Down to California (MD)

At times we are confronted by challenges that we don't have any desire to pass through. I've experienced a few of those in this past week. I found out that I would be leaving the Seneca Ward. I had only been there for 6 weeks, and I had grown to love the people so much. I had family there, and I wanted to continue to serve them.  I felt that it wasn't fair that I needed to leave, but The Lord had other plans in mind and I always know that I can trust that He is working things out to help me learn and grow. I have been transferred to serve in the Patuxent Ward in southern Maryland. It is an entirely different world out here, and I was hesitant to have a good attitude about serving with all my heart again. But then I met the wonderful people! I have not met so many nice and loving people in my life! Even by those who reject and turn away from us, we are treated with respect. My companion is one of the most stalwart individuals I have ever met in my life, I can tell that we are going to be great friends. Right when we got to the apartment I found out that we needed to move in the next few days. I didn't even unpack at all, and right off the bat we had to spend many hours moving furniture and appliances. The apartment had been lived in for over 10 years, and the day that I come is the day that we needed to move! That was a lot of work, but we finally got everything shifted over to this nice brand new apartment. I woke up yesterday morning and had that feeling that I was on vacation because everything is so nice and clean. 

On Friday evening, we actually didn't finish moving everything until 7:30, and we had not eaten dinner yet. We wanted to just eat and call it a day, but my companion and I motivated each other to get on our white shirts and ties and get out to try and work the rest of the night. We started looking for the house of this less active member, and we just could not find it off the main road! I circled around at least three times, and it started getting late. So we pulled over and decided to knock on some doors to try and talk to people. The second door we knocked on we asked if we could share a message and the guy just steps out and says go ahead! He is a man of faith that has said many prayers in his life. He wasn't too much older than me, but I could tell he was roughed up a little bit. When he spoke with us, I could tell there was no guile in him. He was so genuine with us, and we had an awesome conversation. It would have been so easy to not work the rest of the night, but we just faced the challenge with faith, and we were blessed. I've been thinking about this scripture a lot. "And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you." (Mosiah 2:22) It's so simple, IF we trust in God and keep His commandments, THEN we will be blessed. Face your life with faith! And you will find joy.

It's all about the Dash‏

Sacrament Meeting talk 6/22/14 in Seneca Ward.

