Welcome Home (#80) (Ending our blogging days with an even number!)

We are back in Texas and have been basking in the fun of friends and family. We were able to speak in church the first Sunday that we were home, and heard Karen share a few thoughts about going to Palau, and also her experiences as a missionary helper.

Gail talked about how missionary service sanctifies us, and also about the growing need  for Senior couples. Then Becky Rosenlund Brassard sang a beautiful song for us.

Unfortunately by this time, we were out of time so Gary shared his Palau rescue experience which totally captivated all his Scouts. His well prepared homecoming talk, which has been cut twice for length was not given. So here it is in its shortest version. ENJOY!

~*~

The Book of Mormon—Heavenly Proof

The first 2 sentences in preach my gospel under the book of Mormon heading teach that, “The Book of Mormon is powerful evidence of the divinity of Christ.  It is also proof of the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith.”  In the next few minutes I’d like to give you a few of the powerful ways that the book of Mormon has proven itself to me.  

First, I believe the coming forth of the Book of Mormon was a miraculous feat.  Joseph Smith received the gold plates containing Mormon’s abridgement of the religious record of his people in late September 1827, when Moroni, as a resurrected being, delivered them to him.  As was common in rural areas in those days, Joseph Smith was largely uneducated.  To assist him with the translation, God provided for him an ancient translation instrument called the Urim and Thummim.  He was also blessed by the help of scribes who wrote what he dictated as he translated.  Among those scribes were his wife, Emma, Martin Harris, a prosperous farmer; and Oliver Cowdery, a schoolteacher.  Emma described what it was like to serve as Joseph’s scribe: “No man could have dictated the writing of the manuscripts unless he was inspired, for, when I was acting as his scribe, Joseph would dictate to me hour after hour; and when returning after meals or after interruptions, he would at once begin where he had left off, without either seeing the manuscript or having any portion of it read to him.”  How could anyone have done that? Unfortunately, most of the translation work done by Emma and Martin Harris during the first 15 months that Joseph had the plates was lost.  The bulk of what we have in the Book of Mormon today was dictated to Oliver Cowdery between April 7, 1829 and late June that same year.  That’s 65-75 days total at a rate of 7-8 of our current pages per day.    The Book of Mormon is not a simple text.  It is a complex, thousand year history of an ancient civilization.  It proposes geography; contains a numbering system based on eight rather than ten; talks of government, politics, war, theology, economy, prophecy, history, and poetry.  It uses many different styles of writing and incorporates figures of speech, simile, metaphor, narration, exposition, description, oratory, epic, lyric, logic and parable. Layer after layer of meaning unfolds to the careful reader, too much for an uneducated twenty-four-year-old to have invented.  No plausible evidence exists that anyone else wrote it, so where did it come from?  The implication, of course, is that it came from God and actually was written on gold plates. Considering the Book of Mormon’s theological depth, historical complexity, consistency, clarity, artistry, accuracy and profundity the prophet JS translation is a phenomenal achievement—even a miraculous feat and he did it in less than 3 months!

Secondly, the Book of Mormon proves itself to me because it makes geographical sense.  Take for example the Book of Mormon stories of Lehi’s family leaving Jerusalem in the early sixth century BC in search of a new promised land, and compare that account to ancient historical sources from the period.  The book describes their journeying down the Arabian Peninsula paralleling the Red Sea turning eastward, at a place the Book of Mormon calls Nahom, toward the southern coast bordering the Indian Ocean. This is where they began building a ship before beginning an ocean voyage to the New World.  

In 1829 when the Book of Mormon was written there was no Gazetteer in existence that mentioned Nahom.   That’s because it wasn’t until 1994 that archeologists discovered it and dated it to 600 years before Christ.  It’s a striking bull’s-eye to find in the Book of Mormon the exact name, at the exact time in the exact place predicted by the Book of Mormon geography.  Nahom being mentioned is spectacular substantiation.   

Next, the Book of Mormon account describes Lehi’s party coming to a small green oasis on the Arabian coast where they found trees they could work into lumber for the ship.  At Joseph Smith’s time the entire western world believed that the entire Arabian Peninsula was empty. In fact, it was known as the Empty Quarter.  There is no green spots mentioned in the bible, nor were any known to exist.  Nevertheless, such a green spot does exist along the otherwise barren Arabian coastline.  The Dofar Area of Arabia is no doubt the green spot that Lehi’s party called Bountiful.  Moisture from cool water rising from the Indian Ocean is picked up by monsoon winds. When that moisture laden air hits the cliffs it drops that moisture creating a tropical monsoon forest.  Fruit trees, eatable plants, honey bees and trees large enough to build ships all exist in abundance.  Predicting that a bountiful land could exist along what was thought to be the barren Arabian coast is another stunning bulls-eye for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.

