Is That Doctrine?

Happy Columbus Day! This blog is not intended to be political, so I won't get into the controversies related to that great man. Olivia and I read Clark Hinckley's well-researched book, Christopher Columbus: A Man Among the Gentiles. While Columbus' discovery was followed immediately by himself and many others; and when it was discovered that gold was there, and men with superior fire power did what men with superior firepower have almost always done, it became obvious that he was a superior seaman, but a tragically inadequate colonizer. Despite the failures, he maintained to his death that he was led by the Holy Spirit to a land that would prove to be highly favored of God. We highly recommend it.

There, in typical fashion, I have said more than I meant to.

To address the title of this post, it is not unusual to have someone ask, or at least wonder, "Is Self Reliance really a principle of the Gospel, or just another practical welfare program?" Of course, welfare principles are gospel principles, but what is the evidence of that? We have been given the opportunity of speaking to the Plainview New York Stake Women's Conference, so we are preparing a PowerPoint presentation to go along with our remarks. Here is what the First Presidency and the scriptures have to say:

Self-Reliance Is a Principle of Salvation

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

The Lord has declared, “It is my purpose to provide for my saints” (D&C 104:15). This revelation is a promise from the Lord that He will provide temporal blessings and open the door of self-reliance, which is the ability for us to provide the necessities of life for ourselves and our family members.             ***                               He knows you and is ready to extend to you the spiritual and temporal blessings of self-reliance.

Sincerely,

The First Presidency

“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

JOHN 10:10

Our mission is finding those areas where the principles of Self Reliance are needed and assist stakes (primarily) and wards (secondarily, but importantly) in their implementation.

We have limited access to the young missionaries, but this week we were able to serve lunch at the combined zone conference of which our district is part. Olivia spent the majority of Monday making 4 doz. cupcakes. The oven is a considerable less reliable that my grandmother's wood burning stove. The thermostat is completely unreliable, so she has to check the temperature every couple of minutes to be sure the cakes are neither raw nor burning. Later that evening she discovered that the sister who was supposed to make the gluten-free cupcakes was stuck in a distant airport, so we made a hasty trip to the store and bought some very sweet gluten-free muffin mix, to which she added cocoa powder. Those were highly popular. At the end of the conference, a couple of the sister missionaries were seen carting off the remaining gluten-free cupcakes.

This after going through a bowl of sprinkles
to pick out the yellow and orange ones, then
add chocolate ones to decorate with.

It was an impressive table. Three of the senior sisters made 4 dozen cupcakes.

We did get a chance to sit in on the instruction given by President Holmes. One point he emphasized was the need for in-person teaching. The missionaries are working hard to find and teach, so teaching over the phone is convenient, but meeting face to face is so much more effective long term. 

We realized after we got home, that we
had taken no pictures of the missionaries.
We were busy serving the meal, I guess.

We actually arrived late to the zone conference because of the heavy rain that went through the night before, as well as most of the day. Our ceiling gave way to a couple of leaks, the neighbors next to us were out, but we could hear the rain coming down behind their door and saw it leaking under the door onto the hallway floor. The apartment that had been the Sturgill's had a giant leak between the living room and the kitchen. 

Our leak was in a closet. I pinned a
string up next to the drip, so the water
would run down it and not splash over 
the pot.

We used several containers for the
empty apartment. They were all
quite full and the towel was soaked.

The building super told us it all happened because of the 7th floor neighbors who allow their dogs to do their business on the roof. When it rains, the doggy doo clogs the drain. This time the water was backed up over 7", causing leaks on most of the floors and even in the parking garage and basement. People will have dogs...

Something we do regularly and really enjoy is monitoring and participating in a Finding a Job course on Tuesdays and Emotional Resilience course on Thursdays. 

On Tuesday, only the facilitator showed up. It turns out that one person who normally joins us was not feeling well. Two others have found jobs and decided that they don't need the course any more. The facilitator said he had helped someone with their resume that week, but asked if I would help him with his. We went back a couple of lessons and reviewed the portion on resumes and spent the evening tuning his up using the recommendations in the manual. The changes made all the difference. It was as if the manual was only a bunch of words until he actually applied the principles. I am anxious to hear how his interview with the employment adviser went.

