AMOS 3:7

There are two experiences I (Russell) would like to share with you from our activities of the last week.  Neither involve travel or humanitarian efforts, rather they have to do with more spiritual matters.  While this may be different from most of our earlier entries it should not be unexpected given we are missionaries.

For the last few weeks Eileen has been suffering with a toothache.  She has been reluctant to go in and have it taken care of.  Between being in a foreign country and her great love of her childhood dentist (not!)…. I believe she was hoping that it might just go away.  By a week ago Friday she was hurting bad enough it was affecting her ability to work or even concentrate.  Finally she gave in and made a dentist appointment for last Monday.  Saturday was difficult day for her, she was miserable.  The next day was Fast Sunday and we were fasting that an inactive member might have the desire to attend church that day.  Individually, I also asked in my prayers that accompanied my fast that Eileen be comforted until she could see the dentist on Monday.  Well, our inactive member did not come to church but Eileen was without pain for all of Sunday and Monday prior to her dentist appointment.  God does answer prayers. Eileen was also very grateful to be led to a good dentist where she received excellent care.

Our church had its semi-annual worldwide conference on October 6^th and 7^th.  Here in Indonesia the members see recordings of those meetings, translated into the local language, the next weekend.  We were able to watch all five sessions over the internet in English during the week and then today I went and watched the Sunday morning session in Indonesian with the local members.   It was inspiring to hear those we consider as God’s mouthpieces here on earth tell to us what God would have us know and do.  The following are just a few of the highlights (from my point of view).

Shane Bowen spoke of the heartache that accompanied the loss of his infant son some years ago and of how the atonement of Jesus Christ helped comfort him and provide salvation for his child.  Russell Nelson talked of life’s many perplexing questions and where we can turn to find the answers to them.  Dallin Oaks spoke of our roles and duties as parents, saying that which may not be popular in today’s culture but are true nonetheless. 

Probably the most meaningful to me were the words of our church’s leader, President Monson.  He talked of God’s love for each of us, that He is very aware of the trials that each of us are going through.  He spoke of God’s desire for us to approach Him in prayer and share with Him our hopes and fears.  President Monson reminded us that God wants to comfort us and give us instruction on how to deal with life’s challenges.  He also reminded us that our omniscient Father-in-Heaven always answers prayers but on his wise schedule, not our finite ones.  

While President Monson was relating a couple of stories to illustrate his point, my mind was drawn to a time 26 years ago.  We had just moved our family to Princeton, New Jersey while I was working in New York City.  There we found the pace of life, cost of living and distance from family support overwhelming.  After six months, both Eileen and I were in agreement that something needed to change before something broke.  I started looking at other job opportunities.  One in particular looked very promising.  It was located in Denver, close to where Eileen grew up.  The type of work was particularly appealing to me, both from a professional and lifestyle perspective.  After flying to Denver and interviewing, I was even more enthused and best of all they wanted me.  It appeared like a match made in heaven.  As with all major decisions in our life together, Eileen and I decided to pray about it.  I was still in Denver and she in Princeton.  Almost immediately we both got the same answer – no!  To this day I have no idea why the opportunity was not right for us.  I also have no idea where that “road not taken” would have led us, how it would have affected our children or left Eileen and I once we retired.  Would we be on a mission now?  What I do know for certain is what the answer from God was.  It was both prompt and clear.

I am grateful for my knowledge that God lives and that we can approach Him in prayer to both gain comfort and learn answers to life’s challenges.  May we all follow President Monson’s admonition to approach our Father-in-Heaven in prayer.

PRESIDENT THOMAS S. MONSON
If you would like to read or listen to any of the talks from conference please go to the following link:

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2012/10?lang=eng