You will remember that when Nephi got to Bountiful he only had one question for the Lord when he was told to build a ship.  That question was where do I go to obtain ore to make tools.  It turns out that there does exist in the Dofar area in Arabia a couple small deposits where iron ore has been extruded from the metamorphic rock.  It comes right to the surface of the ground.  The ore has a soft laminate and Iron Carbonate combination that makes it super easy to smelt and being exposed to the air the iron oxide is highly concentrated—it’s as though the Lord prepared it far in advance so it would be ready to go when Nephi needed it to make his ship building tools.  None of these ore deposits were known to exist in Joseph Smith’s day. Even today, they have not been commercially developed because of their relatively small size.  Finding geological evidence of iron ore in the land, Bountiful, is another striking bulls-eye for the Book of Mormon account.  Remember, all of this is from an uneducated, Joseph Smith, who at one point in the translation, asked Emma, who was serving at his scribe at the time, if Jerusalem really had a wall around it.

These accounts of convergence between Book of Mormon details and historical scholarship are convincing proof to me of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon account.  

Third, I believe the testimony of the 12 witnesses to the Book of Mormon. First we have the Prophet Joseph Smith himself who said, “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”  8 of the witnesses held the “gold plates” in their hands, and they saw the engravings. They hefted the record and attested that they know for a surety that Joseph Smith had the record.  Were they coconspirators?  Were they pressured to sign the statement?  To the contrary, most of them suffered greatly for their witness but none disavowed their testimony.  Finally, let’s look at the 3 special witnesses, who testified that “an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates and the engravings thereon” furthermore, they testified that they heard the voice of God declare that they were translated by the gift and power of God.  All three of those special went to extraordinary lengths to affirm their testimony before their death’s, and avow the truth of what they had seen and heard.  In a court of law two witnesses are sufficient to establish the truth of a proposition. How solid, then is the testimony of 12 men?  In my mind, their testimony is rock solid proof that the Book of Mormon is of divine authenticity.  

Fourth, I believe the Book of Mormon is true because of the artistry of it’s construction.  Biblical scholars are impressed with Book of Mormon poetic forms equal in value and style to biblical poetic verse.  The most impressive types of Hebrew poetry are called parallelism.  The Book of Mormon is replete with parallelisms.  The poetic patterns serve, as they do in the Bible, to emphasize messages, define and expand them, make them more memorable, and structure them.  One form of parallelism, chiasmus, has been extensively studied, but there are an abundance of other parallelisms, more than 25 different types, in the Book of Mormon.

My favorite type of parallelism is chiasmus.  The history of the discovery of this type of parallelism is instructive. In 1967 John Welsh was serving on a mission in Germany.  One p-day he and his companion attended a lecture were the speaker discussed Hebrew poetic forms in the bible and paid particular attention to chiasmus.  About two weeks later Elder Welsh awoke with a start. It was 4:00 a.m. and the thought that was in his mind was this, if the Book of Mormon really is what it claims to be, a religious text composed by writers familiar with Hebrew Poetic styles, then, he thought, I should be able to find chiasmus in the Book of Mormon.  So Elder Welsh began his search that morning; in his personal study he was reading in Mosiah. He began right where he left off the day before. After a few minutes of study he came upon Mosiah 5:10-12.  (chiasmus is like a big X. the items in a list are repeated in reverse order, 5,4,3,2,1,1,2,3,4,5)  You can imagine how excited Elder Welsh and his companion were—they started telling people about chiasmus in their door approaches that very day.  

Next let’s take a look at Alma chapter 36 where the entire chapter is a chiasmus.   It is, in my opinion, the single most brilliant example of the Hebrew poetic form in all of recorded scripture.   In that chapter Alma the younger retells his conversion experience to his son, Helaman.  What Alma talks about in the first verse is repeated in the last verse, the idea in the second verse is repeated in the second to last verse and so on.  The chiasmus pattern continues and focus our attention on the pivotal point in Alma conversion, he remembers his father prophesying unto the people concerning the coming of Jesus Christ (in verse 18 we have the turning point) and as his mind caught hold upon this thought he cries unto Jesus, have mercy on me.  Like King Benjamin, Alma uses the chiasmus form to focus our attention on how the atonement of Jesus Christ was the pivotal moment in his life.  He uses the poetic form to emphasize the doctrinal truth. The indisputable existence of intricate, deliberate, and artful chiasmus in the Book of Mormon raises a big question about it’s origin: how could it possibly be the product of an early nineteenth century writer?  To me, the great number of parallelisms is evidence that demands that we at least seriously consider the possibility that the book is a document from antiquity.  

