2023 October 22, Journal Entry

 

I served in the Bishops Storehouse again yesterday. Saturdays are very busy there for the simple reasons that we are only open from 0900 to 12 00 and it's Saturday. For many it's just the only day they can come there. 

I go there knowing it's going to be crowded and hectic but we are, after all, providing food and other necessary goods to people who truly are in need. There is very little that's more important than that. I met a family that has been in America for only two months. They came from Peru and spoke almost no English but we made it work and they were so appreciative. 

Some of our young Missionaries have special needs that makes serving a full-time "normal" mission impossible but they want to serve and I really try to show them how much I appreciate their efforts and help. They stock the shelves by bringing goods from the warehouse area into the public area and they are very much needed.

Cathy is still recovering from her eye surgery and needed to not be in the hectic and busy atmosphere of the Storehouse but she really misses being there. She is planning on serving next Tuesday on our regular shift.

I went home and she made me a very nice lunch so I took her for a walk in the canyon and a drive in the country. We enjoy that. One of the blessings of owning A Toyota Prius is that we get about 58 miles per gallon of gas and that makes going for rides affordable even in these days of high gas prices.

I snapped this photo on today's walk in the canyon. It's still beautiful up there and that's the Provo River.

Come Follow Me 

2 Thessalonians 3:5 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.

Patience: Great topic

"[W]ithout patience, we cannot please God; we cannot become perfect. Indeed, patience is a purifying process that refines understanding, deepens happiness, focuses action, and offers hope for peace….

[P]atience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!"

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, "Continue in Patience", April 2010

Patience is something we, in these latter days, need to learn to develop more. We are so used to getting what we want quickly, no matter what it is, that we often lose patience at times when it is not helpful. That's why I love the above quote from Elder Uchtdorf.

ScripturePlus Scripture of the Day: Thessalonians 3:13 But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.

Book of Mormon reading 

3 Nephi Chapter 7, The chief judge is murdered, the government is destroyed, and the people divide into tribes—Jacob, an anti-Christ, becomes king of a secret combination—Nephi preaches repentance and faith in Christ—Angels minister to him daily, and he raises his brother from the dead—Many repent and are baptized. About A.D. 30–33.

Chapter 8, Tempests, earthquakes, fires, whirlwinds, and physical upheavals attest the crucifixion of Christ—Many people are destroyed—Darkness covers the land for three days—Those who remain bemoan their fate. About A.D. 33–34.