SOME OF LIFE'S TRIALS ARE VERY DIFFICULT

 

Jonathan Wayne Allgaier - Oct 24, 1969 to Sep 18, 2012

 

We received word yesterday afternoon of the passing of a wonderful young husband and father, Jonathan Wayne Allgaier, after a courageous battle with cancer. He is the son of our dear friends, Wayne & Vicki Allgaier here in Maryland. We have known the Allgaier family for almost 40 years and cherish their gentle example of faith and service to others. Jonathan who is one of six children in his family is the same age as one of our daughters, and through past years of childhood, our kids were very interactive with him and his siblings.

Some of life's trials on earth can be very difficult. Perhaps one of the hardest things that Heavenly Father might require a father and mother to endure is the death of one of of their children. Although we do not know beforehand the span of years allotted to any human being in mortality, we have an expectation that sons and daughters will typically outlive their parents. That isn't necessarily the way things work out, however, because God views things from an eternal perspective rather than through our more limited mortal eyes.

"Many people face significant problems or even tragedy during ths mortal journey," according to Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve. "Whenever tragedy occurs, we mourn and strive to bear one another's burdens. We lament the things that will not be accomplished and the songs that will not be sung. Among the most frequently asked questions of Church leaders are, Why does a just God allow bad things to happen, especially to good people? Why are those who are righteous and in the Lord's service not immune from such tragedies?"

Essential to our happiness in this life and on into the eternities that follow our brief sojourn here on earth is our assurance that we have a Father in Heaven who knows us by name individually and loves us for who we are . . . His sons and daughters whom He has sent here to fulfill the purpose of our creation. He understands perfectly our suffering and pain.

Heavenly Father has so loved us that He sent His Only Begotten Son into this world to be our Savior and Redeemer. Through His Atonement, we receive not only salvation and eternal life, but WE HAVE THE PROMISE THAT JESUS WILL COMPENSATE FOR ALL OF THE UNFAIRNESS OF LIFE. Our much-loved friends the Allagiers have not really lost their son; they are only temporarily separated from him physically until the time of the first resurrection when the graves shall be opened and the dead shall rise again with body and spirit reunited forever.

According to Elder Cook, "The Father's plan of happiness for His children includes not only a premortal and mortal life but also an eternal life as well, including a great and glorious reunion with those we have lost. All wrongs will be righted, and we will see with perfect clarity and faultless perspective and understanding."

Jonathan has been a positive, cheerful influence in the lives of his family, friends, and associates for all of his 42 years. The strength of his character and his personal integrity throughout his life will continue to help sustain the family he has had to leave behind for a season. The world is a better place because our friend Jonathan passed by this way on his way home.

COMPARING THE GOSPEL WITH A YARD SALE

 

 

With the arrival of September as daytime temperatures become more tolerable and lessened humidity makes it easier to breathe the air, weekend yard sales are showing up in small clusters along many of Baltimore's residential streets where there are some available shade trees.

 

It is an amazing sight to behold as we travel about on a Saturday morning enroute to our various missionary appointments and other meetings. It is obvious to us that a majority of those individuals who are engaged in yard sale activities are not out there because they just cleaned out the garage and want to get rid of surplus items that they no longer need in their lives. How do we know that? Well, for starters, the same people are setting up their wares for sale at the same location week after week. And you can be pretty certain that they are operating a small time business when you see one yard sale spot beside the road with seven or eight baby strollers lined up side by side.

 

In the early years of our marriage, Sister Lindsay and I used to enjoy going to public auctions in rural Frederick County, Maryland especially when a farmer either retired or passed away; and everything in the house and in the farm buildings was being sold. It was occasionally possible in those days to purchase something of real value at a fraction of its true worth such as the solid oak table with five leaves we bought for just ten dollars 45 years ago and have used in our home ever since.