Finally, let’s look at the evidence provided by the Book of Mormon of the divinity of Jesus Christ. While serving in Palau my favorite assignment was teaching the youth SS class.  Consequently, in 2012 I was able to study the Book of Mormon as only a teacher does.   There is an amazing consistency throughout the book as various prophets testify of Jesus Christ.  All ten of the major prophet writers consistently taught 7 things about Jesus Christ.  Leave it to Alma the younger, who served for 8 years as chief judge, to summarize those seven ideas in a single verse.  (Read Alma 33:22).  That’s the seed mentioned in Chapter 32 that Alma wants us to plant in our hearts (see vs 23). It’s not just the seed of faith, it’s faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! Accompanied by the power of the Holy Ghost, reading and pondering the great sermons on Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon bring a certain witness of their truthfulness.  The Book of Mormon is replete with examples of disciples and prophets who knew, understood, and were transformed by the enabling power of the Atonement in making the journey of mortality.  

Now let’s consider those many writers in the book of Mormon who saw Christ Personally.  The brother of Jared, Nephi and Jacob saw the premortal Christ.  Mormon and Moroni saw the risen Christ.  In addition, multitudes were present during the Savior’s brief, but powerful ministry among the Nephites (see 3 Nephi 11-28) Think of the evidentiary value of 2500 people testifying that “we saw him, we felt the prints of the nails in his hands and feet, we know he is the Christ!” The testimony of the Book of Mormon confirms the testimony of the Bible that Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God and the Savior of the world.  

I was not present to sit with Oliver Cowdery under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven as he wrote uninterrupted as Joseph Smith translated with the Urim and Thummim.  I did not journey with Nephi past Nahom to the Land Bountiful, and watch him build a ship with tools he had made himself.  I was not with Alma when he shared his masterful account of the pivotal moment in his life with his son, Helaman.   Nor I was among the Nephite crowd who touched the wounds of the resurrected Lord.  But my testimony of this record and the peace it brings to the human heart—given to me through the whispering of the Holy Spirit IS sure.  I testify of this book as surely as if I had, with the Three Witnesses, seen the angel Moroni or, with the Eight Witnesses, handled the plates of gold.  I know it’s true!

I invite you to open yourself up to the possibility that what I’ve said today could be true.  I invite you to choose faith instead of skepticism and doubt. I invite you to read, ponder and ask God if these things are not true.  I invite you to not just cling to the iron rod of which the Book of Mormon is a part, but hold fast to it—for it will lead you to the Savior.  When you reach the tree of life which is a symbol for the life, ministry and atoning sacrifice of the Savior I invite you to fall down and worship at His feet. I invite you to partake of the fruit which represents receiving of ordinances and covenants whereby the atonement can become fully efficacious in our lives. I invite you to taste the fruit which is a symbol for the blessings of the atonement, not just the redeeming and cleansing power but also the enabling powers of the Atonement that we may all move from bad to good and good to better and become a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord.  In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

I DID IT…WE DID IT! (#79)

The LAST week of our mission! It is incredible that it is here! We have been SO busy! Tuesday we gave the Elders their final car and apartment inspections. They passed with flying colors! Their apartments and vehicles were the cleanest they have ever been. Way to go Palau Zone!

Wednesday we had a service project at Sister Paz’s house, and helped her move things from a storage room in the back of her house. Everyone worked hard as you can see from our pictures.  One of the things we moved was a heavy accordion room divider. Well, maybe it wasn’t THAT heavy!

Wednesday was our LAST seminary so Sister Johnsen made homemade cinnamon rolls. It was spring break and Daniel suggested that we not hold seminary. He was right on! Only one person came, but more people came to Young Men and Young Women so the cinnamon rolls got eaten.

Thursday we hosted our LAST district picnic. The elders suggested we go under the KB Bridge, and it was a lovely spot. We had pizza from Payless, and everyone said it was the best pizza they had eaten on the island.

We had our LAST district meeting after that. That night we also had our LAST institute meeting where we talked about grace. Elder Johnsen reminded the class of Elder Bednar’s BYU devotional address reprinted in the April 2012 Ensign, where he defined grace as the divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ.  Elder Bednar also quoted the bible dictionary definition that reads “It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts.”  Elder Bednar went on to say that, “Grace is the divine assistance or heavenly help each of us desperately needs to qualify for the celestial kingdom.  Thus, the enabling power of the Atonement strengthens us to DO and be good and to serve beyond our own individual desire and natural capacity.”  Both of us have not only seen the Savior’s redeeming and cleansing power, but also have seen and felt his enabling power as we’ve served in Palau.  So when we say WE did it, we really mean by the grace (enabling power) of the Lord Jesus Christ, we DID it. He was our companion in this work; He deserves all the credit.  (see Jacob 5:71-72)

During our spare time on Thursday both of us worked on our homecoming talks which will be delivered at 1:00 in the Klein Ward on March 24.  (Will it be the LAST missionary homecoming talk we’ll ever give?)

