit our growth. But as we seek for greater understanding, as we allow our Father to teach us, we will begin to see that His laws are a manifestation of His love for us and obedience to His laws is an expression of our love for Him” (Ensign, Nov. 2015, 119).  Our Father in Heaven set out the rules for our return to Him because He knew that these important rules would bring us back to Him.  We weren't sent to earth to go through the motions, check off the boxes and receive a participation trophy at the end of our sojourn; we were sent with the opportunity to work and learn and stretch and change from who we were when we began our journey to someone far better at the end.  To paraphrase C. S. Lewis, God's desire is to remodel us not just into a quaint cottage, but a palace (see Mere Christianity, [1952], 174, first quote).  Through our submissiveness and obedience to His commandments, we allow Father’s Carpenter the opportunity to truly work wonders with the requisite renovations.

“Meek” – The general world view of a person who is meek is someone who is weak (not exactly a complement), but the two words are not synonymous.  Elder Ulisses Soares declared, “Being meek does not mean weakness, but it does mean behaving with goodness and kindness, showing strength, serenity, healthy self-worth, and self-control” (Ensign, Nov. 2013, 9).  Jesus described himself as “meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29), but it is difficult to think of Him as weak or lacking in courage or spirit or strength.  The natural man would claim that individuals with money, possessions, political connections, weapons, or loud, angry voices wield the greatest power, but as President Howard W. Hunter reminded us: “In a world too preoccupied with winning through intimidation and seeking to be number one, no large crowd of folk is standing in line to buy books that call for mere meekness. But the meek shall inherit the earth, a pretty impressive corporate takeover—and done without intimidation! Sooner or later, and we pray sooner than later, everyone will acknowledge that Christ’s way is not only the right way, but ultimately the only way to hope and joy. Every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that gentleness is better than brutality, that kindness is greater than coercion, that the soft voice turneth away wrath. In the end, and sooner than that whenever possible, we must be more like him” (Ensign, May 1993, 64-65, emphasis in original).

“Humble” – The opposite of humility is pride.  President Ezra Taft Benson taught, “Pride is essentially competitive in nature. We pit our will against God’s” (Ensign, May 1989, 4).  In his competition with God, the natural man tries to remove Him from the equation of his life.  Along with Korihor, the natural man proclaims that men and women prosper “according to [their] genius,” and conquer “according to [their] strength” (Alma 30:17).   This reasoning is becoming more prevalent as we come closer to Christ's Second Coming.  On the other hand, to be humble is to be teachable in the sense that we are prepared and able to accept council and correction from God.  Instead of arguing against Father and His teachings, those who are humble seek to learn His will through the scriptures, the teachings of His mortal servants and the promptings of the Holy Spirit and then to implement His will into their lives.  Viewed in this manner, it may seem to some, as Elder Marlin K. Jensen observed, as “if those seeking to become humble must forever defer to the strongly held opinions and positions of others. Certainly the Savior’s life evidences that true humility is anything but subservience, weakness, or servility” (Ensign, May 2001, 10).  Yet, Jesus consistently deferred to His Father's will (see John 5:19) to the point where the actions of both are completely interconnected.  Humility is an interesting trait in that if we claim its companionship, it has probably never walked with us.  Some mistakenly equate humility to a person wearing sackcloth for clothing, flagellating himself in the middle of a busy intersection.  In the end, as President Uchtdorf taught, humility is not “about beating ourselves up. Humility does not mean convincing ourselves that we are worthless, meaningless, or of little value. ... We don’t discover humility by thinking less of ourselves; we discover humility by thinking less about ourselves” (Ensign, Nov. 2010, 58).

“Patient” – Patience is a virtue which seems to be in short supply as the world bombards us with the instantaneous.  If we want our questions answered immediately, we can ask our phone or some electronic device.  Data plans promise blinding informational speeds.  Directions can be obtained in seconds; downloads in minutes or less.  Pictures can be taken and immediately shared with friends and family.  Snap your fingers and have what you need when you need it.  Having to wait becomes an inconvenience.  To the natural man, patience is not a virtue; it is villain—or a lost soul floating in the midst of a sea of push button satisfaction.  Perhaps King Benjamin stresses the importance of patience as a way of overcoming the natural man because God reminds us that “all things must come to pass in their time” (D&C 64:32).  Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin observed that we “seem to demand what we want right now, regardless of whether we have earned it, whether it would be good for us, or whether it is right” (Ensign, May 1987, 30).  In the economy of God, it is His timing, not ours, that holds sway.  Having a better understanding of things “as they really are” (Jacob 4:13), Father asks us sometimes to wait; to show patience.  The thing we desire may be good, but we may need to work longer and harder for it in order to better appreciate it when we receive it.  Nephi reminds us that we receive our blessings “line upon line, precept upon precept” (2 Nephi 28:30).  We must be careful not to become impatient with God's patience with us, since, as Elder Neal A. Maxwell explained, “it is God’s patient long-suffering which provides us with our chances to improve, affording us urgently needed developmental space or time” (Ensign, May 1990, 33).  Since we need Father's patience in order to return to His presence, we should offer Him our own patience as well.

