Things of My Soul

Ever since I received my first blank diary on Christmas day, 1977, I have enjoyed journaling.
Recording activities, thoughts and feelings has become a daily habit.
Over the years, my journals have become a constant companion in my life. Like Nephi in the Book of Mormon, he records, “And upon these things I write the things of my soul”. (2 Nephi 4:15)
Recently, I have been very mindful about not only nourishing my soul, but also helping each of the missionaries to nourish their souls.
What is your soul?
The scriptures teach that “the spirit and the body are the soul of man” (D&C 88:15)
Yesterday, whilst attending a funeral service my soul was stirred, comforted, and cheered on through beautiful words, uplifting music, a gentle tearful embrace and by tenderly holding hands.
I felt God’s love, in the depths of my soul.
It was peaceful, elegant, and divine.
I felt safe and secure.
God’s love entered my heart and filled me with hope.
He is anxious for all of us to feel His love, wherever we are.
In a like manner, working so closely with young missionaries from all over the world, teaching moments occur daily for each of them as they discover the things of their souls.
My heart is filled with a great love for each of them, as they come to understand the things of their own souls.

Nourishment

They are eager to learn and hungry for soul stirring nourishment.
They have many questions.
Teaching moments come frequently, as I sit and discuss with them the things of their souls.
Just as we need food and water to nourish our bodies to survive physically, we also need the gospel of Jesus Christ to feed us to survive spiritually.
Where do you record the things of your soul?
Is your soul inquiring after some spiritual nourishment?
Then, why not speak with one of the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Each one of them know a bit about the things of their souls.
They can help feed, nourish and illuminate yours.

Unearthly

General Conference was a smorgasbord of spiritual instruction and renewal.
Following the instruction leads us to the covenant path and Jesus Christ.
“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑪𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍” was such a powerful address from President Nelson.

Memories

After his talk, a memory came to mind.
In May 1983, I turned 18, received the Melchizedek Priesthood and was ordained an Elder.
On 10th June, I joined many others on an overnight 12-hour bus journey to the London Temple, in Lingfield, Surrey.
We arrived a little tired on Saturday morning, ready to spend a day in the House of the Lord.
We live in a telestial world. Entering the temple, we symbolically enter a terrestrial world. And the celestial room in the temple allows us a little glimpse into heaven.

Endowment

Receiving your temple endowment is a very personal experience.
We receive instruction and eternal context for our mortal life.
An endowment is literally a “gift.” In this sense, the temple endowment is a gift of sacred blessings from God to each of us.
I recorded these words in my journal that day, “it was an unearthly experience”.
“Unearthly” – it was something spiritual, something deep and meaningful, directly from my soul.

Choices

That same day, I decided to serve a full-time mission and by November I was in the England London Mission.
I have never forgotten the feelings that entered my heart that day.
I made a choice, like many others have, “to take the long view, an eternal view.”
The cherished moments that day, were a few more steps on the covenant path to help me to start to “Think Celestial”.
“When you are confronted with a dilemma, think celestial!
When tested by temptation, think celestial!
When life or loved ones let you down, think celestial!
When someone dies “prematurely,” think celestial.
When someone lingers with a devastating illness, think celestial.
When the pressures of life crowd in upon you, think celestial!
As you recover from an accident or injury, think celestial!”
Call one of the missionaries today, they will help you to think celestial!
How can you think celestial?

Connections

You are not Alone.
Despite having a companion, sometimes I am confronted by the fact that missionaries can feel alone.
Serving in a foreign land, far from home, with a different language and culture can create feelings of homesickness.
It is not easy for some as they wrestle with loneliness and discouragement.
Being homesick isn’t at all bad.
It is natural after all to miss those you love most.
Similarly, it is natural to miss the familiar places you know best, where you feel safe and secure.
Being disconnected can and does bring feelings of loneliness.

Connections

And in my experience, connection is something we all strive for in our lives.
Missionaries, however, always have many people for them to connect with.
Knowing that people love and care, is so important.
Parents, siblings, other family and friends are only a call away via technology or regular mail.
More especially, mission leaders, companions and many other missionaries are always on hand to connect with.
And most of all, there are two people always willing to connect with us, at all times and in all places, no matter what we may be going through, namely Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Each of us, can always turn to Them.
They know us, personally.
Jesus Christ has said, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:18).

Overcoming Loneliness

Gordon B. Hinckley said, “I believe that for most of us the best medicine for loneliness is work, service in behalf of others”.
We read in Proverbs, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7).
Listening ears and an understanding heart comes for missionaries and for you and me), as they take time, to serve, to slow down, to study, to talk and to pray together.
Recently, I have enjoyed doing just that with many missionaries.
Making time for those special connections, really does make a difference.
Who can you connect with today?

