Challenges

Friday, May 02, 2014

About a week ago, I was in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant when approached by a homeless man. He asked if I had some extra change that I could spare. I asked him if he was hungry. He answered yes. I told him that I would be happy to buy him some lunch, he accepted. As we were waiting for the order to be processed, I spoke with him and discovered that he was a member of the church who was born and raised in Bountiful, Utah. As we talked, I told him that he should talk with his bishop who could help him get out of his situation and find work. I suspect that he has other issues beyond living on the streets. We had a nice conversation and he was a pleasant individual. I have since thought about how we have brothers and sisters who are dropping through the cracks because they are not living in a specific ward and are not really contactable. Some are there because they want to be invisible, but some, I think have simply lost hope and see no way out. There are a lot of homeless folks here in Sierra Vista. I suspect one reason is that the weather is such that they can live outside year round and there is a lot of empty space. It is sad and I have pondered often what can I do to assist these folks. I need to see if there is a transient bishop here. Our missionaries do participate regularly with a community group that distributes food to those in need. I have heard good reports from some of the participants in the program, I also talked with the assistant director of the program who spoke very highly of our missionaries and their support.

We had a good training session with our mission president and his wife on Tuesday along with the missionaries of the Sierra Vista Zone and the St. David Zone. Tomorrow we are taking the soldiers to the Mesa Temple, at least those who are able to leave post. It will be interesting to see how many can get approval to go.

 Next Tuesday we will meet with all the other senior missionaries at the chapel next to the Gila Valley Temple for a Senior Missionary Training meeting. Following the training, we will attend a temple session together.

Saturday, May 03, 2014

We got up early this morning to meet soldiers at 6:00AM for our temple trip to the Mesa Temple. Unfortunately, due to one reason or another, none of our soldiers were able to attend so we cancelled the trip. Hopefully, we can find a Saturday that some will be able to go. It is very difficult for these young men and women as the army, or more accurately, some NCO’s like to control every aspect of their lives. It is disappointing that some of these young Sergeants act like the scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants Section 121:39 which says, "We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion" We had high hopes to take our new convert to the temple to do baptisms for the dead.

One of the things I have noticed is that Satan has a good foothold in the military in general and in the Army specifically. It is a constant challenge for our young people to live their religion. The ones who stay true are solid, but sadly, we see some who find it too difficult and simply fade into the woodwork. We do not have the ability to do an intervention. We are not able to visit their dormitories. The only contact we have is by phone or email, if  they choose to answer. We can only invite and encourage. Sometimes that is just not enough. 

 On the positive side, since the church has started the Military Relations Missionary program, retention has improved dramatically. It is encouraging to know that we do make a difference, but it really hurts to lose any of them.