The Righteous Need Not Fear

Sometimes, it's easy to wonder if the final days are upon us. Prophesied are plagues, pestilences, famine, wars, earthquakes, storms in diverse places, and so on. Sounds kind of scary? Let's take a look at what the Book of Mormon has to offer. I suppose I could turn to any similar verses in the Bible or in other scripture, but the language of 1 Nephi 22 seems to match the closest to what I'd like to point out today.

After describing scenes of destruction and the like, there is this interesting promise in verse 17:

Wherefore, he will preserve the righteous by his power, even if it so be that the fulness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, ... Wherefore, the righteous need not fear...

Okay -- I'll let you think about that. It almost seems impossible. Fire falling from the sky. Earthquakes everywhere. Storms wreaking havoc. Wars killing people. And somehow the righteous are going to be magically protected? The fire is going to know to only fall on the wicked? Earthquakes will know to swallow up only the wicked? Storms will know how to seek out the wicked?

But wait -- aren't we going through a plague right now, and isn't killing people indiscriminately? It seems to be killing Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, etc., regardless of what one believes. Is one group not getting more protection than another? Or is this one of those "the rain falls upon both the righteous and the unrighteous" situations?

Is the promise in error?

Let's look at several instances in the Bible where a destroying angel has visited.

Instance #1) The Passover -- probably the most famous example. The Lord sent a destroying angel to punish the people of Pharaoh -- to take the first-born sons. And the Lord arranged a way to protect the people of Israel.

Instance #2) The brass serpent of Moses (as I recently covered). Snakes were biting the people of Israel as a punishment for their sins. But then the Lord provided a way to survive the snakes.

Instance #3) Sodom and Gomorrah were slated to be destroyed, but the Lord saved the righteous.

Instance #4) The End Times. The Book of Revelation describes destroying angels who are commanded to torment and kill men. However, the Lord promises to save the righteous.

In each of these cases, the Lord provides a way to escape destruction, but is it enough to be righteous and/or belong to the "True Church"? Let's take a closer look.

#1) The Passover: in order to make the destroying angel pass by, the Jews had to place lamb blood at the top of their door posts. Households who failed to do so would lose their firstborn sons.

#2) The brass serpent of Moses: people were required to look up to the brass serpent to live. Those who did not were likely to die.

#3) Sodom and Gomorrah: the righteous were required to leave the city before the destruction began. Lot and his wife were the last to go, and angels came to escort him out. Anyone who happened to stay in the city perished.

#4) The End Times: to survive the destroying angels, each person will have to have the "seal of God in their foreheads."

Do you see a pattern? In each case, belonging, or being chosen, alone, was not enough to save the people. Each person had to take actions in order to survive. And get this -- those who did not belong and who happened to follow the instructions would also survive.

And it will be the same in the End Times. Those who follow the required actions will have no need to fear.

But how do we know what actions we'll have to take? The Lord will let us know when the time comes. 1 Nephi 22 gives this answer in verse 20:

And the Lord will surely prepare a way for his people ... : A prophet [Jesus Christ] shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. ...

Again in verse 22: "the righteous need not fear, for they are those who shall not be confounded."

And again -- we see that same pattern. We will need to take action, and that action is to Hear Him. Those who listen will be guided into safety.

Finally, we can come back to our current plague and take a closer look. What have today's "prophets" been saying?

I'll start with my own church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Several times, the First Presidency, and even the Prophet, President Nelson, have urged us to get vaccinated, wear masks, and to follow the recommendations of medical experts and leaders. In particular, President Nelson had urged vaccinations as early as January 2021, calling the vaccines a "godsend," and then reiterated with the First Presidency in an official statement in August 2021.

Catholic Church: the Pope has urged vaccinations, calling them an "act of love." He has also declared the shots to be "morally acceptable for Catholics."

Southern Baptist Convention: the President got vaccinated in April and stated that "these vaccines are cause ... to celebrate and give thanks to God," and said that vaccines would get churches full again sooner rather than later.

Presbyterian Church -- General Assembly: calls on its members to "seek the good of the city" and "to love the Lord your God ... and your neighbor as yourself" and get vaccinated.

