Lessons from the Past (Plus: Six Guys and a Truck)

The pressure of a full-time mission is a powerful "intensifier". Like heat from a torch, yeast in dough, or a scoreboard on a basketball court, mission pressure is a catalyst that can transform inert raw materials into something very different. It can be particularly uncomfortable when the inert raw material is us.

This week we passed the 1/3 mark of our mission. As I reflect on that milestone, and as I make another journey through Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days, a couple lessons stand out.

Anytime things go amazingly well for a period, it's likely there will be a crash. We don't learn and grow from things working out great all the time. It sure is nice to have smooth sailing and we spend a lot of time trying to achieve that, but the comfort zone will never be the growth zone and vice-versa. As the Book of Mormon says, "There must needs be opposition in all things."
We can really get hurt by imperfections (both real and perceived) in others, and then transfer that hurt to God or other people. When people in authority make decisions or do things we don't like or even understand, it can really throw us off. It makes me think of a C.S. Lewis quote I shared with someone this week: "The devil always sends errors into the world in pairs--pairs of opposites. And he always encourages us to spend a lot of time thinking which is the worse. You see why, of course? He relies on your extra dislike of the one error to draw you gradually into the opposite one"

As hard as it is, I am grateful for lessons like these and the many others we are learning. And I'm grateful to be able to read in the scriptures, Saints, and other sources of those that have gone before me. I know that I can learn from these lessons as they did.

As I mentioned before in the blog, Zone Conferences are held every six weeks, alternating between Malaysia and Singapore. Because we're the only full-time missionary senior couple living in Singapore, that week and the one before is a busy one. In this week's edition...helping prepare housing and muffins for 90 visiting missionaries!

Housing that many visiting missionaries safely, cost effectively, and efficiently is a real challenge. For some time the Elders used a large house adjacent to a church building on a site that has been announced for the new Singapore Temple. That had both some advantages and some real challenges, and this time leadership decided to spread the missionaries out amongst our eight existing apartments. So today I accompanied two great junior missionaries, two contractors, and a truck driver across the island of Singapore. We moved bedding and other things, staging them in place for next week. It was really exhausting doing that kind of work in the heat and humidity, but it was nice to do more physical than mental work for a change.

As for muffins, Vivian had the opportunity to volunteer to make about 10 dozen muffins for Zone Conference. We are right in the middle of a nightly ritual of making and freezing 2-3 dozen of various kinds: banana chocolate, black currant, plain, etc. It is also rewarding being able to render that kind of service to these young missionaries who do so much so far from their families.

And to close, we took our zone picture this week for our fourth transfer. I give you the mighty, mighty Singapore Zone: April and May 2024! We really love these wonderful people.