Stand ye in holy places.

There is something I experience on a regular basis when we are teaching.  Mark will be teaching, I will look between him and those we are teaching and it is almost a sacred experience.  I have a friend who often says, real life doesn't have music playing in the background.  These teaching experiences come pretty close.  We are sharing a message of God's love for his children.  We offer invitations to read, to pray, to change, to know for oneself of His Gospel.  We promise the blessings of the Lord as they are obedient.

We often think of "Holy places" as sacred places of worship- a church or a temple.  We think of places where sacred things happened- as I would think you would feel in the holy land, or for us as Latter day saints- the first vision, etc.  These are holy places because of the things that happened there.  Things that one cherishes in their worship.

I remember a trip to Liberty Jail in Missouri.  The first time I went, I was impressed by the experience of B H Roberts in the jail.  He referred to his  time there as being in a temple.  This seems the most in-congruent term for a prison.  It was underground, there was a hole in the roof of the jail which was the floor of the building.  The room was not high enough for the men imprisoned there.  Conditions were terrible.  How could such a place be termed a temple....

"... that you can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experiences with the Lord in any situation you are in. Indeed, you can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experiences with the Lord in the most miserable experiences of your life—in the worst settings, while enduring the most painful injustices, when facing the most insurmountable odds and opposition you have ever faced."

But the lessons of the winter of 1838–39 teach us that every experience can become a redemptive experience if we remain bonded to our Father in Heaven through it. These difficult lessons teach us that man’s extremity is God’s opportunity, and if we will be humble and faithful, if we will be believing and not curse God for our problems, He can turn the unfair and inhumane and debilitating prisons of our lives into temples—or at least into a circumstance that can bring comfort and revelation, divine companionship and peace. (Jeffrey R Holland, CES fireside)

Luckily, we are not in terrible circumstances here.  We are received with love and warmth to most places we go.  Some are humble homes but filled with love.  

The point is that we can be in a "holy place" when we are doing God's work.  It is so humbling to be a part of a lesson where the person hearing is feeling the spirit.  We are so touched by their willingness to hear and then do.

Last night we were teaching a lesson to a young man we met through our English class.  He is such a good man.  He is curious about religion.  He says more than anything he wants spirituality and happiness in his life.  The spirit was so strong in that lesson.  It was a sacred, holy place.

I am grateful for the sacred, holy places I get to visit each week here.  Homes filled with love and light.  I am humbled by the opportunity to witness the Spirit of the Lord touch someone's heart and spirit.

"But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance."  1 Nephi 1:20.

I love this scripture.  It's at the beginning of the Book of Mormon, a history of a family, chosen by God, to leave Jerusalem and travel to the Americas.  Over the years they are tried, tested, taken captive, liberated, etc.  Some of their brethren fall away.  Some are converted and end up being very faithful to the Lord.  The Book of Mormon is full of the tender mercies  of the are Lord.  They are for all of us who follow Him.  He will be with us.  He will send us little blessings.  This happened to us here in Santiago a few weeks ago.

In this picture there are 8 men who served as branch president (minister) of this congregation in the past.  There is also the current branch president on the far right.  These men all served without pay, while earning a living to take care of their families, often without much support (because the branch was small), some without much time as a member of the church sort of flying by the seat of their pants.  Hno. Obando is on the far left.  He is 84 years old.  He was one of the first. The reason this was a tender mercy is that 2 of the 9 hadn't been to church for years.  Four of the nine have had challenges the past few years that have made them less active.  This historic day, the Lord truly blessed us to have all of these great men together on the same day.  If we had planned it, it probably couldn't have happened.  But the Lord made it happen.

It was a beautiful day with a beautiful spirit.  Many hearts were gladdened to see old friends, old mentors.  So grateful to Heavenly Father for helping it all come together.

Loving another country

Recently the United States played Colombia for third place in the Copa America.  I am as American as they come.  My dad served at the end of WWII, Korea, Vietnam and would have gladly gone back during the Iraq war (Desert Storm).  When I hear the National Anthem, I cry.  I love the United States of America.  I'm so grateful to have been born here and to have been blessed by the many advantages of being an American.

Especially living in a different country you come to feel how truly grateful we should be and how many wish they were us.  As a young person I served in Colombia as a missionary.  There is a special place in my heart for Colombia or more accurately said, the Colombians.  I love them.  They are very dear to my heart having lived there for over a year.  So while I was sad that the US lost the game for third place there was a bit of pride for Colombia for finishing third.



Now we're in Panama.  I already love the people here.  I will always have a special place in my heart now for Panama.  It is said, you love those you serve.  How true.

The latest, greatest, breaking news

Each week Mark writes a letter to the family.  Here is the latest:

Sometimes it's the little things you miss when you're away from home in a different country.  I had unsuccessfully been looking for root beer at the grocery stores in Santiago.  The only place that I knew of that had root beer was at a Price mart (kind of like a Sam's Club), which is in Panama City or David and where you need to be a member.  Then unexpectedly I found it at a supermarket here that I had gone to a couple of times before, called Machetazo.  It was a six pack of IBC root beer in 12 oz bottles.  It was $4.38 for the six pack and worth every penny.  Hopefully it wasn't just a one time buy.

This last Friday we went to a multi zone conference in David, a little over three hours away and met our new mission president, President Current and his wife.  They seemed very nice and he definitely hit the ground running.  

He shared his vision of the future of Panama and the mission.  He quoted 3 Nephi 5:13 which says "I am a disciple of Jesus Christ."  His vision is that "We are going to do things that have never been done before in Panama."  It will be accomplished through 1. Obedience to the Lord and the mission rules, 2.Diligence by working hard and consistently and 3. Doing everything with the Vision in mind.  As part of his vision he shared a picture of 67 people lining up to be baptized in Africa in 1979, when the work just began there.

He shared how that when he was called as a stake president in south Florida by Elder Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Elder Anderson said as he was leaving just "grow the Kingdom."  After decades of stagnant growth they were able to grow the Church in that area by 60%.  He also said that your success as a missionary will not be in the number of baptisms--since this is up to the people who listen and the choices they make- it will be your level of obedience and diligence.  But this will grow the kingdom because the Lord and the people will be able to trust in you.

Things are going well.  A returned missionary, who had been inactive for many years returned to Church this past Sunday with his 12 year old son, who is looking forward to being a Deacon.  We had an attendance of 105, whichis the highest during our time here. We continue to seek out less active Elders and heads of households to strengthen the branch here.  The members are doing a lot more visits and are becoming excited. This Sunday I spent a little time teaching a couple of young men how to tie a tie.  I used the rabbit, tree and hole method, which was taught to me.  The key is to make the knot nice and tight.

Today is the 4th of July.  Happy 240th Birthday America.  We love Panama and the people of Panama.  However, we are well aware of how blessed we are and have been having been born as Americans.  It has enabled us without having to overcome impossible odds to be able to blessed both temporally and spiritually so that we can serve others in the U.S. and throughout the world.  In many countries, Cheryl would already be dead as a result of one or more of her cancers.  Instead she is having a great impact here and everyone loves her.

Hope everyone has a great week!