United Methodists: vaccines are opportunities to love your neighbors. The UMC leadership wish to give people information and empower them to understand how to protect themselves, their families, congregation, and community.

Jewish Leaders: The Rabbinical Assembly states that Jews are obligated to vaccinate themselves and their children.

The Dalai Lama: urged people to "be brave and get vaccinated."

American Muslims: All tools to fight Covid19 should be employed. The vaccines are deemed permissible. Allowing the disease to spread unchecked is against Sharia law as it risks the lives of people.

And so on ... I think you get the idea. Practically all major religions are consistent with the same message: "do these things and survive." In particular, vaccines are approved and/or urged by most religions. As God sends His guidance on how to navigate through this pandemic, the message is clear.

Who have been surviving? Those who follow all of this counsel. Not just the religious, but even atheists who have been following the same guidance. This includes, most recently, those who have gotten vaccinated. And before that -- those who have worn masks, practiced social distancing, cooperated with contact tracers, and so on. The numbers are very clear -- those who follow these instructions are coming out very well -- most are avoiding hospitals and death.

So, it turns out that the Lord's promise is still with us after all! Sure, the rain still falls on both the righteous and the unrighteous, but why shouldn't the righteous fear? Because God gives us umbrellas with instructions on how to use them. Those who follow need not fear because they are following the Lord's instructions, and they are prepared. And not only that -- they are also not confounded. That is, while others are confused, the righteous can see with simplicity and clarity.

As the End Times approach, this pandemic is just one test -- something to warm us up. Are we willing to follow the promptings of our religious leaders as the Lord sends us these tribulations? Or will we choose to go all on our own and hope for the best? Wouldn't it be great to navigate the End Times with knowledge and clarity?

The choice is up to us. As long as we follow the Lord and His instructions, we will indeed have no reason to fear.

Introducing the Adventures of Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin

While serving in Pusan Korea Mission in the late 1980s, Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin experience many exciting and crazy adventures. Miracles, shenanigans, conversions, and even mishaps abound.

These partially fictional accounts come from my own real-life experiences in Korea. I'd say around 95% of what you're about to read actually did happen. I only changed the names and took several literary liberties.

In particular, I really did have a favorite companion -- a fact known by practically all the other missionaries who served with me. I was with him for five months in Taegu, and it really was the best five months out of the "best two years of my life." We were as crazy as I make it sound -- a force to be reckoned with -- missionaries who caught the attention of the Korean people and who successfully planted many seeds. However, in these stories, I also borrow from other times in my mission. 

All of my companions were great, and some of them may make appearances in some form, but for convenience, they are all merged together into Elder Benjamin.

I also went on a split once with an actual Elder Elder. Even though he doesn't really appear in this set of stories, I've decided to swipe his name to represent myself, because it's definitely a cool name. It's up there with Bishop Bishop.

These stories should hopefully bring back good memories for those who served missions. And for those who don't belong to my church, I hope these stories provide deep insights into what it's like to serve a mission. They can help answer the question: what was I doing for two years?

Enjoy! As I write more stories, they will all appear here (in semi-chronological order):

The Lonely Man

The Ambush

Christmas in Taegu

The Threesome

The Rich Member

Trip to the Zoo

Happy New Year!

The Open House

Lost In Taegu

The Cake and Gidgiddoni

The Ugly Ties

The Adventures of Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin: The Lonely Man

The Lonely Man

December 14, 1989

I sat in silence on a bus bound for Pusan, staring out the window, studying the rural landscape of rice fields passing by.

Today was transfer day, as well as the big mission Christmas celebration. Today was the day I’d be getting a new tongbanja. That means “companion” in Korean. His name was Elder Benjamin, and I couldn’t be more excited.

My current tongbanja, Elder Lee, sat next to me staring off into nothingness. He was deaf, so he didn’t say much. We had been sent to Taegu to bring deaf people into the fold. But after two months, the effort was considered a failure. We could not break into the tight-nit group of deaf Koreans. So, the decision was made to send Elder Lee south to the island Chejudo, where he could have more success. To him, this trip was one of shame and defeat.

