Thursday, December 22, 2016 – Solstice & Hump Day, Prayer Meeting Cherokee Wisdom, Conservation Room Work

It bears mentioning that yesterday was significant for two reasons; first the Winter Solstice occurred at 4:44AM Illinois time and therefore the first day of winter. Well, I could have sworn winter started three weeks ago in Illinois! That’s when the snow and the cold started. Second, Dec. 21, 2016 was our “Hump Day.”

It is hard to believe but our mission is officially half over. We were called to serve for a year and a half and we’ve reached the halfway point. It really does seem like yesterday we were leaving home for the Mission Training Center. Time is flying by so fast because we’ve been so busy and have been working hard. We love it; we love our assignment, the work, the service, and the people we serve with. Most of all we love the Lord and his Gospel and this opportunity to share it with others. We are looking forward to the next half of our mission.

In this morning’s FM prayer meeting Elder Gibson gave the spiritual message. He told the story of an Old Cherokee Chief. It was very good and bears repeating. The story goes like this:

An old Cherokee Chief is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.

“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is full of anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”

He continued, “The other is good – he is full of joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Good message Elder Gibson, thank you.

Again today we worked in the Conservation Artifacts Room with Elder Walker. We are enjoying every minute and we’re learning a lot of interesting facts and gaining a lot of knowledge about old Nauvoo one bag of artifact at a time.

 

It looks like we will get to finish our week of work in the Conservation Artifacts Room tomorrow. And we will get to come back and work here on Monday as well. We are looking forward to it.