I Love the Mountains: 2019

From a talk at Crows Landing, California, Spanish Branch, Sunday, 22 September 2019:

We are grateful for an invitation to express our love for you and for our Father in Heaven and His Son.

He loves our souls.

He lived, suffered, and died to free us from our sin, pain, and suffering.

As we speak and write we invite the Holy Spirit to carry to our hearts what is ours to learn:

Coming to the close of a recent "forty day fast" (where branch members and friends each chose a day to abstain from two meals, donate funds to those in need, and spend a day devoted in prayer) my husband was asked to teach about fasting, which arises out of faith. (Ten plus ten equals twenty or ten times ten equals 100!)

If Elder Starkey can speak about fasting, what if I talk about breakfast?

Elder Starkey's Peterson grandparents began a celebrated tradition, hosting a family breakfast of whole wheat sour dough waffles.

Its leavening is stored and shared from one family to another. Heavenly Father has asked his missionaries and each one of us to be like leavening.

When we come together, we feel His Spirit. Good things from that leavening stay with us after we separate from one another. We feel energy uniting our hearts together, uniting them with powers of heaven. We show interest in taking part of His kingdom upon earth in setting ourselves apart, purifying our lives, becoming sanctified or worthy and prepared to receive what is needed to return and receive what He has prepared.

We put forth our best efforts to work unitedly to prepare for Him to return and receive us.

We are grateful for those who have received us!

So, what is our "end in mind"?

To receive Him.
And what happens as we try?

The Lord teaches that "as many as received me gave I power to do many miracles, and to become the sons of God; and even unto them that believed on my name gave I power to obtain eternal life." (Doctrine and Covenants 45:8, italics added)

And the eternal life we are finding--yes, is about coming nearer to God and Jesus Christ --but in the process, our lives are blessed in coming to know some "cherished children".

So, what lifts or quicken us, like waffle leavening?

As we repent and work to choose correctly, a promise from a living apostle is that it will be as if we never left home! Quoted by Elder Renland “[Mortals] say of some temporal suffering, ‘No future bliss can make up for it,’ not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even... agony into a glory.
The Blessed will say, ‘We have never lived anywhere except in Heaven.’”¹⁴
(C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce: A Dream (2001), 69.

We cannot bring each of our friends back with us, but as we have felt a piece of heaven on earth, we can remember, as our Savior taught, "the hours that [we were] with you"!

(JST, Mark 14:20–26. Compare Mark14:22–25 "Behold, this is for you to do in remembrance of my body; for as oft as ye do this ye will remember this hour that I was with you.")

Honoring covenants with friends in chapels, temples, baptismal fonts

fasting with them, praying with them, visiting with them, playing with them

I tell William that we are crowned with blessings and commandments!

--this is the sour dough leavening we will carry with us and we hope to leave just a little behind!

So, what are its secret ingredients?

FIRST. We add the leavening of GOSPEL STUDY to our holy habits, (righteous routines as we work to keep lamps trimmed, burning)

waking each day to learn what Heavenly Father will teach us by study and faith today (Alma 37:37) as we remember the Lord, being confident that He will remember us! President Nelson (April 2018) asks: "Does God really want to speak to you? Yes!...

Oh, there is so much more that your Father in Heaven wants you to know. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, “To those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, it is clear that the Father and the Son are giving away the secrets of the universe!”¹³

Pretty is nice...but "when you are really loved,shabbiness doesn't matter."

Wonderful search tools and videos in Gospel Library have added richness to our search

And we are lifted to hear of friends who don't yet meet with us continue to find solace in study.

I left my tattered pages at
Sister Rosa's.
She begged to keep them
because they are marked!

SECOND. We add the leavening of learning to walk together and unite:

"And even so I have sent mine everlasting covenant into the world, to be a light to the world, and to be a standard for my people, and for the Gentiles to seek to it, and to be a messenger before my face to prepare the way before me." (Doctrine and Covenants 45:9)

So, it is the covenant that goes before Him!

At the missionary training center

we learned to walk hand in hand whenever possible--

Mornings, evenings and sometimes middle of the day, we were stopped by neighbors [one with a big truck in the middle of the street]

(maybe not this big...but we like this message!)
to tell us that they appreciate being reminded of the power of walking together, being agreed. We are working each day to walk together (and be agreed.)

What leavening will come with us on future walks?

We will carry with us images of a sun setting upon palm trees
and moonlit dancing in our back yard,

As we learn to put one another first, care for, cherish, and learn to be a team, we find ourselves dreaming dreams, seeing visions, redoubling our ^bdiligence, our perseverance, our patience, and our works to reach for things we have never done before-- and some things we have that regardless, require faith.

I love Isaiah's image
of the righteous branch
in the vineyard of the Lord

We have found that the uniting includes meeting together often: Come and SEE: When we arrived in April, there were meetings in which we had scarcely over 15. The Sunday of our talk, the count--70.

We are grateful to recognize that this is the Lord’s work, to watch Him hasten it in His time. We are grateful to observe. To watch. To try to follow Him. To help. We have been grateful to see new friends arrive.

And others return in varying ways.

As the prodigal son "who came to himself" in Luke15, our friends (or sometimes ourselves) have been… yet a great way off, [brothers and sisters of our Crows Landing branch],have showed "compassion, and ran, and fell on [their] neck[s], and kissed [them]."

We have celebrated interesting and inviting branch and combined activities with our neighboring ward

and Turlock stake, including a high adventure outing

that involved so many of our YOUNG MEN, and new friends.