Principles for a resume. What do you know? They work.

The mission has been moving the offices from Scarsdale to Manhattan, which is much closer to most of the missionaries. In moving several old tablecloths were found. One of the sisters had a design for bags that Christmas goodies could be put into, and passed out the old tablecloths for sisters in the mission to cut out and sew the bags. Of course, that is recreational for Olivia. She cut out and sewed over 50 of them and will decorate them as time permits. 

The sample is in front. Here she is cutting them out,

and sewing them.

This is stake conference season. We have attended one, but every weekend this month and one more early in November take place before we are finished. We like to set up visits, get to mingle with the leaders and Self Reliance Specialists, and listen for the needs of the stake. This week we had two, so we went to the Fairfield Stake in Connecticut on Saturday and to Lynbrook Stake on Long Island on Sunday.

Since we were going to Connecticut anyway, we thought we should see some of the sites in the area. Unfortunately, the museums we really wanted to visit closed at noon on Saturday, but we did find one that looked fun. 

Crossing from New York to Connecticut, trees line the roads and are everywhere you drive. Some are starting to change colors, so it made the drive that much more enjoyable.

Many of the bridges are so low that only passenger
cars are allowed on the highways.

Some of the beautiful, plentiful trees.

The meeting was held in New Canaan, just a few miles from Stamford, so we visited the Stamford Museum and Nature Center before hand. The museum is housed in a mansion that was donated to the community. The building is impressive; the art, less so. There were some interesting wood block and etching prints that dated in the 1700s that were interesting, but the 1950s modern art was (in my always humble opinion) quite dull.

The horses remind you of Lord of the Rings

Gentle lions guard the approach

The statues in the back are 1800s replicas of Italian sculptures from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Summer

Spring

They are designated by their sculptors as representing the seasons. The modern sculptures were a bit of a yawn.

Fall

Winter

The grounds have some nature trails, but it was getting close to closing time, so we visited the working farm, instead. The farm had a small kitchen garden and some unusual animals.

Actual oxen

 

A Highland Cow (Heeland Coo)

They claimed this short pig is 
native to America, but Google
says not.

The grounds also had some pretty brooks and ponds. This was especially beautiful with the evening light.

You have to agree, it is lovely

I wish we had thought to take pictures of the stake presidency. We met and had conversation with all three as well as the senior missionaries assigned to that area, the Nebekers. The talks were about teaching in the Savior's way and included panels from Youth, Relief Society, and Primary. Talks were given by President Herget and his 2nd Counselor, President Read. The musical numbers were breath taking. I wondered out loud if you have to audition to be in that stake. 

In Lynbrook, the next day, we went through a village called Flushing to get to the stake center. We realized that we had entered a Chinatown. 

Everything is advertised in English and Mandarin

It turns out that the stake is extremely diverse with 
not only Chinese, but Creole, eastern European,
African dialects as well.

One speaker was a Relief Society president from Flushing 1st Branch. She is from eastern Europe and named about 10 languages spoken in that little branch. A counselor in the temple presidency said that if you want to know what heaven is like, look at the audience. In this area there are over 130 cultures represented. This stake has 2 Chinese units, 2 Spanish, 1 Korean, and 3 where English is spoken, but interpreted. 

Sister Packer, one of the senior missionaries directed a primary choir that sang I am a Child of God in English and Spanish. Two children sang a verse in Creole and an adult sang in another language I with which I was not familiar.

Olivia with a new convert from Jamaica
who bore a sweet testimony in conference

Sister Baxter is the stake Relief Society president.
She had been given an actual mite by Elder and 
Sister Sturgill before they left. She used it to
illustrate the principle of devoted service in her
talk.

Today, we invited our little district to come for breakfast. They are excellent missionaries who are devoted to the work of their mission. They had to leave right after because they wanted to get haircuts from a man who goes from zone to zone cutting hair as a service. He is not a member of the Church, but loves the missionaries.

Elders Tripp, Christiansen, Bedell, and Rosas

We enjoyed our short time with them and the meal was especially delicious despite the haunted oven.

Our best wishes go out to all of you. We love what we are doing, and can only report on bits and pieces (I know it doesn't look like it). Have a wonderful week.