 |
|
| Home |  |
| Alumni | |
| Friends/Members | |
| Currently Serving | |
| Presidents | |
| Reunions | |
| News | |
| Messages | |
| Links | |
| Pictures | |
| Stories | |
| Mission Info | |
| Comments | |
| |
| Invite a friend | |
| Login | |
 |
|
 |
|
Messages
Displaying 31 - 40 of 110 -- Add Message
| My Tribute to President Stevens | 30 Sep 2005 |
|
Il fut un temp (Those were the days!) or What I continue to learn from President Owen James Stevens The following was written as a journal entry on July 8, 2005. As I would not be attending the upcoming mission reunion, I held on that day my own imaginary reunion with President Stevens who once told me, “Just close your eyes; if you can picture it, you’ll save yourself the trouble of doing it.” I had just finished a long walk during which surfaced the following recollections of a man whose influence on me during the past 29 years rivals that of my own father. Speaking recently with Mike Dowdle on the subject, I realize this can probably be said of hundreds of us. The entry was written as a series of principles, in the order I happened to think of them. On the ladder of abstraction, there is no consistency among them. If some are more crisply stated, it is because I have regular occasion to apply them. For the most part, I wrote as though Jim were speaking, although I have paraphrased some ideas and references, notably the D&C and Shakespeare. I also realize that after nearly 30 years, and writing without notes, I may have got some (maybe even most) of it wrong. Scott Knell Washington, DC September 30, 2005 Principles and ideas taught by President Owen James Stevens, Switzerland Geneva Mission, July 5, 1976 to May 25 1978: On the purpose of the Spirit: The Holy Ghost is not a drug and is not sent solely to comfort, although that is one of his roles. The Spirit comes with a message. Don’t just bask in the side effect. Figure out the instruction and follow it. On teaching by the Spirit: The Spirit comes in real-time and must be harnessed in the moment. Tell your investigators what they are feeling in the instant they feel it. Prep them that when you leave, you'll take the Spirit with you and challenge them to notice the difference until you return. If the Spirit flows out of you when you teach, they will feel it and you will feel lessened, lighter. If it balls up in you and cannot get out, they have rejected it. Time to pack it in. On good teaching: I had a Sunday School teacher when I was about 10 who lit my first gospel fire. There were just a few of us in the class. We brought our scriptures every week and poured over them. He brought them alive but more importantly taught us what the Spirt tasted like. We knew he was in it only for us and somehow sensed that we were being given a great gift. It was like we were a club. We couldn't wait to go back. That is where I gained my love of the gospel and the Savior. On fasting: If you get hungry, just tell your body to mind its own business. The only reason we have a body is to carry our heads around. On Peter’s conversion—or early lack of it: After Jesus died, what did Peter do? He said, “I go a fishing,” meaning “I’m going back to my day job.” On being asked if the ‘Nimes Team’ could accept an invitation to play basketball with a youth team as a condition of our teaching them: The Lord made Peter a fisher of men. Maybe he'll make you shooters of men. On unity: When I felt strongly about taking the story of Achan and ‘the accursed thing’ to the entire mission, I thought it was because everyone in the mission needed an equal brushing-up, that each of us could become that much more diligent. I didn’t realize then the power of a single individual, like Achan, to bring down the entire camp. On boldness—putting the fundamental question to the Geneva Branch, referring to the Prophet Joseph in an effort to get their attention on missionary work: Brethren do we believe he was a prophet or don’t we? On how to keep from losing control of a car turning a sharp corner at high speed: Jiggle the steering wheel hard and fast to constantly restore equilibrium throughout the turn. On joy: Every time you see the word 'repentance' in the scriptures, look around and you’ll find, nearby, the word 'joy'. On commitment: Listen to people bear their testimonies. See which ones commit to change. A testimony is not complete without a commitment. On keeping a marriage alive even though one partner has lost his testimony: Women should always keep their figures so that men will remain attracted to them after they (the men) no longer feel