THIRD. THE LEAVENING OF MINISTERING: Come and Serve

We are grateful to BE WITH, strengthen--to visit the sick and the fatherless. Jesus has asked for us to pray for more laborers and promises He will labor with us.

When cleaning the chapel grows from just a few, to over a dozen the work is done more quickly, and it becomes great fun!

BRANCH has sent, is sending missionaries

Mormon, Trinalyn, Azucena, Bettilyn

Let's pray for more!

Speaking of laboring, a happy engineer had occasion to coach some candidates for college and better work ideas...increase your options!

We have prayed with and heard our friends pray for each other:

And the Lord has heard our prayers.

So many of our friends are participating in prayer and fasting.

Members and relatives have been helped with immigration challenges, location of adequate, affordable new homes. Friends have improved in health, received new work, received operations on hands, feet, appendages, hearing, gallbladders.

We acknowledge protected family members, and those not saved from pain, appreciate loving arms of comfort.

We watched tests passed, advances in education,

friends driving, walking, returning to work.

Daily we have seen doors open D&C 100: 3 (112:19; 118: 3).

The Lord has listened, answered: "Here I am." Isaiah 58: 9

We honor prayers for unity, for children--

peace, protection, divine orientation--learning that God will fight our battles;) prayers for courage to accept God's will;

prayers to understand and follow, prayers for patience to wait, to summon hope while there are miracles in process that we wait to witness.

We have seen blessings in our families.

As the Lord promised an early day missionary:

5 Therefore, ^athrust in your sickle with all your soul, … you shall be laden with ^csheaves upon your back, … Wherefore, your family shall live...

We are grateful to see the handof the Lord upon each of our children, even those who are currently unaware. We see each of our children, grandchildren in a good (much better) place.

Our eldest continues to work steadily, nurturing a passion to visit interesting far away destination spots.

Our second after teaching math in Africa, New Mexico and Florida, focuses on nurturing two bright children, who thrive with their father in scouts. She was blessed to reenter the classroom in a neighborhood school.

We watch a third competently juggle three retail stores, and with his sweetheart

steer growing minds of adolescent and younger children through daily scripture study, and sound friendships in scouting, wholesome school activities, and family meetings.

A fourth

has earned a business degree, applauding a 175 pound football player son with 40 newfound "brothers."

A fifth excels at all positions at work, with children in scouts who feast on advanced math and engaging study skills.

A sixth has served at home and abroad to strengthen families

Her husband finished a nursing degree, found a graveyard shift position, (and after welcoming a couple of close-to delirious nighttime travelers Thursday morning) began a first shift at a nearby hospital with only a few minutes commute.

The seventh had a miraculous move with marvelous twins celebrating time with an available papa.

Thank you Graciela, and every every one who prayed for our daughter's youngest to walk and change the red tape "nephrologist" to "neurologist." Life is good, and getting better!

Lastly, but never least, our eighth, after three years of looking, located an adequate, interesting engineering position, where she rarely finds herself between a rock and a hard place, unless she is climbing rocks with a rock lover!

One of the Lord's promises
in Isaiah 49:25 is
" I will ^acontend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.."

As we continue to cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.

In Laurene's nuclear family:

My sister is in new house, husband with a new job.

Older brother: daughter graduated from Harvard law school, other children moving forward.

Second brother: daughter very recently married in the temple

Third brother: returning from Hawaii family time is watching a nearly 12-year-old son on another wave as he prepares to finish requirements for Eagle scout. Thank you to each for watching over Mom, and to this brother for helping our daughter find pleasant, compensating employment!

We are bound to each of you by loving ties

Thank you for praying for our family!

4. THE LEAVENING OF WORK OF SALVATION:

We value membership

testimony/covenants/ordinances

grateful to build family trees,

experience ordinances honoring and blessing extended family

Alma 26 and Section 101 teach that the point of gathering is to bring the "sheaves" to the "garners," The garners are described as places to be protected from storm--temples!

5.THE LEAVENING OF GOOD CHEER

We are very grateful to enjoy the gift of music with some friends here. I testify that when we sing beautiful songs we increase in beauty and holiness.

Thank you, thank you, to our friend Troy and family for
volunteering to continue teaching

In Tegucigalpa we were taught to replace ourselves. However, When the Savior left his beloved friends, his words were, “I will not leave you comfortless, I will be with you always, even unto the end of the world.” As we remember this promise, what if we remember His miracles are supreme? They are available. What if we work to qualify every hour, every day?

1. I testify that we have a Heavenly Father.

1 [Men and women who turn their lives over to God will find out that he can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life to God will find he has eternal life. Ezra Taft Benson, 1974]

2. I testify of a Savior petitioning for me, things that cannot be uttered, righteous desires of heart Just like the woman at the well, John4:13–14 we can learn and experience, as we choose well.

We can have within us permanent continual leavening, a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life. Doctrineand Covenants 63:23

3.The restored gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and still being restored. We are working to not sleep through the restoration as we watch and prepare for the Bridegroom.

4. We are grateful for a living prophet who leads and guides His Church, while encouraging us to stretch receive answers for ourselves.

5.The Book of Mormon is a delightful daily feast!

Omni 1: 26 "And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved."

Plus a slightly revised version of Mosiah 18

30 And now it came to pass

that all this was done in Crows Landing yea, by the palm trees of Patterson, near the acres of tomatoes that were near the irrigation waters
of Central Valley;