Friday, Sister Johnsen had several personal appointments to get ready to come home, and Elder Johnsen worked on his LAST Priesthood Service Night updating maps and getting the First Presidency message ready. Then, after Elder Johnsen’s LAST missionary haircut, w e went to Meyuns and took Sister Johnsen’s picture.  Here is the one we took on our FIRST week.

       

The interesting thing about that FIRST picture is that we had barely been in Palau a week, and had just visited a member. We drove down to the dock near that member’s home and sat on a bamboo bench and wondered what we were going to do in Palau. We tried to come up with a list of things, like attend church, pray for the members, and speak in Sacrament meeting.  Elder Johnsen took Sister Johnsen’s picture. We don’t know if you can tell by looking at it, but she was not that happy that day!!  Within two weeks of that first picture we were so busy that we were not sure we could finish all that we planned to do in 18 months.

After the picture at the dock we came home and tried to pack. We have too much stuff! It is going to be interesting to see how we can get it all home.  On Friday night we made mint brownies which used up the LAST of our chocolate chips and bottle of Hershey’s chocolate syrup. That’s what we call provident living!

Saturday we had work at home, but it kept us pretty busy, and we listened to the rain! It was pouring a ton! We had the Kesolie Family to dinner and also our new friends from Hurricane, Utah, Betty and Claire Hall. We played Buzz Words for the FIRST time!

Sunday was our LAST Sacrament meeting with the biggest congregation since we arrived in Palau, we had 84 in attendance, and the LAST time we sang in sacrament meeting with our little Palau choir. It was Elder Johnsen’s LAST time to teach the Palau youth Sunday School class, “How can the Book of Mormon help me strengthen my faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ”. We got to feed the Elders, Eli and Daniel one LAST time, and WE finally had to sit in the HOT SEAT and answer questions! What goes around comes around…

Monday was our final packing day and our special farewell FHE at the church. They asked us both to speak and to sing. Sister Johnsen sang, I Have Not Seen, But I Believe,” with an accompanying slide show about the Savior.  It was the LAST thing we did in Koror Branch.

After our usual games and final batch of famous Johnsen popcorn, our faithful elders drove us to the airport and stayed with us until we walked up the stairs, (just to make sure we didn’t break any rules before we left) and we were on our way home after 18 months!

Will it be the LAST time we ever see Palau? We don’t know, but we wish the Carters well as they begin their missionary service here and pray that the grace (Enabling Power) of the Lord Jesus Christ will attend them, as He has attended us, during their service!

Today, While the Sun Shines (#75)

We had an interesting reminder this week of an experience that we had more than 35 years ago.   Saturday afternoon we were out trying to take pictures of members. Having already captured 267 photos you can well imagine that all the low hanging fruit has been gathered, but we figure it’s like eating an elephant,  you just keep at it one bite at a time. On Saturday we finally caught Michelle at home and had a pleasant visit with her. We have never seen her at home but have given her cookies and Liahona’s for nearly 16 months at her work. During one of our first visits to her, Sister Johnsen asked if we could take her picture, but she politely declined.  On Saturday her response to this same question was, “Not today.” It reminded us of an earlier event that Sister Johnsen was able to have published in MormonTimes. Here is the story:  

“During our first Christmas together, my husband, Gary, and I did what many BYU students do, we piled into the car with siblings and drove home. Home for my husband is Minnesota, and it is a long and sometimes treacherous drive in the winter.

We had been traveling for hours when Gary’s sister, Connie, took over the driving at about 2:00 A.M. None of us thought to check the gas gauge. When she did finally notice, the gauge registered empty. Connie woke us all up, and we tried to decide what to do. We didn’t think we had enough gas to make it to the next service station so we exited the freeway, but all the stations in the nearby town were closed.

The country lane we drove down to the next town was very dark and deserted. The temperature in Nebraska that night was frigid--double digits below zero. And then, we ran out of gas, and the car stopped. What would we do now? Gary and his brother, Lee, got out of the car and walked toward some lights they saw down the road. Connie and I stayed in the car and prayed. I was 6 months pregnant with our first child.  I was cold and scared.

Gary and Lee came to a farmhouse about one mile away. They woke up the resident of the house, and told him our situation.  They asked him to sell them just enough gas to get to a station.  

His response was surprising:  “Not today.”  Not today??  The brothers went back on the road and walked two more miles to the next farmhouse, and were able to buy gas. It was enough to get us to a gas station. Thirty seven years have passed since we asked that farmer for gas. We have never been back to ask if is “today” might be the right day.

At the time, we were disappointed and couldn’t believe that this farmer wasn’t willing to help us.  Over the years, though, I have realized that often we are also like that farmer—waiting for convenient moments to serve.

