Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day weekend we took a little trip down to San Salvador in El Salvador.  We stayed in the Intercontinental Hotel in San Salvador which was very nice.  San Salvador is a beautiful city with a good network of freeways, something we don't see here in Guatemala City.  Saturday we drove down to the Costa del Sol to go to the beach.  It was such a beautiful wide flat beach with nice tan sand and very gentle rolling waves in the warm Pacific waters.  We walked along the beach and amazingly had the whole beach to ourselves!  We found hundreds of sand dollars burying themselves in the sand as the water receded from each wave.  We had never seen sand dollars alive before. There are private estates all along the Costa del Sol, which I guess explains in part why we were the only ones on the beach.  It was such a nice day and we enjoyed the beautiful beach so much.  Sunday we attended Church with the Campestre Ward, a very large and vibrant ward that meets in the Stake Center next to the San Salvador temple.  We got to see the beautiful temple and its grounds--just a serene and beautiful place to be.  That afternoon we drove home along the Pacific coast, kind of the El Salvador version of Highway 1 in California.  We stopped along the way to see the beaches which got progressively darker colors of chocolate as we went.  The last beach we stopped to see was Dorada Beach, another wide beautiful beach with gentle waves and milk chocolate colored sand.  It was an interesting and enjoyable get away for Valentine's Day.  I am going to try to add some photos of our trip to the mission pictures page if I can.

Serving in the House of the Lord

For the past three weeks on Thursday afternoons, I have been leaving my office at the Area Legal Office and going with Hermana Smith to serve at the Guatemala City Temple.  It has been a baptism by fire there, learning the ordinances in Spanish, and the coordinator has thrown me into the thick of things so quickly, because they are always short of male workers.  I have enjoyed the wonderful Spirit of the Lord's House and learned so much about the work we do there.  I am deeply grateful for the restoration of these sacred ordinances, and it is a wonderful blessing being able to help administer them to the Guatemalan Saints.  My trainer is Elder Allred, a wonderful man, who has worked in five temples now.  He is a temple missionary here and serves in the temple five days a week.  He has shared many wonderful insights into the meaning of what we do in the temple.  It is my great hope that all my children and grandchildren will live their lives so as to always be worthy of a temple recommend.  It is there that we learn how to prepare to meet God.  

Hermana Smith's Moving Testimony

I'm not sure Mary Ann will write about her experience yesterday sharing her testimony in Spanish for the very first time, so I will tell you about it from my perspective.  It has been very difficult for her not being able to communicate with the members of our ward or share her testimony.  She has worked with her Spanish tutor from the Provo MTC for a couple of months now, writing her testimony down in English and having him translate it for her into Spanish.  Then she practiced for many hours reading it in Spanish so that she would be able to share it with the members of the ward.  She has worked so hard and been so diligent in preparing to do that.  Then yesterday, a surprise to me, she went to the pulpit and shared her testimony.  It was difficult for her and she was terrified, but she did so well!  The members of the ward were deeply touched by her testimony and almost all of them came up to her or me to express how wonderful her testimony was.  They felt her sure witness of the truth and her great love for them.  I was so proud of her and her great efforts to let them know what she knows in her heart.  You inspire me, Hermana Smith!

Kaminaljuyu

Yesterday we visited the archeological park of Kaminaljuyu and the Miraflores Museum here in the city. Kaminaljuyu was an ancient Mayan city over the ruins of which the modern City of Guatemala is built. When we walk the streets of Gustemala City beneath our feet lie the buried buildings and bones of these ancient Mayans. The archelogical park and museum were most interesting, and the museum has many well preserved ancient Mayan artifacts. Kaminaljuyu was built around a beautiful lake called Miraflores that no longer exists. In its time the city must have been a beautiful and vibrant city, crossroads of that ancient empire. It was also a city of eternal spring.

Not to charge into the controversies surrounding Book of Mormon geography or take a position on the competing theories, it is nonetheless interesting to contemplate what life was like here back then. If Dr. John Sorenson is correct, this ancient city was the City of Nephi, the city Nephi founded and in which his descendants lived for hundreds of years until the time of King Mosiah. Interesting to imagine. It would have been a land of incredible bounty, rich in the production of foods of all kinds, a paradise in the Land of Promise. Thus it remained until modern man covered the whole high plain with concrete. Not far to the south was the land of Shilom according to Dr. Sorenson. I have wondered how the tower in Shilom could really help you see your enemies coming from "all the land round about." We read in Mosiah Chapter 11:

"And it came to pass that he built a tower near the temple; yea, a very high tower, even so high that he could stand upon the top thereof and overlook the land of Shilom, and also the land of Shemlon, which was possessed by the Lamanites; and he could even look over all the land round about. And it came to pass that he caused many buildings to be built in the land Shilom; and he caused a great tower to be built on the hill north of the land Shilom, which had been a resort for the children of Nephi at the time they fled out of the land; and thus he did do with the riches which he obtained by the taxation of his people." (Mosiah 11:12-13)

What is interesting is that from a tower on a hill south of Guatemala City you could see all the way to the Pacific Coast where, according to Dr. Sorenson, the Nephites landed and built their first settlement, the City of Lehi. From that tower you could see an army of Lamanites approaching the land of Shilom from a very long way away indeed.

