What time do you go to bed?
Daylight Savings = 5:00 Bedtime.
At least, for the people of Louisiana- who also apparently all cook dinner at the same time. And did y'all know that the Saints are constantly playing? It's a funny coincidence really. Pro tip: if you are sitting at home, watching Netflix, and two missionaries show up at your door- talk to them. They've probably been through an apartment complex full of hungry, tired, Saints fans who really don't understand the definition of soliciting. But somehow, we find comfort in he who was persecuted above it all... and the rejection is swallowed up in joy to suffer shame for his name! It has been a crazy week, but we couldn't be more blessed in SLIDELLSCROLLS: CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.
We had Zone Conference this week- which is always a spiritually uplifting and edifying experience- but this particular meeting was extra special and spiritual. Humble missionaries make for a great spirit. Anyways, many great nuggets were shared and the approval of the Lord was tangible, but one of the greatest takeaways for me came from a prompting while we discussed our roles as seed planters in the Lord's vineyard. As missionaries, we constantly relate the work in botanical terms. Planting. Harvesting. Or in more scriptural terminology: sowing and reaping. We use this analogy to strengthen faith and encourage endurance- we are planting seeds in those we teach that we trust will eventually grow and be harvested. If we are sowers, we require much faith in the seeds that we plant... trusting that God will do with them as he sees fit and that if it is in his will, we live to see the harvest. The seeds require nourishment; diligent attention and care that it may take root. BUT, if we are patient and exercise long-suffering, the Lord has promised an orchard of trees as a result of our work in his vineyard- even, the garden of life. Well, as I pondered this analogy, the spirit prompted me with a plot twist to my preconceived notion of this comparison... But first, a scripture:
28 Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.
30 But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for ye will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow.
41 But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life.
42 And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.
43 Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you.
We are seeds. Sometimes we get so enveloped in thinking of the seeds we are planting, we forget to acknowledge the seeds God has planted in ourselves. We can sympathize with the harvest a lot more than we care to admit. Have you ever felt buried? Have you ever felt an unforgiving, daily downpour of opposition? Have you ever felt alone... surrounded by darkness... with no idea of why you are where you are or what you're becoming? I mean, I've never asked one, but I'm sure seeds feel the same way. This principle can be applied to most anything, especially ourselves. As a famous poet once said, “Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.” I'm reminded of a certain story that puts this prompting into perspective:
In the early dawn, a young gardener was pruning his trees and shrubs. He had one choice currant bush which had gone too much to wood. He feared therefore that it would produce little, if any, fruit.
Accordingly, he trimmed and pruned the bush and cut it back. In fact, when he had finished, there was little left but stumps and roots. Tenderly he considered what was left. It looked so sad and deeply hurt. On every stump there seemed to be a tear where the pruning knife had cut away the growth of early spring. The poor bush seemed to speak to him, and he thought he heard it say:
"Oh, how could you be so cruel to me, you who claim to be my friend, who planted me and cared for me when I was young, and nurtured and encouraged me to grow? Could you not see that I was rapidly responding to your care? I was nearly half as large as the trees across the fence, and might soon have become like one of them. But now you've cut my branches back; the green, attractive leaves are gone, and I am in disgrace among my fellows."
The young gardener looked at the weeping bush and heard its plea with sympathetic understanding. His voice was full of kindness as he said, "Do not cry; what I have done to you was necessary that you might be a prize currant bush in my garden. You were not intended to give shade or shelter by your branches. My purpose when I planted you was that you should bear fruit. When I want currants, a tree, regardless of its size, cannot supply the need."
"No, my little currant bush, if I had allowed you to continue to grow as you had started, all your strength would have gone to wood; your roots would not have gained a firm hold, and the purpose for which I brought you into my garden would have been defeated. Your place would have been taken by another, for you would have been barren. You must not weep; all this will be for your good; and some day, when you see more clearly, when you are richly laden with luscious fruit, you will thank me and say, 'Surely, he was a wise and loving gardener.' He knew the purpose of my being, and I thank him now for what I then thought was cruelty."
Some years later, this young gardener was in a foreign land, and he himself was growing. He was proud of his position and ambitious for the future. One day an unexpected vacancy entitled him to promotion. The goal to which he had aspired was now almost within his grasp, and he was proud of the rapid growth which he was making. But for some reason unknown to him, another was appointed in his stead, and he was asked to take another post relatively unimportant which, under the circumstances, caused his friends to feel that he had failed.
The young man staggered to this tent and knelt beside his cot and wept. He knew now that he could never hope to have what he had thought so desirable. He cried to God and said, "Oh, how could you be so cruel to me? You who claim to be my friend -- you who brought me here and nurtured and encouraged me to grow. Could you not see that I was almost equal to the other men whom I have so long admired? But now I have been cut down. I am in disgrace among my fellows. Oh, how could you do this to me?"