My husband and I have found that there will always be opportunities in our lives to perform service, but certain moments in time, and various kinds of service only come along once in a lifetime.

We have also learned that service often requires sacrifice, and I truly believe that this is the best kind of service because it brings with it the blessings of heaven. Elder Dallin H. Oaks reminds us, “Our Savior teaches us to follow Him by making the sacrifices necessary to lose ourselves in unselfish service to others. If we do, He promises us eternal life, “the greatest of all the gifts of God” (D&C 14:7)” (Ensign, May 2009)”

Since we’re down to our last 5 weeks in Palau, we probably won’t have a chance to contact Michelle again before we leave.  In the grand scheme of things whether her picture is in LDS tools directory probably doesn’t matter, but the idea that sticks with us is that Today, While the Sun Shines we must work with a will, today, all our duties with patience we fulfill (see Hymn 229).

We had a good example of working with a will on Tuesday while we were moving dirt from one side of Diane’s house to the other side as a service project (that seems to have no end in sight).  There’s no way to get any heavy equipment in to do the work, so all the elders just pretended they were human backhoes. Using picks, shovels and wheelbarrows they moved dirt until hands were too blistered to continue.  They have probably completed 10% of the dirt moving task. It definitely won’t be done in the foreseeable future, but the plan is just to keep pecking away, one bite at a time while the sun shines.

We can definitely say that the Elder’s are continuing to work with a will. This past week Elder Gubler and Dopp taught 62 lessons, and Fullmer and Pauga taught 37.  In total they were just one lesson shy of 100.  

Another person this week who was willing to keep going was Barbara Gilson. She came to Palau to visit her husband, Larry, who is working here for the next year. Barbara arrived in Palau at 4:30 A. M., but came to Sacrament meeting at 9:00 A.M. and was our concluding speaker. She told about their long marriage, and how Larry stood by her after a car accident that left her with a serious brain injury. It took four years to recover. It was during those years that she joined the church (Larry has yet to join). She also told of her love for the gospel. Her husband was definitely an example of both work and love, as he cared for her and stayed with her while she healed.   

Our “work” is winding down here in Palau as we continue to take member’s pictures, create a “Welcome to Palau” transition booklet, prepare member thumbnail sketches and continue to do all the regular work that occurs weekly.  We know that that the sun (metaphorically) in Palau will continue to shine on the work we do here in Palau for the remaining days of our mission.

Under His Wings (#70)

All the senior missionaries were gathered together under the wing of President and Sister Mecham this week in Guam for our semiannual “Senior Missionary Conference”.  Elder Olsen shared the following story as a spiritual thought during the conference:

“After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno’s damage.  One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree.

Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick.  When he struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother’s wings.  The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise.  She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies.  Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast . . . . because she had been willing to die, those under the cover of her wings would live.  

In singing praises to God, King David wrote, “He will cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you will find refuge” (Psalm 91:4).

The Savior mourned over Jerusalem, “ . . .how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matt. 23:37) see also: 3 Ne. 10:4-6; and several others --Topical Guide – Wings

The scriptural references to “a hen gathering her chicks” will have new meaning if we remember the mother bird in the Yellowstone National Park fire.  

Let us have the Faith of little chicks.  Even though the storms (or fires) of life may rage about us, we must trust in the love and safety of the Savior.  Remember, He died that we might live.”

During our trip we also fell under the wings of Hollywood—on Saturday afternoon.   E/S Johnsen went to Les Miserables which was a touching and wonderful movie.  Tuesday evening after dinner with other seniors  we saw Lincoln (which we understand has been nominated for 12 Academy Awards).  One of the many things that we miss on Palau is a movie theater with current releases.  Although there is one Palauan advantage, we can usually purchase current DVD releases for $3.  

Speaking of birds--Monday was an eventful day for us in Guam.  In the morning Elder Johnsen got his golf need satisfied—a foursome of seniors headed to Anderson AFB to play on their 18 hole golf course.  Elder J had the hot hand on the front nine—you should have heard the “Oohs” and “Awes” when he knocked a 5 wood 195 yards to within 4 feet of the pin on the par 3 8th hole.  Of course he missed the birdy putt on the high side a sliding side hill putt—it was close— the ball made a complete 360 around the hole before popping out, but that’s golf!   He doesn’t want to talk about the back nine, we’ll let you draw your own conclusion, but one par 5 tells the whole story—after two brilliant shots he was in the greenside bunker 10 yards away from the pin after 4 more strokes he was finally out of the bunker but now 20 yards from the pin down a steep embankment—it was a miracle that he only recorded a triple.   He found every sand trap on the back nine and didn’t have one clean hit out.  Nevertheless, it was so much fun for him.  

