The Lord brings certain people into our lives.

As quoted in a previous post:
"But in Friendship... we think we have chosen our peers. In reality, a few years’ difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another, posting to different regiments, the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting – any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking, no chances. A secret Master of Ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples 'Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,' can truly say 'You have not chosen one another, but I have chosen you for one another.' The Friendship is not a reward for our discrimination and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each the beauties of all the others."
-C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

I'm being taught a lesson on how I needed to meet this family, in addition to how this family needed both the gospel and some American friends.

I was at the home of the elderly African couple who joined the church this past July. The purpose of the visit was to give them some bread-making supplies (flour, yeast, etc., bread pan, muffin pan), and to show them how to use their electric oven. They had been using the burners on the top, but were unsure of how the oven part worked.

The wife/grand-mother was a bread-maker back in Africa. She's been here a year and hasn't been able to make any bread. She's mostly disabled and walks with great difficulty and pain. So she can't get out and shop, and the other members of the household, though they know how to shop, don't really know how to pick out what would be the American equivalent of the baking supplies she used back in Africa.

In addition to that, they just didn't understand how to operate the electric oven.

It was interesting to learn how they viewed the oven. In their home village, they don't have electric or gas ovens. They used earthen, or perhaps brick, ovens heated by wood or charcoal.

It made me realize how much of our common knowledge is assimilated by us as we grow up. Things can seem so simple, yet we don't realize how they aren't simple to someone who did not grow up around something.

Since we didn't have time to sit around and wait for bread to rise, I decided to make muffins from a store-bought mix; add egg and water, stir, pour into muffin cups, bake for 20 to 22 minues, voila'.

We let the oven pre-heat while I made the batter, put paper muffin cups in the muffin tray.

The concept of an oven thermostat was new to them. (Therefore I think the stove-top burner settings were also a msytery, and that they only used them on the highest setting.) I explained that the oven indicator light (the one on the control panel) comes on when the oven's heating element is on, and it goes off when the temperature setting has been reached. And that when you open the door and let cold air in, the burner turns back on to reheat the oven, and turns off again when the temperature has been reached. This whole concept of a thermostat on a cooking device was new to them, at least to the grandparents.

The grandfather, who has never cooked anything in his life, was doing the translating, so at least it was new to him. I couldn't tell how much of the concepts were actually new or understood by grandma, because she doesn't speak English, and when grandpa translates, I suspect much gets modified or filtered out by his perceptions.

They haven't received visiting teachers yet, but have had a home-teacher for a few weeks. What the home-teacher wants to do is get some Relief Society sisters there, with just grandma, and the grand-daughter (who has taken the missionary lessons, come to church a few times, but hasn't been baptized) as translator. That way, it's "just the girls", without grandpa's translation filters in place. Another benefit is that the ladies won't be afraid to ask other ladies the simple questions.

The "filters" work both ways too. When the cooking lesson comes from a male such as myself, or the translation from English to their language comes from grandpa, I suspect there is also a Mars/Venus filter in place. Since grandpa doesn't cook (and has never cooked), he may not be putting things in terms the ladies need, but also the ladies may be discounting what comes from men in terms of cooking. I just can't tell.

Anyway, they loved the muffins. They weren't the best, just a cheap $1.00 mix from a dollar store. I forgot and put the muffin pan on the lower rack instead of the upper rack, and the bottom of the muffins were slightly over done. So I'll have to make that point about using the upper racks next time. And, also how to adjust the temperature and time. I think the ladies know about adjusting temperature, because that is controlled by how much wood you put in the cooking fire, but that concept would be new to the non-cooking grandpa.

Grandpa was all amazed. He wanted to buy an oven and have it shipped to his relatives back in Africa. He wanted to fly back and teach people this muffin recipe. (Of course such an expense is totally out of his budget, etc., etc.)

Anyway, the muffins came out okay. I explained that I used the paper muffin cups to keep the muffin pan clean, because I'm lazy and didn't want to have to clean a muffin pan. And that the muffin paper cups were optional. And that if you wait a few minutes before peeling off the paper it comes off easier.