Two other Elders, Hansen and Shumway, rode on the other side of the isle. They were silent as well, but I had absolutely no idea why.

For me, every minute on this bus brought me closer to the best missionary in the whole mission, and I was ready for a change.

You see, the previous months were terrible. I know it was mostly my fault; I’m such a cutup. If I see a joke, I’ll tell it. People like to make fun of me because my last name is Elder. As a missionary, everyone had to call me Elder Elder. Yeah, it’s pretty funny.

I suppose I could have just told them not to make fun of me, but instead I went with it, trying to go for the big laugh. My signature joke was this: “Have you ever been caught in an Elder loop? Elder Elder Elder Elder Elder Elder Elder Elder …” No one ever thought that was funny.

Near the beginning of my mission, I had turned off one Elder so much that he decided to spread all these interesting rumors about me in the Masan Zone. When I finally transferred there, most everyone avoided me and treated me with contempt and hostility. My tongbanja at the time said I brought it upon myself. However, the Korean members and missionaries told me something different—about the rumors the Americans were saying about me, and how much they liked me more than my American colleagues. They said that I truly understood the Korean people, and they loved my jokes.

Everyone in the mission knew me, yet no American wanted to be my tongbanja. Well, that was except for possibly one missionary and that was Elder Benjamin. Just like me, he had his own set of rumors. He was known to be goofy and prone to launch into random moments of uber-spirituality. However, I didn’t believe it. If my set of rumors were false, then so were his, and we were both doing something right. I only knew that if we were put together, we would work miracles. The two strangest missionaries in the whole mission would show all the others how to do it right.

I know you’ve heard it a million times: the mission will be the best two years of your life. Well, I had no idea that the next five months were going to be the best of the best. Many adventures lay ahead, and I had every reason to be excited.

Okay, you’re probably ready to meet this Elder Benjamin. I’ll get there in a minute, but first, where were we? The four of us on a bus going to Pusan for the Christmas celebration. Elder Lee going to Chejudo, and a new companion coming back home with me later. And Elders Hansen and Shumway doing whatever they were doing. I’m staring out the window…

All right, all right. Let’s skip to Elder Benjamin. We arrived at the fancy hotel in Pusan. The celebration was about to begin, and … there he was outside the conference room with two big suitcases on the floor behind him. “Elder Elder! I’m so happy to see you. We’re going to rock.” He came toward me with his hand extended. He approached with his usual awkward waddle. The smile on his face went from ear to ear. His eyes were wide, always doing a weird shifty thing—one eye brown, the other green. His ears reminded me of Dumbo.

I held out my hand to shake his, but he ignored it as he picked me up in a big bear hug. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for us to become tongbanjas.”

I must admit that I was starting to get a little weirded out, but this felt right.

He asked, “How was the trip, Elder Elder Elder Elder Elder Elder Elder Elder?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “It was … quiet. Lots of rice fields.”

“It won’t be quiet on the way back. Where is it you’re from? Georgia, right.”

“Yeah, Atlanta,” I answered. “Where are you from?”

“Orem, Utah—y’all!”

I’m going to fast-forward through this next part, as there isn’t much to tell. Elder Lee went his own way to find his new tongbanja, and I never saw him again. Elders Shumway and Hansen stuck around Elder Benjamin and me. We all sat at the same table in the big conference room. The Mission President Anderson gave a spiritual talk, as did a few other selected missionaries. There was lots of food, and then came the musical section. 

I was second to perform. Elder Johnson played the cello while I played piano in a rendition of Bach/Gounod’s Ave Maria. Of course, I had to smile at everyone and act goofy to get a few laughs. 

As I sat back down next to Elder Benjamin, someone said at a table near us, “Can you believe they’re putting those two together? They’re such goofballs. No one’s going to take them seriously.” I looked over, and I should have known—it was someone from the Masan Zone.

When the conference was over, all of the missionaries split off and went their own ways—all except for me, Elder Johnson, and our tongbanjas, as President Anderson chose us to play the Ave Maria for a Rotary Club meeting. That was fun playing for so many rich-looking charitable Koreans. They gave us a good ovation for our performance.

