Robert writes home #109 3 Jan 1997
3 Jan 1997
Dear Mother,
Our bishop is a "peach." I like him so much. He just exudes warmth and concern when he talks from the pulpit. I am convinced in my mind that he is the major part of the success of the missionary effort in our ward. Those new converts just feel buoyed up by his love and concern for them. He talks to them and about them from the pulpit as he talks to all of us. He is about the best bishop I've ever seen. We had 35 convert baptisms in the year 1997 in our ward.
Yesterday he had me accompany him to give a priesthood blessing to a non-member lady in DP who had requested it. It was such a nice experience. The lady talked for about an hour before we got around to giving the blessing. Her husband and daughter were there also. When we got ready to give the blessing the daughter, age 26, started getting nervous. They're Catholic and it looked to her daughter like a Catholic baptism. She was afraid that we were fixing to baptize her mother into the Mormon church. We explained what we did and allayed her fears and had a little laugh about it. I felt inspired to promise her full recovery of health. She had a detached retina due to infection subsequent to surgery for cataracts that was accidentally introduced at the time of surgery. The situation often results in the loss of vision in that eye.
Tomorrow Charlie and Heidi Jo are leaving. She is going to Kansas City for a week to visit my oldest daughter and her family. Charlie is going back to BYU. Sam and I are returning to seminary I love that calling..
I was given a little book by my kids by Louis Plummer called "Thoughts of a Grasshopper." It is really a fun to read book. She is so easy to empathize with because she shares most of our fears and shortcomings. She writes a short chapter on strengthening the family. It is so funny and poignant that I find myself feeling justified for my shortcomings because I share them with her. Like as long s this weakness is common I don't have to overcome it. That is a dangerous mind step to take. I think that so often I hear people in the church taking "pot shots" at the "Molly Mormon" image. I wonder what they are doing when they do that. Are they saying that perfection is too much to strive for? Like you'll probably get ulcers from trying to keep all the commandments so don't try? Like the risk of stress disease is more important than the benefits of perfection...which is a lie in and of itself because it is the lack of faith and the awareness of guilt that give you stress. Because the faithful go through situations that look terrible stressful to the nonbeliever without realizing the stress but feeling confident and peaceful about life.
The gospel is perfect and works. Give it total Committment.
Love,
Robert, Janet, Sam
Dear Mother,
Our bishop is a "peach." I like him so much. He just exudes warmth and concern when he talks from the pulpit. I am convinced in my mind that he is the major part of the success of the missionary effort in our ward. Those new converts just feel buoyed up by his love and concern for them. He talks to them and about them from the pulpit as he talks to all of us. He is about the best bishop I've ever seen. We had 35 convert baptisms in the year 1997 in our ward.
Yesterday he had me accompany him to give a priesthood blessing to a non-member lady in DP who had requested it. It was such a nice experience. The lady talked for about an hour before we got around to giving the blessing. Her husband and daughter were there also. When we got ready to give the blessing the daughter, age 26, started getting nervous. They're Catholic and it looked to her daughter like a Catholic baptism. She was afraid that we were fixing to baptize her mother into the Mormon church. We explained what we did and allayed her fears and had a little laugh about it. I felt inspired to promise her full recovery of health. She had a detached retina due to infection subsequent to surgery for cataracts that was accidentally introduced at the time of surgery. The situation often results in the loss of vision in that eye.
Tomorrow Charlie and Heidi Jo are leaving. She is going to Kansas City for a week to visit my oldest daughter and her family. Charlie is going back to BYU. Sam and I are returning to seminary I love that calling..
I was given a little book by my kids by Louis Plummer called "Thoughts of a Grasshopper." It is really a fun to read book. She is so easy to empathize with because she shares most of our fears and shortcomings. She writes a short chapter on strengthening the family. It is so funny and poignant that I find myself feeling justified for my shortcomings because I share them with her. Like as long s this weakness is common I don't have to overcome it. That is a dangerous mind step to take. I think that so often I hear people in the church taking "pot shots" at the "Molly Mormon" image. I wonder what they are doing when they do that. Are they saying that perfection is too much to strive for? Like you'll probably get ulcers from trying to keep all the commandments so don't try? Like the risk of stress disease is more important than the benefits of perfection...which is a lie in and of itself because it is the lack of faith and the awareness of guilt that give you stress. Because the faithful go through situations that look terrible stressful to the nonbeliever without realizing the stress but feeling confident and peaceful about life.
The gospel is perfect and works. Give it total Committment.
Love,
Robert, Janet, Sam
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