Growing Older

I paused.
Watching General Conference at the weekend, I observed the effect of age on many church leaders.
Like them, we are all growing older.
Similarly, I observed our departing missionaries as they gave their final testimonies at our recent Zone Conferences.
They too have grown older.
And a little wiser as well.
But, there is also something very different.
They have overcome hundreds, if not thousands of obstacles over the last 18/24 months.
They know a lot about exercising faith in Jesus Christ, loving, and serving people, being obedient and working hard.
They have learned a lot about different cultures and languages.
They know too about the principles of a disciplined life.
They have grown not only physically, but spiritually too, through their service and study of the scriptures.
They have 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅.
Their hearts are softer, gentler, kinder, and tender.
They have grown in knowledge, confidence, and ability.
In a few days’ time, they will no longer wear a missionary’s badge, but from personal experience, I know they will always be anxious to identify themselves as one who has served the Lord as a missionary.
Shortly, they will complete the full time missionary “chapter” in their own book of life.
And they’ll be ready for a fresh start in their next chapter, knowing what it takes to be a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ.
To parents, family and friends, be prepared for some great inspirational stories and a powerful glow that will lift each of you to higher ground, to be better, to stand taller and to move forward with an increase in faith.
To those in Belgium and the Netherlands, if you want to speak to any of them before they go, then now is the time!
They’re growing older, by the hour!

Conversation Buddies

At our recent zone conferences, we held a communication activity.
We created a safe space to talk out loud and recreate a companionship council.
It was fun to observe, as each missionary verbalised their thinking.
They each taught one another something they didn’t know!
I noticed too, sometimes, we don’t listen to each other at all.
We may speak at each other, or past each other, rather than with each other.
Part of the exercise was to learn how to talk with one another in honest and effective ways.
Communication is an essential part of daily life, it’s like a lubricant for all our relationships.
Entering a conversation, we join with our own opinions, feelings, and experiences.
Conversations can hold immense power, create connection, and help us to grow.
With their conversation buddies, missionaries learned how to communicate more effectively, in turn leading to the need for some change.

Change

Change is hard.
We’re all human, and we all have our struggles, right?
Your biggest rival to change is most likely some internal obstacle that is going on in your head!
– A lack of confidence
– Laziness
– Procrastination
– Stubbornness
When we attempt to change, sometimes we may apply the wrong tactics.
Yet, daily, seemingly small decisions, can all add up to make a big difference.

Time

As I watch each missionary arrive at the start of their mission, over time, I see them develop, and change.
As each of them humbly turns to one another, and then ultimately turn to Jesus Christ’s great example, He increase’s their capacity to change.
Exercising their faith in Jesus Christ, it is only through Him, that they are all given the strength to make lasting changes in their lives.
He literally changes their hearts, because of His great love and empathy for the people He served.
He can and will do the same for each of us, as we accept His invitation to “Come Follow Him”.
Week in, week out, I am a witness to many, who have experienced a “change of heart” (Alma 5:26) as they learn more about divine communication.
Why not seek out a new conversation buddy, and speak with a missionary today…
How can faith in Jesus Christ help you to change?

Noise

In the Netherlands, noise pollution is a huge challenge.
One of the main sources of environmental noise in the Netherlands is road traffic.
There are statutory limits for road traffic noise.
The government encourages “quieter” tyres, silent asphalt, the installation of many different kinds of sound barriers and the insulation of homes.
Why? Because in a flat land, noise can carry over a very long distance.
We live in an area, known as the “Randstad”, and I am a witness to that noise every, single day.

Too Much Noise

Too much noise can be distracting and even overwhelming.
Yet, mild background noise can improve focus and creativity.
Many years ago, as a young salesman, I sold lots of different products, including public address systems for Premier league football stadiums.
I learned a lot about noise.

Meters

Using a 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 sound meter, I’d often conduct surveys with a technical engineer to check on background or ambient noise levels.
A calibrated meter was an essential tool, to understand the levels of background noise.
It was calibrated regularly.
To 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 something means to rectify, to correct, to change and to standardize, to adjust precisely for a particular function, and to re-measure against a standard to measure accuracy.
I especially like the definition given by the Cambridge English dictionary which is “to make small changes to an instrument.”

Personal Calibration

In a like manner, our missionaries are asked to recalibrate or re-examine their lives as disciples of Jesus Christ, daily.
Each of them carries a small booklet entitled “Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ”.
Sometimes divine adjustments can be painful, and circumstances can compel us to change.
Like the calibrated sound meter measures noise levels, often we need to re-calibrate our personal lives and
– our relationships with our spouse, children and other family members.
– our relationship with other friends and neighbours.
– our relationships with our brothers and sisters in the gospel.
Recalibration is important in every aspect of humanity, including our relationship with Jesus Christ and with others.
Most of us are aware of areas in our lives that need correction and adjustment.
What needs re-calibrating in your life?

Tick Tock

𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 – it’s always running out for someone.
My assistants and I regularly talk about time.
We plan with exactness each 6-week transfer, 42 days to be precise.
Often, we specify minutes for planned events.
Growing older, my notion of time is that it goes faster and faster.
In the mission, there is always someone running out of time.
It focuses minds on the present.
How a watch measures time and how we as humans perceive it, are seemingly quite different.
Our ancestors measured time in days, weeks, months, seasons, and years.
Unlike our ancestors, our measurement of time is different.
Today, we measure time in milliseconds, seconds, minutes, and hours.
Blink, and weeks have gone.