After the performance, we had to leave and hurry on back to Taegu, as we had a mission-wide 9:30 curfew. This whole time, Elder Benjamin kept on talking about his experiences on his mission and in his hometown of Orem, Utah, and all kinds of stories about the several mysteries of God.

As we rode on the big bus, he related a story he thought I would like.

“There was a teenager out in Utah who was just like you. He played the piano, and composed music—just like Beethoven and Chopin. Some even said he was better than them. He’d do all these performances, and write symphonies and all that. But then one day when he was 19, he just died. It was an aneurism or something like that.”

“That’s terrible,” I said.

“That’s what his parents thought. They prayed to God, asking why their son had to die. He had a promising career. Everyone loved his music. Wouldn’t he do a great work in life? He didn’t even have a chance to go on his mission.

“That night, his father received a revelation in his dreams. An angel allowed him to see heaven and see his son performing music. The angel explained how the boy was the best composer who ever lived, and who would ever come in the future. There would never be anyone as good as him. So God chose him to come home and write music for him in heaven. His call and election were made sure. Can you imagine being asked to serve this kind of mission, Elder Elder?”

I think I rolled my eyes, wanting to ask him the name of this guy, what it even meant to be the “best” composer, and why I had never heard any of his music, but what came out instead was, “That would be awesome.” Then he went on with his next story.

Yes, he certainly talked a lot, and his stories were strange. But for once, I was excited, mainly because finally, I had a tongbanja who had more concern for spiritual matters than he did of his own personal needs. He was ready to go. He didn’t care that I was goofy or about the rumors flying around about me. We would get along fine.

We arrived at the main bus hub in Taegu at 9:15. I told Elder Benjamin, “We have just enough time to get home. Look for bus number 113.” He carried one of his large suitcases while I carried his other one. We both wore a trench coat over our shirt and tie because of the chill in the early December air. This made for some extra heat while carrying the suitcases.

Just when we were in sight of the bus #113 terminal, a Korean man came up to us and said in broken English, “Excuse me. You are … Americans? What’s the word? Seongyosa?”

I switched to speaking Korean, saying, “Yes, we’re missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” beginning the more formal introduction that we were all trained to give.

He was happy to see that we spoke Korean, so he switched as well. “Good. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.”

At first I was excited, as most of the time, Koreans tended to avoid us. They would usually meet us with, “No speaky English” or “I’m busy,” or “I’m Buddhist.” A person willing to talk to us was always a breath of fresh air. However, we had this curfew hanging over our heads and we really didn’t have time to talk. I answered, “Well, we’re in a hurry to get back to our apartment. Can we get your name and number? We could meet tomorrow and answer your questions.”

The Korean looked down at his feet, as if disappointed. “I was hoping we could talk tonight. It won’t take long. We can go to my place. It isn’t very far away.”

Elder Benjamin said, “Sure. We can come with you.”

I immediately turned to my tongbanja and said quietly in English, “I don’t think we have time. We’re going to get in trouble if we break our curfew, and it’s only our first night together.”

“I think it’ll be okay,” he answered with his usual uber-spiritual smile. “The Spirit constrains me that we should go with him.”

I looked over at the Korean, who now seemed to be in higher spirits as he waited for us to work things out. Maybe Elder Benjamin was right. The whole day had bent spent in traveling and going down to Pusan, and we had not yet had a good missionary moment for the day. “Well,” I said. “I suppose we can be a little late.”

“What’s your name?” Elder Benjamin asked the Korean. 

“Shin Dong-Chil,” he answered, and together we got on another bus. It was bus #245, which I knew headed East—the wrong way.

The three of us took the seat at the very back. I sat in the middle, and the other two got the window seats. Elder Benjamin had one of his bags in front of him, and I had the other.

And then — nothing. Dong-Chil didn’t say anything. He stared forward, looking at nothing in particular.

At the very first stop I turned and asked him, “Is this your stop?”

He said, “No. Not yet. Just a little bit further.” And then he went back to staring into space.

After another couple of minutes, I turned to Dong-Chil. “You said you had questions for us?”

He answered, “Not yet. Too many people around here.”

