Making the Leap of Faith (#74)

This week at seminary we were studying John 10 in which Jesus is spoken of as the good Shepherd.  While we discussed verse 4 where the sheep know His voice, we heard a unique story told by Eli about the value of knowing the voice to follow. During WWII, a ship was sinking and another ship was alongside to remove the men from the sinking ship. The ships were both rocking furiously, but at exact opposite frequency—that is, at one point their sides would be together and the other point their sides would be far apart.  The rocking frequency was such that in order to make the jump from one ship to the other the seaman would have to make his jump when the vessels sides were farthest apart; then while the person was in the air the vessels sides would rock together and he would safely land on the deck of the rescue ship.  If they jumped when the vessels sides were next to each other the gap between the ships would open while the seaman was in midair, and he would fall in between the ships and be crushed and drowned in the ocean below.  Many of the men being rescued knew and trusted the man who was commanding them when to jump.  While it was difficult to implicitly trust his command to jump when the ships sides were farthest apart, those that did so were saved.  So it is with our faith in the good shepherd, we make the leap of faith at the command of the good shepherd trusting that the outcome is according to his will.  Sister Johnsen likes the saying she found in the book The Artist’s Way which says, “Leap and the net will appear.”

We had one of those trusting experiences on Tuesday night when we opened up our CES inservice lesson to all the branch leaders and teachers.  Elder Johnsen’s lesson was about teaching after the manner of the spirit.    After laying the groundwork by reading D&C 50: 13-22 and using Matthew O. Richardson’s October 2011 conference talk on the subject of “teaching after the manner of the spirit”, not in front of, not behind, but BY the spirit, we divided the attendees into teams of two.  Each team used Teaching No Greater Call (teaching by the spirit section) to create a list of things we can do to teach by the spirit. After their reports EJ concluded with ideas from Richardson’s talk where he suggested that we must teach as the Holy Ghost teaches. He “teaches what we must know and do so we may become what we must be” and secondly “the Holy Ghost teaches by inviting, prompting, encouraging and inspiring us to act.  Christ assured us that we come to the truth when we live doctrine and act accordingly.” Our final section was to have each person individually answer out loud the question, “How can you use this material to teach by the spirit.” Each person found at least one thing (from our long list on the board) that they committed to do so their teaching would be BY the spirit.   Sister J made rice crispy squares for a treat—the meeting couldn’t have gone better.  After it was over EJ received a text from the Elder’s Quorum President, “I really enjoyed attending in-service.  I learned a lot and felt the spirit. Thanks.”  For us it was a leap of faith to invite the busiest people in the branch to ANOTHER meeting, but it was gratifying that the good Shepherd would send the comforter so the instruction would model the lesson we were trying to teach.  

On Tuesday morning we were up at the church doing service. We actually had two project choices. We could put a second coat of paint on the new doors on the BP and FHC (which some of you will remember were destroyed during our church break-in about a month ago), paint the back of the shed, and do some other deep cleaning work, or we could go and move some dirt at Diane’s place on Dead Dog road. (That’s our name for the road that Diane lives on because the day we found her house there was a dead dog on the road). We finally decided to split up and do both. We feel very happy that we made that decision. As we were concluding our work and the Koror elders had come back to the church, a guy from the Czech Republic stopped by the church and visited for a while with EJ. He was just walking to the crocodile farm, saw our church sign which said that visitors were welcome, and just stopped in to see what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was all about. He was actually surprised to learn that the church has a presence in the Czech Republic (which we knew because of our friends, the Hrncirik's served a mission there).

Elder Fullmer and Gubler actually had a “real” discussion with him, gave him a Book of Mormon and later that day had a follow-up meeting where they gave him more church literature.  Talk about divine positioning.  He’s been here in Palau for a month. This is the first time he’s stopped at the church, and this is the only Tuesday we’ve been at the church doing service this month.  He took the leap of faith as prompted by the spirit, and missionaries were at the church to answer his questions.  Coincidence?  We don’t think so!   

We just can’t stop bragging on our awesome Palau missionaries.  This week the elders in Meyuns, Elder Fullmer and Pauga taught 51 lessons and Elder’s Gubler and Dopp taught 61.  These are not just lessons for the sake of numbers, these are lessons taught to real people who are making and keeping commitments.  The elders have taken the leap of faith which resulted from recent training, and we are astounded by the way the work of the Good Shepherd is going forward.  Elder Gubler also celebrated his 20th birthday this past week, but he was in Guam on his actual birthday, so we celebrated it a week late.  When we asked him what he wanted he said, a German chocolate cake. We were impressed to find the cake and the frosting in the store here…it’s the little miracles! 

We’ve also continued our work this week with our 5 bright and dedicated Koror Elementary spelling bee students.  Since we were only called in to help beginning January 24, and the island wide Spelling Bee is this coming Saturday (February 16th) our students have had much less preparation than did our Meyuns students last year.  Nevertheless, they’ve been working hard and also taking a leap of faith that the extra hour they spend with us each day after school will pay dividends in a better spelling bee performance.  

Ralph Waldo Emerson says, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us.” As we look inside of ourselves for our own faith, we are able to move forward in ways that we didn’t previously think possible. Every day we can practice our own special “leap” of faith!

