"...it's what we do"

Faith is not a crime is open for business again. Since coming back from my mission, I continue to learn and grow in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I met a woman at the airport who said that she “missed my musings.”  So, I read between the lines of her comment and thought that I should write some more. You don’t have to read it; but it’s good for me to write it and remember.  If I don’t take a picture of it; it did not happen.

Grateful:  The main thing I remember is how grateful I am for the life that I’ve been given and for the life that I get to live with my wife Sandy. Who is still my companion even though we are off our mission from Ghana.  It’s been 9 months already.  We have traveled, spent time with our family, and enjoyed life…but we miss Ghana.  We miss the missionaries—most of whom we worked with, are home now.  We came home with the Mission President and his wife, and we miss seeing them daily….but we do see them.

Mission leaders, part one:  We actually got to fly home from Ghana with our mission leaders. There was a big hug in Amsterdam when they went to Utah, and we continued on to California. Around general conference or so, there was a homecoming for the Jacobsen’s.  We came and it was so crowed they put all their missionaries on the stand so they could sing together.  The talks were good as always, but what moved me was the singing of the Ghana missionaries.  US congregations hum or barely say the words in a hymn.  Remember a hymn is a prayer to God—in Ghana the people SING, and they SING loud and proud.   When the missionaries on the stand were singing, it was loud, powerful and the spirit was there.  I was crying it was so powerful.  What an amazing feeling to be with those good young missionaries again and hear their testimonies.

Mission Leaders, part two:  Erik Jacobsen went back to the company in a similar, but different position. He had to travel again it was hard for the couple that were together always to be apart.  It was hard for my wife to be away from Sister J. also.   We talked them into coming to the Cayman Islands with us—amazing that President J had time in his calendar that we could pull it off. Which is heroic when if you remember, President Jacobsen is not a big one on recreating. We had a great trip to the Cayman Islands.  Sister J and Sister B went down to the beach and sat on two lounge chairs with their books…and never read a page…they just talked.  We were able to hang out with Alan and Laura, and Alan‘s father who baptized me into the church.  Sister Jacobsen and Sister Bertha are still the best friends and pretty much are in their own little world leaving Eric and I to go for Man Walks.

Mission leaders, part three. The church opened 55 new missions, bringing the total number of missions to 506. If mission leaders serve for three years, that means that they need to call about 170 new couples every year to serve for three years as Mission President! It is amazing the sacrifice these people make for the Lord and His Church…just like President and Sister Jacobsen did. Our friends, the Savages are going to Malawi, our friends, the Fullers, are going to Liberia.

“5 years in San Diego is better than 3 years in Liberia.”

-My son’s comment

Insightful quote:  We got to attend church in the Cayman Ward. I got to see one of my really good friends, who’s my attorney and is in the Bishopric there. Then we left from church to go to the airport and fly home. Before we left for church, we came down the elevator in our white shirts and ties with my next-door neighbor. They are from New Jersey and they come down and literally camp out on the island around the pool and on the beach for four months. And when I told her we were going to church and what we were doing, she said “we’ll will be here from November to March.” “It’s what we do.” And that kind of comment lingered with me. It’s what we do. She was enjoying her life on her own…We go to church, we gather as believers, it’s what we do. It’s what we do, and there’s a lot of different things that I thought about that we do as a church and has disciples of Jesus Christ.

It’s what we do. We serve other people. I came back to California and thought I was going to be back in the young men’s area.  I had been out on my property making new trails, setting up camping. But then I got a call from the stake president and he talked to Sandy and I and asked me to be a Bishop for a mid-singles Ward. That is not something I would volunteer for, nor is it something I really wanted to do, but it was something that was needed. And when the stake president tells you that the Lord calls you to that position. You do it. It’s what we do. We are obedient and we know that we serve for a time. My son said “five years in San Diego is better than three years in Liberia.” Both are good opportunities, but I’m glad that I get to stay in my own house.

“Don’t look at them as singles, they know that, look at them as disciples of Christ.”

-Sally Read giving sage advice to a new Bishop

It’s what we do. We listen and care. We listen to other people and love them wherever they are. One of my favorite quotes was from Elder Holland. Sometimes people, in their repentance process, need to have their membership restored. And they have to go to an apostle. What President Holland says is “I don’t want to know the stories. I want to know where they are now and what direction they’re headed in.” One of the things I loved about my mission was the explanation of repentance. Repentance is turning to God. If we turn away from God and we do some things that are disobedient that require us to repent, what we need to do is not inflict pain upon ourselves, but we need to turn to God and lean on his atonement. It’s what we do.

Repentance is turning to God.

It’s what we do, We love people unconditionally. There’s a young man in our ward who will be given the priesthood soon, and he said something like, he never thought that somebody like him would be receiving the priesthood and I had to correct him that somebody like him, is somebody like me. We are both of Divine lineage. We are sons and daughters of a loving, heavenly father. When we go to the temple, we’re dressed in the same white outfit. They call him brother, they call me brother, they call Sister Bertha sister. We are brothers and sisters in the Lord and we are his children. We love each other like family. It’s what we do.

It’s what we do. We use the priesthood to bless others. You never know when you will be able to use the priesthood that you hold. The priesthood is a power to act in the name of God. But I can’t really bless myself, I can only use it for the purpose of blessing other people or ordaining them.  My good friend called me, because he was diagnosed with a type of cancer. I had just been to the temple, and I was in my white shirt at work. I said, “will you let me give you a blessing?” And he said “yes.”  So I had to find somebody that had the oil and I needed somebody else to stand in the circle, so I called the local bishop, who called the local Elders Quorum President, who called his counselor, who invited me to his house after work. I picked up my friend, and I took him to a random person’s house that I never met. He was standing there in a white shirt, ready to help a stranger. Also, we used consecrated oil that had been set aside for the healing of the sick. We had the opportunity to lay our hands upon his head and give him a blessing. He’s not a member of our church. I’ve never met that person, but we both held the priesthood and we had the ability to share a blessing with my friend. It was a wonderful experience both because I could share it with my friend, but also the appreciation of being in another county and making a couple of phone calls, and there were many of the priesthood who would stand up. It’s what we do.

It’s what we do. We ask God more than ChatGPT; we kneel in Prayer.  You can do a deep-search on almost anything now, but revelation still comes from prayer.  The connection is real and the help is amazing.

“You are not the voices in your head”

Sister Runia reminding us to ignore Satan and negative self-talk

“In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”

-President Nelson 2018

Stay Faithful:  I have questions that I cannot answer, but the core doctrines of our church are pretty simple. God is our heavenly father. He has a plan for us to return to live with him again in heaven. That is the Gospel. That plan is dependent on the sacrifice that was given freely by Jesus Christ that made him our savior and redeemer. The original Church of the apostles was restored to the earth and there are prophets and personal revelations today. Joseph Smith was the first prophet of the restoration. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and his divine mission. That is all I really need to know. The other things will work themselves out in the eternities. 

“The fundamental doctrines of the gospel are few in number, simple to understand, and powerful in their application.”

Elder Bednar when he was a professor

Faith Hope and Charity. 

DO your best every day

….it’s what we do.

AB in Encinitas, but better because of Ghana