Trust in the Lord with All Thine Heart
"Trust if the Lord with all thine heart: and lean not unto thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6)
We find it interesting that this passage from Proverbs uses paths rather than just path. Sometimes when we think we are on the path the Lord has called us to, we find that things don't always work out as hoped, and we must adjust. It does not mean that the inspiration we initially received was flawed, but that the Lord wants us to always remain vigilant and humble ourselves before him in all things. Even with 16 months in the mission field, we continue to learn and try to listen to his voice. When we find ourselves being challenged it helps us to remember that the paths were not easy for Joseph and the early saints. They were not easy for the prophets and apostles of old. They are not easy now as we see man regularly reject the Lord's direction. Of course the Lord's path here in mortality was not easy as he asked the Father to "let this cup pass from me." Yet he rose to the occasion and partook of cup as was required. Therefore, our trials and weaknesses are not there to defeat us, but to strengthen us by learning to trust in him.
During these past two weeks we have struggled to reach many of the Young Single Adults (YSAs) whom we have a special charge to reach out to. We have met a few people who refuse to accept the idea that LDS missionaries are only here to serve them and the Lord without ulterior motives. Sometimes it can be disheartening, but we know in whom we trust and for those times of rejection, the Lord opens new paths for us to travel. It is on these things we will now focus this blog entry.
We sponsored some of the Elders onto base to participate a unique community event where local High School students met to practice their English skills. It was fun to sit at tables around a room at the base chapel and be assigned to one or two students to talk to. They would talk about themselves, we would talk about ourselves, all in English for these native Japanese teenagers. One of our elders is from Arizona, the other is from Japan who speaks english extremely well. There were about 16 English speakers and ten Japanese students. We had two other elders come but we learned that because of the US actions in Iran, the threat level on bases worldwide was raised to Bravo and base commanders will adjust who can come on base based on how they view the threat. At Atsugi it was decided that for now, only American and Japanese people could get on base. As one of the other missionaries is from Brazil, he was no longer allowed on base. Hopefully this will change in the not too distant future as missionaries from Brazil and the Philippines are pretty common in our mission. Despite some minor set-backs however, we all still work together and trust in the Lord in the work that we do.
At our neighboring Camp Zama tightened security means we are required to register our mission vehicles in order to get a pass to drive it onto the base. In order to receive the pass we needed to show some paperwork to the pass office, which we had most of. However, one document, the certificate of insurance (similar to proof of insurance in the US) was outdated. During a trip to the mission office, we went upstairs to the Area Office to explain we could not do our missionary work at Camp Zama without a copy of this form and requested an updated copy. The responsiveness from our mission and the area office was impressive as no one wants to slow down the work. We ended up receiving three copies of the form from different individuals in both the mission and area offices. We have now secured our new vehicle pass to get on Camp Zama.
While we were at the mission office, we were also able to take care of other things to help us in our work. First, we were finally reimbursed for some charges related to the mission car that we incurred last July. . However, it had to be approved by the Area office and the car insurance company. Thanks to the ongoing tenacity by the senior missionaries in the mission office, it was nice to have it resolved. Second, while we were at the office, we picked up some more Book of Mormons and pamphlets. Easier said than done as most of the literature is of course in Japanese. We needed these items to place on base where we recently noticed a run on our materials at the base chapel. We also had a special request from the Branch President's wife for a copy of the BOM to pass onto a friend of hers on base. We have participated with this non-member and her family at several other events involving the protestant groups, so it was nice knowing the book would be in good hands.
We had not been able to serve at the Post Office for a few weeks so when we stopped by to pick up some mail, Ms Chi, one of leads at the post office welcomed us and asked when we would be coming back to help and visit. We have committed to return back once or twice a month depending on our availability. Ms Chi also gave us additional insight on the best days and times where they could use the help. It always feels good to be welcomed among friends, even more so when they understand we are there to serve them.
