Sunday, November 5, 2017

The Parable of the Sower

Mark 4:1-9

1 And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. 

2 And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine,

3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:

4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.

5 And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth;

6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 

7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. 

8 An other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.

9 And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage

I am inspired by the teachings in relation to this parable from the book, Jesus the Christ.

"Seed falling in shallow soil, underlain by a floor of unbroken stone or hard-pan, may strike root and flourish for a brief season; but as the descending rootlets reach the impenetrable stratum they shrivel, and the plant withers and dies , for the nutritive juices are insufficient where there is no depth of earth. 

So with the man whose earnestness is superficial, whose energy ceases when obstacles are encountered or opposition met; though he manifest enthusiasm for a time persecution deters him; he is offended, and endure not."

(Talmage, James E. Jesus the Christ: A Study of the Messiah and His Mission according to Holy Scriptures both Ancient and Modern. Deseret Book Company, 1974.)

I find as now we are in our 15th month here, I have to guard against allowing day-to-day obstacles thwart my enthusiasm. As we listen to the young elders and sisters, I am constantly motivated by their enduring commitment. I'm so thankful for each one and want to be more like them and have the zeal they have.

So, one of the frustrations - certainly not of eternal consequence - is the horrible condition of most of the roads throughout the island; we are thankful for the two nicely maintained tollways. We thought we'd share what we deal with on just the road we travel from our apartment. 

  

The photo above shows the size of many of the pot holes when we first arrived.

Below are what we're dealing with now. Yes, in Jamaica, we drive on the left side of the road, but not on this road. You drive on whichever side will avoid the most discomfort 

- which can be tricky during rush hour. 

Above - Looking toward our apartment complex gate. 

  

 

We have even named some of the biggest holes. 

The huge pothole on the bottom right started out as several small holes, but they finally became one in purpose - being as troublesome as possible!

Out and about it is often a game of dodging the holes 

WHILE dodging the other vehicles dodging the holes!

Fortunately, we can ignore some of the irritation of the potholes 
because of the beauty of other sights in our neighborhood. 

  

 Small bananas growing in a yard right around the corner.

We have four substantial projects very close to being ready for submission, so much of our work last week and this week is finalizing paperwork from the Project Leaders and entering everything into the computer program. We are excited and hope to have all four approved by the end of the year. These projects will ultimately serve 1000s of people in various ways. They involve providing equipment for pre-natal care for expectant mothers; laundry and kitchen equipment, and beds at a very-needy parish infirmary; beds at a small hospital; and vision examination equipment at a free vision center. 

Our other welfare services responsibilities allow for choice interaction with members and non-members alike as we continue the processes involved with creating and implementing Member Welfare Projects (food production) and conducting wheelchair follow-up interviews. We are especially grateful for the recent support from the four new Self Reliance senior missionaries to assist members in the training and planning aspects of creating businesses for raising chickens, bees, gardens, etc. 

This week we had the monthly SR missionaries FHE get-together in Mandeville. Elder and Sister Chandler had arranged for us to visit a very interesting museum which is still in the developing stage. When finished, it will be the culmination of many years of hopes and dreams of a newly baptized member of the Mandeville Branch. This brother has four doctorate degrees in various science fields. His main passion is geology. He purchased a 3 bedroom house located across the street from his home and is in the process of creating a 100 room museum by building up and out. We saw all 100 rooms. He has named the rooms after his ancestors to pay tribute to their legacy. He hopes to have the museum completed by 2020, a very ambitious goal. We were amazed by the enormity of this project as we walked up and down narrow stairways to see each room most containing 100s of items. 

    

 This is just a few of the conch shells he has collected over the years. 

We estimate he has over a 1000.

  

  

   

Brother Miller wanted to make sure we all went up on the roof of the building to enjoy the amazing view of the mountains and valleys around Mandeville. 

  

We definitely could feel his love, enthusiasm, and passion for this enormous undertaking to share his love of geology and nature with Jamaicans and all the world. A conference of visiting geologists from all over the world is already planned for 2020. We wish him well in meeting his deadline. With his indefatigable determination and hard work, we trust he will be successful. 

We attended two Zone Conferences this past week and were richly blessed by the teachings from President Pearson and the elders who serve as the Assistants to the Presidents.

Along with his other inspirational lessons, we appreciated President Pearson sharing the following from the recent mission presidents' training by the Area Presidency in the Dr:

• We can connect with Heavenly Father through faithful prayer.
• We can connect with Jesus Christ through faithful study of The Book of Mormon.. 
• We can connect with the Holy Ghost through faithful membership in the Church. 

Until next week...all our love