“Full of love” – One of the hallmarks of a child is his or her capacity to love.  Children are “full of love” and King Benjamin recognized that adults need to hang on to this ability in order to put off the natural man.  When a person is full of love, there are no empty spaces; no place for anger, hate, rage, despair or any other negative feeling which turns us from Father and our Elder Brother.  With a cup full of love, it is easier to see God's love for us; easier to understand that He truly does not leave us alone and helpless in our mortal journey; easier to know that Jesus does walk with us “on [our] right hand and on [our] left,” with His “Spirit ... in [our] hearts, and [His] angels round about ... to bear [us] up” (D&C 84:88).  John, in his first epistle, declared that “God is love” (1 John 4:8).  Our Heavenly Father is the embodiment of love.  One of the manifestations of His love is the creation of this earth and providing His plan for our eternal happiness.  Knowing that we wouldn't live up to His high expectations, He prepared a way for us to overcome our faults and mistakes, our sadness and infirmities.  Jesus Christ and His mission reflect “the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9).  The way that we show our love to Father and our Savior is quite simple: “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).  When we place ourselves within this eternal circle of love, we may find that our capacity to love will grow and our cup will be continuously full.

“Willing to Submit” – The first attribute King Benjamin referred to in putting off the natural man was submissive.  The final attribute he lists is being willing to submit “to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us]” (Mosiah 3:19, emphasis added).  Willingness suggests something “done, borne, or accepted by choice or without reluctance” (merriam-webster.com, 3).  In this instance, we are being asked to exercise our moral agency and submit our will to God's will; not an easy thing to do in a world where so many people “are wise in their own eyes” to the point where they “hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves” (Isaiah 5:21; 2 Nephi 9:28).  As in all the previous attributes, Jesus stands as the ultimate example of willingly submitting His will to Father's.  At the critical moment in Gethsemane as He began to feel “sore amazed, and ... very heavy” (Mark 14:33), He set aside His astonishment and declared, “nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt" (Mark 14:36, emphasis added).  His complete giving of self was a total consecration to us, His brothers and sisters.  Taught Elder Maxwell, “We tend to think of consecration only as yielding up, when divinely directed, our material possessions. But ultimate consecration is the yielding up of oneself to God” (Ensign, May 2002, 36).  Jesus had yielded His will to Father throughout His life, making His final, submissive “nevertheless” the culmination of all those other moments.  By doing so, Christ also taught us, as pointed out by Elder Maxwell, that “spiritual submissiveness is not accomplished in an instant, but by the incremental improvements and by the successive use of stepping-stones. Stepping-stones are meant to be taken one at a time anyway” (ibid, 36).  If we truly desire to know Father in Heaven's will for us, being willing to submit to Him is of utmost importance because it “is only by yielding to God that we can begin to realize His will for us” (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, May 1985, 72).

All of these attributes serve to give us the necessary tools and strength to put off the natural man and truly become a saint.  If we work at obtaining each of these attributes, then their acquisition becomes easier with time.  Since Father also recognizes that we don’t always act saintly, He, through our Savior, offered us the gift of repentance for those times when we don't measure up to our goal.  President Thomas S. Monson taught, “One of God's greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again, for no failure ever need be final” (Ensign, May 1987, 68).  This is not to say that Father or our Elder Brother will dismiss our mistakes with a frivolous wave of their hands—we will be required to repent of those moments when we allow our natural man to gain the upper hand—but He doesn't want us to give up the path as soon as we make a mistake either.  For that reason, I echo the words of Elder Dale G. Renlund's assurance, “[God] cares that we keep on trying,” (Ensign, May 2015, 56).  As I can attest from my own journey as a sinner who keeps on trying, striving to become a saint, for all that the goal entails, is so much better than remaining a natural man.

