Here's a photo of the Preston Temple taken while Ian was in the MTC.
Friday, August 29, 2014
On Monday, Neil got up at 4 am hoping to be online when Ian was writing. No emails came that morning, or the rest of the day. We woke up Tuesday to new emails and the explanation that Monday was a bank holiday and the library where they usually email was closed. We got responses and updates and some photos newly uploaded thanks to the new card reader from Amazon.co.uk. We determined that Amazon is a great way to send gifts—often with free delivery in the UK. So we sent some additional memory sticks to collect his pictures.
Here's a photo of the Preston Temple taken while Ian was in the MTC.
Here's a photo of the Preston Temple taken while Ian was in the MTC.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
From Ian's letter dated 18 August 2014—
"... when people express a desire to learn about the church, nine times in ten they're not talking about doctrine. Now, our doctrine is unique ... but they want to know why our church is so different. They want to hear about home teaching, welfare, youth programmes, the structure of the church, the goings-on at Sunday meetings and so forth. Thus the insight is this: what an investigator is ready to learn is not always what we're prepared to teach. The catch is, of course, that all these things are rooted in the doctrine, and a skilful teacher can teach all the lessons through the social aspect of the church.
Next, we ask our investigators to do things--to read the Book of Mormon, to pray, to come to church--but we don't teach them how to do these things.
Take Moroni's exhortation in chapter 10:
'3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.'
Pretty straightforward, right? But most people with a Christian background have never offered a prayer that was not memorised--they simply don't have the experience. My thought is that when they do read and pray but don't receive the answer, it's simply because they don't follow the recipe. To study the scriptures, one needs to pray beforehand to understand what they will read. Once they've read, they need to pray again for the understanding that God wants them to have. Then they need to read it again. Simple in practise, but they need to be taught this.
Next, they need to follow Moroni's instructions to the letter. The above paragraph covers reading and pondering, but now they need to remember the Lord's blessings. He's already blessed them with so much, and as they realise this, they understand that this one more blessing, the blessing of knowledge, will be granted.
Now they need to pray with real intent. The words 'are these things true?' should be included, but they must also tell God what they intend to do: 'If you tell me these things are true, I'm going to change my life.' Merely having the intent to act is not enough; one must inform God of one's desire. If they do this, they will be answered. God has promised such.
In the Doctrine and Covenants section 130, we learn that all blessings are predicated upon obedience, and thus answers to our prayers are the result of our obeying a law. The law in question is simply that we must ask. The D&C is the result of this: the more Joseph Smith learned, the more questions he had, and every single question he asked was answered. Simple."
"... when people express a desire to learn about the church, nine times in ten they're not talking about doctrine. Now, our doctrine is unique ... but they want to know why our church is so different. They want to hear about home teaching, welfare, youth programmes, the structure of the church, the goings-on at Sunday meetings and so forth. Thus the insight is this: what an investigator is ready to learn is not always what we're prepared to teach. The catch is, of course, that all these things are rooted in the doctrine, and a skilful teacher can teach all the lessons through the social aspect of the church.
Next, we ask our investigators to do things--to read the Book of Mormon, to pray, to come to church--but we don't teach them how to do these things.
Take Moroni's exhortation in chapter 10:
'3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.'
Pretty straightforward, right? But most people with a Christian background have never offered a prayer that was not memorised--they simply don't have the experience. My thought is that when they do read and pray but don't receive the answer, it's simply because they don't follow the recipe. To study the scriptures, one needs to pray beforehand to understand what they will read. Once they've read, they need to pray again for the understanding that God wants them to have. Then they need to read it again. Simple in practise, but they need to be taught this.
Next, they need to follow Moroni's instructions to the letter. The above paragraph covers reading and pondering, but now they need to remember the Lord's blessings. He's already blessed them with so much, and as they realise this, they understand that this one more blessing, the blessing of knowledge, will be granted.
Now they need to pray with real intent. The words 'are these things true?' should be included, but they must also tell God what they intend to do: 'If you tell me these things are true, I'm going to change my life.' Merely having the intent to act is not enough; one must inform God of one's desire. If they do this, they will be answered. God has promised such.
In the Doctrine and Covenants section 130, we learn that all blessings are predicated upon obedience, and thus answers to our prayers are the result of our obeying a law. The law in question is simply that we must ask. The D&C is the result of this: the more Joseph Smith learned, the more questions he had, and every single question he asked was answered. Simple."
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Ian left the MTC on 30 July. We received a letter and some photos from the mission home the following day.
Here is Elder Clifford with President and Sister Pilkington and his new companion/trainer Elder Innes. They are assigned to the Pontefract 1.1 district. Pontefract is in West Yorkshire and has a deep and long history. While the name Pontefract doesn't appear in the Domesday Book, it is mentioned a few years later. The castle (now in ruins) at Pontefract was the site of the death of King Richard II after he was deposed by Bollingbrook in 1399. The castle was attacked several times during the interregnum by Cromwell's cronies. Pontefract was a site of royalist supporters. The castle was pulled down in 1649. The ruins are still visible.
(click on the map to explore Pontefract)
View My Saved Places in a larger map
View My Saved Places in a larger map
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Hinckley Zone July 17 2014
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