 

The items that are typically bartered and sold at yard sales, however, are not often of similar value as an oak dining room table. It was President James Madison who first said, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." Many things bought at yard sales often find their way to another such activity down the road on another day. Over the course of a lifetime all of us will purchase many things. Some things we may need for a time while other items are bought because we want them. Sooner or later, most of the "stuff" we accumulate, we no longer need, if indeed, we ever really did need it in the first place.

 

The Savior made it perfectly clear the type of "treasures" we should gather during our journey in this life, and none of them can be found at a yard sale:

 

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

 

What type of treasure should we be seeking here on earth that won't ultimately be corrupted and destroyed over time?

• A testimony that Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of Heavenly Father and the Savior of the world 
• An understanding of the simple and precious truths of the Word of God and an acceptance of the reality that keeping God's Commandments brings us peace and joy in this troubled world and salvation in the world to come

• A determination to live the truth that we know and to give our lives in service to our fellowmen recognizing that when we lose ourselves in the service of our fellowmen, we will find ourselves in the presence of God

A BRAND NEW BLESSING FROM HEAVENLY FATHER

 

Katie Isabelle Hawks (photo by Arminda Lindsay)

 

When we decided to submit our applications to serve a full time mission for the Church, Sister Lindsay and I knew that there would undoubtedly be some significant family events that we would miss with our family.  On Tuesday, for the second time since arriving in the Maryland Baltimore Mission in September 2011, we were unable to be in Greensboro for the birth of a grandchild.

 

Our youngest child Rachel and her husband Ryan became the parents of their first daughter, Katie Isabelle Hawks, on September 11th at 3:17 pm. She weighed in at 6 pounds and 15 ounces and measured 20 1/2 inches in length. Mother and baby are doing well. Katie is our 20th grandchild (we now have 11 grandsons and 9 granddaughters). Wow! We are indeed blessed to be part of such a large family.

 

Even though our missionary assignment kept us from being with Rachel and Ryan on their special day, Rachel's older sister Arminda came to the rescue and was able to be in the hospital to offer words of love and encouragement as well as to take lots of pictures. Normally that is an assignment that this grandfather cherishes, but Arminda did a wonderful job in my stead of making certain that this important event was properly recorded.

Other family members have made their way to the hospital since the birth of our newest grandchild, and the unanimous (but totally unbiased) consensus is that Katie is beautiful and perfect in every way. Sister Lindsay and I have trained our children and grandchildren through the years to be totally objective in such matters, so you can be fully assured that their assessment of the situation is accurate and completely reliable!

There are few things in mortality that bring such joy to the sons and daughters of men than the birth of a child. It is such a wonderful thing that Heavenly Father shares His creative power by allowing us to become the earthly parents of His spirit children. Even after witnessing the birth of all of our eight sons and daughters, I continue to marvel that a complete, miniature human being can be born in such a small package with the potential to become over time a full sized man or woman.

Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve tells us that when a child is born to a husband and wife, they are fulfilling part of our Heavenly Father's plan to bring children to earth. The Lord said, "This is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Before immortality, there must be mortality.
 

How can anyone look at a newborn baby and deny the existence of a God? It is my witness that Our Father in Heaven provides us with the great blessing of having children, so we might have happiness in this life and the eternities of time. Rachel and Ryan's lives have been changed forever with the birth of their beautiful little girl. May she be blessed with health and happiness throughout her life here on earth.

THE PRELUDE TO MOTHERHOOD

 

A favorite story  for multiple generations in our family

 

Only a mother can truly understand what another woman is going through as she prepares for the birth of her first child. It becomes up close and personal when that "other" woman is your own baby all grown up who is about to give birth and experiencing discomfort, anxiety, fear, and awe at one and the same time. Such was the case this morning, when Sister Lindsay received a telephone call from our youngest child, Rachel, who will be entering a hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina this evening in preparation for the arrival of a little girl who will become the latest addition to our family.

 

So there was our daughter holding the telephone close to her face making a quiet plea to the Mommy of her own childhood who was hundreds of miles away."Would you please read Blueberries For Sal to me right now?" she softly asked. Who knows how many times her mother had read her that book when she was a little girl?

