Elder Tyson Dawson: Week 70 in the Field - Bingo, Brian and Edelmira, Will We Finish the Temple Brother Brigham?

Weekly Letter February 22nd 2016

Hey guys, I hope you've all had a great week.

This week was pretty enjoyable; on Tuesday we played bingo with old people, on Wednesday we had a scavenger hunt activity in the branch, and on Saturday we had a good meeting with the branch President. We are planning on having a second sacrament meeting every Sunday in a mountain village called El Oreganal so that the 42 members (all but one being currently inactive) that live there can attend church (the village being far from a chapel and the people in the area generally poor). The idea is pretty exciting and will require some work but hopefully we can begin the foundations for a new branch of the church.

This week we put two new baptism dates with Brian and Edelmira, a couple that has been investigating the church for some time now. Their current problem is that they are not married nor do they have their birth certificates and other documents needed to get married (this is super common in Guatemala). Supposedly in March they have a meeting with the mayor to sort out their situation and on March 26th they have a goal to be baptized.

This week I've been pondering a lot upon a story told by Jeffrey R. Holland in an address titled "Will we Finish the Temple Brother Brigham?". In the address, Elder Holland relates the history of temple building at the start of this dispensation. At enormous sacrifice the saints built a temple in Kirtland only to be forced to leave it in the handle of apostates. Eventually the saints make it to Nauvoo, feel like they're finally safe, and build another, bigger temple. In the process their beloved prophet is murdered and again they are forced to leave. At great costs they finally make it to Salt Lake and it is there that Brigham Young holds a meeting and announces that they're going to build a temple. Basically everyone says, "Look, this temple-building stuff doesn't work, we've tried it a couple of times, we gave everything we had, and look where we are now." What they essentially said, spoken or unspoken was "Brigham, maybe you're going to build a temple, but I'm not going to build a temple." In that setting, on the 6th of April 1853, Brigham Young said "Some will inquire: 'do you suppose we'll finish the temple Brother Brigham?' Well I've had such questions put to me already. My answer is: I don't know; and furthermore, I don't care. I have never cared but one thing - and that is simply to know that I am now, this day right before my Father in Heaven. If I am this moment, this day, doing the things God requires of my hands, and precisely where my Father in Heaven wants me to be, I care no more about tomorrow than thought it would never come. I do not know where I shall be tomorrow, and I do not know whether this temple shall be completed. but this I do know: there should be a temple built and I know it is the duty of the people to commence to built it."

This story reminded me of another story told by Stephen E. Robinson who wrote, "I had a friend who used to say frequently, 'well, I figure my life is half over and I'm halfway to the Celestial Kingdom, so I'm right on schedule.' One day I asked her, what happens if you die tomorrow?' It was the first time the thought had occurred to her. "Let's see, halfway to the Celestial Kingdom is...mid terrestrial: That's not good enough!' We need to know that because of the covenant we have made with the Savior, if we should die tomorrow we still have hope of the Celestial Kingdom."

Surely the early saints knew this as they sang "And should we die before our journey's through, Happy day! All is well!"

What God expects of us is that right here, right now, we are doing what he wants us to do. We may not know what tomorrow brings but if tomorrow's coming is also the Second Coming, wouldn't you like to be caught in the act of serving someone, consoling a friend, caring for a child, or teaching an investigator?

Will we finish the temple Brother Brigham? Will I finish my mission? Will I get an education? Will I get married? Well I don't know and I don't care, but I can give it my best shot right here, right now. I can lay the foundation and leave the rest up to God. I hope that this might be our individual and collective resolution.

- Elder Dawson