I studied the other ten passengers on the bus. They weren’t paying us any attention at all. They were probably all tired after a hard day’s work.

Ten more minutes passed, and we were still heading east. I said to Elder Benjamin in English, “How much further do you think this is? It’s already 9:30. Every minute out is another minute back. Maybe we should get off before the buses stop running?”

He said, “Don’t worry. We’re doing the right thing.”

After another ten minutes, we had already left the main city, and trees surrounded us on both sides of the road. We were also the last three passengers left on the bus. It was already dark, and I knew we would be getting home late. Elders Hansen and Shumway would begin to wonder where we were, and none of us had cell phones. No matter what happened next, we were already in trouble.

I figured to make the most of it all and tried to hurry our discussion with Dong-Chil. I said, “It’s just us on the bus now. Would you like to ask those questions?”

He said, “Not yet. Bus driver.” And again, he went back to staring forward.

Another ten minutes later we finally came to a stop. Dong-Chil hadn’t pull the stop cord, and he didn’t yell “Nel-im-ni-da!” The bus driver just seemed to already know this was his stop. We followed Dong-Chil off the bus.

In all, it was a a half hour bus ride, so right off the bat, this guy had lied to us about how close he lived.

As the bus left us to end its route, I looked around in the darkness. We were at a very small village — a collection of about twenty homes in the middle of nowhere, illuminated only from the light coming out of windows. A few were still outside finishing late evening chores outside of their homes. One of them said, “Dong-Chil! Hey! Who are these guys?”

“Hey Gi-Song! These are American missionaries. They’re visiting me.”

“That’s awesome.” Gi-Song shook our hands and said, “Dong-Chil is a good man. You take care of him.”

Another ajima (old lady) said hi to us all. A few others smiled at us all. A very friendly crowd.

Dong-Chil led us into his house — a typical humble house — linoleum flooring heated from underneath, one main room, a small kitchen to the side, a small bathroom, and a niche in the back which most likely held a small washer and the yeontan heater. It appeared that he slept in the main room. Next to one wall, his yo (small flat bed) was rolled up with sheets installed.

Everything was clean, and no one else was in the house.

He had us sit on the floor — the usual crosslegged sitting. “Would you like some hong-cha (black tea)?”

“No thanks,” said Elder Benjamin. “We don’t drink hong-cha. Do you have anything else?”

“What about lemon tea?”

Elder Benjamin and I answered, “Sure.” Though, I knew this would just be more time wasted. As Dong-Chil spent time heating the water and preparing our cups, it meant even more time not answering his questions. It was a typical culture thing, but we were already beyond late. That had most likely been the last bus, and I had no idea how we were going to get home. I didn’t care much about customs right now.

“You want to teach this discussion?” I asked my companion, and he said sure.

Dong-Chil finally returned with our tea, placing a small table in front of us on the floor. As we sipped, he continued staring into space, as if wanting to say something, but not sure how to proceed. I tried the usual small talk, and he gave minimal answers in response.

I then motioned to Elder Benjamin, as if to say, “Go ahead and start the discussion. We need to go. Let’s get this over with.”

And he smiled back at me. Not even a day together, and I had no problem understanding his response. “Patience.”

After another minute or so, Elder Benjamin finally spoke up. “Brother Dong-Chil. Where is your family?”

“They’re in Changwon.”

“Oh, and why are you here in Teagu?”

Dong-Chil seemed to break from his stupor. “I came to enjoy the city life. It’s always busy here.”

“Isn’t this house a little far from the city?”

Dong-Chil looked down. “It’s the best I can afford right now. It’s expensive in the city. But it’s okay. It gives me lots of time to think.”

“What about school?” asked Elder Benjamin. I sat in envy, amazed at how able he was to get Dong-Chil to talk when I couldn’t.

“Can’t afford it. Don’t have any money. I’m working until I can save up. I work in the northern district, building machinery.”

Then Elder Benjamin stopped and sat still. The room hung in silence again. I wondered why he was waiting. Why hadn’t he started the discussion? It was time to go.