A Day at the Zoo

We went to the San Diego Zoo today.  It's been 6 years since our last visit.  Jennifer's dad has a membership with the zoo and the Safari Park (it used to be called the Wild Animal Park) and is periodically sent free passed to both parks along with other discounts.  His latest discounts expired at the end of this month.  Realizing he wouldn't be able to use them, he asked us if we'd be interested; we were.  After thinking about it; Jennifer and I felt that it would be fun to ask Jordan Graham if he was interested in coming with us.  While our excursion to the LA County Fair as a threesome was fun, it wasn't quite the same either.  We thought Isaac would like having a friend in the back seat with him on the drive to San Diego and back and we also thought it might be more fun for him to have a companion his own age throughout the day and not have to be stuck with his parents.  Jordan said "yes" to our invitation, and plans were made as to the best time that would work for him and us—today was the day.
 

One of the fun aspects of our trip was the opportunity we had to get to know Jordan better.  We've been friends with the Grahams for as long as we've lived in the High Desert.  Still, while we have gone on joint family excursions to the fair and other places over the years, usually we as parents would be in one area talking while our kids would be off playing together in a different area.  Since we were with Jordan on a one on one basis, we got to be on a more personal level with him (and he with us) on this trip and that made it fun as well.  We found out that the last time he had been to the San Diego Zoo was when he was 3-years-old and he didn't really remember the experience (I can relate—I remember telling my dad several years ago that I had gone to my first profession hockey game when I took my family to see the Anaheim Ducks play and found out that I had seen the LA Kings play the Detroit Red Wings back when I was one—okay, that may have actually been my first professional hockey game, but this one was the first one I remembered J).
 

After the drive down and going through the Disney-like line to make it to the ticket counter, it was after 11 o’clock by the time we finally walked through the entrance.  The zoo closed at 5 o'clock, so we had to make good use of our time.  Jen and the boys mapped out our plan of attack while I saw a man about a horse. J   Upon my return, I tried to get a candid shot of the three of them (Jordan saw me; Isaac noticed me at the last second but couldn't smile in time; Jennifer's look was priceless J) and they told me where they wanted to go.  We started off in the Outback and Urban Jungle areas.  From there, we visited the Elephant Odyssey, Northern Frontier, saw part of the Panda Canyon, and finished with the Lost Forest.  I'd say we probably saw about 75% of the zoo by the time we were finished—not bad for the amount of time we had.  Of all the animals we saw, our collective favorites were the koalas, the elephants, the tigers, the gorillas, and the turtles.
 

Why turtles?  We found them in a part of the Elephant Odyssey area (don’t know what turtles have to do with elephants, but I didn’t design the place J).  When we first saw them, we found 5 turtles bunched together on a sloped log sticking out of the small stream that ran through their exhibit (I should have taken a picture, but didn't).  It wasn't long before one of the turtles identified himself as either the alpha turtle or just the turtle bully of the bunch.  This turtle began to slowly kick one of the turtles behind him in the face.  The attacked turtle tried to cling to the bark of the log as best as he could, but he slid several inches toward an inevitable drenching in the stream.  Not satisfied, the bully turtle then inched up the log a bit and hissed at the turtle next to him.  Mr. Bully suddenly seemed to want his neighbor's spot and he began to push in that direction.  The neighbor turtle tried to fend off this encroachment, but the bully turtle had better leverage and swiped at his neighbor with his foot ... which loosened the neighbor's grip on the log enough from him to lose his balance and tumble toward the stream.  The result was a chain reaction that caused the bully, the neighbor and two other turtles to slide off the log and plunge in to the stream.  The only turtle to remain on the log?  The turtle who looked as though he would fall into the water first—chalk it up as a lesson in what goes around, comes around. J
 

I don’t believe I’ve been to any other zoo in Southern California.  At one point, Isaac told me that the Los Angeles Zoo is a good one (he went there on a couple of grade school field trips), but since I’ve never been there I have no frame of reference.  We got to see quite a few animals and to get some good looks at them.  Jennifer wanted to see the koalas.  For the most part, they were perched up in individual trees, rolled up into a ball of fur, sleeping.  There was one who decided to change positions and move to a higher branch while we were watching him.  I was able to get a better picture of him than I thought I did.  Jordan wanted to see the elephants.  I remember that the last time we came to the zoo was when the new configured elephant paddock had been completed.  It’s a very nice set-up and we got to see all of the elephants.  We decided to have lunch there.  Our one glitch of the day was the three of us forgetting to bring the lunch we had made at home along with us.  It was one of those situations where Jennifer thought I had the cooler while I thought she had the cooler and neither of us had it.  When I popped the trunk of the car after pulling into a parking space, I knew we were in trouble when Jennifer said, "Chris, where’s your lunch box?" (cue The Price Is Right fail music.)  Oh, well.  I was stuck paying the exorbitant prices charged by the zoo.  This was made up for slightly by my seeing a guy in the dining area who looked a lot like Peter Capaldi the latest actor to play Doctor Who!  When I surreptitiously pointed him out to Jen and Isaac, they could also see the resemblance (Jordan had no idea what I was talking about).  I wish I could have taken a picture of him, but I would have been way too obvious and the poor man probably would have thought I’d lost my mind. J
 