the Spirit. On the progressive degeneration of the Spirit: I have a relative who once had a strong testimony. When I’m with him, given enough time, I can eventually return him to the point where he remembers it. It comes back to him, you see. The problem is, the longer I go without seeing him, the longer it takes me to bring him back. On the indirectness of the Holy Ghost: The Holy Ghost will not always tell you something new at the moment you need it. Recalling something you previously learned under the influence of the Spirit, even if learned years previously, and even if you think it is your own mind recalling it, is still inspiration. On the subtle power of reflective listening—upon hearing from a doctor that I needed surgery on my leg, surgery that, based largely on the operative verb in the following response over the phone, I declined: So, he thinks you need surgery. On the role of agency in civil disobedience—during an all-day drive from Chambesy to Nice to rendezvous with an ill sister who needed to be put on a plane and flown back to Geneva; we’d already been delayed by a boil-over and a car change; I’m driving: So, Elder, it’s 3:30, the plane leaves at 5; we’re 240km out and you’re going about 100km per hour… On the infinite atonement: My sister has lived her entire life with the consequences of that incident. They affected her self esteem, her opportunity to date, to marry, to have children. How can my being merely sorry begin to fix that? On never teaching enough about the atonement: The greatest kept secret in the Church is the gospel of Jesus Christ. On doing all things in the name of Christ: If you memorized every discussion and spoke flawless French, but did so of your own power, you have wasted your time. On leadership training—after calling elders into the office during their first six months out: Why would I take my most senior missionaries and lock them in the office? I’d rather bring them in here when they’re young and teachable. That way they still have their entire missions ahead of them. On the best place to serve: If you want my advice, you’ll head for a two-man town as far from me as you can get. On mediocrity: Imagine what a blessing it must be to know what most of the world feels like all of the time. On Joseph Smith’s teaching that the most important thing you can know is what God thinks of you—as told by a relation visiting Chambesy: If you ever see your mission president with bagged or bloodshot eyes, consider that it is most likely because he has been on his knees all night wrestling with the Lord until he has been accepted of Him. President Mueller, on our having to smuggle President Stevens across a few borders: It’s like he always tells us, sometimes we have to be sly as serpents yet gentle as doves. On discipline—not 10 seconds after the alarm went off on a presidential visit, still inside his sleeping bag on a concrete apartment floor, snapping to, for push-ups: Car voici, une oevre merveilleus est sur le point de se produire parmi les enfants des homes. On sanctification—from D&C 105: But first let my army become very great, and let it be sanctified, fair as the sun, and clear as the moon, and terrible as a nation with banners. On what to do after my mission: Head east, young man. A thousand miles from Utah, your children will be forced to choose by the time they’re 10 whether they will be members of the God squad, or the bod squad. On not being commanded in all things—from Philemon 23: For I know that you will do more than I say. On regret—to two elders in a certain town in Provence, destined to finish their missions in obscurity: One day, 20 years from now, you’re going to look back on this moment and say to yourselves, ‘Man, did I blow it!’ You don’t want that day ever to arrive. On the missionary discussions—ahead of his time, it would now seem: Memorize the discussions and then forget them. On the difference between French children and American children: American kids are raised on guilt, French kids on shame. An American kid will fall out of a tree and his dad will pretty much ignore him. Or give him an “up you go.” A French kid falls down and his mother is immediately telling him,”‘tu es mechant!” If you know this about them, you'll be more effective teachers. On mercy: Many members of the Church don’t pay a full tithing. Why should you insist that investigaotors keep commandments many members struggle to keep? On perfection: Tell them they are being baptized in order to become perfect and not the other way round. On being there: He that outlives this day, and comes safe home, will stand tiptoe when this day is named…and say, we few, we happy few, we band of brothers, upon Saint Crispin’s day. Blessings! |