Hello Brothers and Sisters,

               My name is Elder Lim and I'm from Seattle, Washington. I've been on my mission for about a year, and have been serving in your ward for the past month. Last night I found out that I am being transferred again. I have really enjoyed getting to know each one of you. You and your families emulate the love of Christ, and I have felt so loved and supported. I hope that what I share today will inspire you to try something different that will bless you and your family's lives.
               When you look at a gravestone you'll notice a few key features. To describe the person's life, there will be a birth date, a death date, and a dash in between. Our first instinct is to examine the dates when the person was born and died, so that we know what time they live in. I also think about how far away the deceased person lived from my own life. Maybe our lives overlapped, or maybe they lived long before I was born. But today I want to focus on that dash between the two dates. What does that dash represent, what can we do to make that dash come to life, and why is that so important? Family History is all about that dash.
               My full name, which you can't call me by, is John Hosack Lim. I was named after my mother's dad, Grandpa John Hosack. He lived alone in California in a trailer home, and he drove up a few times when. I was very young to visit with my family. I remember the day when I found out he died in 2007. His chronic smoking lead to a bad case of emphysema. As a family we drove down to his hometown and had a funeral service there. When we buried him, I played my cello and my mother sang for him. Sadly, I don't have many memories of my namesake Grandpa John.
               But I started doing some family history work on my mission. Ancestry.com can search for images of gravestones, and I found a picture taken of my Grandpa's grave. His gravestone reads 1935, then there's a nice looking dash, and then 2007. It also says, "Family, motorcycles, planes, I had it all." I put that into familysearch.org, and then I continued searching for information. Some records are still unavailable because he lived so recently, but I learned that he was an engineer and a physicist without a college education. He worked on oil rigs around the world, particularly in Egypt and liked to fly airplanes. I got to go to the temple and be baptized in behalf of him, that was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. Even though I didn't really know this man, I feel this special connection to him, like he is a person that is close to me. This is the principle I would like to teach - When we know about the lives of our ancestors, the hearts of our family are connected.
               When the angel Moroni first appeared to Joseph Smith, and in the following two appearances, he quoted this scripture that we should pay special attention to, "And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at His coming." If we do not find this connection to our ancestors, and turn our hearts to them, the whole earth will be utterly wasted at the second coming of Jesus Christ.
               We live in a day where children are disconnected from their parents. They are plugged into all varieties of technological time sinks. They are taught that they should do that which is right in their own eyes, and that ultimate success is found when they turn inwards and concern themselves only with their own lives and indulge themselves. I know this is true because these are the attitudes that I was exposed to while going through my school years. We must oppose this self-centeredness, otherwise the Earth will be utterly wasted.
               Our object then is to both research into the lives of our ancestors, and preserve the story of our own lives for the generations to come. We become that bridge that will link the hearts of the children to the fathers. I want to suggest two behaviors that will help you to accomplish this purpose. First, keep a journal. I started keeping journal consistently two years ago, and it has already blessed my life immensely. It was difficult to start and write something down every single day, but I had a nice journal and I thought it was a shame to miss writing in it. It has become the best therapy for me, and a great source of strength when I go back and review the entries of the past years. I read the miracles and feel grateful for that great experience I had. I read the hardships and feel grateful for my blessings today. I hope to be able to find journals of some of the lives of my ancestors to see if they had similar life experiences. We can fill in the dash of our lives by diligent journal keeping. I don't think that's restricted to pen and paper anymore either. You can keep a family blog or an online journal in the LDS.org tools. You can make a scrapbook or a personal slideshow.
               We also have a work to do to fill in the dash of our beloved ancestors. After reading my Great-great grandfather Alexander Hosack's obituary that I found on Ancestry.com, I found out he was a Presbyterian minister for 50 years in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Even though he did not find the restored gospel, his faith in Christ prepared the way for my great-grandmother to receive it. I believe we will see the very prominently if we look into all the history of the human family. Heavenly Father has always loved us, and He has always reached out to us through prophets to teach us restored truths. We discover this connection through our diligent efforts to do all we can
to do the necessary research. There are so many tools, and it is so convenient these days. I actually remember when you had to download software to do your genealogy. Now you can literally do research anywhere that you have wifi. You click on a person in your tree, and then you press "search records" and it automatically fills in the information you need to find records. There hasn't been a single person on my American side that I haven't found records for when I do
this.
               In Quentin L Cook's latest talk 'roots and branches' he taught, "We finally have the doctrine, the temples, and the technology for families to accomplish this glorious work of salvation. I suggest one way this might be done. Families could hold a “Family Tree Gathering.” This should be a recurring effort. Everyone would bring existing family histories, stories, and photos, including cherished possessions of grandparents and parents. Our young people are excited to learn about the lives of family members--where they came from and how they lived. Many have had their hearts turned to the fathers. They love the stories and photos, and they have the technological expertise to scan and upload these stories and photos to Family Tree and connect source documents with ancestors to preserve these for all time. Of course, the main objective is to determine what ordinances still need to be done and make assignments for the essential temple work. The My Family booklet can be utilized to help record family information, stories, and photos that can then be uploaded to Family Tree.
        Family commitments and expectations should be at the top of our priorities to protect our divine destiny. For those who are looking for more fruitful use of the Sabbath day for the family as a whole, the hastening of this work is fertile ground. One mother glowingly tells how her 17-year-old son gets on the computer after church on Sunday to do family history work and her 10-year-old son loves to hear the stories and see pictures of his ancestors. This has blessed their entire family to experience the spirit of Elijah. Our precious roots and branches must be nourished." (Roots and Branches)
        I invite you to do this, and to diligently record your own history to fill in the dashes.
        I love this apostolic promise from our prophet President Thomas S. Monson, 
"As you pursue family history work, you are going to find yourself running into roadblocks, and you are going to say to yourself, “There is nothing else I can do.” When you come to that point, get down on your knees and ask the Lord to open the way, and He will open the way for you. I testify that this is true." (Hastening the Work)
        I know this is true because I know that Thomas S Monson is a prophet of God. I know that is true because he has called me to labor here, and I have found that to be the will of The Lord. I also know that Joseph Smith is God's servant, because I know the Book of Mormon is true. I have experienced it's truth and power many times. And I know that God will certainly assist you in this commandment to fill in the dash, because He loves you, and he loves your family, I have felt that. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen

Inspire

"And there began to be men inspired from heaven and sent forth, standing among the people in all the land, preaching and testifying boldly of the sins and iniquities of the people, and testifying unto them concerning the redemption which The Lord would make for his people, or in other words, the resurrection of Christ; and they did testify boldly of his death and sufferings." (3 Nephi 6:20)
 
