July 19, 2021

From Dad - A good week

Dear Ben,


Hope you had a great week! For me it had some anxiety related once again to the lawn mower. I'm trying more often to take my cousin Mel's advice and ask myself "Why did I shout for joy for this trial". In my case, "Why did I shout for joy when I knew that my mower would break down every 3 weeks!". In some ways it is so I can learn patience and also learn new skills. I actually quite enjoy learning all the parts of the engine!.  

This week I replaced the connecting rod that drives the piston as it broke inside the motor because I didn't put enough oil in the last oil change. I don't think I even knew what a connecting rod was. Then I got the joy of figuring out why when I attached the new one why the crankshaft wouldn't turn! Didn't used to know what a crankshaft was either. After some frustration and a good night's sleep I discovered that the crankshaft was scarred when the connecting rod broke so that is why it wouldn't turn when I tightened the connecting rod to it. At this point I started to seriously online shop for new mowers. After another night's sleep and yet another prayer for inspiration, I wondered whether the crankshaft could be smoothed out. A call to Brother Wright confirmed it could be and now I get to enjoy his company as he helps me remove the flywheel to get the crankshaft off. Enough engine terms for you?

All that rant above was to just highlight that with persistence, trust in the Lord and a recognition that all things can work together for our good, we can keep our peace of mind and grow.

Amelia gave a great talk about the Good Samaritan on Sunday. She is a natural when she gets up there and very articulate. I really enjoyed teaching SS especially discussing D&C 76 and 78. My new favorite scripture is D&C 78:5-7. 

17 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are alittle children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;

18 And ye cannot abear all things now; nevertheless, be of good bcheer, for I will clead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the driches of eeternity are yours.

19 And he who receiveth all things with athankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an bhundred fold, yea, more.

I love the idea of being made glorious when we receive all things with thankfulness. I asked the class to imagine their best memory or moment and then consider that the Lord has in store a hundredfold as good from that. Powerful incentive to share the good news of the gospel with the world.

A couple of important experiences from this week.

I learned the importance of stewardship when I borrowed Brother Cal Carlson's trailer a few weeks ago. After our vacation in BC, I took the trailer back to his yard only to realize that I'd forgotten to attach the electrical plugin and it ended up dragging the whole way there. It was of course wrecked. I apologized and asked Cal to bill me the cost. He nodded and off I went. I couldn't get it out of my mind though, and finally called Cal and told him I"d pick up a replacement. He was relieved and invited me to come by and help install it. I did that and we had a good visit as well as a talk about how important it was to him to be able to help people and how important he felt it was that I followed up and fixed the trailer. I believe it was a prompting from the Lord to make it right and I'm so glad I listened.

Second thing that happened was that because of the lawn mower situation, I asked Bro. Patrick to see if I could borrow his motor. When I called him, he had had a tough week and was worried about lending it to me for legitimate reasons around the mower having some issues. I had the prompting to ask him if he wanted to share his burdens. In typical Ron Patrick style he shared stories with me that included having his grandson and friends total his SidexSide from driving too fast, to being involved in the search for the drowned man in Wizard lake (a sad story of a father drowning after helping his sons in deep water but not being able to swim himself). I asked Ron what I could do to lighten his burden and after a moments reflection, he asked me to teach his SS lesson. I readily agreed and was grateful again for listening to small promptings.

This week we are prepping to go to Koocanusa. The girls have invited Emma and are planning to go down on the 25th and do some "Glamping", which is camping with perks. For example, we bought a blow up couch from Amazon and they are bringing solar lights and a rug to go in the big tent. Josh and I are planning to go down on the 29th. 

Also this week, Abby's friend Laura came up for a surprise visit. We got to host her and her Dad Calvin for a couple of days. We heard that you sent Sam a picture with one of the missionaries there who is friends with Dennon (Laura's brother) who is preparing to go on his mission. Here's a couple of Abby's pics:




We think about and pray for you every day. You are loved and you are where you are supposed to be. 

Josh came over on Saturday after taking Mom and Mia on a nice walk to the river valley. Coco about had a heart attack when she saw him. It was great to have him come home for a day.



Have a great week. Love you,

Dad.

Ben's Reply

Hey guys! I actually really appreciated the update on the lawnmower Dad, that thing has become the ultimate project. 

I wasn't able to get that general email out because I had a district activity today, ran out of time, and didn't have access to a computer. 

So the quick highlights of the week are...

1) In this lesson with Ernest (this guy from the Community of Christ, which believes the prophetic line went through Joseph Smith's lineage) Elder Sorenson asked him how he felt at the end of the lesson. Ernest explained that he did in fact feel the spirit there. Elder Sorenson explained that the Holy Spirit wouldn't be present unless what we were teaching was true. Ernest agreed and we asked him if he would then agree to be baptized. He agreed to pray for to know when. 
It was a pretty jammin' lesson.

2) We went to go visit this one family and they forgot we were coming so the husband wasn't there (he was the one who wanted to meet with us) so we chatted with the wife instead, who wasn't really interested but was a confident atheist. We actually had a pretty stellar conversation, until she dropped that she was reading the Satanic Bible. 
I was like "Ho Snap, we've played ourselves, this lady is delving into witchcraft occult jazz" so, trying to play it casual I said "that's cool, what's it about?" 
Turns out we didn't play ourselves because she explained that it was a book about philosophical  arguments and claims against the existence of diety and not in fact about occult. Thank goodness. 
They gotta change that name though, because dang, she had me going for a bit there.

3) I definitely went a bit apostate today (knowingly too, which was a problem) 
We were driving with some Elders when one of them whipped out his "P-day playlist" it included some Bruno Mars, Sam Smith, and other music. I was like "Moment of truth, time to chastise this Elder, show him an increase of love, and stay obedient to the music standard" unfortunately, it was then that he played some Hamilton. Long story short, I did not in fact make any comment about his music selection, I also may have sang a bit too. 
I do hope I'll handle myself better next time though. :)

Love you guys so much!

Elder Smith

Some pictures from today's District Activity and last week's District Meeting













Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

June 1, 2023

Image
From Ben: Finale? It was not a voice of thunder neither a voice of great tumultuous noice It was a still voice, of perfect mildness As if it has been a whisper It did pierce even to the very soul, saying.  Repent ... There came a voice unto them, a pleasant voice As if it where a whisper, saying. Peace.  I believe I have often over-dramatized, to my detriment, what it means to speak with power and authority from God.  I've consistently envisioned a fire and brimstone, hand raised to the sky, declaring with the voice of thunder truth, sending shock-waves of lightning and power to emphasize the point.  This can be the case, however, it is a problem to assume it always be the case.  Christ, through the Spirit, speaks with a voice of perfect mildness. With a voice that is still.  I have a hope that I will cherish and develop my capacity to cherish the power and authority of the still, calm, voice That is where my conviction of the reality of God and Christ were...
Read more

May 15, 2023

Image
From Ben: Chief Captain Ochoa I was laying on the couch during a dinner hour, just thinking.  Elder Ochoa, my Zone Leader, just puttering along in the kitchen, putting some leftover chilli in a cup to heat up in the microwave.  "I like following this guy"  my brain thought " He's not too radical, he's just a good listener and cares about the missionaries he watches over. He's not perfect, nor is he too different from me, but he just cares.  In fact, if he asked me to do something, I'd do it.  I've spent enough time with him to know that his motives are pure and good.  I enjoy the fact that he is my leader. I trust him, and I want to follow him"  Laying on this couch, as I heard the microwave begin heating up some chilli in a cup, I randomly half-teared up (no tears shed, just the watery eyes)  In a quiet way, it really meant a lot to me that there was someone who was just a stand up person, who, I knew if I had something on my mind, he would ...
Read more

September 5, 2022

Image
From Ben - To Wrap One's Head Around it "Can you help me lift up my friend?" asks the blind drunk man.  Elder Gallup and I look at each other, then look at this massive man, laying on the ground.  "He's had one too much to drink, and we just want to get him standing" So I position myself in a titan squat and open the gate to the reserve of strength and energy that I keep secret (it grows by every short person joke I hear. I store my anger and use it to my advantage) and Elder Gallup positions himself on the other side, and we HOIST.  After much grunting, and a couple of curses from our friend laying on the concrete, we got him seated on his walker.  After a salute, Elder Gallup and I walk away.  Downtown Sudbury will provide adventures. One just has to walk the streets.  We got to go on exchanges with the Assistants this week!  Elder Gallup and Elder Christensen are basically perfect men. They both have prince charming jaw lines and physiques, and have...
Read more