But I did open one muffin early and it was cooked just right in the middle. They were a nice golden brown on top, and the apartment was filled with that nice "something good is baking in the oven" aroma, which it never had before during grandma's one year stay, or grandpa's five year stay.

This was an anthropology and sociology lesson for me.

Maybe someday we'll get to a lesson on the BROIL setting.

Hmmm, is this family LDS?

Is this family LDS? 8 kids, wife grew up in California and Utah, married at 19, had first child 9 months later, and they don't let their kids watch R-rated moves.

Ack. They deleted everything under Lou Dobbs. Here's a new link.

(Old link under Lou Dobbs was deleted when he quit CNN.)

Vietnamese at gas station. Mon, Nov 9, 2009.

11/09/2009. 1200. I was at a nearby gas station helping a friend with his computer. He was on duty as the cashier, and I was sitting behind the counter at his laptop computer. Customers were coming and going, and he attended to them as I was doing stuff with the computer.

One of the customers was an Asian man who bought a phone card. I asked him where he was going to call, and he said Vietnam. So..... I offered him a free book in Vietnamese from my church. It was a quick conversation, and it didn't interfere with his transaction with the cashier. And, he enthusiastically agreed to receive the free church book in Vietnamese.

He went back outside to gas up his vehicle, and I went out and got a Vietnamese copy and an English copy of the Book of Mormon from my trunk. I met him over at his car, and he was enthusiastic to receive both of them. I asked if he had heard of the Book of Mormon before, and he said no, so I said that at our church we use the Bible and the Book of Mormon along with it. I pointed out my calling card in the front, and the list of chapels, and invited him to call or attend if he wanted. He thanked me, and I went back inside.

Gonna try tweeting.

Here.

Are you saved?

I've noted how often the Book of Mormon uses the word "saved." But it's not a word that Mormons use much as do members of other churches, such as Baptists and Evangelicals.

Elder Oaks gave a conference talk on the various meanings of the word "saved" and "salvation" in the April 1998 General Conference. The talk was printed in the May 1998 Ensign.

Elder Oaks gave six meanings. He didn't explicitly enumerate all points, so I hope I'm parsing the six definitions correctly. (And: my quotes below don't constitute the entire article.)

1st: First, all mortals have been saved from the permanence of death through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22).

2nd: As to salvation from sin and the consequences of sin, our answer to the question of whether or not we have been saved is “yes, but with conditions.” Our third article of faith declares our belief:

“We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel” (A of F 1:3).

Many Bible verses declare that Jesus came to take away the sins of the world (e.g., John 1:29; Matt. 26:28). The New Testament frequently refers to the grace of God and to salvation by grace (e.g., John 1:17; Acts 15:11; Eph. 2:8). But it also has many specific commandments on personal behavior, and many references to the importance of works (e.g., Matt. 5:16; Eph. 2:10; James 2:14–17). In addition, the Savior taught that we must endure to the end in order to be saved (see Matt. 10:22; Mark 13:13).

Relying upon the totality of Bible teachings and upon clarifications received through modern revelation, we testify that being cleansed from sin through Christ’s Atonement is conditioned upon the individual sinner’s faith, which must be manifested by obedience to the Lord’s command to repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Ghost (see Acts 2:37–38). “Verily, verily, I say unto thee,” Jesus taught, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5; see also Mark 16:16; Acts 2:37–38). Believers who have had this required rebirth at the hands of those having authority have already been saved from sin conditionally, but they will not be saved finally until they have completed their mortal probation with the required continuing repentance, faithfulness, service, and enduring to the end.

3rd: The question of whether a person has been saved is sometimes phrased in terms of whether that person has been “born again.” Being “born again” is a familiar reference in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. As noted earlier, Jesus taught that except a man was “born again” (John 3:3), of water and of the Spirit, he could not enter into the kingdom of God (see John 3:5). The Book of Mormon has many teachings about the necessity of being “born again” or “born of God” (Mosiah 27:25; see Mosiah 27:24–26; Alma 36:24, 26; Moses 6:59). As we understand these scriptures, our answer to whether we have been born again is clearly “yes.” We were born again when we entered into a covenant relationship with our Savior by being born of water and of the Spirit and by taking upon us the name of Jesus Christ. We can renew that rebirth each Sabbath when we partake of the sacrament.

