Learning from unexpected places

So through a series of events I had this brought to my attention this week. So let's start with the quote. It is from Elder Andersons talk from this conference. 

When my wife, Kathy, and I were in Africa a few weeks ago, we visited Mbuji-Mayi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Because the chapel was not large enough for the 2,000 members, we met out of doors under large plastic coverings supported by bamboo poles. As the meeting began, we could see dozens of children watching us, clinging to the bars on the outside of the wrought-iron fence that surrounded the property. Kathy quietly whispered, “Neil, do you think that you might want to invite the children to come in?” I approached District President Kalonji at the podium and asked him if he would welcome the children outside the fence to come join us inside.

It is interesting how much I learned from this, that was not related to his talk at all. So I learned a few things, or at least reinforced things I have known. 

1. Notice how it was his wife who reviewed this revelation and not the apostle sitting there. That regardless of calling all can participate equally and everyone has something to contribute. 

2. All activity is best handled through the proper use of keys. She did not invite them in, but she gave counsel to the one holding keys and let them act upon it. 

3. It is so wise to listen to the counsel you receive. Many have input that they are genuinely interesting in providing to make things better. And you are not so cool that others cannot have really great ideas that can make you better too. 

All these are things I would not have pulled from this story if I had not been reviewing conference talks and also counseling with others who shared this and started me down a path of pondering. 

I had a great week. I was in China and had productive meetings and time spent. I wish I could beam myself back and forth, but at least it was useful time there. Most days I went until around 9 or 10 PM. Then back at it around 7:00 the next morning. One day we did not leave the office until 9:30 then had a further discussion around diner until about 11:30. I am so sleep deprived :). I had an aggressive agenda and we did many of the items, but we also missed about 1/3 of them that we just ran out of time. For that late dinner we went to a less than fancy, but still great restaurant. A nice change for me and much more comfortable for me. It was a Chinese hot pot style you can see in the picture. You cook the food right there in the broth of your choosing. I spent my time in the highest level spicy pot. It was great. 

My return trip took over 36 hours from office to home. It was grueling. But I wanted to get home earlier rather than spend another day there. Everything went according to plan except the final flight had three mechanical issues so we spent an extra hour plus in the plane until we could leave. 

I learned how to tally counts in Chinese. I showed those at home but in the picture you can see the way they tally. It goes from 1 to 5 and they would do that over and over as needed. Interesting how different it is from how we make our 4 marks the. A crossover for the fifth. 

You can just enjoy Lys crazy hair!

Love you forever,

Dad

3 John 1:4

In His Own Time

It is a wonder to me how He works but to quote a friend recently, "it becomes more and more apparent that the best idea is to try and not get in the way as the Lord does his work."

I was working in my calling and really trying to get some revelation for it. The first half came nearly immediately after I received some counsel. I was surprised by how powerful a feeling it was and that it repeated every time I doubted or wanted to be sure. He was truly patient with me on that one, asking again and again. But the 2nd half was much more work and I had to work according to His time. I was working hard and really pushing to have the right answer. I kept going back to the same answer over and over, seeming to think that was an answer, but when I would pray to verify, I always was unsettled. So I would review options again, rethink the assignment, and work it again. Same thing over and over. But then I felt prompted to go to a youth baptism. Not really sure why, but we went and it was very nice. But while I was there, and not really considering the previous need for revelation, the revelation came very powerful and VERY direct. The answer was given to me. I just had to wait for His timetable to get the answer. But He did answer. 

It was a great lesson to learn right before going into conference sessions. They were so wonderful. I really liked the priesthood session and especially Elder Ballard's talk. I also liked how they used so many analogies to things I could understand. It really is one of the best weekends of the year. 

I had a very short week at work. I stayed home Monday and Tuesday to "compensate" for being gone for the prior two weekends traveling for work. I had a good time with mom and the rest at home as they were on spring break. Then Friday we were closed for Good Friday so I only had to work two days. And they were actually "quiet" days so I got a lot of loose ends and miscellaneous things cleared up which felt good. Especially since I have a jam packed week coming up and will have very little time to do anything besides the things of the week. Just keeping up with emails etc will take all I have. 

I hope you got what you were looking for out of conference. I love listening again to the talks and continuing to learn. I wrote down a few that will be the first ones I listen to again. I am so grateful that they are available so quickly for our reference. 

I recall on my mission the heartache knowing it was conference weekend but we did not get it broadcast to Norway. We just had to wait for about 8 weeks for the Ensign to be published, then wait another 4 weeks or so for a parent to mail it to us. I remember being in a basement apartment (a nice one really, roomiest of my mission except Trondheim) in Porsgrunn when the Ensign finally came. I recall using all our study time to read it and try to learn the messages. It was like Christmas morning as a little child to get that gift. It changed my whole attitude on conference from then on. I learned to treasure the opportunity to watch, listen, or read conference. 

We went to Amish country, quite the adventure as I am sure mom will tell you about (for those that were not with us) but while there I found an item just for you Gavin. Look at the photo!  A soda I know you would appreciate. 

We also saw some Amish artists wood carvings. 3D out of a single block of wood. Take a look, they were phenomenal in their detail and I was impressed by the skill. 

Love you forever,

Dad

3 John 1:4