This joyous state comes as a result of righteous living."
Great photos to share, but honestly, I don't trust this computer. Haha.
end the day reading it as well. This week has been nothing but following the clear, direct voice of God at every turn. We will be driving along, and the Lord will tell us, "Turn down this road." We will do it, and find a drunk man on the side of the road, stop the car, get out, go lift him up and save him, comfort him and teach him and start him on the path that will cause his family to be able to be together forever with fullness of joy, clean, pure, full of holiness, majesty, joy, hope, purity and eternity.
One prompting led me to be able to see all the Elders I came to Fiji with, one last time before they all flew home. It has officially been over 2 years now. My extension carries me beyond the "veil of death." A veil which I have now defied a 3rd time in my life. The rest of them have flown home. We got to laugh, talk, eat and joy together one last time before their departure. It is amazing to reflect on change. Change is power. Time is the director of that power. What we do with time determines the satisfaction of regret of that power. Sons and daughters of God, will we ponder what is truly most important in our short walk on this brief world? Or will we miss joy?
I have received a wonderful new companion, my 12th! Elder Monson Mong Yen. He is from Tahiti. I am learning just the perfect lessons I need before departure myself. We are striving to bring in 18 last Saints before the end. The grand finnale of my mission is to go through the Temple for the Endowment sessions and Ordinances of Joy for all my converts so dear and like family to me forever. This is what I poured my heart out to receive, all my mission, and now it is reality!
A woman we are working with has now become a superhero. The Lord commands, in Deuteronomy, that idols be burned. When a woman read this, she made a courageous decision. She said, "Elders, come take these things out." Even burn them. It strengthened my testimony to see her love for her Savior Jesus Christ, and for her Heavenly Father; that she was willing to stand up and choose the harder right. There is faith in the earth. There is hope for the future, when courage is the mark of our discipleship.
We are teaching an entire village that is now reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it, with intent to follow their Lord and living Savior Jesus Christ into the waters of Baptism.
While Elder Mokie transferred out to Suva, I was left with no companion for 3 days. I had to take initiative in arranging Members to come out and work with me each day as we continued to pump the area. I would end each day finally, having used no English. I either am speaking full-out Fijian, or full-out Hindi. English is only if I must. At the end of the day, I would stay with my dear, close friends, Elder Babcock and Fasia. Sleeping at their flat, I was awokened at 1AM to find 17 bites all over me, and maybe 30 bedbugs all in a line walking towards me from another room! Oh who doesn't want to have those cool Island stories where you sleep on the cold floor and rats eat the soles of your feet? For me, it was exactly that! Except it was bedbugs. I ended up choosing joy and being grateful for them, and then they lost all negative power over me. I had a wonderful, happy night's sleep on a study desk. We don't need blankets or a bed, or even a floor. If we have a choice and Christ, we have deep joy. That is exactly why the truth in perfection is called the fullness of the Gospel--even joy.
"How long has it been since you shouted for joy?
In the Grand Council in heaven in our pre-mortal existence, all the sons and daughters of God "shouted for joy" (Job 38:7).
Our Father in Heaven gave us the opportunity to be born, to
assume the responsibilities of mortality,which offered the
opportunity of a "fullness of joy" (Ps. 16:11) but which also entailed risks of disobedience, sin, and heartache. Yet, as our Father's plan unfolded and we became aware of our divine potential for future immortality, we did all shout for joy.
"Now we are here; do we doubt the Lord's word, "Men are,
that they might have joy" (2 Ne. 2:25)?
We live in a critical time in the world's history. Satan and his forces are busy. His temptations are relentless, deceiving
many, sometimes even the very elect ... The ways of the world may have changed, but the commandments of our Heavenly Father,
given for our welfare, are still in force, and true joy comes only from doing his will."
Daily I awake, read my मोरमन धर्मशास्त्र and finish my day with it. That book is changing my life, every day.
Prophets of God have spoken this week:
As revealed by the Lord: "Men are, that they might have joy."6 Imagine! Of all the words he could have used to describe the nature and purpose of our lives here in mortality, he chose the word joy!
Life is filled with detours and dead ends, trials and challenges of every kind. Each of us has likely had times when distress, anguish, and despair almost consumed
us. Yet we are here to have joy?
Yes! The answer is a resounding yes! But how is that possible? And what must
we do to claim the joy that Heavenly Father has in store for us?
Eliza R. Snow, second General President of the Relief Society, offered a riveting
answer. Because of Missouri's infamous extermination order,issued at the onset of the grueling winter of 1838,7 she and other Saints were forced to flee the state
that very winter. One evening,Eliza's family spent the night in a small log cabin
used by refugee Saints. Much of the chinking between the logs had been
extracted and burned for firewood by those who preceded them, so there were
holes between the logs large enough for a cat to crawl through. It was bitter cold, and their food was frozen solid.
That night some 80 people huddled inside that small cabin, only 20 feet square
(6.1 meters square). Most sat or stood all night trying to keep warm. Outside, a
group of men spent the night gathered around a roaring fire, with some singing
hymns and others roasting frozen potatoes. Eliza recorded: "Not a complaint was heard—all were cheerful, and judging from appearances, strangers would have taken us
to be pleasure excursionists rather than a band of gubernatorial exiles."
Eliza's report of that exhausting, bone-chilling evening was strikingly optimistic. She declared: "That was a very merry
night. None but saints can be happy under every circumstance."8
That's it! Saints can be happy under every circumstance. We can feel joy even
while having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year!
My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.
When the focus of our lives is on God's plan of salvation, which President Thomas S. Monson just taught us, and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy
regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. We
feel it at Christmastime when we sing, "Joy to the world, the Lord is come."9 And
we can feel it all year round. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!"
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
See you in a few weeks!
Elder Howard
