Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! I enjoyed mine thoroughly.

So, as I've mentioned, I'm training a new missionary again (his name is Elder Jensen). That means that, every Friday, we have an hour-long conference call to listen to. And what does that mean?

It means I've got more time to make sticky notes.

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Brightly beams our Father's mercy

From his lighthouse evermore,

But to us, He gives the keeping

Of the lights along the shore

Dark the night of sin has settled

Loud the angry billows roar

Eager eyes are watching, longing,

For the lights along the shore

Trim your feeble lamp, my brother;

Some poor sailor, tempest-tossed,

Trying now to make the harbor

In the darkness may be lost

Let the lower lights be burning; 

Send a gleam across the wave,

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman

You may rescue, you may save

(Hymns, No. 335)

Like we discussed last time, we believe that God has given us the fulness of His gospel in these latter days. We feel this gospel bless our lives and the lives of those around us. The natural result is that we seek to share it with others. We all start out in the midst of the storm-tossed sea, struggling to stay afloat. Eventually, we catch a glimpse of the light of our Father's mercy. If we stay the course and follow this light, we arrive safely in the harbor. It then becomes our duty to help in the rescue effort, reflecting His light and guiding others to Him. 

It's a work of love. It's God's work.

It is missionary work. 

I know that God lives and loves us. I know that He restored His church to the earth in order to bless us. I know that I've been incredibly blessed by this church, and I continue to see blessings as I seek to share it with others. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Until next time,

-Elder Richmond

Notes:

-President Monson has spoken a lot about "The Rescue." His most recent words on the subject are found here.

-Yes, I am aware that I misspelled "sailor" in the third note. 

-Speaking of light, the last note looks different because we swapped out lamps in the room where I make these.

Just thought you'd like to know.

Oatmeal and the Natural Man

Welcome back! Today, we're going to start off with a little glimpse into my missionary life...


So, in my apartment's kitchen right now, there are two microwaves, stacked one on top of the other. Why do we have two? Well, that's a long story. Maybe another time we'll talk about it another time. For now, we'll just say that we have two microwaves. The bottom one is newer and bigger, the top is older and smaller.

For a while, the top microwave just sat on the bottom one, unused and unappreciated. Recently, though, I've found a use for it. Throughout my mission, I've enjoyed a nice bowl of oatmeal to start off the day. However, when I came to this apartment, I ran into a problem. The big microwave worked a little too well; my oatmeal would boil over if I left it in too long. I tried taking the oatmeal out before it boiled over, but then found that it was undercooked. There wasn't any way to adjust the power level on the microwave, so I had to give up the oatmeal for a while (you can make it on the stove, but I generally don't have enough time in the morning to do that and get all my other things done on time).

One day last week, though, I noticed that the top microwave had an adjustable power dial on the front. I changed the settings, put in some oatmeal, and Viola! I had the perfect bowl of oatmeal!

So, what does all of this have to do with the Gospel? Nothing.

Yet.

See, the other day, I was getting my oatmeal ready, but I had something I wanted to do while waiting for it to cook. I put my oatmeal in the microwave, turned the timer dial, and then went about doing whatever else. When I finished, I went back to the kitchen, opened the door to the top microwave...and found that my oatmeal was gone.

I was more than a little bit confused: I'd heard the microwave "ding!" when the timer ran out. I knew that I'd cooked my oatmeal; so where was it?

It dawned on me that perhaps Elder Pope was trying to pull some kind of joke on me. I was about to call him out, but then figured I'd look around the kitchen first to see where he'd hidden it. I opened the door to the other microwave, and smiled as I found my bowl. I was about to make some sort of comment on Elder Pope's silly little joke, when I noticed something: my oatmeal wasn't cooked. The bowl wasn't warm at all.

I stood there for a few seconds, puzzling over what was going on. Then, it finally dawned on me. Elder Pope hadn't moved my oatmeal bowl at all: I had placed it in the lower microwave out of habit, then started the timer on the higher microwave.

I had a good laugh at myself, told Elder Pope what had happened, then actually cooked my oatmeal. If that had been all, it would have just been a funny little experience, something to write home about so that the family could laugh at my absent-mindedness. Definitely not something worth a blog post.