Hymn

I love these words penned by Robert Baird.
“Time flies on wings of lightning;
We cannot call it back.
It comes, then passes forward
Along its onward track.
And if we are not mindful,
The chance will fade away,
For life is quick in passing.
’Tis as a single day.”
(“Improve the Shining Moments,” Hymns, no. 226)
Time is lightning paced.
Each of us are stewards of our time.
Each day counts.

Today

Commenting on world conditions this week UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “Our world is becoming unhinged.”
In 2019, President Russell M. Nelson said, “I plead with you who have distanced yourselves from the Church and with you who have not yet really sought to know that the Saviour’s Church has been restored. Do the spiritual work to find out for yourselves, and please do it 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕.”
It’s never too early or never too late to learn about Jesus Christ.
Take time today and speak to a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
It’ll be the best time you spend today.
Are you doing everything that you should be doing with your one precious life?

Step by Step

The dictionary says that to walk means to move along on foot or advance by steps.
In life, people take many kinds of walks.
As we walk, we advance 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑 𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑.
The greatest of life’s rewards coming from walking along the right paths.
Jesus Christ recommended the strait and narrow way that leads to eternal life (Matthew 7:13-14).
We are encouraged to become like Him, “to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:6).
Becoming like Jesus Christ will not happen in an instant, it happens gradually, 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑 𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑.
He will guide us in our walk, at the right speed, in the right direction.
As we walk, we learn to control our thoughts and behaviour.
It takes time, maybe even an entire lifetime and beyond.
It requires daily work and daily effort.
Small steps in the right direction can sometimes turn out to be the biggest steps in our life.
All it takes, is one small step.
Becoming like Him is a slow, steady, and sure process.
The Apostle Paul taught, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Having faith in Jesus Christ will help us move forward, even if we’re unsure of the next step.
Step by step, inspiration will come.
Step 1, say to yourself, “I can follow Him.”
Step 2, speak to a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
It is a process you can start today, one step at a time.
Answers are only one step away.

Notetaking

It is an interesting little four-letter word “note.”
There are all kinds of notes, including bank notes, musical notes, people of note, promissory notes to pay a debt, or a brief record/memorandum used to assist our memories.
In my lifetime, I have sat through all kinds of meetings, thousands of them.
Note taking has frequently been part of my routine.
I know that by listening to and then summarising what you hear can help you understand and remember the information later.
I have probably filled up 100’s if not 1000’s of notebooks too.
Some of which I treasure to this day.
I’ve gathered action points and insights galore.
Taking notes can help you to concentrate and listen more effectively.
In fact, notetaking can also help keep you awake at times and even forces you to pay attention!

Paying attention

Growing older however, I’ve recognised that the most thoughts, impressions and feelings come gently, very softly even.
Last week whilst in a zoom call with Elder David Bednar, with other European mission leaders, he encouraged us to do something different.
Previously, sat in these kinds of meetings my experience is that there is an in initial rush to capture what an Apostle is saying, and like many others I found myself trying to keep up.
This time however, he invited us not to take dictation style notes, but rather to record personal impressions, as President Russell M. Nelson has challenged, so that “I know for myself”.

Knowing

I started to look for and listen for those customised messages, specially crafted so that I could “know for myself” what I needed to learn in that very moment.
As I listened to learn, my note taking changed from words he stated, to personal meaningful impressions that came.
I recognised that there is a space between the words that someone uses to the feelings of the spirit that can stir our souls into action.
Still, small, whisperings of the spirit came.
Why not consider your note taking in your next meeting, seminar or class, consider not recording the words said, but rather the feelings or impressions that come.
Listen to learn and learn to listen.

Rubbing Shoulders

Today, is Elder Douglas Glauser & Sister Marcia Glauser’s last full day in the Belgium Netherlands Mission.

Early tomorrow morning, they’ll catch a plane home.

As I thought about both of them, their service, and their impact upon all of us, a scripture from The Book of Mormon came readily to mind.

True disciples are rightly described as being “…steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works” – Mosiah 5:15

Definitions of these two words, shines additional light on who they really are.

Steadfast: devoted, faithful, resolute, dedicated, firm, loyal.

Immovable: fixed, secure, stable, anchored, unwavering.

Their period of service has provided a unique opportunity for all of us to become intimately acquainted with them.

Their “good works” are legendary.

For a season, many of us were regularly able to rub shoulders with both of them.

As a result:

  • We all stand a little taller.
  • We all feel a little better.
  • We all drew closer to Jesus Christ

Their quiet influence, gentle encouragement, powerful testimonies, and Christlike love and example inspired all of us to be and do better.

It was always a joyful privilege to be around them.

All of our lives have been touched for good, having been both edified and ennobled by the sweet blessings of our association with each of them.

Like Jesus Christ, “who went about doing good” (Acts 10:38), they followed His example perfectly, and subsequently influenced each of us to go and do likewise, “for God was with *them”.

Unquestionably, we shall miss them.

Perhaps we can all learn to speak a little sweeter with all the people we encounter today, and every day, as we honour them and the service they rendered, now and forevermore.

How can you do a little more good today?