June 1, 2023

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 born and encouraged.

In quiet, meaningful prayer, through a still, whisper, but one that pierces the soul. 

I love the logic of the Gospel. We need it. 

I love the blessings of the Gospel. We need them. 

I love the community of the church. We need eachother. 

But for true conviction and conversion, outside and distinct from any social support, traditional support, familial support, or church support (again, these are important, but do not form the core) one must communicate with the Man of Holiness themselves, Diety; the Father of our Spirits; God. 

We only feel the presence and peace of our Father through and because of The Holy One; the Messiah; the Prince of Peace; the Savior; Christ - because of His Atonement. 

We experience such communication through the Holy Spirit; the Comforter; the Constant Companion. 

We feel and recieve such communication in our personal Spirit. In our soul. 

Which, as revealed again through restored truth, all "spirit is matter, but is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes" 

It is through this process and communication that one builds a diamond firmness. A sure foundation. 

When the Spirit of God, reveals to our genuinely immortal spirit, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that we need Him and His healing power to become a Celestial being, and develop a pure, Celestial character, we will be unshakable. 

As we daily live worthy of the Holy Ghost (which by honoured covanent we are ensured,) which communicates such things, we can daily remain firm. 

It is IMPOSSIBLE to intellectualize oneself to an understanding of, or conversion to, God. 

And if I speak from my own experience, one can go for a really long time believing they can, and can assume, because of an understanding of revealed doctrine, that they are firm in what is true. 

It is not the case. 

I have been humbled many a time in realizing that I need God to communicate to me these things, and I only get them revealed to me when I do it in the way He has explained. 

Study of scripture, pondering, praying, then, necessarily, serving. 

Outside of this divine model, I will miss the mark, and impair my eternal progression, or, damn myself. 

But, I can bear witness that I have truly recieved a witness, in many situations and scenarios, of the reality of Jesus Christ, and of a real, loving Heavenly Father. 

The Book of Mormon contains the Doctrine of Jesus Christ and is true scripture. 

Joseph Smith is who he says he is, and is and was a Prophet of the living Christ.

I believe that Russell M. Nelson holds all the keys of this dispensation and is authorized to use them. 

"With frightening speed, a testimony that is not nourished daily “by the good word of God” can crumble"

The danger is still real. 

But, I don't intend to crumble

For those who read all these emails, you probably know more about myself then I do, and are familiar with many of the deeper chambers of Elder Smith's heart. 

This is in fact the last email. 

So, that's pretty cool. 

The journey truly begins now, however. 

And there are still many lives to bless. 

Onward and upward! 

Go forth and conquer, eh? 

- Elder Smith

[Korean Beef - a new favourite food, Pics with friends, with members, with Elder Morrison, pic with the District, a killer quote from a Relief Society book, and a good PmG quote]

From Dad: Last Email...

Dear Ben,

Looks like this will be the last email before you come home next Saturday. I know it sounds cliche, but it really feels like time has gone by so fast and I can barely believe you are already completing 2 years in the service of the Savior and his church. Well done thou good and faithful servant. You have done the work you were asked to do and like all callings, it is almost time for a release and onto the next growth opportunity. I'm so excited both to see you and talk with you face to face again, but even more excited to see you embark on the next phase of your life as you apply the lessons you've learned over the past 2 years and learn new ones. Exciting times ahead, full of ups and downs, heartaches and victories. 

We are recovering today from an absolutely amazing graduation day with Abby. She was radiant and soaked it all in. So grateful for the great friends she's made and it was fun to watch her celebrate with them and with us. She was up at 5:30 am getting ready to go get her hair done at Sis Lindsey Olsens, then off with Kadence to do a sound check for her grad performance. We met up with her at noon to take pictures. Here's her with her "lunch bunch": A small glitch along the way came when Abby couldn't find her phone after the ceremonies. She pushed through bravely and enjoyed herself anyways and was rewarded a couple of hours later when Kadence found it in her bag. Tender mercy and an answer to many silent prayers from the whole family.Josh, Sam and Madison were kind enough to come and join us for the ceremonies and sit through the 322 graduates walking across the stage.

It was great to have Steph in town to take professional photos too:

Before they started handing out the diploma's, she and Kadence bedazzled the audience with their performance of "I have been changed" from Wicked.

We enjoyed having all the kids (Except you of course :) ) together at the banquet table and dance. Abby stayed later with friends and like a trooper still got up for church with only 3 hours of sleep.

We enjoyed a fun Sunday with Steph, Tyler and Bowie talking, playing pet shops, building forts pretending with Bowie, eating good food (spinach macaroni with asparagus and shrimp), enjoying the beautiful summer weather and playing dutch blitz.

In sacrament meeting today, we were blessed to have newly called service mission leaders (the Garsides) share with us the new service missionary program which truly allows anyone who wants to serve, serve, even if it means shorter times or serving from home. Another inspired change from President Nelson and the quorum of the 12. Take your vitamins, the work is moving forward at an accelerated pace. We loved the concept shared that just like the Savior both taught the gospel and served/ministered to others, we have teaching missions and serving missions. 

I may have mentioned it before, but we've had to do some repairs on the green car. As soon as we got the suspension done and thought we were in the clear, Abby informed me that the windshield wipers had stopped working! So I did some research and ordered a new windshield wiper motor only to find out that that wasn't the problem. Instead it was the linkage that was the issue. Finally got the part the day Steph and Tyler flew in so that night I stayed up till midnight installing it. I thought it was super easy to install, but after re-attaching everything and putting the whole thing back together, I learned that the orientation of the levers and linkages has to be in a certain way otherwise, as I found out to my dismay, the windshield wiper will try to go down instead of up from it starting position. 3 tries later and a few frustrated trips to YouTube and it finally worked. Turns out it was a small lever that had to be oriented slightly up instead of slightly down that made all the difference. 

Reminded me of the scripture in James 4:3 about how a small rudder can turn a whole ship.

Ben, you've successfully navigated your mission by small and simple choices to work hard, be obedient and learn from the scriptures and the spirit. All that adds up to the large 2 year ship of a mission arriving home again safe and sound and better for the journey.

Love you lots, son. See you Saturday.

Dad.