To my surprise, it was Dong-Chil who spoke up next. “It isn’t working. I thought this was a good idea, but I’m stuck. I can’t save up any money because I spend it all. I can’t enjoy the city life, because I can’t afford it. Women despise me because I always stink after working all day in the factory. It gets so hot in there. And I can’t go back to Changwon, because I have to finish what I started. My parents think I’m doing just fine. I can’t tell them how hard it is. Nobody in Taegu knows who I am.”

Elder Benjamin lifted his head. “The people in this village seem to know who you are.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Dong-Chil said with a smile. “But what purpose do I serve? Why must I continue like this?”

With a smile, Elder Benjamin began Discussion #1. God, Jesus, Prophets, Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the Holy Spirt. I was amazed at the skill he demonstrated — how he got Dong-Chil’s attention and how he continued to hold it as he progressed.

When it was all over, Dong-Chil again looked depressed. “Can you come and visit me again?”

Elder Benjamin looked over to me. Was I the one to bear the bad news? I said, “Oh — this is actually outside of our area. We’ll have to refer you to the Suseong missionaries. We’ve got strict rules.”

“The other missionaries would be happy to see you,” said Elder Benjamin. He pulled out a new paperback copy of the Mormon Kyeong — the Book of Mormon, and handed it to me. “Do you know the Suseong missionaries’ phone number?”

“Sure,” I said, writing it down, and then I handed the book to Dong-Chil.

“This is for me?” he said, his eyes wide, a tear going down his cheek. “No one ever gives me a gift. Thank you.”

Elder Benjamin said, “If you read this book, and pray about it, the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth of it all to you.”

And Dong-Chil looked down again. “I know I’m not going to see you anymore. This isn’t going to work. I just don’t have time for anything. I have to work every day. I can’t go to church, and it’s too far away.”

“You will always have time,” said Elder Benjamin. “But sometimes you just have to wait a while. When you’re ready, just call that number and the Suseong missionaries can answer your questions.”

I looked down at my watch. 11:30. Elders Hansen and Shumway were most likely freaking out. We were supposed to be asleep at 10:30. By this time they had most likely called the mission office, and no one had any way of knowing where we could be. We could have died or something worse. And yet I couldn’t say anything. Elder Benjamin knew what he was doing.

“I wish you could stay a little longer,” said Dong-Chil. “I know it’s late.”

Elder Benjamin gave a sad smile. “I wish we could stay, too. But we do need to get back. How about we say a prayer? We could leave a blessing.” I couldn’t help thinking: finally!

“That would be great,”said Dong-Chil.

“Which one of us would you like to say the prayer?”

Dong-Chil turned to me. “How about you, Elder Elder?” I had already known this was coming. The companion who participates the least always gets asked to say the closing prayer. It was like an unwritten law decreed in the heavens.

I knew I wasn’t in the best frame of mind, but as always, I pushed everything aside and let the Spirit guide my prayer. I blessed his home with safety, with love and friendship. I also asked for a path to deliver him out of his current situation, that he could enjoy prosperity and progress. I also blessed him with time so he could do more of what he loved.

After Dong-Chil thanked us for the prayer, he said, “I wish I could order you a taxi, but I just can’t afford it. And that was the last bus we rode. I doubt a taxi would come out this far this late. How are you going to get home?”

My first instinct was anger. He had told us his home wasn’t very far, and he had known at the time there was no bus to take us back. But I couldn’t complain and undo everything we had accomplished. 

Still, we needed a way home. I said, “Can we use your phone? We need to call our friends and let us know where we are.”

“Is it long distance?” he asked.

“No, we can call Elder Shumway. He’s our district leader here in Taegu.”

Dong-Chil brought us over to his phone and I called.

Elder Shumway said, “Elder Elder? Where are you? The pon bu (mission home) is furious. Are you guys hurt?”

I briefly explained how we ended up in the far eastern boonies of Taegu, and then I asked, “Can you call the pon bu and ask to pay for a taxi?”

“You know they’re not going to do that. When you break the rules, you have to pay. You need to leave immediately and start heading back over here. As soon as you get back home, the pon bu wants you to call them to report back in.” I did the math in my head. What time would we be back home? 5 in the morning?

