Easter

The celebration of Easter is different where we are living. Chrise and I were both surprised when it wasn’t even mentioned in Sacrament Meeting. When I asked some of the members about it, they confirmed that it isn’t a big holiday here. This is all the more surprising because the Mexican people love festivals and have many that I couldn’t tell you what they were celebrating.

Earlier in the week while I was preparing to teach an English class, a middle aged man, whom I had seen and greeted on other occasions but whom I didn’t know very well at all, came into talk to me. I sensed a tension in him and it was soon apparent why. He had just received news that a cancer, against which he had been battling for sixteen years, had relapsed. As he told me about it tears welled up in his eyes and he told me that he was very tired of the fight.  He asked me to give him a blessing.

I wanted very much to be the mouth piece of the Lord’s will as I knew this blessing was very important to him, so I paused for several seconds seeking inspiration. Then the words started flow. The blessing was one of comfort and direction for him. I told him of the Lord’s knowledge of his suffering because of what He had suffered. It was one of the longest blessings that I have ever given, and when it was over the man with tears still in his eyes gave me a long hug. I could not even say the word heal. Every time that I thought to say it, my mind had a stupor and I could not remember it in either English or Spanish, but the word’s I offered and Spirit I felt brought hope and comfort. He is in the hands of our Heavenly Father.

About 1, 984 years ago our Savior suffered all of our pains and worries and hardships, all of our sorrows, and burdens. We all hope that he will take them away and someday he will, but I don’t think that is why he suffered them. He knows more than we do that they these afflictions that come to us all at various times in our lives are an important part of our mortal probation. But as angels came to succor him in his pain in Gethsemane, so can he succor us and help us find meaning and hope in what we endure, and in so doing, he lightens our burdens.

How grateful I am to have my small knowledge of my Redeemer, and to have felt his love and guiding influence so many times in my life. I love Him. 

Passing One Year in Our Mission

Chrise and I passed one year in our mission this week. We only have six months left. So far, it has far exceeded our expectations. The work we do every day fills us with a satisfaction that we are doing something very worthwhile and important. We met a couple from Utah in the Mexico City Temple who are serving their second mission. When I asked the sister if she missed her home, she said, “What could we do at home that would be more important than this? Being here blesses our family far more than we could if we were with them.” This good sister had been preparing most of her life for this opportunity.

I don’t want to mislead you. It is hard being away from home and from those I love. There are many times that I wish I could be with them. I’ve been homesick a lot. Though I love the people here, this is a strange culture, very different from home. We have been pushed out of our comfort zones, physically, mentally, and spiritually.

But it’s the hardships that make the good experiences all the sweeter, and I’ve talked about the good a lot in my blog. Though I have passed sixty-five years old, this one year here serving our have Heavenly Father has changed me and touched me far more than decades of my former life. Living the life of ease, it is very easy to lose track of time and waste time in life, but here every day and just about every hour counts. We are touching people’s lives, and we can see the difference we are making as instruments in His hands. There is no feeling that surpasses the feeling that comes with this. We all have a mission here in life and many of us mistake it to be involved with worldly things. The true mission, the true joy in this life comes through serving Him.

Blessed

A week ago while I was reading the scriptures, I had the impression to ask my mission president for a blessing. It was Fast Sunday so I thought he might not be as busy as normal with meetings. I was wrong.

President Crickmore is an incredible man. He very much wanted to give me the blessing and wanted to be fasting. So even though he had just fasted, he asked me if we could fast together the very next Wednesday. I found out later that he prayed about the blessing over the three intervening days.

I asked my wife to join us so she could share in the spirit and maybe catch some of the words that I missed. It’s a good thing she was there because I got so caught up in the Spirit that I missed much of the specifics of what the President said.

I’m not going to into the words that he spoke as they are personal, but I want to share the feelings that I had. I knew that the Lord was speaking to me through the president’s voice and I had a powerful feeling of love. Many of my doubts and inadequacies disappeared as I felt this wonderful love and approbation from my Father in Heaven. At the same time many of the good memories of my life opened up in my mind, the reasons for His approbation. He is aware of everything. My wife felt it too and cried through much of the time.

The after glow of that blessing still rests with me together with a desire to forever live to be worthy of that love. Through my mission president, I came to know my Father in Heaven in a very real and deeply spiritual way. Words cannot describe Him. I can only say that I want to know Him even better.

Some of my testimony has changed from faith unto knowledge. I can testify with a surety to those who venture to read this that He lives because I felt His presence, His love.

Everything Will Be All Right

We are teaching a man named David. It has been a bumpy road with him. He has problems with smoking and drinking, but through it all shines a beautiful soul. Today, he came to Church with a smile on his face and for the first time he brought up when will we have our next discussion. I sensed a big change. My prayers are being answered.

For weeks my dad has been really down. So much so that my brothers were worried that he may die any day. I had fears too but also hope. This week he turned 92, and when I called him on his birthday, he said he felt really tired. That worried me, so I called him again the next day. On that call, I could feel the change in his countenance. He said that he was sore from so much walking. He had been up and taking 50 foot jaunts all day. He’s on the mend. My prayers are being answered.

I had a girl friend in high school. She was a beautiful young lady, but there was a sadness to her that I couldn’t understand. I found out many years later that she was being sexually abused in her home. She joined the Church and married and it seemed that all was changing for the better, but she suffered from insomnia, no doubt brought on by the horrible events of her childhood and adolescence. A doctor prescribed warm wine which became the first of an unending flow of alcohol.  She lost her family, and everything that was dear to her. Barely forty, she died of liver failure. I went to her funeral. There I had a strong feeling that the Lord had brought her home and that now her many years of pain, suffering and misery were gone. He had died for her very personally and suffered all that she had suffered that she could be forgiven and healed.

These events remind me of why I am here. I am an idealist at heart, and I believe that I and the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints carry the message that will mend our troubled world. More than any politician or worldly program, He shines brightly as the Way.