The Lost Coin (#13)

It’s Christmas in Palau! A few buildings have lights up but that is because they have their own generators. We went out to buy a tree but wanted one that had white lights, and was tall enough to look like a tree, but not too expensive, and we found it! Sister Johnsen made a few red bows, and Elder Adams donated the decorative glass balls his parents sent last year. We like our little tree. The Elder’s packages from home have started to arrive, and they are putting them under our tree.

Elder Roko left for Saipan, and Elder Early came here from Saipan. They switched places. Elder Early is a convert to the church for about two years. It’s so great when young men join the church and then are willing to serve for two years in places all over the world.

Our Branch President asked us to represent the church at a special meeting of the local church leaders to discuss the spiritual health of the islanders. The leader of the group was Dr. Kortiea, and he is a very spiritual and wonderful man. He said that if something is not done differently, the young people on the island will be dead before their parents because of the lifestyle choices they are making. It was interesting and enjoyable to sit down and meet the other leaders and ministers of the churches on the island. It is a good thing to set aside the doctrinal difference and focus on what we can do in concert to help the people we’re called to serve. There will be a follow-up meeting after the holidays.

We also were invited to work with some bright elementary students in Meyuns, one of the hamlets in Koror, as they prepare for the big spelling bee that eventually leads to the National Spelling bee in Washington D.C. We work with them 4 days a week pronouncing words and having them spell them. It is such a blessing to be able to meet and work with them. Elder Johnsen helped the students understand the meaning of the word trajectory by asking: “What is the trajectory of a frog chucked into the jungle? It’s a learning curve, because they never come back”. (Well, the teachers thought it was funny).

Our CES leader came from Guam and gave us an orientation for seminary and institute. Most couples spend an extra 3 days in the MTC getting trained, but since we were called as member-leader support missionaries, we didn’t get it. However, we are over CES here, so Brother Nicerio tried to explain what we are supposed to do. He asked us how much time we spend on CES and we said, maybe 10 % of our time (he was hoping for 25%). He thought we should try to improve that, so Sister Johnsen set the goal to spend 11% of our time on CES. Brother Nicerio has no idea how busy we are.

Our power is still going off and on, but has gotten a little random. It went off at the regular time Sunday, 6:00 PM, so we thought we would just wait until 8 to make dinner because we were making chicken and rice and couldn’t do it on one butane burner. The power didn’t come back on until 8:45. We started cooking a late dinner, and shortly after we started eating the Elders came up, as they often do on Sunday evening, and we shared our dinner with them. It was perfect timing. Some people are saying it will be next July before the power is really fixed completely.

We had our two cute little Palauan girls sing The Nativity Song for Sacrament meeting. It was so sweet; it made Elder Johnsen cry. We hope to have some nice Christmas music this month.

We continue to look for people on the branch list to see if they are here, or not. This week Sister Johnsen made a call to a family and asked if we could come out and meet them. She asked about each of the children and found out that one of them on the branch list had died at 14, back in 1988. Elder Johnsen felt very discouraged by this. He knows that there are supposed to be priesthood actions list to help keep in contact with all the young people. There should be seminary lists, and institute lists, and prospective elder and prospective missionary lists. There are supposed to be visiting teachers to every woman, and home teachers for every family. How does someone die and no one notice for 23 years? As he was reading Talmage’s, Jesus the Christ, this week he felt like he understood one of the Savior’s parables in a new way, and that our experience made the story come alive. Here is what he wrote in his journal:

“Something that Elder Talmage wrote about the parable of the lost coin really struck me as it relates to what we’re doing right now in Palau. He noted that as contrast with the straying sheep, ‘the coin had been dropped, and so was lost as a result of inattention or culpable carelessness on the part of its owner. The woman, discovering her loss institutes a diligent search; she sweeps the house, and perhaps learns of dirty corners, dusty recesses, cobwebby nooks, to which she had been oblivious in her self-complacency as an outwardly clean and conventional housewife. Her search is rewarded by the recovery of the lost piece, and is incidentally beneficial in the cleansing of her house.’ Elder Talmage goes on to explain, ‘The woman who by lack of care lost the precious piece may be taken to represent the theocracy of the time, and the Church as an institution in any dispensational period; then the pieces of silver, everyone a genuine coin of the realm, bearing the image of the great King, are the souls committed to the care of the Church; and the lost piece symbolizes the souls that are neglected and, for a time at least, lost sight of, by the authorized ministers of the Gospel of Christ.’ It is interesting to note that the lost coin was silver which tarnishes when it is neglected. We are not sure that these members understand their great worth. They have forgotten that at their core they are sons and daughters of a Heavenly Father who loves them and who has a plan that will give them eternal life. The beginning principle of the first lesson we teach is that God is our Loving Heavenly father, we are his children; He loves us and will help us make right choices, and through Jesus Christ we can live with God again. Sister Johnsen and I have certainly been doing a lot of sweeping lately—hopefully, some of these lost coins will let us pick them up, and help them knock off some of the tarnish so we may rejoice together. ‘Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.’”

The leaders here on Palau and the active members are the most dedicated and strong saints we have ever met, but there just aren’t enough of them. With 1 active Melchizedek priesthood to every 30 members, it is just impossible to be able to provide proper watch care for all the members. We are beginning to see the inspiration and wisdom of Elder Holland’s call for thousands more senior couples to help with this work. Before the Savior returns to the earth we must help polish these coins and find anyone else who may be interested in the message that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth with all its glory, blessings and authority.