Monday afternoon we both got our teeth cleaned and later that evening we were at the Mecham’s with all the seniors for a great meal and family home evening.  The spiritual activity was to make a one word sermon.  Both Elder Johnsen and Sister Johnsen were chosen by their group to deliver the sermon—SJ discoursed on the word GO and EJ talked about BEHOLD.  It was a fun exercise.  After that we played a jeopardy game composed of questions about individual seniors present.  EJs group did well because they won the daily double and got the question right.  After that we played four on a couch.  That was super fun and funny. (everyone takes a new name of another person in the group--object of the game is to remember the new name of every person and get 4 people of the same sex on the couch).  You have never seen so many “senior” moments!  The women won!  

On Tuesday the conference began, President and Sister Mecham spoke and wowed us with their enthusiasm. For the first time in many years the mission beat the baptismal goal—the Lord is clearly accelerating the work in Micronesia.  We heard also from our seminary/institute director and from the office and service center staff.

On Wednesday each senior couple made a report of things they had been doing.  E/S Johnsen reported on their work to update and use the new LDS on-line tools, priesthood service night, our transition plan, and also some things that we really enjoy about serving in Palau.

EJ was very excited to update LDS tools while he was in Guam and actually get on his iphone the complete Palau branch directory, with pictures and locations all of our members.  He just thinks it’s way cool to see all our work so concisely accessible. Thursday was the concluding day of the conference, it consisted of a hike to a beautiful island location where we had a great breakfast followed by a testimony meeting.

It was a lovely way to end the conference sheltered under the outstretched limbs of trees less than 50 feet from the ocean.  While the weather threatened we were able to complete the program without disruption.   By Friday night we were back in Palau, back in the saddle again.  

We now have only a few more weeks before we are sheltered back under the wings of the Klein Ward.  We have lots of work to do before we leave Palau and come home!

Be Prepared (#69)

Monday is usually our preparation day, but this past Monday was New Year Eve and Sister Johnsen was in charge of games and also prepared a large supply of snacks and treats for the big event at the church. Instead of personal preparation, we were preparing in another way.  The party was set to begin at 8:30 p.m. and go until mid-night.  At 7:30 we began loading our car with 4 gallons of purified ice water, 40 frosted cupcakes, a tray of brownies, a tray of rice crispy treats and about 5 gallons of Johnsen famous popcorn.  The loading continued with two trash bags filled with Palauan snowballs (crumbled up paper surrounded by a white piece of paper securely fastenened with wide cellophane tape), Sequence, 3 decks of cards, old maid cards, dice, beans, straws, Banana Grams, balloons and a host of other supplies.  Upon arriving at the church we hauled all our supplies indoors and set up game tables, the food table, the drink dispenser, and then got the volleyball net up in the parking lot.  By 8:30 all was ready.

With volleyball going on outside and board games happening inside everyone was able to find something fun to do.  At 10:00 we stopped all the play, moved the volley ball nets and got set up for Palau’s second official annual snowball fight.  For those of you that have never had a snow ball fight with wadded up paper snowballs here’s how it’s done. The court is divided in half; the snowballs are dumped in the middle of the court along the center line.  Two teams of equal ability are chosen; all players line up on the back line of the court and at the sound of GO run to the center, grab snow balls and start pelting members of the other team, like dodge ball.  The only difference is that when you get hit instead of leaving the playing court you just switch sides and become a member of the other team.  It gets pretty wild—our game had about 20 contestants on each team.  Play continues until everyone is on one side or the other—however, after 30 minutes of hard charging play the Second annual Palauan snowball fight ended due to exhaustion of the players.  We have never seen so many smiles—the smaller children love trying to pelt the adults with snowballs.  In fact one little boy who didn’t quite understand that he was supposed to stay on his side of the court basically circled President Kesolei and pelted him nonstop with “snowballs.” It was the most intense barrage we’ve ever witnessed.  Both participants and watchers on the sideline were literally laughing out loud. 

After the snowball fight ended, we played some outdoor tag games which we very fun.  About 11:00 the teens got a game of basketball going while most of the crowd went back inside to continue their board games, play musical chairs, and balloon volleyball.  Elder Johnsen and 3 of the teenagers had an intense game of sequence going when the clock struck midnight. It was an amazing way to welcome in the New Year.  We felt so blessed to have a perfect night. The moon (on the breast of the new fallen snow-- balls) was nearly full, no rain, just enough of the breeze to keep the outdoor pleasant.  We got to bed at 1:00 and enjoyed our preparation day on Tuesday which was a very rainy day followed by a very rainy night.

We moved our service project to Wednesday because of New Year’s day. We found that the lights, air conditioner filters and ceiling fan blades were much dirtier than we had expected.  It took a couple of hours for four of us to clean them.

