12 October 2018 - Friday

12 October 2018 - Friday

Here we are slipping into the last weekend of our mission!  This was a windy, and cold, day in the mission field.  We had assignments back at the Fort Seminoe foundation area.  This time we were told to remove part of the dirt we placed on the ground cover last week during that rain and snow storm.  It appears that the Church History Department wanted the area to be flat before putting the ground cover down and part of the dig foundation area was not flat.  

So, you are called as a full time senior missionary, in a well publicized work mission, to do and redo and then, again, redo an assignment that did not meet the standards from Church headquarters.  What do you do?  You catch yourself from murmuring, and get the job done right, the third time!  It was cold and muddy and so windy, but after our initial "discussions", Elder Hansen and I got to work;

The snow/ice covered foundation of the original Fort Seminoe

The dirt was carefully shaved off the ground cover and passed inspection!

The final shaving of the ground cover with two obedient, but cold, senior missionaries!

Sometimes we are so quick to complain and murmur about decisions that are made beyond our control.  You can get mad, you can refuse to do the work, and/or you can create contention within the ranks of the missionaries.  None of these directions are of any worth in a Zion society.  It is a hard lesson to learn, I can positively attest to.  But serving a mission with all your might, mind, and strength takes some sacrifice.  Maybe somewhere down the road they might ask me about what I would have done differently, but until then, we just have three more days!

This afternoon, mom and I, along with Elder and Sister Hansen, went to Alcova for an assigned ministry effort from the mission.  I am glad we went to get acquainted with some wonderful neighbors.  We met the new school teacher for the elementary school in Alcova, and the new deputy sheriff.  The teacher has 19 years experience in teaching and her class size here in Alcova is 6 (six) students.  The deputy sheriff has been in the Casper sheriff's department for about 15 years and just got assigned to Alcova.

The community in Alcova has about 90 residents in the population.  

We left the gathering after about 30 minutes and the Hansen's took us on a back road drive back to the Homestead.  The route we took went through Fremont Canyon and some beautiful scenic spots;

The canyon walls were 50' high!

This is a picture from one of the vista points

A picture straight down!  I'm glad there was a rail there!

The high, and current, water marks for the Platt River

I'm not sure I would have wanted to help build this bridge!

This is the Pathfinder Lake on the Fremont Canyon trail

It was very interesting to take this scenic ride back to the Homestead.  We have not taken too many side trips this mission, electing to focus on the work, but we were glad to have taken this way home!

Speaking of contention, the Adversary is very anxious for our country to be in an uproar over beliefs and goals.  He stirs up the people so that the focus of the people is not on peace, and the Peace-giver.  What a subtle way to take the precious message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and cloud it with distractions and, ultimately, hatred towards each other.  I was listening to one of Elder Nelson's earlier talks tonight and he made an interesting observation.  

He said contention does not start on the national level, it starts with one person.  Then it spreads and more folks get involved.  Little disagreements in our families and in our wards really start with one person.  I would have to ask, simply, "Lord, is it I?"  Hopefully we are not the ones starting the scourge of contention, but we can be one to limit its growth!

Probably the best way to avoid contention is to not let it affect our feelings, and our actions, with one of Heavenly Father's precious children.  Let us each be the peacemaker in our homes, in our families and in our wards.  Then we can help and assist the process of diminishing contention in our communities and in our nation!

I am so grateful for a living Prophet!  Going back and listening to all of his talks in General Conference has given me a different perspective of preparing for the Second Coming!