Latter-day Saints affirm that those who have been born again in this way are spiritually begotten sons and daughters of Jesus Christ (see Mosiah 5:7; Mosiah 15:9–13; Mosiah 27:25). Nevertheless, in order to realize the intended blessings of this born-again status, we must still keep our covenants and endure to the end. In the meantime, through the grace of God, we have been born again as new creatures with new spiritual parentage and the prospects of a glorious inheritance.

4th: A fourth meaning of being saved is to be saved from the darkness of ignorance of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and of the purpose of life, and of the destiny of men and women. The gospel made known to us by the teachings of Jesus Christ has given us this salvation. “I am the light of the world,” Jesus taught; “he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12; see also John 12:46).

5th: For Latter-day Saints, being “saved” can also mean being saved or delivered from the second death (meaning the final spiritual death) by assurance of a kingdom of glory in the world to come (see 1 Cor. 15:40–42). Just as the Resurrection is universal, we affirm that every person who ever lived upon the face of the earth—except for a very few—is assured of salvation in this sense. As we read in modern revelation:

“And this is the gospel, the glad tidings …

“That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness;

“That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him;

“Who glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of his hands, except those sons of perdition who deny the Son after the Father has revealed him” (D&C 76:40–43; emphasis added).

6th: Finally, in another usage familiar and unique to Latter-day Saints, the words saved and salvation are also used to denote exaltation or eternal life (see Abr. 2:11). This is sometimes referred to as the “fulness of salvation” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, 4 vols. [1979–81], 1:242). This salvation requires more than repentance and baptism by appropriate priesthood authority. It also requires the making of sacred covenants, including eternal marriage, in the temples of God, and faithfulness to those covenants by enduring to the end. If we use the word salvation to mean “exaltation,” it is premature for any of us to say that we have been “saved” in mortality. That glorious status can only follow the final judgment of Him who is the Great Judge of the living and the dead.

And in conclusion: I have suggested that the short answer to the question of whether a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been saved or born again must be a fervent “yes.” Our covenant relationship with our Savior puts us in that “saved” or “born again” condition meant by those who ask this question.

Fulani at laundromat parking lot. Wed, Nov 4, 2009.

11/04/2009. 1199. Laundry day. I parked near the laundromat, unloaded my stuff, and then moved my car further away. I picked the closest spot to the laundromat but just not one of the "loading/unloading only" spots. A taxi happened to be parked next to the open spot I picked.

That taxi company employs almost all Africans as drivers. I asked the driver what language he spoke, and he said Fulani. I said I just happened to have a free copy of my church's Sunday School manual in Fulani and asked if he'd like to see it. He said sure. I went back to my car and got out a Fulani and an English copy of Gospel Fundamentals and presented them. He accepted the Fulani copy, but politely declined teh English.

I pointed out the list of local chapels on the flyer I had put inside, and invited him to visit sometime. He thanked me, and I ran off to do my laundry.

English DVD to cold-calling salesman. Tue, Nov 3, 2009.

11/03/2009. 1198. I was at a client's office in an office complex doing computer work. This client is a member of the church, and knows my modus operandi about giving out material. A salesman came in the door to make a cold-call to solicit business. He was soliciting people for their personal business, not the company. We both turned the gentleman down, though I did accept a brochure. But we continued to make small talk since we had some computer history in common.

Since this guy was bold enough to make a cold-call, and even bolder to solicit people for their personal business while they were on company time, I decided to be a little bold in return. I offered him a couple of church DVDs, Mr. Kreuger's Christmas, and Joy to the World.

He accepted the Joy to the World DVD.

Nepali and Burmese Gospel Fundamentals are here!

The Nepali, and the Burmese "Gospel Fundamentals" are now available. I just received my first order.

