This past week we had a conversation with our Grandson, Spencer. He told us about the old truck that they could not get to start. It had been sitting idle and the battery lost all of its power. A simple solution was to charge the battery and everything was in good order again.
Our thoughts also went back, several years ago, to the time when we were riding back from Manti late one evening in the Hanks car when the alternator stopped working and the car only took us for a few more miles before it stopped working and we had to be picked up to get us to our home in Salt Lake. The next day we drove with a fully charged battery and replaced it in the car for the dead battery. Even with the alternator not working to keep the battery charged we made it back home.
Our lives are very much like the car and battery. Our spiritual lives need to be charged often in order to stay on track and achieve our goals. Today, being Sunday, we had the opportunity to partake of the Sacrament. It is like a weekly charge on our way to the celestial kingdom. There are just to many members of the Church whose "batteries are dead" because they have not renewed their covenants for a long time. We have Ward and Stake Conferences and General Conferences to give us an extra charge and serves as a reminder that we are part of the Church of Jesus Christ.
In Missionary work we need that extra charge even more to keep going. Every six weeks we have Zone Conferences where we receive the kind of help to keep going and keep trying. The dates of our zone Conferences in our Mission have been changed so that Elder Robert Oaks (President of the European Area and a Seventy) can be with us. It will have been nine weeks since our last Conference. For us missionaries a spiritual boast is overdue and we are looking forward to this coming Friday (13 Feb). Rejections and not responding to invitations to join us for the Outreach Center Activities can take a toll in our enthusiasm for the work. I mentioned to someone last week that sometimes I wonder if we are making a difference here in Dortmund. The young missionaries are working hard many hours to reach and talk to many people and today not one investigator came to church. Most of the contacting now is done by talking to people on the street. We can't even go back to the home where they are living or call them to follow up, because they give you a bad address or bad phone number.
We say this not so you feel sorry for us, but to show you why we need a frequent "charge", so our enthusiasm and love for the work remains high.
Our Stake Conference was scheduled for the 21st and 22nd of February. The date for that Conference was changed to allow General Authorities to be in attendance because there is the need to call a new Stake Presidency. Our current Stake President, who has been the Stake President for only a couple of years, will be moving from the area due a change in work assignment.
We will be going to another conference on the 20th of February; this will be a Senior Missionary Conference for the senior Missionaries of our Mission. This will take place in the town of Celle.
Our thoughts also went back, several years ago, to the time when we were riding back from Manti late one evening in the Hanks car when the alternator stopped working and the car only took us for a few more miles before it stopped working and we had to be picked up to get us to our home in Salt Lake. The next day we drove with a fully charged battery and replaced it in the car for the dead battery. Even with the alternator not working to keep the battery charged we made it back home.
Our lives are very much like the car and battery. Our spiritual lives need to be charged often in order to stay on track and achieve our goals. Today, being Sunday, we had the opportunity to partake of the Sacrament. It is like a weekly charge on our way to the celestial kingdom. There are just to many members of the Church whose "batteries are dead" because they have not renewed their covenants for a long time. We have Ward and Stake Conferences and General Conferences to give us an extra charge and serves as a reminder that we are part of the Church of Jesus Christ.
In Missionary work we need that extra charge even more to keep going. Every six weeks we have Zone Conferences where we receive the kind of help to keep going and keep trying. The dates of our zone Conferences in our Mission have been changed so that Elder Robert Oaks (President of the European Area and a Seventy) can be with us. It will have been nine weeks since our last Conference. For us missionaries a spiritual boast is overdue and we are looking forward to this coming Friday (13 Feb). Rejections and not responding to invitations to join us for the Outreach Center Activities can take a toll in our enthusiasm for the work. I mentioned to someone last week that sometimes I wonder if we are making a difference here in Dortmund. The young missionaries are working hard many hours to reach and talk to many people and today not one investigator came to church. Most of the contacting now is done by talking to people on the street. We can't even go back to the home where they are living or call them to follow up, because they give you a bad address or bad phone number.
We say this not so you feel sorry for us, but to show you why we need a frequent "charge", so our enthusiasm and love for the work remains high.
Our Stake Conference was scheduled for the 21st and 22nd of February. The date for that Conference was changed to allow General Authorities to be in attendance because there is the need to call a new Stake Presidency. Our current Stake President, who has been the Stake President for only a couple of years, will be moving from the area due a change in work assignment.
We will be going to another conference on the 20th of February; this will be a Senior Missionary Conference for the senior Missionaries of our Mission. This will take place in the town of Celle.
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