There is something miraculous with the idea of inspiration. When I am inspired, I feel a change in my whole outlook on life and an increase in my desire to do good. In this verse, the key to these men's inspiration is the knowledge of the redemptive power of Christ. I propose, that all things that inspire us to do good, center upon this concept. The desire to be more righteous, or to live healthier even, draw us closer to the epitome of human existence, Jesus Christ. Furthermore, He has power to help us change for the better. Last night we had a special fireside to celebrate people who have recently joined the church, and listen to a speaker with a special testimony of Christ. This woman was a world renowned opera singer from Denver that has experienced more medical trials and near death experiences than I have ever heard. At one point she laid on an operating table with her chest open on life support for over a month, waiting for her kidneys to recover from her first lung transplant. By some miracle, she survived, and went on to keep singing, and requiring a second lung transplant. Because of the sacrifice of two other women, she was able to live on, but not without a lot of pain, sacrifice, and fighting to live on. She explained that is how the atonement works. Christ gave himself as a ransom for the death that inevitably hangs over us. We have no other way to overcome physical and spiritual death. We have to accept that sacrifice through works of faith to make that atonement enabling. I haven't experienced such harsh trials, but I felt inspired to live better and be more faithful. We've had this potential in the area since I came here, a young guy about my age that is juggling two jobs and school. He struggles to stay on top of it all, but I could boldly promise him that if He makes His search for Christ a high priority in His life, everything else will fall into place, and he can live a more abundant life. I saw this light come on in his eyes and he gladly accepted the invitation we gave him to study the Book of Mormon. That's what it's all about! Seek to be inspired and inspire others to live better by looking to Christ.

The Lord's Hands

        "Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that he hath all power, and at his great command the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll?" (Mormon 5:23)
        When something out of the ordinary happens in our life to bless us or the lives of others, I often hear people say how they recognize that God in His power worked to make that event occur. I have to admit; sometimes I have a hard time accepting that. I will sometimes think, well that was just luck, how could God have affected the circumstances you were in? This week I had a special experience that helped me to believe again that God is very aware of each one of us, and that He uses His power to both bless us and the people around us. I am probably one of the few missionaries with a parent from the Philippines that converted from Catholicism. Since moving to this area, the people I have connected with most are the Filipino community. I feel like I can relate with them very quickly and make a natural invitation to learn about the gospel.

        After checking on someone who was not home, we decided to just start walking down the street to try and find people to talk to. There was a man hacking at a huge tree with a small hatchet, and so we walked over and offered our help. My companion had strep at the time so I was the only one that could do some chopping. I was worried I might accidentally cut my tie in half or something! But it turned out that he and his family were from the Philippines, and they welcomed us to come back again! At our weekly basketball activity, one of the members in another ward brought his Filipino friends to come play! There was a wife and her daughter sitting off to the side, so after my game I went over to talk to them. They have been in the United States for about a year, and has been a devout Catholic her entire life. I began to share with her the story of the restoration of the gospel, and the story of my own father's conversion. She was so intrigued, and she admitted that she felt something was missing. She has been seeking after God in these trials she's encountered since moving here. I boldly told her that this church is what she is seeking for! 

        I know that the fullness of the gospel can help her and her family come closer to Christ in a complete way, it has so been with my family since my father embraced the restoration. I'm grateful for my roots, and how it qualifies me to be a special instrument in the Lord's hands, in that moment I truly felt like The Lord had planned it all out. Seek to be worthy of that all your life!

Consecrated

        Not going to lie, having a door slammed in my face gets me fired up. Having them open it again to slam it a second time, now that is just life changing. I've had some hard days this past week, but I don't see it as something that really harms me. In a lesson with one of the women that we are teaching, we invited her to read the Book of Mormon, and a single scripture stuck out to her. This scripture speaks to me as well. "John, thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain." (2 Nephi 2:2) When I pray or study the scriptures is the only time I even remember I have a first name, or Skype my family.. Anyways! This lady did not know what the word consecrate means. To me it means that it is drawn out or selected from amongst common things. 

       Afflictions are a common thing. In this life we face them every other hour in every single day, but when we rely upon The Lord, they are drawn out and become learning experiences for our gain. I feel more determined than ever to talk to more people. There is nothing to fear about being socially bold! That is a necessity for people to have opportunities to learn about the gospel. Facing rejection is a hard thing, but when we take that step of faith to make an invitation to learn more, we are really relying upon The Lord and that rejection we face becomes a consecrated part of our life. I invite you to be bolder in helping others and reaching out to them with your words and invitations; it will bring you great joy!