After lunch, we saw a jaguar, lions, and a polar bear (to name a few animals).  The polar bear wasn’t too interested in swimming, but the area was decorated in Christmas trees that Jennifer liked very much.  After visiting the snow leopards, we checked the line for the pandas and found it to be long (as usual).  If we had had more time, we might have considered getting in line, but realizing that we had 2 hours left in the day by that time and we still had several animals that we wanted to see, the decision was an easy one.  Pandas are cool, but they took a back seat to the other animals. J  Isaac wanted to see the tigers.  When we arrived at the viewing area, we couldn’t find them at first, but then we spotted them on a ledge above the main area.  They were sleeping (one of them was stretched out on its back with a paw in the air and like our cat Gumball J).  I noticed that people were able to see the tigers from a nearby walkway running past the ledge.  We hiked up this pathway and got a much better view of the two tigers.  With our new perspective, we saw that one of the tigers was awake and one was sleeping.  While we watched and took pictures, a group of young men, a couple years older than Jordan and Isaac, hiked up the trail to see the tigers (perhaps they had noticed us from down below).  One of the guys in the group looked quickly at the tigers and said, “They’re all lazy.  All the animals sit around doing nothing.  They’re lazy!”  After they left, we busted up laughing.  What was he expecting the tigers to do … a song and dance routine?

The next to the last animals we saw were the gorillas.  We liked them because they seemed to know that everyone wanted a good look at them and would “walk” right past the window partition.  Jennifer was able to get some good pictures of them (my camera didn’t do so well in the fading light of the day).  Several times the gorillas came right up to the window, so we stayed for several minutes to watch them.  After the gorillas, we went to the orangutan enclosure.  As it turned out, this was the final exhibit we saw (well, we did go into an aviary but were kicked out by a zoo worker about 5 minutes later who claimed he needed to lock up—it was still about 4:30; go figure).  One of the orangutans seemed to be either kissing the glass or doing blow fish; I couldn’t tell which.  It looked pretty odd.  The male orangutan looked like a mad scientist to me for some reason.  Once the announcement about the zoo closing started to be made, we decided we’d pretty much seen everything we wanted to see.  It turned out we weren’t too far from the exit from the orangutan’s enclosure.  We thought we might have time to go into the reptile house, but the surrounding area was roped off and the only people who could enter wore bands around their wrists.  Jennifer got one more picture of Isaac and Jordan posing with a gorilla bust and we called it a day.  A fun time was had by all.  We made good time coming home and was able to drop Jordan off and make it back to the house in time for Doctor Who—apparently the zoo closed in plenty of time to allow him to get back to the TARDIS and show us his latest episode. J

Standing as a Witness of God

In the sacrament prayer over the bread, the three covenants made at baptism are referenced to help us to remember them and renew them.  They are:

     1. "to take upon them the name of thy Son"

     2. "always remember him"

   3. "keep his commandments which he has given them" (D&C 20:77).

How do these three covenants help us to stand as a witness of God?

This was the question I asked our youth Sunday school class this morning.  I was standing in for Isaac in teaching the lesson.  He woke up not feeling well (cough, stuffy head, sore throat).  When I looked at him, I could tell he wasn't up for going to church, so I asked him where his copy of the lesson was and substituted for him.  The consensus of the class was that if we've taken the Savior's name upon us and promised to always remember Him and keep His commandments, then all three would assist us in standing up for His teachings and His Church.  I then asked the class if any of them had been in a situation where they had needed to do this and several of them nodded in the affirmative.  Then one of the young women made a comment that has stuck with me all day.  She didn't go into details, but she essentially said it's interesting when people come to her and tell her what she believes and she then has to correct them and explain what the Church actually teaches.

One of my experiences with this phenomena happened while I was a university student.  At the bell tower in the middle of quad one noontime an itinerant preacher stood up and began to preach.  He was surrounded by a fairly large crowd--most who seemed to be there to heckle him.  Fascinated by the scene, I sat down at a table on the periphery of the crowd to observe.  No more than 5 minutes later, I was approached by a young man (who appeared to be the same age as me) handing out cards.  For some reason, he stopped when he reached me and struck up a conversation.  His first question: "Do you read the Bible?"  I replied that I did and went on to say that I was a Sunday school teacher and we were studying the New Testament.  This began a conversation of about 5 to 10 minutes where we discussed the Bible and the Savior and other points.  After this time had passed, the man then asked me, "What church do you belong to?"  In my mind, I thought, Here it comes.  Out loud, I said, "I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."  When my companion looked at me with incomprehension, I added, "We are referred to as the 'Mormon' Church."