Elder Johnsen and Elder Fullmer worked on replacing the ceiling tiles in the Young Women’s room. The tiles were ruined by a water leak (which we repaired earlier). When we were finished all the Elders stopped at Sister Paz’s house to see what they could do about her roof. Bopha had blown off one of her corrugated sheets of roofing so we found and reattached it.  

On Thursday Sister Johnsen delivered her spiritual thought in district meeting which was based on the parable of the sower (or better named the parable of the different types of soil) she made the point that you don’t know the quality of the soil until you sow the seed.  So it is with missionary work, we prepare and then try to share the gospel with everyone—as Peter taught, “ . . .and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you “ 1 Peter 3:15

We were heading for the church on Friday morning to do our usual weeding when we got a call from Brother John Thing. He said that there was something wrong at the church. He asked us to come over. We were not prepared for what we saw. The church had been broken into. There was broken glass and torn door frames.  An attempt on the Branch Presidents office yielded no treasures so the family history center was tried. There a laptop was stolen. We were grateful that the other three computers were not disturbed.  Here’s how Elder Johnsen described what happened:  “Sometime between 3:30 p.m. 1/3/13 and 9:30 a.m. 1/4/13 the church building in Koror was broken into and the branch president’s office and the family history center doors were forced open and the FHC laptop was stolen. Thankfully the data projector was still at our apartment (we used it during the Christmas party which was held here) and thus it was not taken from its usual storage spot in the branch president’s office.  As far as we can tell nothing else is missing. The bad guys entered the building by breaking a louvered window by the side door (between the chapel and the aux class room building) reaching around and through the broken window pane and unlocking the door lock and the dead bolt lock.  We met with the police shortly after 9:30 and at 9:45 I filed a statement with the police.  We’ve replaced the glass panel, cleaned up the glass debris and also the debris around the forced doors.  The door into the BP office and the FHC will need to be replaced and the trim replaced and repainted.”  This was sent to both President Kesolie and to church leaders in Guam. It wasn’t the morning that we expected. We learned that that the extra glass in the shed does come in handy another example of being prepared!  

We are showing The Wizard of Oz for First Friday Flicks before we take off to Guam for our Senior conference. Our suitcases and those of Elder Marshall contain the equivalent of 9 large flat rate boxes worth of contents to mail home, all addressed to Karen Johnsen. Thanks, Krn.  We only have 10 weeks left and we thought this was our best chance to get our things home with less expense.  (All mail goes out of Palau at $.46 per ounce.  Do the math that’s $7/lb.   We literally have 130 lbs to bring to Guam that we’ll be shipping in 9 separate boxes.  From Guam we can use flat rate boxes and we will spend about $1/lb.  Now that’s being prepared to live providently!  

Bon Voyage to us! We are prepared for our trip to Guam!

Making Progress- Personally (#67)

Christmas is a time for remembering the Son of God and renewing our determination to take upon us His name. It is a time to reassess our lives and examine our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Let this be a time of remembrance, of gratitude, and a time of forgiveness. Let it be a time to ponder the Atonement of Jesus Christ and its meaning for each of us personally. Let it especially be a time of renewal and recommitment to live by the word of God and to obey His commandments. By doing this, we honor Him far more than we ever could with lights, gifts, or parties."       —Dieter F. Uchtdorf

We actually made some progress on Tuesday night; for the first time in about 6 months we were able to cover all 7 routes with priesthood holders for our priesthood service night.  Including the visits made by Elder Johnsen last Sunday in Airai, we saw or left a message with 123 out of 163 households, and we still have another week to make visits.  

Wednesday night was our YW in Excellence Program.  We held Seminary in the Primary Room so the YW Presidency could decorate the chapel for the big event.  As you can see by the pictures they did an amazing job.

Sister Johnsen helped some the girls prepare for the evening.  She taught crocheting to several of them and they used that skill to make projects which were on display, and which they spoke about.  Elder Johnsen’s favorite project was a purse that was crocheted out of plastic grocery sacks.  Surangels grocery store uses aqua colored sacks and WCTC grocery store uses a sky blue sack. These sacks are twisted into “yarn” and then, using a crochet stitch they are made into useful items.  The purse on display was two tones:  the bottom 1/3 was sky blue, while the top 2/3 was aqua.  It was surprisingly attractive.  You would never know it was made out of grocery sacks!  Now that’s provident living!  

Sister Johnsen also gave what we would consider to be a key note talk in the program.

She described 5 reasons to love Personal Progress and Elder Johnsen thinks that her ideas apply to anyone who wants to make some progress personally in the coming New Year. She found these 5 ideas in a talk by Jan Pinborough on the church’s website. The first reason is because it changes YOU!  One of the biggest miracles of the program is personal.  It is a goal oriented program.  Heavenly Father knows about goals. He has shared his overarching goal with us. In the Pearl of Great price he says, “This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”  If we are to become like him we need an overarching goal too. Most of us would say that our most important goal is to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. But underneath that goal are myriads of other goals that we can have.  Life is full of things to do, and to accomplish.  