The Adversary at Work

"And many shall be converted, insomuch that ye shall obtain power to organize yourselves according to the laws of man; That your enemies may not have power over you; that you may be preserved in all things; that you may be enabled to keep my laws; that every bond may be broken wherewith the enemy seeketh to destroy my people." (D&C 44:4-5)

These two versus are in effect the mission statement of OGC (Office of the General Counsel). This week among a host of other things, I have been working on writing a request for First Presidency approval to bring a lawsuit against an individual in Nicaragua who is seeking to extort money from the Church using false deeds and other falsified documents. The whole experience of researching this case has once again brought to my attention just how hard the adversary works to thwart the work of the Lord. This special site in Nicaragua was purchased by the Church as a future temple site in Nicaragua when the Church decides to build a temple in that country. But the property has been embroiled in litigation for years against several unscrupulous people trying to profit by fraudulent means. Our cause has been further complicated by widespread corruption in the government of Nicaragua, even in the judiciary. The adversary always opposes the construction of temples, even before they are announced!

How I Came to Know The Book of Mormon is the Word of God

I grew up in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I had good parents who, although subject to weakness as we all are, strived to teach us the truth. As an adolescent I had a thousand unanswered questions about life, our purpose on this earth, and about the faith of my parents. I was painfully aware that I did not know the truth for myself. When I was 17 I left home in Las Vegas, Nevada, and enrolled for the summer semester at Brigham Young University (BYU). It was 1969. I lived in the college dorms (Deseret Towers) that are no longer there. That summer I took a Book of Mormon class as part of my curriculum. I had never read The Book of Mormon for myself, I am ashamed to admit. I had started it many times, but never followed through. But that summer at BYU away from home, I decided that I needed to know for myself if the things I had been taught by my parents and church leaders was true. I needed to know what I was going to do with my life. There is a remarkable promise in the last book in The Book of Mormon. It says:

"And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. (Moroni 10:4)

For the first time in my life, I decided to put that promise to the test. I settled down in my dorm room and began to read The Book of Mormon and pray. Unlike in the past, I found myself captivated by The Book of Mormon, it was delicious to me. I read and I read. I did not stop for meals or for classes. I read the book from beginning to end. When I finished, I knelt in my dorm room in Deseret Towers and asked God, Our Heavenly Father, if the book is true. In response I was overcome by the most moving and powerful influence I had ever felt. I felt filled with light, love, peace, and joy. My heart burned within me. The feeling of love I felt was something I had never before experienced, and I cannot fairly describe it in words alone. This powerful feeling lingered with me for some time and when it subsided, its influence continued with me still. The remarkable thing to me is that when this feeling subsided, I knew in a way I cannot explain and with a certainty beyond anything mortal or intellectual that The Book of Mormon is in fact the Word of God, that Joseph Smith is the prophet of the restoration who translated the book as he said by the gift and power of God, that Jesus Christ of whom the book testifies is in fact the Son of God and the Savior of the world, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God´s true and living church on the earth, By the same means, my thousand doubts and questions had been swept away in a brilliant burst of light. In some way I knew with the same certainty the answers to my questions, or they seemed foolish indeed. I had found out for myself that The Book of Mormon is true, and it changed me and my life forever.

The Burden of Sin

It was an incredibly busy  week that sped by in a blur.  I had so many balls in the air at a time this week that I felt like a juggler in a circus act.  I feel so blessed to be in the service of our God.  One thing I had to deal with this week caused me great sorrow for the sins of the world.  Even God weeps because of this kind of sorrow.  I dealt with the case of a young missionary sent home from his mission for sins he committed before his mission and kept secret from his priesthood leaders.  He had sexually abused some of his young female cousins before he entered the mission field, but he did not confess these sins to his bishop or stake president.  He learned the hard way that you can't hide your sins from the Lord and if you try to hide your sins from his servants, you can´t have the Spirit and you can´t do His work.

To my grandchildren, I want you to know that I love you with all my heart.  You are a chosen generation reserved for this most wonderful and difficult period in the earth´s appointed time.  You have been sent into the world foreordained to perform a great mission on this earth.  That mission is the preparation of your brothers and sisters for the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and His millennial reign.  It is a work of salvation.  It is the most important work on the planet.  It is God´s work to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of His sons and daughters.

