Final Checklist

The time has finally come to begin my "final" preparations before I leave for Utah (and then Germany). I've got all major items on my checklist such as clothing and material things. I'm set for my interviews for my temple recommend for this week and hope to have my temple date set for sometime next week! Other than that, I need to mail my formal acceptance letter, my request for my plane tickets, and 8 passport photos to my mission president. So I guess the only thing I really lack are some stamps to mail all this stuff out. I'm set for money with my next paycheck and income tax checks coming in.

All that said; I'm ready to go now!!

ITS FINALLY IN!!!

My mission call finally arrived today! I was so excited that I could barely hold still to open it (more like tear it open, but whos taking notes).

Dear Elder Rogers:

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Germany Hamburg Mission. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 24 months....

HOLY CRAP!! HAMBURG GERMANY!! That German in high school is finally going to pay off!!

Finally, the call to serve

My mission papers were submitted over a week ago now, and today is the second day in which I was quite sure my hallowed white envelope would have appeared in my mailbox, but nay. I remain call-less, at least for another 24 hours.

twipphoto.com

Pleasure vs Happiness

I've been reading "Jesus the Christ" lately and came upon a very interesting article written previously by the author, James E. Talmage. The article is entitled Improvement Era, and the particular quotation is pulled from vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 172, 173.

"The present is an age of pleasure-seeking, and men are losing their sanity in the mad rush for sensations that do but excite and disappoint. In this day of counterfeits, adulterations, and base imitations, the devil is busier than he has ever been in the course of human history, in the manufacture of pleasures, both old and new; and these he offers for sale in most attractive fashion, falsely labeled, Happiness. In this soul-destroying craft he is without peer; he has had centuries of experience and practice, and by his skill he controls the market. He has learned the tricks of the trade, and knows well how to catch the eye and arouse the desires of his customers. He puts up the stuff in bright-colored packages, tied with tinsel string and tassel; and crowds flock to his bargain counters, hustling and crushing one another in their frenzy to buy.
"Follow one of the purchasers as he goes off gloatingly with his gaudy packet, and watch him as he opens it. What finds he inside the gilded wrapping? He has expected fragrant happiness, but uncovers only an inferior brand of pleasure, the stench of which is nauseating.
"Happiness includes all that is really desirable and of true worth in pleasure, and much beside. Happiness is genuine gold, pleasure but gilded brass, which corrodes in the hand, and is soon converted into poisonous verdigris. Happiness is as the genuine diamond, which, rough or polished, shines with its own inimitable luster; pleasure is as the paste imitation that glows only when artificially embellished. Happiness is as the ruby, red as the heart's blood, hard and endearing; pleasure, as stained glass, soft, brittle, and of but transitory beauty.
"Happiness is true food, wholesome, nutritious and sweet; it builds up the body and generates energy for action, physical, mental and spiritual; pleasure is but a deceiving stimulant which, like spirituous drink, makes one think he is strong when in reality enfeebled; makes him fancy he is well when in fact stricken with deadly malady.
"Happiness leaves no bad after-taste, it is followed by no depressing reaction; it calls for no repentance, brings no regret, entails no remorse; pleasure too often makes necessary repentance, contrition, and suffering; and if indulged to the extreme, it brings degradation and destruction.
"True happiness is lived over and over again in memory, always with a renewal of the original good; a moment of unholy pleasure may leave a barbed string, which, like a thorn in the flesh, is an ever-present source of anguish.
"Happiness is not akin with levity, nor is it one with light-minded mirth. It springs from the deeper fountains of the soul, and is not infrequently accompanied by tears. Have you never been so happy that you have had to weep? I have."

So much in those words are so powerful in describing that which we should be striving for. Our desire for true happiness must not leave any bad after-taste, a barbed string in the flesh, a depressing reaction, a call for repentance, brings no regret, or entails remorse. I would encourage us all to apply these standards to anything that we follow after.

I would like to share that I know that if we keep the difference of pleasure and happiness in mind as we mold our desires, that the Lord will bless us with what is good and right, and of what we deserve. I know that if we avoid the degradation and destruction of unholy pleasures that we will be blessed all the more for it. I know that our loving Father in Heaven wants to bless each and every one of us; we just have to give him the opportunity to do so by relying upon him, asking for the things we righteously desire upon our knees in humble prayer to Him through the name of our Lord and Savior, even Jesus Christ. Amen.

Pains of Progress

Today, I made a happy little visit to the oral surgeon. Quite an experience! I am now officially wisdom tooth-less and with that one more step closer to the mission field!

I recently finished my mission papers (except for the required appointments with the dentist/surgeon and family physician). What is so exciting about that is that I had been looking for my passport for, no kidding, 6 months leading up to this. I started my papers back in March and one of the first forms I worked on required my passport information. Unfortunately, I had not seen my passport since I returned from my trip to Europe. At the same time, I was looking for my checkbook which I kept in my closet. I distinctly remember putting all my bank information on the shelf to the left of the door. Well, when I pulled down the paperwork which was on that shelf what I found were programs and posters from my Europe trip. I was excited to see them because I really enjoyed the trip and I had just thought of looking for this stuff to throw into a scrapbook. Anyways, on top was an envelope given to the group by the travel agent to keep all of our ticket stubs and boarding passes in. Yet this envelope was quite heavy for a few pieces of paper, and as you could have guessed, inside was my passport! I knew the Spirit guided me to finding it because I had just asked for help in finding it in a prayer, yet I was getting ready to replace it. Needless to say, I fell to my knees to show my gratitude for the answer to my prayers.

Anyways, back to the point of this post. Although having 4 teeth surgically removed was not the way I had planned on spending a Friday, this was necessary for my progression to the mission field. I just now have to get in to see the family physician to get my general physical and continue to save my money.

But to relate this little story to what we have been told by an Apostle of the Lord, I know that whatever we may be going through, trial, tribulation, or suffering that the Lord will be closer to us than ever. In the CES Fireside given by Elder Jeffrey R Holland, we learn that although some may say in times if trouble that our God has forgotten us, we are to know that He is closer to us then than in times of naught. He is at our side, walking with us, holding us up, making up the difference to return us to times of happiness. As I write this, I am reminded of a story that goes similarly as follows:
There was a man walking along a sandy beach. In his times of great success and peace, there were two sets of footprints in the sand; the man being accompanied by Jesus Christ. Yet in this man's most pressing trials, his lowest moments of spirit and times of most difficulty, there was only one set of footprints in the sand. At first the man saw this as Christ abandoning him, leaving him in his own during these tribulations. However, we have been taught that in these times, those footprints in the sand were actually Christ's, carrying the man through his troubles.

What a powerful message! To know that when we are lowest and in times of trial, that Christ is right there, carrying us through whatever it is we are suffering and that we have the most to learn in these times. Elder Jeffrey R Holland said that being in these kinds of situations is like being in the House of Our Lord, the holy temple in that we are closest to Christ and subsequently Heavenly Father as they accompany us in times of need.

So remember that when we feel alone in our troubles, that we are closest to Christ then then at most anytime throughout our temporal experience.