Precious Elder,

I learned something interesting in SS.  Christ is the bread of life and the light, but the living water is the HG as explained in John 7:38-39.  In v. 38, He promises that those who believe will have living water flowing from them.  Then, in v. 39, John makes a parenthetical clarification that the living water is the Holy Ghost.  Not to be confused with statements made by Jesus like “I am the Bread of Life,” and “ I am the light of the world.”

It broadens the meaning of the Sacrament.  We ingest the bread, representing Christ's mortal being, and drink the water which represents the blood that came out of Him.  Since the atoning power of a sacrifice is in the blood (BD), the water represents Salvation which came out of Christ and is wrought by the Holy Spirit because He can dwell in us.  It’s the Holy Ghost that “washes” or cleanses us of our sin by virtue of Christ’s blood sacrifice.  So the constant companionship of the HG means constant living water washing our souls! 

That connects to another insight I had about teaching with the Spirit.  I think that means we are to be baptized, obedient, covenant members of the Church before we teach.  That’s the only way we can have the constant cleansing influence of the HG (both for us & for those listening).  Like John pointed out in v. 38, Christ promises that those who believe will have living water (the Holy Spirit) flowing from them, which occurred from my SS teacher to me & which happens every time you teach an honest investigator.

We pray and fast for you!

Dear Elder Snell,

I have been really upset about a friend who is apostatizing.  He is seeing if he can be just as good and just as happy outside the Church.  It’s a misleading experiment.  You can feel good, be good, & do good living Terrestrial Law, but only Celestial Law ensures ultimate saving power and protection, especially through the Second Coming.  And again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same (D&C 88:34) .  A better experiment would be to compare how much we are being preserved, perfected and sanctified.

The problem is, the minute we leave the Church, we start losing light, which is essential in “seeing” the effects of our choice.  Furthermore, many of us have one foot in Babylon when we’re in the Church so we don’t have enough contrasting experience with living Celestial Law.  Plus, the process of change is slow and subtle and we have to wait for the fruit.  I’ve noticed we can speed up our awareness of what living our covenants does for us by repenting daily.  We quickly discover how impotent we are, how dependent we are on God’s mercy, and how miraculous the Atonement is when we are actively trying to align ourselves to Celestial Law.  Not only do we begin to notice God’s hand in all things but we can compare how we are now with how we were ten years ago and see a difference.

Sometimes I get frustrated trying to teach YSAs.  I worry about leading them astray with some of the random things that come out of my mouth.  As I asked HF about it, I had some insight.  Teaching by the Spirit doesn’t mean never diminishing His influence through carelessness.  It means being a worthy covenant member of the Church and having faith in God’s mercy, which is sufficient for both those saying something unedifying or misleading and those receiving something unedifying or misleading. 

Andy got out of his sick bed to help me get a video clip on my desktop in preparation for temple prep class.  Blessed boy!

I had an unusual experience at Empty Nesters FHE.  Our home teacher asked your grandpa to share his experiences as a military officer.  I’ve heard bits and pieces through the years but I don’t believe he’s ever told his story.  He emphasized how the Lord had a plan for us and as I listened to it in its entirety, I was not only edified and enlightened (some things I had never heard before), but I had a powerful paradigm shift.  I left with profound respect for the man I married and felt repentant of the disrespectful way in which I tend to treat him.  I wrote my home teacher a thank you note.

One of our YSAs chose to go to the temple after taking our class!  Her parents are in our ward and they were grateful too.

I had such joy over the reaction of a special needs child.  I walked in on their family birthday party to give him a stretchy ball that lit up when you touched it.  He used sign language to throw kisses and say thank you.  I think he liked the shiny blue gift bag too. 

Grateful for happiness boosters such as going to Paradise Café and having tomato aspic soup with Bettylou Burdett.  She’s 91yo & I used to take her & my Mom out together.  Since Mom left, I invited two other widows to join us.  I think Bettylou’s favorite part was the warm sunshine streaming through the car window!

Love your emails and pray for you often.

Dear Elder Snell,

Meeting myself coming and going.  Grateful for outpouring of Spirit in these last days-- God’s flooding of the earth with knowledge often through scientists.  Went to The Firm Foundation Expo which ran 3 days 9a-9+p.  Firehosed with knowledge. 

