Dear Family and friends
Wow—a full month has passed since we arrived in North
Carolina. It seems like so long ago yet
only yesterday. What a great month. We are so grateful for each of you. We pray for you daily and continue to ask
Heavenly Father for your safety and success.
We continue to be assured we are where Heavenly Father wants us to
be.
We were with President and Sister Craven during the
testimony meeting of the missionaries who are home now. President shared a reference in the Book of
Joshua that I would like to share with you.
I have reflected upon it considerably since Wednesday of this week and
believe it can help all of us. He
indicated the pattern outlined in Joshua is a template we can follow that will
help us always remain steadfast and immovable in an unchanging world-- a
way we can stay active in the gospel and
be useful tools in the Kingdom of Heavenly Father. In Joshua chapter three Joshua is leading the
children of Israel to the promise land—Jordan.
In order to do so they must cross the Jordon River—the question was
asked by the Priests how they were to carry the Ark of the Covenant, their
equivalent of the temple, across the river.
Verse 7—“And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify
thee in the sight of all Israel and that they may know that, as I was with
Moses, so I will be with thee. And thou
shalt command the priests that bear the Ark of the Covenant, saying, When ye
are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in
Jordan. And Joshua said unto the children
of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the Lord your God.” The priests went, as instructed, to the
waters’ edge carrying the ark. Verse 13-
“And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests
that bare the ark of the Lord. . . .shall rest in the waters of Jordan , that
the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from
above; and they shall stand upon an heap.
Verse 15—And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan and the
feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water,
(for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,) Verse 17—“And
the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry
ground in the midst of Jordan and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground,
until all the people were passed clean over Jordan”. Joshua 4: 10
“For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until everything
was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the people according
to all that Moses commanded Joshua; and
the people hasted and passed over. And
it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over that the ark of the
Lord passed over and the priests in the presence of the people”. The message President Craven shared with the
departing missionaries was: 1—always carry the ark. (Have a current temple recommend. 2—Be first
in the water—Be first to volunteer and don’t be afraid to get your feet wet. 3.
Remain steadfast on dry ground until everyone has past. Participate and stay active in the mainstream
of the programs of the church and family.
4- Be last to leave. Stay and
help cleanup. Put the chairs away—be of
service –look for ways to help and be of service without being asked. I echo this council to my children and
grandchildren. I remember the promise of
Elder Bateman to the saints of the Willard Utah Stake saying very similar
things and then promising exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom if we did. Oh how Sister Andrus and I pray we can be together
as an eternal family. The plan of
happiness is for everyone—including the Don and Ruth Andrus Family. It is also for our dear brothers and sisters
and their families and our wonderful friends and associates in the kingdom and
their families. We love all of you so
much.
We begin our “solo” assignments tomorrow and are so looking
forward to being on our own. We have
been well trained and believe we can make a difference for good. If there is one thing we have learned is that
office work is important for the success of spreading forth the Kingdom of
Heaven. It is an important work and
needs to be done efficiently and effectively so the work of saving souls can
move forward without problems. We are
honored and blessed to have this opportunity to serve. President and Sister Craven are so grateful
to Sister Andrus and I and are looking forward to us helping them bring a new
generation of ideas and success. We are
humbled and believe and know this is what Heavenly father desires of us right
now.
Transfer week was so busy and so exciting. We already love the new missionaries—so
prepared and ready to work. Sister
Andrus is amazing with them. She is so
like a mother and helps them feel so good.
I am so proud of her. It’s great
to be her companion. I taught the High
Priest Group today—I was asked to help the group leadership formalize a
prospective Elder rescue effort. It was
enjoyable to put to use my experience and facilitate a great discussion. We still have much to accomplish but have a
good start. We took a prospective elder
to church—the same one we did last week.
He is making progress. His name
is Til. We also were happy to greet
Tim—recently baptized. A few weeks ago
we helped him set up for him an appointment with the employment missionaries. He was so happy—he has an interview
today. We so hope he is able to get the
job. He is the one we also introduced
family history work with. He is so thrilled
to be finding his “roots”. We really
feel rewarded in our ward assignments also. The Reedy Creek Ward is a good ward. It is our ward for now. We love these good people. We feel at home with them.
We miss you all but trust the Lord that He will keep and
protect you in our absence. Thanks again
for your faith and prayers in our behalf.
We so enjoyed the face time with some of you and look forward to similar
time with all of you. Just enjoyed some
face time with Ben and family. So good
to see everyone. Have a great week
Love
Elder and Sister, Mom
and Dad, Don and Ruth.
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