 

"I can't do that, sweetheart," Mother replied. "I don't have the book here with me. Perhaps, you could get Jamie (our son Gordon's wife and mother of three of our granddaughters) to read it to you?"

 

"It wouldn't be the same. She wouldn't know how to say kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk (the sound of blueberries hitting the bottom of little Sal's small tin bucket)," Rachel sadly responded with a small voice resigned to the reality that her mother wasn't nearby when she wanted her with the book in hand that had comforted her in times past.

 

With a reassuring steady voice, Mother told her daughter that everything is going to be in good hands with the doctor at the hospital. "You will do just fine," said, "you and the baby will come through this experience without difficulty."

 

Being a resourceful woman (and an understanding mother), Sister Lindsay then went right to work and soon discovered that someone had recorded Blueberries For Sal in its entirety and placed it on the Internet. She immediately forwarded the link to Rachel as an electronic message.

 

It wasn't long before there was a brief email response from our daughter. "Thanks Mom, it helped!"

  

We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves.

                                                                         -  Henry Ward Beecher

SERVING A MISSION ON YOUR BIRTHDAY

 

Sister Lindsay had another birthday on September 8th

 

For the second year in a row, Sister Lindsay has quietly celebrated her birthday away from home and family. In September 2011 we were in the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah when her special day arrived. So of course, the other senior missionaries in our district sang "Happy Birthday" to her.

 

This time around, we were in the midst of our missionary service in the Chesapeake Ward of the Baltimore Stake for the anniversary of my wife's birth. The district leader announced Sister Lindsay's birthday at our ward missionary coordination meeting, so the assembled group sang to her; and during the course of the day, several other missionaries called to offer their best wishes as well.

 

If memory serves me well, I believe that she might be 26 plus some months this year. When I suggested that to my wife, however, she told me that she had no interest in being 26 years old again. Her point is well taken. We can never return to our yesterdays, and why should we want to if we have enjoyed life's journey as we have lived it. For certain, we only have one chance at mortal life . . . and it is here and now. Regardless of our ultimate span of years on earth, as we grow older we begin to realize that our existence here is brief in the eternal scheme of things.

 

Hopefully as we age, we should also learn some valuable lessons that help us to distinguish what is important and what is not. Much of what we might have thought was relevant at age 26 no longer seems to matter that much 40 years or more down the road. Someone has suggested that "all things being equal, they are not!" Today, regardless of whether or not it might be our birthday, it just might be the most important day of our lives depending upon what we choose to do with it. We have no sure guarantee of any future tomorrows!

 

If you knew for certain that today was your very last day on earth, what would you choose to do with this 24 hour period?  Perhaps, expressing more love and concern for other people might be a good beginning. Or forgiving another of his trespasses (real or imagined) against you could be worthwhile. Taking time to play with a child or just spending an hour with an older person who needs someone to just listen . . . these things could be significant and selfless acts of kindness.

 

The American composer Meredith Willson in The Music Man has Professor Harold Hill, one of the principal characters in the show, voice a caution that is worth repeating. Says he, “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays.”

 

"Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family. One day each of us will run out of tomorrows." (Thomas S. Monson)

GOD PREPARES PEOPLE TO RECEIVE THE GOSPEL

Sister missionaries in the Jones Falls District

 

"God will put prepared people in the way of His prepared servants who want to share the gospel," according to Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency of the Church. ". . . How often it happens depends on the preparation of your mind and your heart."

 

Church guidelines preclude sister missionary companionships from teaching an individual male investigator without having another person present in the room. As a result, Sister Lindsay and I have on occasion participated in a gospel discussion under these circumstances. Such an opportunity presented itself this week, and we were blessed to again see how Heavenly Father prepares people to receive the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

The man who came to the Church a few days ago to talk about our Christian beliefs had been raised in the Greek Orthodox religion; but by his own admission, he had walked away from those teachings as a teenager and denounced Christianity altogether. For more than 15 years, he explored and researched many different theologies, cults, and religions . . . always searching but never finding peace within himself. He was cynical about the world and critical about the motives of other people and their beliefs.