When Sister Johnsen was young her mother talked about writing down goals. She took a Dale Carnegie class and became a real believer in goals. Like her mother, Sister Johnsen loves to set goals and watch them happen. Recently she read a book called, Write It Down, Make it Happen.  This expanded her thoughts about writing down goals. The author says that “writing it down” is not about time management. It’s not about a “to do today” list that will make your feel guilty if you don’t get everything thing done. Rather, writing it down is about clearing your head, identify what you want, and setting your intent. You CAN make it happen purely by believing in the possibility.

Don’t the scriptures tell us that all things are possible to them that believe?  Sister Johnsen said that we can be magicians. We can make real things appear in the real world by setting a goal, writing it down, and working to make it happen.  

Sister Pinborough’s other 4 other points which Sister Johnsen covered were equally insightful.  After the talks and presentations the girls in sang “A Believers Prayer” composed by Sally DeFord.  It is one of their favorites.  As the program ended we shared a wonderful meal that was, in part, prepared by some of the girls as part of their “project”.  Sister Johnsen was asked to bring a dessert, and so she made and frosted two batches of cupcakes, “How about . . . cupcakes?”   It was an amazing night of personal progress on display.

Speaking of personal progress, April was baptized on Saturday right before our Christmas party.  April is from China.  She is attending school at Palau Community College.  Elder Johnsen’s first contact with her was when she called him to obtain an interview for possible admittance into BYU-H.  Elder J arranged that with the branch president.  His interview with her was transforming.  He KNEW by the power of the Holy Ghost that she would be admitted to BYU-H (which she has been).  Shortly after her interview she began meeting with the missionaries. She has attended church regularly and is such a sweet girl.  He mother flew in from China to attend the baptism—we’ve never done so much bowing!\

We receive the gift of the Holy Ghost after we are baptized.  (2 Nephi 31:12) and Elder Johnsen was asked to speak about the Holy Ghost during her baptismal service.  He told about helping his good friend, Curt, build a tesla coil. They used  it at a science open house to astound the audience by holding a light bulb a foot away from the top of the coil and having one foot of sparks leap the gap and light up the 4 foot florescent light held in Curt’s hand.  Elder Johnsen said that getting baptized was like getting a tesla coil—tomorrow when she receives the Holy Ghost the power switch would be flipped to the on position, and like the florescent light the Holy Ghost could give her 10 significant blessing mentioned in the Book of Mormon.

After the baptism we dashed back to our apartment where we were hosting the Branch Christmas Party.  The party was fun.  We probably had about 60 branch members attend.  The Johnsen’s patio was a perfect venue for the party, and we had enough parking.  It was a beautiful night (no rain). The food was very good and we had lots of it.  We also had about 8 non-members as invited guests including the Doc from the CAT team.

After the dinner was ended, the piñata was a big hit! It took quite a few swings to break it (some members thought Sister Johnsen and Karen used duct tape instead of newspaper).

Elder Fullmer finally put it out of it’s misery after all the children and young adults had taken their best shots.

The kids were eating candy all night (7 lbs goes a long way).  “The Nativity Story” was our movie, and we were surprised that nearly 40 people stayed until the end.  We had a king size sheet mounted on the wall as our “screen” and the picture size from our projector filled the entire width of the sheet—it was almost like being at the theater (drive- in, since we were outside on our covered patio).  At 9:30 the movie was done, but the work wasn’t.  We cleaned up until about 10:30, while the Elders hauled all the chairs and tables back to the church and got it set up for sacrament meeting the next day.  

Our Christmas program included 3 speakers and 3 special musical numbers . We had a small choir of Primary age girls sing “Away in A Manger.”  Elder Johnsen had so much fun watching the faces of the congregation while those young girls were singing; literally everyone was smiling .  Minda DeLeon sang a solo of a number and became very emotional. It was very sweet and touching, but Sister Johnsen tried to help her by thinking, “Kitty Litter, kitty liter.” Oh well...  Finally our little branch choir sang another Sally DeFord Christmas song, “Would I Know My Savior?”  It was a beautiful Christmas service. Eli McCann was the concluding speaker.  After telling the story about the farmer that raised an Eagle with a flock a chickens—he encouraged all of us to realize that we all are Eagles, and we are meant to soar with Eagles—we must take our personal progress to new heights.    

We hope that each of us will “rediscover the Christmas Spirit” and take into your hearts the LOVE and ETERNAL GIFT the Savior’s life has given to each of us. As President Monson has said, “Today there are hearts to gladden, kind words to say, deeds to be done, and souls to be saved.” We are glad to be part of this work upon the isle of the seas in Palau. We hope that all of you have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year of personal progress!