2020 Semaine 20 (11-17 mai)

Our hearts exclaim: "For the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies, Lord of all, to thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise."
(For the Beauty of the Earth,  Hymn 92)


Zone Conference Week!

It was so wonderful to be with the missionaries, in person or by video, to teach one another and feel the Spirit together.  For the missionaries on Efate, we met at the mission home.

                                                                     Blacksand Zone

 

Efate Zone

New Caledonia Zone, we held a video zone conference from the mission home

As we did for the Solomon Islands Zone

We do prefer to be with them in person but we can still feel the Spirit and it feels so good to connect with Him and them.

I think this will be the new normal for a while.  Even when the borders open, we would have to quarantine for 14 days before holding the conference.  

I don't think so.

When the missionaries finish their mission, most of them say that they have learned patience.

I was reflecting on this today and realized that patience is part of all the Christlike attributes we are working to develop.  I decided to read a few scriptures on patience and in my study I came to the great talk from Elder Neal A. Maxwell entitled "Patience"

There are a few talks from our leaders that have been pivotal to me in my gospel learning.  It seems that each time I am guided to this one, I understand a little bit more.  Here are a few quotes from it that shed more light on this vital attribute of patience.  I hope it will bless you also.

"Our second estate can be a first-class experience only if we have patient faith in God and his unfolding purposes."

"There is also a dimension of patience which links it to a special reverence for life. Patience is a willingness, in a sense, to watch the unfolding purposes of God with a sense of wonder and awe—rather than pacing up and down within the cell of our circumstance."

"Clearly, without patience, we will learn less in life. We will see less. We will feel less. We will hear less. Ironically, rush and more usually mean less. The pressures of now, time and time again, go against the grain of the gospel with its eternalism."

"There is also in patience a greater opportunity for that discernment which sorts out the things that matter most from the things that matter least."

"Patience permits us to cling to our faith in the Lord when we are tossed about by suffering as if by surf. When the undertow grasps us, we will realize that even as we tumble we are somehow being carried forward; we are actually being helped even as we cry for help!"

I have experienced this often.

"The dues of discipleship are high indeed, and how much we can take so often determines how much we can then give!"

"Patience is always involved in the spiritual chemistry of life—not only when it helps us turn trials and tribulations, the carbon dioxide, as it were, into joy and growth, but also when it builds upon the seemingly ordinary experiences to bring about happy, spiritual outcomes.

Patience is, therefore, clearly not fatalistic, shoulder-shrugging resignation; it is accepting a divine rhythm to life; it is obedience prolonged. Patience stoutly resists pulling up the daisies to see how the roots are doing!"

I actually exercised restraint in copying just a few of the gems that I found in this talk.  It is like studying the scriptures.  Depending on where we are and what we need to learn or have learned we will continue to find truths that edifies and help us as we study.  

Like our missionaries, I too will say I have been working on patience and will continue to do so until I return on the other side of the veil.

Mifala lavem yufala tumas