Woodstock Letter #11

 Hermana Stuart & Hermana Hoer



Hermana Hoer & Friend



Hermana Stuart and I spoke in Sacrament Meeting yesterday. I shared the story that Mom and Dad sent me, and a lot from the wars in Alma 40something to 50something. Here's part of my talk:

A man mowed half of his field when his mower broke. It took him a week to fix it, during which time the grass on the un-mowed portion had grown considerably taller than the mowed portion. As he began to mow the tall area, a little field mouse emerged from the tall grass. The man was concerned that if the mouse returned to the tall grass, he would go unseen and be mowed over. The man thought that the best way to save the mouse was to chase him away from the tall grass. So, chase him he did. With the mower blaring. As he was barreling along behind this poor mouse, he thought to himself "Does this mouse know that I am trying to save him?"

Much of life works the same way. God likely asks himself frequently, does he/she know that I am trying to save, not threaten? Sometimes all we see are giant lawn mower experiences, chasing us. We're tired, exhausted, confused, feeling that the world is working against us. When, in reality, God is trying to push us into a safe place - He is trying to save us.

President Eyring said: (excuse my translation if it's off) "If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the most difficult times of life, along with the easiest times, can be a blessing".  A giant lawn mower can be a blessing or a monster. A challenge can break us or build us. A tragic loss can drown us or breathe new life into us. An injustice can lift us or stomp on us. The choice is ours - the choice is faith.
If we spend our time and energy building a foundation of faith, we will be supported by that foundation even when we no longer have energy or time of our own.

Life will bring challenges. God gives us the way to turn those challenges, potential stumbling blocks, into stepping stones. The way is Jesus Christ. Faith in Him is the choice that determines whether those stones will be obstacles that stunt us or steps that lift us.

One of my favorite stories that illustrates this is in the Book of Mormon, in Alma chapter 57 (and 56). Helaman has an army of young, inexperienced soldiers - boys really. Though they were boys in age and experience, they were men of God. Why? Because they, with the help of great parents, had established a foundation of faith beneath themselves.

After an intense and bloody battle, Helaman "immediately gave orders that [his] men who had been wounded should be taken from among the dead, and caused that their wounds should be dressed" (Alma 57:24). He quickly learned that "there were two hundred, out of [his] two thousand and sixty, who had fainted because of the loss of blood;" (Alma 57:25). Here is the kicker:

"nevertheless, according to the goodness of God, and to our great astonishment, and also the joy of our whole army, there was not one soul of them who did perish; yea, and neither was there one soul among them who had not received many wounds" (Alma 57:25).

Every single one of that army was wounded. Badly. Yet, every single one left that battle alive. This life is a battlefield. We will be wounded. We will lose blood. We will even faint at times because of the incredible challenges and wounds. However, so long as we have a foundation of faith in Christ, those wounds will NOT kill us. We will survive the battle because of our faith.

"And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power. Now this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually" (Alma 57:26-27).

That is what determines whether the lawn mowers of life will push us to safety or mow us down after exhausting all our strength.

We spoke with Jose' (investigator who was to be baptized but his wife said no). He'd not come to Church in a month, after attending regularly for 6+ months prior. Every time we spoke with him about it, he said he was busy with this or that (which he was, but it just wasn't like him). He admitted finally to us that someone at Church had offended him. I was so sad! Our mini missionary shared a beautiful testimony which really touched his heart. The following day, Jose came to Church! After more than a month of not attending, and a really hurt heart, he took it head-on and came back!

We've wanted to work on getting a semi-active couple to come to full activity and go to the temple. The father has come by himself with his daughter twice in the last month while his wife had to work! He didn't come often, even when his wife could attend. We'd done a little service at his house while he and his mother-in-law were trying to fix her car. The following day, there he was at church -by himself- bringing his daughter to Church. She "helped" me play the piano during Sacrament Meeting. Despite the distraction, I was just happy they were at Church.

We had three people in Relief Society yesterday...haha (six if you include us). 

Thank you for all of your love and support.