 

But then, quite suddenly and unexpectedly, he told us, "Something touched my heart. It's hard to explain," he continued, "but I was redirected by some unknown influence back to wanting to be a Christian. Instead of speaking out against God, I found myself defending the Christian faith and feeling compassion towards other people!"

 

It was then that I spoke to him about the Biblical account found in the Book of John about the last time Jesus was with His disciples following His resurrection but prior to His ascension to God the Father:

 

These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:25-27)

 

This unknown influence which the man had experienced, I declared, was the Holy Ghost, which the Lord had promised would be sent by the Father. He agreed with everything that was shared with him in our meeting. This good man has obviously been prepared by Heavenly Father to receive the fullness of the gospel; and since that first meeting, the sister missionaries working with Church members have continued to teach him the plain and simple truth of God's Word.

 

So how do we as full time missionaries become prepared to share our testimony of the restored truth? We must have faith that God will provide us with the words to speak and then act without fear to share what has become precious to us and other members of the Church. As we endeavor to keep the commandments and honor our covenants, we will feel the influence of the Spirit as well as the Savior's love for us and those of God's children we meet day to day who have been prepared to hear our testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel.

RETURN WITH HONOR

Motto of The Maryland Baltimore Mission

 

Sister Lindsay and I have grown fond of the young men and women who serve with us as full time missionaries in The Maryland Baltimore Mission and respect them for their love of the gospel and devotion to the cause of bringing souls to Christ. From the time these young adults get up in the morning at 6:30 until they go to bed at 10:30 at night, their waking hours are filled with prayer, scripture study, searching for people to share the message of the restored gospel, teaching appointments, service to others, and follow-up contacts with investigators. Regardless of the weather or how tired they might be, the elders and sisters are out and about fulfilling their stewardship as authorized representatives of Jesus Christ. Their collective attitude is best expressed in the words of Alma found in the scriptures:

 

O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people! Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth. But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me. (Alma 29:1-3)

 

The longer we serve as senior missionaries, the more we are able to see these young people mature and grow into dedicated servants of the Lord through their committed service and sacrifice. Every six weeks there is a day of transfer in the mission, which not only involves moving missionaries from one proselyting area to another; but it is also the time when new elders and sisters arrive in the mission field while others who have completed their errand for the Lord go home. The motto of The Maryland Baltimore Mission for each missionary is to return home with honor, which is only possible through faithful service and obedience to living Church standards.

 

Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve tells us "when faith is properly understood and used, it has dramatically far-reaching effects. Such faith can transform an individual’s life from maudlin, common everyday activities to a symphony of joy and happiness. The exercise of faith is vital to Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness. But true faith, faith unto salvation, is centered on the Lord Jesus Christ, faith in His doctrines and teachings, faith in the prophetic guidance of the Lord’s anointed, faith in the capacity to discover hidden characteristics and traits that can transform life. Truly, faith in the Savior is a principle of action and power."

 

Missionaries learn to trust Heavenly Father for their daily bread . . . I'm not speaking of physical food but of spiritual guidance that will lead them to the pure in heart, so they can nourish others with the Word of God. The young elders and sisters are unique children of God, and Heavenly Father knows them individually. As they are faithful in performing their work, He blesses them with messages of encouragement, correction, and direction that are fitted to their specific needs. Small wonder then that when a missionary returns home, he or she is a much different person than when he first arrived in the mission.

 

Although it is difficult for us to say goodbye to departing missionaries who have served well, we know that they can return home with honor because they have learned that faith and character are intimately related. Quoting Elder Scott again, "Your exercise of faith in true principles builds character; fortified character expands your capacity to exercise more faith." What a blessing to have served with such marvelous young people who are the future leaders of the Church and in the communities where they will live.