Don't even THINK about touching that rock...week 48

Monday, July 18, 2016

Just a couple quick thoughts about a scripture that caught my attention and won't leave me alone. I have been slowly working through the Old testament and just recently read Exodus 20:25. The Altars   we make should not be made of hewn (cut) stone, lest the altar be polluted and the sacrifice meaningless. We don't make altars for blood sacrifices any more, but think about the symbolism there (because that's almost all that the Mosaic Law is good for anyways:)).
When we pray, we obviously are at least offering time to say something to our Father in Heaven. However, do we ever find ourselves cutting the stones in our prayers? Are we just following some sort of "thank you for this day" template in our prayers or are they truly guided by the natural framings given by the spirit? Let the spirit guide your prayers. I would invite all to read the activity about prayer in chapter 4 of Preach My Gospel if they have time to do so. Very insightful and humbling when you see what changes need to occur in your prayers.
2 Nephi 32:9 is almost memorized this week in chinese. one or two more days and it should be down! Keep the faith everybody!

Notes from mom:  I was kind of bugged with this week's letter, especially since this week was a scripture, and I wanted to say, "Uh, Ian, we have those here!"  So I will reference a few of the emails he sent me regarding other things.  I sent Ian a picture of something I received last week.  The principal at Springville High School gave me Ian's engraved Valedictorian picture.  I sent him a photo and here is what he said:  "Scared the poop out of Elder Love. People keep sending us pictures of before our missions and we are both just freaked out of our minds. My head is HUGE! My hair is just terrible. That's how you know that Valedictorian means nothing compared to being an Elder for the Church of Jesus Christ. The Gospel changes men who then change the world. It takes the slums out of men, who then take themselves out of the slums. It's a gospel of enabling power and potential for change."  High school is a world away from where Ian is now.  We are glad he is so happy as a missionary and loving Hong Kong.

I was asked to update the ward on Ian's mission.  I asked him what I could convey, maybe his favorite food or things he enjoys.  Here is what I got:  "Favorite food is chicken feet. No contest. There is nothing to compare to dim sum chicken feet. The work to bring back less actives is the biggest miracle in progress right now. It's amazing to watch. Keeping covenants is greater than just making covenants and then leaving. We are not in the business of simply damning their souls because they now know the truth and simply walk away. We are trying to help them change their lives FOR GOOD!"  

Since I don't really know much about dim sum chicken feet, I asked for a clarification:  "The chicken feet and a couple of other food items are in the bamboo baskets. No soup though. The closest thing they have to soup is something called JUK (pronounced "joke"). It's a savory rice pudding pretty much. Super good...but not as good as chicken feet."  Some family friends just moved to Hong Kong.  The ward they attended on Sunday had no children, 5 men, and the rest were Filipino sisters.  It's not their ward they will stay in, but I asked Ian about them:  "There's no men because all the Filipinos here are women who leave their families for as long as 15 years to go and be a maid here in Hong Kong so that they can get their children to a school. They are all pretty inspiring ladies, and all of them are amazing cooks, especially when it comes to...italian food. Random, but I don't care as long as it's delicious."  There are so many wonderful, faithful members of the church in Hong Kong.

Two friends Ian deeply admires had homecomings on Sunday.  He gave me some instructions:  "Tell Elder Johnson and Elder Noll that they are role models to me. The decisions that I saw them make only made me more sure that I needed to follow suit. Their situation may have been a world away, but the message will never change. The missionaries are only going to get more powerful as they build off of the legacy of those who have gone before. Those little changes are the difference that counts. Love it. Love to hear about it. Tell me when you can what it is that they talk about."  Their talks were so eloquent and filled with the spirit of truth.  





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