No sooner did the word Mormon leave my lips when the man's face darkened and he immediately began to argue with me, telling me about "Joe" Smith and describing what I believed as a member of that church.  I quietly countered and gently corrected him until he grew tired of me.  He made one last nasty remark about my religion and moved quickly away from me.  I watched him go for a moment and then sat in silence and thought to myself, What just happened?  I'm the same person now that I was when he began to talk to me, but with the word "Mormon" in the air between us, I went from being a believer to someone to be attacked and ridiculed.  I found the whole experience to be quite instructive and amazing all at the same time.

When we "stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in" (Mosiah 18:9), we are standing in defense of our beliefs and our God.  To defend is to "to maintain or support in the face of argument or hostile criticism", but in this context it is also "to drive danger or attack away from" Jesus Christ and His message (merriam-webster.com).  I believe I've said something like this in other posts, but in our world of instantaneous, hostile reaction to a perceived slight or offense, this idea of being told what I believe seems to be something that will happen with increasing frequency.  People who have no idea what they are talking about will find some strange "morally superior" high ground to lecture me on what I think and what I believe based on a knee-jerk reaction to some doctrine or policy they don't understand.  Based on this, the question, as I see it, is: "Will I yield in the face of such criticism, or will I stand firm in my conviction and remain a true witness of God and His teachings?"  I suspect that standing firm in defense of God is going to become harder and harder as the winds of criticism blow stronger, the storms lash with more force and the waves attack with greater fierceness.

I then asked the class to turn to the account of Lehi's dream.  I think this is one of the reasons Nephi felt impressed to write his father Lehi's dream into his own record.  Of the four groups mentioned, two appear to me to be members of the true church of Christ, but there is a fundamental difference between these two groups.  The first group is described as "press[ing] forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree" (1 Nephi 8:24).  When I asked the class about the word clinging, they told me that it seemed to them that this group lacked commitment.  I found this interesting since the definition of the word cling is "to hold or hold on tightly or tenaciously" (merriam-webster.com), but the class felt that clinging seemed to indicate to them that this group might be letting go or not firmly grasping the rod all the time.  Perhaps this is one of the reasons why, when they reach the tree and partake of the fruit, they easily become ashamed because of those in the great and spacious building who "were scoffing at them" (1 Nephi 8:28).  The ridicule of the world causes this group to reject the tree, turn away, and to spiritually lose themselves in "forbidden paths"(1 Nephi 8:28); whatever the definition of those paths might be.

The second group is also described as "press[ing] their way forward" along the rod of iron, but the difference is that they are "continually holding fast" to the rod until, upon reaching their destination, they "fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree" (1 Nephi 8:30).  When I asked the class about this group, I asked what they thought about the fact that they fell down upon reaching the tree.  We established that it may have partly been in exhaustion over the fact that they had finally reached their destination, or it may have partly been because of relief that the journey was over, but mostly it was in gratitude for what the tree represented--the love of God.  This gratitude appears to set them apart from the first group.  Instead of the journey along the iron of iron being a exercise to complete and a box to check off, this group seems to have truly grown from the experience they received along their way.  They haven't just walked the path, they have endured the hardships that afflicted them along the way and appreciated the lessons learned from those trials.  Based on these considerations, when this group partakes of the fruit of the tree and hears the mocking from those in the great and spacious building, instead of becoming ashamed, this group "heeded them not" (1 Nephi 8:33).  They are converted; they have obtained and developed a testimony of the truthfulness of the love they are tasting; they have endured hardship--why should they heed the uninformed or misinformed calls found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or whatever else might be delivering the message of scorn from those in the great and spacious building.

While the Church remains on a straight course along the strait and narrow path back to the Savior and Heavenly Father, the world's path is slanting farther and farther away from Their path.  The final thing we talked about was the importance of gaining and keeping one's own testimony.  If we are committed to our Father and the Savior and Their church, the only way we will be able to withstand the mocking and scorn of the world is if we keep our eyes on the tree (Jesus and Father and their love for us) and our feet on the rock (see Helaman 5:12).  Only with a firmly rooted testimony of the Savior, His gospel, His Church and His servants will we be able to withstand the tests and trails, mocking and scorn that we will receive over the course of the coming days, weeks, months and years until the trumpet shall sound and the Savior will return again in power and glory and might His second time to the earth.  It is my hope that I will do all that I can to be a part of that amazing and glorious day.