Dr Patrick Jones, a veterinarian, told about his introduction to herbs on his mission to Peru.  The little women told about the Great White God who came and healed their sick and taught them how to use the herbs that He had made.  How would you like an herb class from the Creator?  I paid to take his course and become a card carrying herbalist.

There are two types of evolution:  1) adaptive evolution within species which is essential for survival, and 2) forward or progressive evolution proposed by Darwin where more complex species develop out of lower forms of life, which is completely false (up to 1000 scientists have rejected Darwin’s theory, 780 of them formally & publically proclaimed their rationale). 

 

Grateful that Max was born & that he would agree to learn piano from me.   We enjoyed fruit pizza and Meet the Mormons for his family celebration.  We’re also such luckies to have your Mom.  I worked graveyards at the hospital when she was a toddler.  When I came home & went to bed, she’d curl up beside me & snuggle until I got up.

So blessed to get to know some of the students at BYU.  Saw a Peruvian RM sister today who shared some resources with me about marriage.  Another young woman is studying landscaping and agreed to share her knowledge.  I of course help them with their anxiety and depression.

Love visiting teaching!  One of my visiting teachers connected Wendy Urlich’s article “It isn’t a Sin to be Weak” (April 2015 Ensign, p30) to being without guile.  Guileless means having godly sorrow instead of shame.

Grateful for Jessica Persons who wrote a masterful letter of “concern” about the inappropriate pressure I put on her daughter to at least try medication for ADHD.  Because she was not aggressive, I could see myself clearly.  God gave me the ability to apologize to both her & her daughter.   I may have also influenced them to be more open to modern medication options.

Grateful for the space God makes for me to identify and correct mistakes.  Was suspicious of a movie that had received a lot of awards.  Found out why.  It engendered sympathy for the plight and terrible mistreatement of people with same sex attraction.  It then clearly suggested dethroning God & replacing Him with human genius.  I am more determined to ask God about every move I make so I don’t inadvertently support evil.  I think that’s how Christ remained sinless.  He, without fail, consulted with God prior to acting.

Read an article on filmmaker Frank Capra who understood the moral principles that America originally embraced which he consistently featured in his award winning movies.   In his 1971 autobiography, he wrote “practically all the Hollywood film-making of today is stooping to cheap salacious pornography in a crazy bastardization of a great art to compete for the ‘patronage’ of deviates.”  

Did I tell you Matt Hunsaker’s company downsized & he lost his job?  He was planning to quit & was quietly interviewing with other companies but this way he got a severance package!!  God is good. 

Love you so much 

Dear Elder Snell,

Hope you enjoyed conference as much as we did!  We had a wonderful Easter dinner (your mom made enchilada sauce) and even Ker & Mindy made it down!  I also invited an RM from our mission who wanted us to meet his girlfriend  Katrina (she is Russian & went on a mission to Ukraine).  They fit right in to our crowd.  Katrina is an only child but lived with a large LDS family as an exchange student so she was right at home.  Buffy was worried we wouldn’t have enough food since we had 4 extra adults but I have always counted on the loaves and the fishes miracle which has never failed yet.  We had ¼ cup sauce left over!  Pat and Jessie were also there. 

The parts of conference I liked best were:

Elder Eyring said if we live the Law of the Fast, we will increase our resistance to evil and it will change our nature.  We’ve always paid a generous fast offering, even when we were poor, and I’ve noticed God is gradually changing my mind so I have less & less disposition to do evil (which is 90% of the battle, right?)   I’m hoping I can qualify for greater blessings.  I really want to do more missionary and family history work.  The Hebrew word for “grace” means power.  I need more grace…more enabling power. 

Sis Wixom said “Nourish all light.”

Grandpa and I laughed out loud when Elder Renlund told of a missionary who was upset with his unacceptable companion and complained to the Lord about it.  The Lord said, “Compared to me, you are both pretty much the same.”  

FAVORITE talks were Elders Bednar, Christofferson, Renlund, Causse, Holland, Uchtdorf, Hales, Pearson, Anderson, Sitati, & Sister Burton.  Felt validated & encouraged several times.

  

So I hear you’re the mission barber.  The apple does not fall far from the tree!!  I always cut all my kids’ hair although I wasn’t as good as your mom.

Just remember:  “God is easy to please but hard to satisfy” (according to Elder Holland)

Love, love, love,