But, the thing is, not too long after, I did it again! I put my oatmeal in the lower microwave, then started the timer on the higher one. Except, this time, I caught myself before I left the kitchen. I laughed again, then cooked my breakfast. I thought to myself, "Well, next time I'll just try a little harder to do a little better," paraphrasing a quote from former church president Gordon B. Hinckley.

And that's what I'd like to talk about today.

In the church, you'll often hear people talk about how we need to repent every day. That can seem a bit strange, especially if you think like I did before the mission. Before, I thought repentance was only for those that were seriously violating God's commandments: killing, stealing, commiting adultery, etc. I'd hear all of these stories about people being weighed down by the burden of their sins and feeling incredibly relieved when they felt the power of the Atonement in their lives and repented.

So, this is what confused me: I was going about, living my life, and I wasn't breaking any of those commandments. That meant I didn't need to repent, right? But then, everyone always said that we all need to repent daily so that we can always feel the Savior's influence in our lives. But...how could I do that if I wasn't sinning?

Since becoming a missionary and helping other people repent, I've come to learn a lot about what sin and repentance really are. See, it's not just deliberately breaking the commandments that keeps us out of God's presence. Because of the Fall of Adam, all of us are born into this world as imperfect mortals, or Natural Men. Mosiah 3:19 teaches us that the Natural Man is an enemy to God; in other words, all of us, no matter how hard we try, will fall short in this life, and that keeps us out of God's presence. However, that same scripture also gives us hope: through the Atonement of Christ, we can stop being Natural Men and become saints, worthy to be in God's presence.

Every time we do something wrong, every time we act imperfectly, we sin, and fall short of the glory of God. However, this is why we have repentance. When we repent, we recognize that we've done something wrong, plead forgiveness from those we've wronged (including God), stop doing whatever we've done, seek to restore any damages we've incurred, and then keep moving forward in our lives, not sinning again. Every time we go through this process, we become better, less likely to sin. As we keep doing this throughout our lives, we become more and more saintlike, more and more like our Heavenly Father.

So, that's what me learning from my oatmeal mistakes has to do with all of this. It doesn't matter how many times I fall short of making the perfect breakfast, so long as I recognize what I've done and seek to improve. And, eventually, I know I'll make it to a point where I won't ever boil over a bowl of oatmeal again.

I know that God lives and loves us. I know that He wants us to become more like Him in every way. I know that He has given us the Gospel so that we can achieve that goal. I know that, as we trust in Him and in His Son, Jesus Christ, we'll feel the saving and enabling power of the Atonement in our lives. We'll become better people, and we'll feel free of all our past mistakes. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

-Elder Richmond

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Note: Since the original writing of this post, some exciting changes have taken place. Firstly, Elder Clark found a good home for the smaller microwave. Second, because of the loss of said microwave, I finally found out how to adjust the power level in the remaining microwave. Things are going much smoother, though occasionally I still overcook a bowl.

Late to the Party

I'm thankful for large bodies of water, like rivers, lakes, and oceans.

I'm thankful for really good Italian food.

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[Wait, is this his Thanksgiving post?]

[When did he upload this?]

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I'm thankful for warm breezes on cool days and cool breezes on warm days.

I'm thankful for clouds and the opportunity I have to stare at them

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[No, he didn't post this around Thanksgiving...it's been at least a week...]

[Did he forget or something?]

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I'm thankful for bike rides, be they in the mountains or just around town.

I'm thankful for the smell of flower shops, especially if it's been a while since I went in one.

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[Well, this is embarrassing. Was he thinking no one would notice?]

[It's Christmas season already. Is he even going to have time to post about that now?]

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I'm thankful for really good books.

I'm thankful for tall glasses of icy lemonade after a long summer's day.

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So, what's going on here? It should be fairly obvious:

A) I'm listing things I'm grateful for and
B) I'm pretending to write the words of some random reader of the blog.

Why? Well, for the latter, it's something I do a lot. I like to imagine that people read my blog and actually think about what they're reading.

So why am I listing what I'm grateful for, especially since we've already passed Thanksgiving? Shouldn't my posting be a bit more timely?

Well, in my opinion, it is. When Christmas, we get a bit preoccupied with pine trees, candy canes, snowmen, reindeer, holly wreaths, and all sorts of other symbols of the season. And that's not necessarily bad. However, since I've come out to Florida, I've found that Christmas still happens, even if none of the previous things are in sight [I'm thankful for the few houses around here that actually put up Christmas lights].