I looked over at Elder Benjamin’s two large suitcases. This night was far from over.

When the phone call ended, Dong-Chil looked guilty. I said, “It’s not your fault. We’ll deal with this.”

And then, Elder Benjamin and I both grabbed a suitcase, and left. We walked west, knowing that something would happen. Someone would see us walking, have compassion, and give us a ride.

Elder Benjamin let me have the larger suitcase that had wheels, though I wondered how far we could go before the wheels would give out. The only light came from the stars, the somewhat distant glow of the city proper, and the rising mostly-full moon, which had to shine through the trees that surrounded us on both sides of the road.

“I don’t understand it,” said Elder Benjamin. “I thought we were doing well. Now he’s not willing to put forth any effort? What went wrong?”

“He just wasn’t ready,” I said. “He’s too busy. Life is hard and he doesn’t think he can add anymore stress. But we may never know. One day, he’ll call that number in his book.”

“The Spirit was just so strong. It told me to follow Dong-Chil, and I don’t understand why. I thought for sure he would commit to a baptism. I really messed up.”

“Nonsense. You followed the Spirit, so it had to be the right call. Maybe baptism was not what he needed tonight. If you ask me, I think we might have saved his life. You saw how depressed he was. Maybe we gave him a little hope to continue on. He certainly enjoyed receiving the Book of Mormon. Who knows? Maybe he’ll read it at night, and later on in life, once he finally gains control, he’ll think again about reaching out and joining the Church. You helped to plant a seed tonight.”

“Maybe, but now we’re in lots of trouble.” Elder Benjamin was more and more breathing harder from carrying his suitcase. “I should have listened to you and we shouldn’t have gotten on that bus. Now we’re stuck out here in the middle of nowhere. Elder Shumway sure didn’t sound happy. They’re going to split us up, aren’t they? Did he say anything about that?”

“No, they’re not going to split us up. That didn’t even come up.”

“I’ve been looking forward to this for months. Did you know that I asked President Anderson to put us two together? He laughed, but look — we’re together! And not even one day is over and I’ve messed it all up. When he hears about this, he’s going to split us up. How can he trust us when it’s going to take us hours to get home? How many times are we going to mess up in the next month? He’s not going to let that happen. He’s going to put us with more responsible elders.” Again, his grunts increased between words.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen. We’re going to do well — just wait and see. Hey, do you want to switch suitcases? I can carry that for a while.”

At first he resisted, but then after a couple of minutes of convincing, he finally acquiesced, and I quickly learned why he was grunting so much. That suitcase was considerably heavier than the one I had been pulling. What was in that thing?

“Did you know today is my birthday? It’s after midnight, right?” he said.

“Really? Well, happy birthday. It’ll sure be a memorable one.”

He smiled back. “If we survive this.”

I decided not to say much else — as it was difficult to talk while carrying that thing. I wondered how long we would last — let alone the wheels on the other suitcase. We had who-knew-how-many miles left to go, and there were no cars on the road. Would we have to sleep in the woods when our strength ran out? How much longer could we continue, even with switching the suitcases?

“Hey,” I said after a while, “I got an idea. How about we move some of the heavier things into the other suitcase? You got books in here that we can move over?”

“I don’t know about moving my privates around in the dark. We might drop something.”

And then we saw lights approaching.

“A car!” said Elder Benjamin.

The car slowed down as it approached. It was a taxi! And there was nobody in the back.

“Where are you going?” asked the driver.

I told him the name of our apartment building, and he said he knew where it was. “Hurry. Get in the car.”

“You’ll give us a ride?” I asked.

“You’re going to have to pay.”

Elder Benjamin said to me, “It’s going to be expensive.”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll ask my mom for more money in my next letter. She’ll understand.” It was either that or disaster if we let this taxi get away from us.

We placed the suitcases in the trunk and got in. Almost instantly, Elder Benjamin started nodding off. “I can’t stay awake.”

I answered, “Don’t worry. The driver knows where we live. You can sleep now. You’ve done well. Happy birthday.”

He said as he drifted off, “I’m so happy … we’re together … Elder Elder … Elder … