September 20, 2022
From Ben - Elephants and Anti-Christs
"I thought about what you said, and I've decided I really do need to change... I've only got one question though. If I try to start going to church, will you help me find a beautiful Christian wife?"
We got a call something like two days ago from a friend of ours we had stopped teaching in the middle of the transfer.
It was surprising because he was resolved to live his life in his way, irrespective of any council, rules, or good reason.
In the final phone call before we dropped him, I, in a manner blunter then I've ever been, explained that if he continued to live the life he was living, that he would one day find himself terribly lonely, miserable and hopeless; but that if he chose to live a life in tune with God's commandments, that there would enter into his life a new light and joy.
He had acknowledged that the things he was doing, and the habits he held on to were incorrect, but then explained that it was what he desired more of.
So, with sadness (and some unjustified frustration on my behalf) we hung up and expected to not hear from him again.
To our surprise, he reached out a couple weeks later, explaining that he had been thinking about our conversation, and felt that it was true. That the life he lived was one not able to bring him the joy he wanted.
The quote at the top is a result of it
We didn't promise anything about helping him find a wife, but did explain that the family was ordained of God, and that He would probably help him out if he acted in faith.
I'm excited to support him as he seeks to change, to repent.
Last Monday night, Elder McNabb and I got invited to a young adult, evangelizing night at a Pentecostal church.
I had reached out to one of the congregants on Facebook and she extended the invite.
We double checked that Pastor Josh was comfortable having two Latter Day Saint Missionaries attend, and got the green light that it was ok.
Oh man, it was grand.
Evangelizing is essentially the missionary process, and Pastor Josh was teaching his group effective ways of how to go about talking to people about Jesus Christ on the streets, on the busses, and in the parks.
It was the coolest thing to be able to explain and back up Pastor Josh's points.
I do now understand in a more real sense what the elephant in the room was feeling - how he got in there, I imagine he was surprised as well. But when the room listened to his stories of the jungle, and the many miles across the world he had traveled, they thought it alright for him to stay, even if he did take up a lot of space.
This young adult group were very kind to us. It was a cool experience.
We're even sitting down with Pastor Josh later this week to talk about the Book of Mormon
Oh man! One of the great highlights of the week!
We officially got persecuted finally.
Now, I've had the odd character of the streets seek to theologically cross up our ankles, the wandering intellectual scripturally aim to drain a three pointer in our eyes, but I haven't really had a group of people seek to mock our fresh kicks.
We were walking down one of the larger roads down in Sudbury and walked past a group of people, probably around six individuals, who were waiting outside a theatre of some kind, enjoying their smokes.
We stopped and sought to engage in a conversation and found out that they were just waiting for a show to begin, the contents of which were at best PG 13.
The conversation began respectable, but as we revealed our purpose and intentions as missionaries, a different energy entered the conversation.
Simply put, we just got mocked and ridiculed.
It was one of the greatest moments of my mission experience.
I've longed to join in on the stories of the missionaries who just get lambasted by the crowds, and now I've got my own story in my pocket.
Korihor in Alma 30, uses the ridicule approach and so do those of the great and spacious building in 1 Nephi 8.
The doctrines of the Gospel of Jesus Christ hold depth, colour, value, meaning, purpose, and joy.
They are not for the faint of heart and take serious, concious thought, effort, study, and prayer to deeply understand and apply in our lives.
It takes even more effort and humility to align ourselves with the understanding we gain through out study.
Korihor in his discourse uses the adjective of "silly" to sum up his evaluation of it all (verse 30)
To the many that hadn't done the spiritual work to truly ground themselves, Korihor, the skilled and persuasive orator, convinced them of his simple and shallow perspective/viewpoint of the Doctrine of Christ - making faith in God, and a belief in Christ a silly, foolish, and cheezy thing.
What a seriously dangerous description to give any room for in our minds.
However, when he is pitted against Alma, one who is expert in the law, in scripture, and the consequences of a life outside the Gospel, one who has done serious spiritual work through prayer, fasting, study and application, the effort to simplify the Gospel into something silly quickly fails. Alma, in their conversation, eventually getting Korihor to fall back on demanding that God reveal himself to him through a sign - an angel, or a pillar of fire, or a personal visitation, or something far out of the ordinary before he is willing to even attempt a prayer, or fast, or do any spiritual work that builds genuine faith.
The result being a sign, but not one he expected.
Anyways, the point being that the Doctrine of Christ becomes more realistic to us, the more we do the work to understand and apply it.
Transfers are tomorrow and I have the great pleasure to serve with Elder Surdu now.
Love you each
Have a stellar week!
- Elder Smith
1) Just a selfie on the street. My right eye is still recovering from a headbutt during basketball.
2) Mom! Mom! I ate healthy!
3) One of the last selfies of the Ice Castle crew of the August-September transfer
5) Farewell selfie no. 2
6) Sunglasses should be approved for missionaries. More people would talk to us, no lie.
7) The farewell to one of the most reliable people I've ever met. Elder Aaron McNabb.
8) Just a look into one of our days where we jam packed it with some teaching appointments.
9) Sorry Dad, every time you put on glasses, my heart leaps within me for joy, I had to snap a screenshot.
Hey fam. Thought this talk was really cool.
Becoming a "seeker"
That's what I think the LYR Spirit includes
Love you!!
From Dad - Happy Birthday, Ben!
Happy Birthday to you....
Happy Birthday dear Benjamin...
Happy Birthday to you!!!
And many more.........
Can you hear us all singing to you in 4 part harmony? :)
Can you believe you're 21!!! I can't.
Did you happen to get your package yet?
Amelia decided that for her birthday instead of a big friend party she wanted "Doc Martin" shoes instead. So on Saturday, we all headed over to the specialty shop in WEM and Mia was given the royal treatment, trying on multiple good looking shoes of various "heights". She almost went for the 2 inch soles but settled instead on soft leather and a more comfy version.
We also enjoyed having Josh & Madison, Sam, Damon and Rachel over for Sunday dinner with manicotti of course. Threw in some watermelon and corn on the cob, followed by strawberry shortcake and it was a rocking good birthday meal. This morning Mia chose not to have breakfast in bed because she needed to shower early for her hair cut later and so got breakfast in Seminary instead!
I'm sure grateful for her in our family and so glad we didn't stop at 5. She is an amazing YW and we love her dearly.
This week has been pretty standard. I really enjoyed church on Sunday. David Hardy spoke. I don't know if you ever remember him, but I home taught him for years and he became active and had 2 of his children baptized, then a year or two later went less active again. A few weeks ago he started coming back to church and for his talk, his kids showed up. It was really nice to see them all again. The second speaker gave an amazing talk about forgiveness. The most amazing part of it was his intensely personal experiences having to learn to forgive extremely hard things. After church we went to choir for the first time in a couple of years and it felt good to sing sacred hymns together.
Speaking of singing, the community choir started again on Thursday. The girls are coming for now, though we learned we actually have to pay a fee of $80 to join each semester, and Mia is not sure she wants the extra commitment. It is a good chance for me to get more involved in a small way in the community. The songs are many and challenging which is also good for me.
Mom is super busy now with school 2x a week, work 3x a week and homework in between. She really loves being able to hook up with Sam at the U of A for lunch once and a while.
She just got released from YW advisor and is called to teach the 12-13 year olds with Annelle Lawrence. She's excited to teach with Annelle, but not to sure about teaching the often very immature 12-13 year olds. Callings are meant to stretch us, right?
We learned yesterday that Josh, Sam and Madison are in the play "Big Fish". Not sure I even know what its about but they are excited to be acting/singing again.
I was blessed to be able to give both Sam and Josh father's blessings yesterday. A lot of adult decisions and responsibilities are happening in their lives and it was good to talk it through and ask the Lord on their behalf to help them with all the stresses and challenges that brings. I'm grateful for the perspective family and the gospel can bring.
Look forward to talking with you tonight. Love you lots.
Dad.
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