I've only met one Nepalese person, but the missionaries have run into another one.

There are lots of Burmese in town, and I've encountered several on the South side of town without having any material to give them.

The work rolls on.

Burmese:


Nepali:

Flood da INTERNET w/ da Book of Mormon. $1.07.

Through Nov 8th, Godaddy.com is having a sale on .info domains. $1.07 each (including $.18 ICANN fee), or $.97 each if you order 6 or more. Order 6 or more and get free private registration.

Granted, they will likely charge $11 or more next year to renew it, but by then there will be another sale on new .info domains, or another suffix (TLD, or Top Level Domain). Let it lapse and buy another (different) one during the next sale.

Domain names can be up to at least 63 characters (up to 250-something characters depending on the registrar company) before the suffix, not including the "www." or other sub-domains.

So..... I propose put your testimony in a domain name! Behold the "testimony URL":

the-book-of-mormon-is-true.info
the-jones-family-knows-the-book-of-mormon-is-true.info
jones-family-of-oshkosh-studies-the-book-of-mormon-and-the-bible.info
the-jones-family-testimony-of-the-book-of-mormon.info
book-of-mormon-in-oshkosh-wisconsin.info
the-bible-and-book-of-mormon-go-together-in-oshkosh.info

Yeah, yeah, it's too long to type in. But don't worry. Most people find web sites through search engines and just click on the listing, or you could send people links in email, or post a link on your blog, or use your "testimony-url" as your web-page/home-page when you comment on other blogs. Then people bookmark it if they want to.

Ok, so then you let the domain lapse in a year, what then? "Domain Speculators" or "ad farmers" will likely then automatically register that domain name (they keep track of which ones expire.) And they'll hope to sell it to someone, thinking that if it was important enough to register once, someone else will want to register it. Though, if they have a human-review first, they may not. But I think they snap them up automatically, without any human decision process.

Worst case scenario is they'll put ads on it. Most domain speculators and ad-farmers are not antis. And if any anti ads go on it, the domain name still speaks a testimony.

And of course, Google will eventually pick it up in their index.

Godaddy offers free hosting (ad-supported, with their ads at the top of your pages), so you could put custom content there, or have the domain forwarded to a blog or some other page.

So, register a domain, put up some free content, submit it to google.

Here's an idea of how to put the Book of Mormon on your Wordpress blog: www.scripturelog.com.

Be careful at Godaddy, they'll try to up-sell you with add-ons at every step of the process. Also be sure to turn OFF "autorenew" or they'll charge you the then-going renewal rate in a year.

Also be aware that if you don't use private registration, your name and contact info will be publicly viewable and associated with the domain until it expires.

Punjabi pamphlet at storefront. Fri, Oct 23, 2009.

10/23/2009. 1197. I was at a strip mall type shopping center on my way to dinner at a Chinese restaurant that I've already been to. I walked past a storefront, and there was a lady who appeared to be from India standing just behind the glass door of her storefront. She was the only one in the store, so I assumed she was one of the owners or was the manager, or at least the person on duty.

I stopped to chat with her, and asked if she spoke Telugu, but I guessed wrongly. She was from India, but spoke Punjabi. And I was all out of Punjabi copies of the Gospel Fundamentals. But I did have a Punjabi copy of the Joseph Smith Testimony pamphlet. She agreed to receive some church material in Punjabi, and I had made sure she understood it was Christian material. I retrieved Punjabi and English copies of the Joseph Smith Testimony pamphlet from my car, and presented them to her. She politely declined the English copy, but accepted the Punjabi copy.

I forgot to include a pass-along card or info-flyer. I hope I wrote the mission office number on the back of the pamphlet.

I recently called the Distribution Center to re-order more, but they are out of Punjabi copies of Gospel Fundamentals.

Amharic x 2 in parking lot. Sun, Oct 18, 2009.

Lesson #1: Be kind to those who despitefully use you.
Lesson #2: EVERYONE is a potential investigator.