So, what is Christmas? It's celebrating the birth of Christ, of course. But, in my mind, it also has to do a lot with giving thanks. Why did the wise men come with gifts? Why did the shepherds offer newborn lambs? Why do all of us sing "Joy to the World?" Because Christmas marked the beginning of perhaps the most important time of all history; the life and ministry of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Because He came to this earth and atoned for us, we have the chance to return and live with our Father in Heaven again. We know that, because of him, we'll live again after this life. We'll see our families again, including loved ones long since passed.

The very act of celebrating Christmas is the act of giving thanks. It is showing Heavenly Father that we appreciate so very, very much the sacrifice that His Son made for all of us. Besides giving thanks directly in prayer, we know that we can show thanks to Heavenly Father through obedience to the commandments and through service to others. Since we're so thankful for Jesus Christ, we essentially take an entire month to show this gratitude to God and others.

All that aside, there's something else I've learned about gratitude. As I've tried to find something every day that I'm grateful for, or at least something that makes me smile, I've found more peace in my life. I'm more content with what I have, and I seek more to share it with others. Small moments of gratitude have become a sustaining force in my life. They help me Keep Moving Forward.

I know that God lives and loves us. I know that He gives us countless blessings, and we'll be happier if we seek to recognize them. I know that the ultimate sign of His love is His Son, Jesus Christ. I know that Christ came to this earth to help us on our journey back to Heavenly Father, and I know that, because He lives, we can all live again as well. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

-Elder Richmond

111: Love Each Other

Welcome back! My apologies for being a day late. While we plan out every day as a missionary, sometimes even we get thrown curveballs and deviate from our plans in order to help those in need. But, we are all set for today.

I'll start out this portion of 111 with another story, this one much more recent. I was with another missionary, and he asked to borrow some shoe-shining supplies since we were staying in my apartment. I said that was perfectly fine. Using some materials from my kit, and some that a previous missionary had left behind, he shined his shoes. As we were leaving the apartment, I noted that he'd put some of the older missionary's supplies into a bag to take with him. I didn't have a problem with that. However, I also noticed a small buffering cloth in his bag that looked awfully like one of mine. I was a bit suspicious, but didn't jump to any conclusions until I was back at my apartment later, with another missionary. Sure enough, I checked my shoe-shining kit, and one of the cloths was missing.

And that really bugged me.

We'll come back to the story later.

So, going back to the original post, the second great commandment that Jesus taught us is that we love our neighbors (i.e. everyone around us) as we love ourselves. For some people, we find that very easy. For others, we find that very hard. They hurt us with their words and actions. They stress us out. In a perfect world (not this one), everyone would treat each other with love and kindness, and hurt feelings would not exist. That world, though, won't come for a while (although it will eventually come). In the meantime, we need to learn how we can keep living with people we'd rather not have anything to do with.

First, we need to understand that nobody is perfect. To bring back the scripture from last time, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Due to a lack of knowledge or understanding, or perhaps even because of malicious intentions, people are going to end up hurting us. So what do we do? Do we mourn our social injuries, constantly bringing back the hurt we've felt? Do we get angry, despising the person at fault?

Let's use a metaphor. Say you see a rosebush, and you stop to admire the flowers. As you go to touch the blossoms, though, a thorn pricks your thumb and sticks in it. What do you do? Do you stare at the wound, tears in your eyes, wishing for the pure, unhurt thumb you had before? Do you spitefully leave the thorn in the wound, using the pain to fuel your plans to take a chainsaw to the bush?

Or do you calmly take out the thorn, step inside to get a bandage, treat the hurt, and go back to looking at flowers?

We firstly can't wallow in self-pity, longing for the happy selves we were before we were hurt. Some people believe that the world would be better if nothing bad ever happened to us at all. We know, though, through the Book of Mormon, that pain and trials are part of this life, and they help us grow (See 2 Nephi 2:27). We also shouldn't let the offending words and actions become the focus of our lives. The wound will never heal if we refuse to take out the thorn, and we shouldn't get angry at the imperfect nature of the thornbush for hurting us.