|
| Scott Knell | Send Email |
| Grangeon/Veyrier | 28 Sep 2005 |
|
OK, another "does anyone know..." message. But, does anyone know what happened to Soeur Grangeon from Avignon and her two kids--Marcel et Michelle Veyrier? I knew them back in 1981. Thanks, |
|
| Graeme Jones Martin | Send Email |
| Mandarin-speaking Elder called to Swiss-Geneva | 28 Sep 2005 |
|
It would be very helpful to have Mandarin-speaking missionaries available in the mission. Most of the new converts, at least in the Grenoble area, are Chinese immigrants. A friend of mine has been working in the Grenoble area the past 3 years. He had served a mission to Taiwan as a young man and has been a great help to Chinese converts and investigators in the branch (Belledonne, there is a ward and a branch now in the Grenoble area). He returns home soon (or already has) and will leave a great void. |
|
| John Perry Sandorf | Send Email |
| Elder & Sister Elden and Picola Wood | 21 Sep 2005 |
| I am trying to locate Elder and Sister Elden and Picola Wood. Beatrice Venet will come for conference and wants to see them. If you know their address, phone or e-mail, can you please send it to me??? Thanks, Soeur Bengtzen | |
| Raynee Bengtzen | Send Email |
| Nathan Yeung | 16 Sep 2005 |
| There is a new missionary--mandarin speaking. When did they start mandarin in the mission? Boy have I been out of touch! | |
| Graeme Jones Martin | Send Email |
| Bruno Vigers | 28 Aug 2005 |
|
Does anyone have contact information for Bruno Vigers? He was baptized into the Neuchatel branch in July 1983. Elder Mark Loucks and I taught him with Frere Murer (who I believe is still quite active in the ward there). (my e-mail is jamesdmeyer@gmail.com) Thanks |
|
| James Meyer | Send Email |
| La Famille Jorgensen, circa 1983 | 26 Aug 2005 |
| Could anyone update me on the whereabouts of Soeur Andy Jorgensen? She was a member of the Geneva Ward when I went home in March, 1983. Her husband was not a member, and she had two teenage daughters, Janet, and Nina. Soeur Jorgensen was a great member missionary resource, and had a great desire to share the gospel, despite her husbands disapproval. She and her daughters were trilingual; English, French, and Dutch. | |
| Lane B. Glasgow | Send Email |
| Looking for Isabelle Tarazona Hall and Valerie | 21 Aug 2005 |
|
My husband and I are currently serving in Lyon, France, and are looking for the missionaries who taught Carole Dumontet. If you know where Isabelle Marie Tarazona Hall or Valerie Simonin Eckles are can you contact me at raynee@rockymountainprinting.com She is doing fine and just wants some contact with these special sisters. Also Carole would like to know the whereabouts of Martin McRae---if anyone knows, please e-mail. For all of you who worked with Etalvena Bembo---she was baptized yesterday, August 20, 2005!!! Yea!!! |
|
| Raynee Bengtzen | Send Email |
| Elder David Walzer | 11 Aug 2005 |
|
Here is another response I received from an old missionary, David Walzer of La Chaux-de-Fonds.... Salut Willy, Merci pour ton petit mot. Je ne pourrai pas être des vôtres pour la réunion, sauf si vous venez à Genève pour la faire. Mais je penserai bien à vous et vous êtes toujours dans mes souvenirs et dans mon cœur. Passe le bonjour a tous et si tu connais l’adresse de Michael Anderson, Steve Sorensen ou Andy Veigel fais les moi parvenir. Je serais aussi très content d’avoir contact avec les Bennion et Stevens ces dernier ayant été à Genève il n’y a pas longtemps. Le 28 août le pieu de Genève va être séparé avec la création du pieu de Lausanne. Je te met mon adresse et aussi ma nouvelle adresse email l’autre vas stopper bientôt. David Walzer Rue du progrès 125 2300 La Chaux-de-Fonds Suisse d.walzer@swissonline.ch |
|
| Willy Star Marshall | Send Email |
| Pres. Sager & Hutchings | 09 Aug 2005 |
|
Greetings Elders and Sisters. Would anyone have current contact information for Presidents Sager and Hutchings? We would like to invite them to our twenty-five year reunion to be held on September 30th. The focus of the reunion will be on Presidents Stevens and Bennion, but since some of the missionaries who served under them, also served a portion of their missions under Sager or Hutchings it would be nice if those Presidents could possibly attend. Please let me know. |
|
| David E. Gossner | Send Email |
| << Prev | Next >> |
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 | |