10/18/2009. 1196. I had just finished putting air in a car tire that had a slow leak. I was parked in my parking spot in the apartment complex's carport. An Ethiopian-looking man came over to talk to me, and asked me if I had been in Ethiopia because on the front of my car I had a license plate that has the Ethiopian flag on it. (I did that because I like the Lion of Judah that's on it. It's actually the previous flag of Ethiopia, and it remains popular with the Rastafari movement and people loyal to Haile Selassie.)

I thought that he might be the owner of the taxi-cab that had parked in my reserved carport spot the previous week. And he was. It turned out that he just didn't know that the carport spots were reserved, and people had to pay extra for them. (I'm so glad I didn't get angry when I called the phone number painted on the side of his cab. No one answered, and I left a message, very politely asking him to park elsewhere, and let him know it was a reserved and paid-for spot. It was probably the taxi-cab company phone number, not his personal number anyway.)

Anyways, he was actually from Eritrea, and spoke Tigrinya as his main language, but Amharic (the language of Ethiopia) was his secondary language. I offered to him, and he accepted, a Book of Mormon in Amharic and in English. So I reached into the trunk and got a couple out. He was genuinely interested and grateful.

A little later, I was back out at the car for something, and again saw him, this time, a couple ladies were also approaching, and he asked if I would give a copy of the Book of Mormon in Amharic to them. They were his relatives and were visiting him. Woo hoo! A two-fer.

So I got a second copy out of the trunk. (I always keep two or three Amharic copies in the car since there are so many Ethiopians in town.) The ladies accepted both an Amharic and an English copy too. When they got in their vehicle, I realized their vehicle was the other one that had parked in my reserved and paid-for carport spot the night before the taxi had trespassed.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. That night when they had parked in my spot, I was so frustrated, and angry, and had such a sense of violation. But, the scripture about blessing those who despitefully use you came to mind, and all I did was leave a Bible pass-along card under their windshield wiper.

Anyway, it turned out to be a nice encounter, and he told me his address and asked me to stop by some time. I really LOVE Ethiopian/Eritrean food, and I'm thinking of how to wangle a dinner invitation. I'd even PAY them to have me over for dinner. That's actually a good idea, I think. I'll ask if, for $30, if his wife will prepare a typical Eritrean meal for me and "two of my young friends from church."

Hey! The $30 is for the FOOD, not payment for listening to a missionary discussion. But, if he asks what my "two young friends from church" do, then hey, they'll just have to answer the question. :-)

Spanish at restaurant. Wed, Oct 14, 2009.

10/14/2009. 1195. An appointment at a client's office on the other side of town ran well into the evening, so I was hungry and wanted to eat before driving home. I picked a Mexican restaurant that I hadn't been to before. I've been to that location several times, but the restaurant has changed owners and is under a new name. It's a nice mom-and-pop place.

I sat down, ordered, and enjoyed a nice meal. When I paid, I took a Spanish Bible and a Spanish Book of Mormon with me to the cashier counter. After paying, I said to the cashier that I like to give out Bibles, and offered him the Bible for free, if he needed one or wanted on. He graciously accepted it. Then I said that at our church we use the Bible and the Book of Mormon while I displayed the Book of Mormon in my hand. I asked if he had heard of it, and he said yes. I asked if he had read it, and he said no. He asked what it was about, and I gave him the short explanation of the Bible being from the Old World, written by prophets and apostles, and that the Book of Mormon is from the New World, written by prophets and apostles, and that both books teach of God and Christ. He graciously accepted the Book of Mormon too.

It was a pleasant encounter.

Missed op at gas station. Fri, Oct 9, 2009.

10/09/2009. Missed opportunity. Well, it was more than a missed opportunity. I just plain disobeyed. I was driving home after a meeting of a club that I belong to. I felt a clear impression to stop at a gas station along the way. I picked up a newspaper to buy and got in line. The two cashiers looked like regular English-speaking folks. My cashier looked about 18 to 22 years old. I forgot to check to see if there was anyone behind me in line, but I was supposed to say something to her, and I didn't. I just plain disobeyed. I kept thinking she "only speaks English", but of course that's not an excuse.