Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Transitions






August - September 2012 - Newsletter


South Africa
Cape Town Mission

    Our mission newsletter just arrived.  I came to realized that Elder Stokoe and I have been in the mission field for six months now.  One fourth of our mission is behind us.   I’ve been contemplating just how much we have learned from this experience.  Being with the people of South Africa has been a great joy.  The Saints are so committed and obedient.  The  young elders are an inspiration.  They encourage and strengthen us.  It’s a joy to participate with them in their Zone & District Conferences.  We like inspecting their flats and praying with them.  We like collecting their mail and having them call and ask, “Do I have any post?”  It’s a blessing to present firesides, attend classes and help the youth apply and qualify for PEF loans.  Although technology has been a huge problem for us, we are learning.  We are having many wonderful experiences which we would never have had if we’d stayed  home.  This message from President & Sister Wood really impressed me:  

TRANSITIONS

Crest Article 1 Aug 2012

Our mission is in transition. By year’s end over half of our mission will be new and many experienced elders will transition to their post-mission life. Goings and comings. Transition to the mission field. Transition from the mission field. Of course, every six weeks we undergo the transitions occasioned by transfers. Life is all about transitions: pre-mortal existence to birth, birth to death, marriage, childhood to adulthood, pre-mission to mission to post-mission, education. Transition is one of life’s constants. Dealing with change is one of life’s constant challenges.

As I pondered all the transitions occurring in our mission right now, my thoughts rested on the following language from Alma 34:34 where Alma is talking about the transition from physical death to the spirit world: “. . . for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.” In short, we transition from mortality to the spirit world with whom we have become in attitude, desire, motive and purposes. Elder Dallin Oaks tells us that those words are descriptive of what the scripture refers to as our “heart”. Proverbs 4: 23 tells us to “keep our heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.” We go into the next phase of life with what we have become in our hearts from the previous phase.

When thinking about the process of becoming it begins with our thoughts and desires (heart). There’s an old saying that goes something like this: thoughts become actions; actions develop into habits; habits form character; character determines destiny. In this life what we have become is determined by what we think and by what we do. Attitude and effort-- just like Elder Renlund taught us last September. The same attitude and effort we possess in one phase of life goes with us into the next phase of life. Or for our departing veteran missionaries: the same attitude and effort you demonstrate in the last weeks of your mission will be with you as you begin your post-mission life. For example, if you lose your diligence in maintaining your personal study habit toward the end of your mission, you will struggle to even have regular daily scripture study after your mission. On the other hand, if you will delight in your scripture studies to the end of your mission, you will make the time in the busy world of post mission life to nourish yourself spiritually by daily scripture study. The same would be true of prayer, living a responsible schedule that enables you to accomplish worthy goals, and magnifying your duties in the priesthood.

Another way of talking about how we approach transitions is to say that how we endure to the end of present circumstances measures what we have become as we enter into our next circumstance. The standard for “enduring to the end” is to model our Savior. Nephi taught that unless “we endure to the end in following the example of Son of the living God,” we cannot be saved. How would the Savior approach the new missionary 12 week training program and adjust to the missionary schedule? How would the Savior love a difficult companion? What would the Savior do in a difficult area where there is seemingly insurmountable opposition? How did the Savior endure to the end of His Mission? (Can we even compare our situation to Gethsemane and Calvary?) He fulfilled every aspect of His mission and purpose to His very last breath and opened up the door for each of us to gain the ultimate transition of a marvelous resurrection and eternal life with God.

Our attitude and effort in our present circumstances define our transition to whatever is next for us. Now determines later. Now we live the mission schedule, obey the mission rules, maintain our studies, preach the word so that later we can we can maintain the spiritual attributes of prayer, scripture study, priesthood duty, and obedience to God’s commandments throughout mortality as we face the challenges of this life. “. . . For that same spirit that doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.” ( Alma 34:34)

Message from President and Sister Wood


The


Vineyard
South Africa Cape Town Mission
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
August 29
30
31 NEW MISSIONARIES
ARRIVE
1 TRANSFER DAY
2 VETERANS DEPART
3
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY” Elder Fowers
4
5
6 Zone Leaders Counsel
7 Zone Leaders Counsel
8 Zone Leaders Counsel
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY”
Elder Magetse
9
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY”
Elder Mholo
10
11
Pres. Sister Wood in Grahamstown
12
Pres. Sister Wood in Grahamstown
Fower’s in Knysna
13
14
15
Veterans Interviews
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY”
Elder Stokoe
16
Veterans Interviews
6:00pm Veterans Dinner
Veterans Depart
17
18
19
Work on Transfers
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY”
Elder Moangare
20
Work on Transfers
21
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY”
Elder Mkwezalamba
22
23
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY”
Elder Lukoye
24
Pres Fly’s to Namibia
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY”
Elder Andriamanantena
25
Pres & Sister Wood in Namibia
26
Fower’s in Port Alfred
27
NAM Zone Conference
28
29
Queenstown Zone Conference
30
EL/MD Zone
Conference
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY”
Sister Van Sickle
31
PE/KwaNo Zone Conference
1 September
CT Zone Conference
2
3
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY”
Elder Nance
4
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY”
Elder Houston
5
6
ZLC Skype Call
7
8


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