What we should do is forgive. Recognize that nobody is perfect, and be willing to move on and keep associating with those who have harmed us. As we do so, we find that we are free, that we don't let the words or actions of others define us. As stated by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, 2nd Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church, "We do matter. We determine our happiness. You and I are ultimately in charge of our own happiness" (See, "Of Regrets and Resolutions").

As well, God has commanded us to forgive, or to be merciful. As Jesus said in Matthew 5:7: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." He demonstrated this principle in the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (see Matthew 18:21-35). In short, since we all depend on God for mercy (as discussed last time), we must also be ready and willing to extend mercy to all of those around us, be they friend or foe.

I know this is a bit hard to swallow. But, as in my story about the shoe cloth, I've obsessed over the actions of another person, and it just doesn't make me feel good. There have been other circumstances as well, in which I've become so focused on what another person has done or said that it becomes hard for me to think of anything else. But I've found freedom and happiness through letting these things go. It is hard; I've prayed for a lot of strength at times to do this. But, in the end, the past is the past. A shoe cloth is just a shoe cloth, and we'll all feel a lot happier when we're willing to let it go.

I know that God lives and loves us. I know he wants to forgive us, and he wants us to forgive others. I know that as we do these things, a greater light and happiness will enter into our lives. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Well, just one more installment of 111! See you there next week (and hopefully on time)!

-Elder Richmond

111: Love God

So, we'll start out the post this week with a story.

My mom woke me up later than usual on September 11, 2001. As I climbed out of bed, she told me that my Grandma had called and told us to turn on the news. Gathered together in the family room, we all watched the footage of the planes crashing into the World Trade Centers. Frankly, I wasn't exactly sure what was happening. The gravity of the situation was lost on me. Eventually, I made it to school. As I walked into class, I offered my 3rd grade teacher an explanation of why I was late. I said:

"Sorry I'm late, Mrs. Anderson. I was watching people blow up our government."

She quietly said "It's alright" and then told me to take my seat.

Flash forward more than a decade, and I feel a bit embarrassed about what I said. Maybe even a bit ashamed. I don't beat myself up about it (I wasn't quite 9 then), but the feeling lingers.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the last time I said something I would later regret. I often tend to speak before I think, it seems, and that leads to me putting my foot in my mouth a lot more often than I'd like. Awkward things are said, words are misunderstood, feelings get hurt. All of these, like my 9/11 experience, leave me feeling embarrassed and a little ashamed.

I take comfort in the fact that I'm not alone. Perhaps not everyone has said something they shouldn't have, like me, but, as imperfect human beings, everyone has done something that's made them feel a bit guilty or ashamed (see Romans 3:23). Hopefully it only happens once in awhile; however, sometimes we have bad weeks, and we get rather weighted down with everything we've done in the week. These feelings, if not attended to, can make us tired, make us downhearted. We don't think we'll ever be able to pick ourselves back up again.

So, what are we to do? And how does all this tie in to forgiveness and 111? It's simple: by asking our Heavenly Father for forgiveness, we can start the process of getting rid of these feelings of regret and remorse.

Physical pain is a type of warning for the body: it lets us know that something's wrong, that we're not doing something right (like not eating for too long or failing to avoid the soccer ball that smacks us in the face). Guilt is the same for our spirits. When we do something in a way that God doesn't want us to do it, we feel guilt as a result.

Fortunately for us, we have a way (called "The Gospel of Jesus Christ" (see this page here, starting with the subheading "Faith in Jesus Christ)) to relieve ourselves of these feelings. We first believe that such a thing is possible. Then, as part of the process of leaving that action behind, we ask forgiveness from Heavenly Father for doing something wrong. It takes humility, but I can testify to you all that it works. I've felt my burdens lifted as I've asked God to forgive me, to give me another chance. He is merciful, and if we promise that we'll try our best to do better (through "covenants," or two-way promises. See the above link), he promises us that he'll forget our sins and help us feel better (see D&C 58:42).

If you find yourself bogged down with your mistakes and your regrets, I urge you to pray. To ask Heavenly Father for forgiveness and relief. As you take the right steps to do better, you'll feel a wonderful peace of conscious. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Well, that's it for this week! We'll continue 111 next week, talking about how forgiveness applies to all those around us. See you then!

-Elder Richmond