He was humiliated and chagrined and a drop of bitterness was in his heart, when he seemed to hear an echo from the past. Where had he heard those words before? They seemed familiar. Memory whispered: "I'm the gardener here."He caught his breath. Ah, that was it -- the currant bush! But why should that long-forgotten incident come to him in the midst of his hour of tragedy? And memory answered with words which he himself
had spoken:
"Do not cry...what I have done to you was necessary...you were not intended for what you sought to be, ... if I had allowed you to continue...you would have failed in the purpose for which I planted you and my plans for you would have been defeated. You must not weep; some day which you are richly laden with experience you will say, 'He was a wise gardener. He knew the purpose of my earth life...I thank him now for what I thought was cruel.'"
His own words were the medium by which his prayer was answered. There was not bitterness in his heart as he humbly spoke again to God and said, "I know you now. You are the gardener, and I the currant bush. Help me dear God, to endure the pruning, and to grow as you would have me grow; to take my allotted place in life and ever more to say, 'Thy will not mine be done.'"
Another lapse of time in our story. Forty years have passed. The former gardener and officer sits by his fireside with wife and children and grandchildren. He tells them the story of the currant bush -- his own story; and as he kneels in prayer with them, he reverently says to God, "Help us all to understand the purpose of our being, and be ever willing to submit to thy will and not insist upon our own. We remember that in another garden called Gethsemane the choicest of all thy sons was glorified by submission unto thy will."
I think that says it all. Be patient with yourself and with the seeds YOU are planting. God is the gardener here and he will do with his garden as he sees fit. His hands are better than ours anyway.
Well, this week was fantastic! Through hard work, obedience, and diligence we were able to surpass our goals and see the Lord's hand in our lives. It seemed like we were really struggling with finding new people, until this weekend. We were BLESSED because we followed the spirit- which brings me to my next point...
Learning the language of the spirit is a lifelong commitment and an eternal talent. I'm convinced that God uses the spirit to see if we can be trusted; to allow ourselves to be proven, focused, and committed to his work. Of all the things the prophet Joseph Smith could've advised the Saints in his final hoo-rah. he chose to speak on the spirit of the Lord. He said,
“Tell the people to be humble and faithful, and be sure to keep the Spirit of the Lord and it will lead them right. Be careful and not turn away the still small voice; it will teach them what to do and where to go; it will yield the fruits of the kingdom. Tell the [people] to keep their hearts open to conviction, so that when the Holy Ghost comes to them, their hearts will be ready to receive it. They can tell the Spirit of the Lord from all other spirits; it will whisper peace and joy to their souls; it will take malice, hatred, strife and all evil from their hearts; and their whole desire will be to do good, bring forth righteousness and build up the kingdom of God. Tell the [people] if they will follow the Spirit of the Lord, they will go right.
When our thoughts are small and pure they will penetrate to the place where God resides. And now, a personal example from this week of why following the spirit puts us in the best position to do the best work in our missions:
It was past Louisiana bedtime, 6:00, and we had decided that trying part member families was the way to go for the rest of the evening. First, we started with a prayer and prayed sincerely for the guidance of who God wanted us to visit. Well, God didn't answer with a part member family but rather a potential person to teach halfway across town. The name came so prominently in my head while I prayed that we could NOT deny the impression and made our way over to her apartment complex. Well, you can imagine we were pretty excited to teach her because God had led us to her place... so we knew we were in the RIGHT place at the RIGHT time, right? Wrong. She wasn't home. As a matter of fact, no one in the area was home. We tried some surrounding people with no success. Well, suddenly, in a moment of depressed spirits... another name came to mind. SO, just as with the first, we made our way over to her place... and she wasn't home either. In both instances, we asked ourselves... "why did God send us here?" Well, I think he answered our question through the insight of the incredible Elder Jones, "Maybe he just wants to see if we can be trusted..."
AND THAT'S WHEN THE SPIRIT KICKED IN.
I saw a man sitting outside just across the apartment complex we were in and we quickened our way over there. Get this, his wife had just died THAT DAY and he was looking for a way to find peace and comfort during this hard time. He said that he hadn't prayed in a few years and that all he needed was some Jesus in his life... that's when we showed up. And that phrase is why we follow the Spirit. We will, "show up" at the right times to be God's on-call physicians if we heed the promptings of the Holy Ghost. We gave that man a copy of the Book of Mormon and in our gratitude prayer shortly afterward, made sure to give God extra special thanks for the companionship of the Holy Ghost.
Well, this may be the longest email ever- sorry about that. I guess when the Spirit gets rolling and you have extra time in the library, the paragraphs come out like crawfish during boil season! May it just be known, that we are doing well. Doing a lot of planting and seeing a lot of change in ourselves! Life in the quad-ship couldn't be better, the miracles are ever present and appreciated. Elder Jones is a spiritual giant who I am so grateful to be companions with... life honestly is just so good. Remember to be patient with the seedling inside of you and to always follow the Spirit. Oh and most of all...HAVE A BLESSED WEEK Y'ALL. ELDER BOYD LOVES YOU!
From a tree in the making,
Elder Boyd
This Weeks Pics:
Zone Conference. Pictures courtesy of President and Sister Varner:
