Sunday, December 10, 2017

Heard this is church today (12/10/2017)

A Builder or a Wrecker

As I watched them tear a building down
A gang of men in a busy town
With a ho-heave-ho, and a lusty yell
They swung a beam and the side wall fell

I asked the foreman, “Are these men skilled,
And the men you’d hire if you wanted to build?”
He gave a laugh and said, “No, indeed,
Just common labor is all I need.”

“I can easily wreck in a day or two,
What builders have taken years to do.”
And I thought to myself, as I went my way
Which of these roles have I tried to play'

Am I a builder who works with care,
Measuring life by rule and square?
Am I shaping my work to a well-made plan
Patiently doing the best I can'

Or am I a wrecker who walks to town
Content with the labor of tearing down?
“O Lord let my life and my labors be
That which will build for eternity!”

-- Charles Franklin Benvegar

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Micronesia/Guam - Reports to the Mission President September 1983

9/4/1983 - 9/10/1983
Dear President,
We had the seminary reps come this week and setup the seminary in two of the branches. In the Sapuk branch the teacher is expecting and she will be leaving the island in about a month. This will leave me to teach it until she comes back, which will be quite some time. We might start teaching an English class since there are a lot of non-members requesting to go to the one in Mwan. Since Sapuk is so far away from Mwan, many kids cannot attend. Thanks! Love, Steve

9/11/1983 - 9/17/1983
Dear President,
I'm working on the discussions a lot now and hopefully this week we might do some tracting... alone. Mote is learning the first half of the first discussion, and I've just about got all of the first part finished. Our discussions [numbers] are going down because we've finished teaching many people, and many can't [be] baptized because they like to be taught but they won't commit to anything. What do you do? We are trying. It's hard for us to get investigators in Sapuk, but we're working on the language all the time, so we'll try hard to get ready to go out on our own. Love, Elder Monson

9/25/1985 - 10/1/1983
Dear President,
Elder Mote and I are ready to give the first discussion by ourselves. Now we need to find more people to teach. We had a great seminary party this week, but the Sapuk members didn't show. We surely invited them to come but they didn't come because they expected us to give them a ride. We can't give them a ride every time they want one, or we would've gotten them. Looking forward to get the next MGM soon. Love, Elder Monson

Micronesia/Guam - Reports to the Mission President August 1983

7/31/83 - 8/6/83
Dear President,
Its hard to believe, but I caught a cold this week. How does one catch a cold in a tropic zone? I left my fan turned on me all night and that does it. I have a small cough now. It's going away slowly. I did double my study time, which is a good thing for me to keep up. I'm sure you read me letter in the MGM and I'm trying harder now. We're not having too good of success finding more investigators. I never thought reading books like "Jesus the Christ" and "A Marvellous Work and a Wonder" would increase my faith and testimony. I was sure wrong. They open so much to my eyes and understanding it's great! It actually shows how many churches are wrong and confounds every other false doctrine they have. I'm thankful for these books and their testimonies. I'm thankful for your letter in the MGM. I'm glad the church is true. Love, Elder Monson

8/7/83 - 8/13/83
Dear President,
I am late getting this report to Elder Mundinger (the "DL"), and part of the reason is that I got sick. I don't know why I got so sick so fast, but I did. That was the past 2 days, and I'm almost completely over it now. It was so bad for a while I almost thought it was cholera. I went to the hospital and they checked it out. Everyone else around seems to be getting sick too; Elder Huff, Elder Mundinger, and a few members in Sapuk. Today I'll be going out and working. Take care and thanks. Love, Elder Monson

8/14/83 - 8/20/83
Dear President,
Your coming to Truk was perfect timing. Just the day before, both Mundinger and I were sick and had to stay at home. We were just over our colds the day you came. I wish all of us were free from colds. Elder Huff has been getting sick often it sounds like. I surely do appreciate you coming over to see us. It was a real thrill to see you both and feel of your great spirit. We're working on the discussions full blast now, working on it in-between appointments, etc. I'm certainly sharpening up my typing skills. Thanks! Love, Steve

8/28/83 - 9/3/83
Dear President,
It's been fun adjusting to being a senior companion. It's good though. It teaches me to be more self starting. I'm glad for the opportunity. I think Elder Wilson has sent in the first part of the discussions, and we are still working on the rest now. One of translators, Happiness Ichin, changed his work shift to the evening so he can help us at any time of the day. It's really good. Today before Mundinger and Christensen go back to Uman, we're going to have a Trukese class with him. I guess we'll be getting the seminary guys in two days. We have the material for the classes, but they need to distribute it. Just curious, but when (and if) will we get bikes? Being with Elder Mote is a giant advantage because the people love to see him (since his skin is darker). He's going to get us into a lot of houses too. Thanks. Love, Steve

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Micronesia/Guam - Reports to the Mission President July 1983

7/3/83 - 7/9/83
Dear President,
Today we had a district conference at the only chapel here on Moen. I got to conduct the singing and Sister Huff played the organ. It's pretty fun leading the choir, and really great hearing them sing. Yesterday all the branches had a pretty big party with lots of food and dance, and my companion and I got to sing in the program. We celebrated the 6th year anniversary of the first Elder's dedication of this island for missionary work. We're all looking forward to seeing you again. God bless and take care! Love, Elder Steven R. Monson

7/10/83 - 7/16/83
Dear President,
Ran Allim, as they say in Trukese, which means "good day". There are several things you need to answer for us when you get here. The missionary couple here, the Huffs, have some questions. They might have already written you about it though.I'm doing good for now. Last week (last two weeks really) I tried to learn 5 [Trukese] words a day, and have a test on all the words that week on Sunday. I'm going to increase my goal to 7 words a day and if that goes fine, to 10, then maybe 20. We need to get the language down. Take care and we'll see you soon. Love, Elder Monson

7/17/83 - 7/23/83
Dear President,
I hate to talk about bad news, but something has been brought to my attention. The Huffs seem to have a lot of things to tell you about the problems in Truk and mainly the Sapuk branch. It's true we have our problems, but please don't take us as complainers. They are only problems that need some working on and the Lord will help us. I can see some differences in the branches here, but I think the main problem is that the members themselves aren't informed well, which is really our fault. I hope we can straighten things out. Hope I didn't sound too negative or sound like I'm putting anyone down. I hope we can "turn all of our afflictions to our gain" (2 Nephi 2:2). Thanks very much for the letters; we appreciate them, and we're looking forward to meeting you. Thanks, "tong seni" Elder Steve Monson

7/24/83 - 7/30/83
Dear President,
We've been setting higher proselyting goals and we've been doing a lot better. [We] would like to get up to 40 hours or over though. Elder Wilson is getting the language a lot faster than I am, and he's helping me a lot. Part of it is my fault though. I haven't studied hard enough, but I'm raising my goals and trying to get more Tukese bible study time in. I think part of my problem is that I see the language as an unclimbable mountain; the peak is so far up there I'll never make it. It's like someone once said about eating an elephant. The task is impossible at first, but you could really do it. You'd have to cut it up small and put it in lots of freezers and eat some every day. I'll try harder. Thanks for your letter! Looking forward to seeing your message in the next [Micronesia Guam Mission newsletter]. Love, Steve