Aw Papa I love this email and I am super excited to see you on Thursday! I hope everything works out with the cousin's car. The truck that Jordan is probably gonna buy is pretty sweet though so I think he should be excited about that!
I think it's so cool how much you guys have loved watching the Book of Mormon central videos! They are super spiritual and I plan to take more classes from Tyler Griffin in the future. I also really like that insight that you shared about the importance of fasting and prayer. I will for sure remember and apply this when I am having difficult times on my mission.
Thinking about people turning their angry emotions towards the church does make me worried. I agree that this will probably be the case pretty soon. This morning for scripture study I read about the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 and how they compare to the Beatitudes in 3 Nephi 12. What is super cool and totally applicable about these passages to this situation you are describing can be found in Matthew 5:12. This verse shares with us that as we try to share the Gospel with others, many will mock and persecute us. I love the promise that Christ gives us because of these things. He promises us special blessings and "great shall be your reward in Heaven." SOOO COOL!! I've always been kind of intimidated by rejection, but after reading this verse I am filled with confidence because of the blessing that I will receive as I endure through rejection and persecution. I LOVE THIS!!!
Love you Papa and can't wait to see you soon!
Love, Elder Moffat
On Sun, Jun 28, 2020 at 4:01 PM Randell Gardner <
rfgdds74@gmail.com> wrote:
June 27, 2020
Dear Elder Moffat,
I apologize
for not writing last week, but as you know we are in the midst of packing and
moving. I am thankful that your mother
and Jordan are here to help. You know
that Jordan and Cassie had car trouble while here and the car (Cassies’ dad’s
Lexus) has problems with the transmission.
We are all packed and now living literally on the floor with paper
plates and plastic utensils because everything is packed in the garage waiting to
be put in the truck on Friday. The car
will not be fixed until Thursday or Friday so we are roughing it until then. We decided to forgo our trip to Lake Tahoe
because we did not want to leave Jordan and Cassie here alone. Besides, there is more to do here with the
cousins and private pool than there is at Northstar. Thursday your family, Nana and I will drive to
Draper. I will leave the Tesla there and
then fly Friday morning back to Oakland.
Jordan and I will get the truck that afternoon and start loading
it. Hopefully by then the Lexus will be
repaired and Cassie can drive it. Jordan
can drive Nana’s car and I will drive the truck to Southern California. At any rate I will get to see you before you
fly to Alabama.
We just had
the sacrament and Sunday lesson. Alma
17-22. That is the story of young men’s most
popular missionary example of Ammon (although personally I like Alma the
younger). I continue to tell you how
much I love the commentaries of Tyler and Taylor and also another favorite Unshakable by Jared Halverson (I don’t think
there is a relationship to Taylor Halverson).
Each lesson is from 50-55 minutes and is well worth watching or listening
to. Today, after the sacrament was administered
and passed, we watched the Book of Mormon Video of Ammon. It was just as impressive and helped the
younger kids understand the importance of service. In Tyler Griffin’s commentary he compared
King Lamoni with a readiness meter. The
imaginary meter read a person’s readiness to hear the teachings of the
missionaries let alone accept them. It
also showed the readiness of Ammon before he went on a mission and how fasting,
prayer and study of the scriptures were what brought his readiness meter
reading really high. King Lamoni was on
the very low end when Ammon was brought before him but through Ammon’s example
and service King Lamoni became ready to listen and then accept the teachings
that Ammon presented to him. I think you
can compare yourself to the early years of Ammon’s preparation (NOT his young
years BEFORE his visit by an angel and conversion). You need to rely on the power of fasting and
prayer. Perhaps one of the reasons for
fasting is to weaken the body so that the spirit can more easily influence and
direct us. We rely so much on food to
make us physically strong but the scriptures tell us we need to feast not on
food but on the scriptures and the words of God. Just my thoughts and nothing doctrinal. You will find many people at the lower end of
the scale or not even on it at all. You will
learn to wear a grin in whatever situation you are placed and never to be
confrontational when defending the Church.
Times are
changing and I can see where the church might soon will be charged with racism
and prejudice. The mobs who are tearing
down statues of our founding fathers because they owned slaves and the renaming
of buildings and schools and streets because they claim those people made
racist remarks will soon be claiming the church is wrong for the same
reason. You are probably too young to
remember the days when black men were not allowed to hold the priesthood. It is going to be difficult to defend the decision
or reason for that, other than it was from the Lord. The long-awaited time came in the 70’s when
Spencer W. Kimball as the Church leader and prophet on the earth received the
revelation that the Lord now wanted all worthy men to hold the priesthood. There was speculation and some theories that
circulated before the revelation as to why black men were not allowed to hold
the priesthood but it had NOTHING to do with their pre-existing
worthiness. The Lord giveith and the
Lord taketh away. “My ways are not your
ways and your ways are not My ways,” sayith the Lord. When confronted about the church being racist
be understanding, bear your testimony that Christ loves us all the same and
leads the church through his prophet on the earth and we don’t know why the
priesthood was withheld but now it is not.
That is what is important. There
are many things we cannot explain (eg the creation of the earth, how the Lord overcame
death or how he brought Lazareth back from the dead) but we know are true. The last thing you want is to get into an
argument. Walk away. Let them think they have won if you have to. In an argument nobody wins. Don’t ever feel bad for what you stand for
but don’t think you have to always argue over the gospel. Show love for the other person and
understanding from their point of view. Remember
the phrase “You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.” Let me know if you do not understand the
meaning of that phrase.
Have to go
now to ref something among the kids. We love
you. PAPA