The weekly base Bible study classes continue to be not only an interesting perspective on how others view the scriptures but in continuing to build positive relations. Sister Melton's group has been studying Acts. Elder Melton's group has been focused on King David and how his life relates to Christ. Once a month the men's group does a different activity to build relationships. This past week, Elder Melton went bowling with his group where he also received some pointers on how to improve his game. Still, we always remember that all these efforts help us in sharing the Gospel message.
We attended a performance of the Wizard of Oz where we saw a few members of the Branch performing, or were involved in the production in other ways. But one to the major highlights was seeing our friend, Marty "Jan" Christiansen, from Camp Fuji performing as the wizard. We also saw others whom we worked with at various events at Camp Fuji and were impressed they would travel over an hour to perform. After some greetings and hugs with good friends, it is always nice to know that we continue to develop relationships and represent the church in a positive, loving and caring manner.
With the last MRM couple that was here when we got here, and will be leaving next week, Donna said it feels surreal that we will be the senior MRM couple in our stake, which includes six different bases, seven MRM couples, and three different missions. When we started in November of 2024, two years could seem a long time to be away from home and living in a tiny apartment. Now with just six months left, we sense how quickly the time really has been going. We have been fortunate in that we did get to return home in October for three weeks for the birth of our youngest grandchild. We are also blessed that over the next month, each of our daughters and their families will be coming to visit us here in Japan. It is a blessing to see all three of our daughters, their husbands, and all eight grandchildren.
Now as the most senior MRM couple, we have also taken the role to coordinate our monthly MRM round table, where all the MRMs get together the third Sunday every month via zoom. We've now conducted our first one, and it is always fun to compare notes on what everyone is doing at their various locations, welcome new MRMs coming into the field and bid a loving farewell to those departing.
Being flexible as our paths change also means listening constantly and trusting in the Lord and his promptings. We've learned from experience how important this is in fulfilling our mission purpose and being able to bless others. One Monday this month when it looked like none of the YSAs would be attending, we decided we would head on over to the district council meeting being held just a mile from the gate. Since we had not been to a district meeting in awhile due to it being moved to Monday evenings, we contacted the missionaries to let them know we would be picking up Popeye's chicken, a favorite especially among our Filipino missionaries. However, right after letting them know, one YSA (where our main priority lies) showed up. We adapted where Elder Melton got the chicken and drove it over to the district meeting, while Sister Melton stayed with the YSA and started game night. After making his chicken drop, Elder Melton returned to the base and shared in the rest of game night. However, we will be looking for the Lord's guidance in the next few weeks as we look to adjust our Game Night/FHE to meet the changing needs of our YSAs.
There are always other activities that keep us actively engaged. Along with working with the YSAs, we see our other key role is in visiting the members of the branch where we get to know each family better, bring banana bread, and share a spiritual message. But we have also continued to be busy this past two weeks supporting a morale trip with the USO, manning an information table for the Red Cross at a Mental Health Fair, and helping set-up and participate in the branch Easter activity.
It was fun to see that in the monthly newsletter from the MRM group in SLC, we were included for the news of starting our Monday Game Nights. Now in addition we have been advising the younger missionaries as they have been starting a twice a month Friday Game night for all members from our English speaking Branch and Japanese speaking Ward. On the other Friday evenings and most Saturday evenings we continue to support the younger missionaries as they teach Japanese and English language classes, which all includes a spiritual message.
To pull all these events in perspective with our own thoughts and promptings, last night Elder Melton gave the opening spiritual thought at our MRM Zoom meeting with the Stake leadership. He shared the message from Elder Neal A. Maxwell from the October 1998 General Conference titled "Hope Through the Lord Jesus Christ." Elder Maxwell explained that we may have hope in many things, but the Ultimate Hope comes only through Jesus Christ. Whenever things do not seem to be going the way we would like or in the timeframe we would want, we know that as we learn to trust more in the Lord, in his purposes, and in his timing, we can always move forward with "a perfect brightness in hope."
We love each and everyone of you, and pray that the Lord will bless you!
Elder and Sister Melton
How exciting to have your family all come to Japan,.. Thank you for the wonderful information about our Brothers and Sisters so far away and
ReplyDeleteall the ways you are serving there and spreading the love Christ. Aunt Judy