Now I want to give you a warning.  You cannot do this work in the bonds of sin.  Satan wants to prevent you from fulfilling your foreordained mission.  He will seek to do that by enticing you to commit sin, because he knows that when you do, you will be under his power, and you will not be able to fulfill your appointed mission.  We cannot do the work of God under the burden of sin.  And the sad thing is that none of us will succeed in avoiding all of Satan´s enticements.  We all fall into sin no matter how hard we try not to, no matter how much we want to do good.

But there is good news, the greatest news of all time.  Jesus Christ the Son of God came to earth and paid the price of all our sins.  He suffered and died for us that we need not suffer if we will exercise faith in Him, repent of our sins, be baptized, and receive the Holy Ghost.  He will then take all our sins upon himself and put His righteousness upon us.  We will then and only then be able to do the Father´s work and fulfill our destiny.

So what is my warning?  NEVER hide your sins!  When you make mistakes, and you all will make mistakes, admit your mistakes and seek forgiveness from your Heavenly Father through the atonement of Christ.  For some sins, especially sexual sins, we must confess our sins to our bishop and receive his help in our repentance.  When the day comes that you are interviewed to serve a mission, DON´T HIDE YOUR SINS.  You will never be able to do the work required of you in the mission field if there are skeletons in your closet--unrepentant sins in your past.  Make a full and unvarnished confession of your sins and let the atonement of Christ make you clean and spotless before God.  Then you will have power over the adversary and power to do God´s work, because of Christ.

I know each of you has an important mission to perform on this earth.  Through the atonement of Christ you will be able to perform that mission if you will humble yourself, confess your sins, and repent.  I pray that none of you will find yourselves in the place of this young missionary who tried to hide his sins and was sent home in dishonor.

The Year of The Book of Mormon

I am so grateful that we will be studying the Book of Mormon this year.  It is the book of books, the preeminent witness of Christ in our day.  I will also have the privilege of teaching a Book of Mormon institute class to return missionaries.  I am excited about that opportunity.  Today our Stake President where we attend church, President Gustavo Adolfo Mendez Aguirre bore a powerful testimony of The Book of Mormon.  He also quoted this passage from the Doctrine and Covenants that President Benson emphasized so much:

And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received--Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.  And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.  And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written--That they may bring forth fruit meet for their Father’s kingdom; otherwise there remaineth a scourge and judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion.  (D&C 84:54-58)

He then taught that to treat the Book of Mormon lightly is to fail to read it every day the rest of our lives.  He testified that reading the Book of Mormon every day and abiding by its precepts will chase darkness from our minds and fill our soul with light.  I pray that we may all be more diligent this year in reading the Book of Mormon and delving deeply into its doctrine and that we will strive with greater commitment to live by its teachings.  Let us memorize key passages from the book that inspire us.  Let us seek a testimony of it if have not yet received one or share our testimony of this great book often if we have.  This book truly is the keystone of our religion and will bring us nearer to God than will any other book.

Rob and Brooklyn and Family Visit

Rob and Brooklyn and the children came to visit for Christmas!  They arrived on the 22nd and stayed until the 31st.  We had a lot of fun visiting sites in Guatemala together.  We visited Antigua, climbed the Volcan de Pacaya, experienced the Mayan market at Solalá, chartered a small launch on Lake Atitlán and visited a local swimming hole for the kids, went to the beach at Monterrico to enjoy the classic black beaches of the Pacific coast of Guatemala, spent a night in a nice hotel in Xela (Guetzaltenango) and quite another experience in a hotel called the Boca del Mar, and had two fun filled days at Irtra visiting the theme park of Xetalul and the water park of Xocomil.  There were no crowds or lines at the theme park or the water park and we got to ride the rides as much as we wanted to.  The water park was simply amazing, the best water park I have every been to.  Considering that the cost for two days for a the children was only $15, it was an incredible deal.  Brooklyn bought Christmas gifts for two families in our Ward of Santa Luisa and for the children of a local orphanage. We had a good time delivering the gifts to a needy family in our ward on Christmas Eve, and they were so grateful.  We had the typical rounds of stomach viruses and ran ourselves ragged, but it was a great time with family.  We wish Rob and Brooklyn success in their new adventure in Valladolid, Mexico.

A Guatemalan Family Farm

After our visit to the Regional Hospital in Cuilapa yesterday, we were all invited to the farm home of Brother and Sister Pitri outside of Cuilapa.  They have a small, but nice, home on property on a mountainside.  We drove up an unimproved dirt road for a few miles to reach their property.  It was fascinating seeing how they live.  They get all their water from collected rain water, purify their drinking water by setting clear water jugs out in the sun, and grow a variety of tropical fruits and plants:  mango, limes, mandarin limes (didn't even know they exist--they are the color of mandarin oranges inside, but taste just like regular limes), lemons, oranges, guanabana, maracuyá, bananas of various varieties, including purple ones, plátanos, another fruit like a plátano whose name I can't recall, nuts, coffee, and many more.  They live in a tropical paradise!  We had a nice lunch and visited with these wonderful people.  It was enjoyable and interesting.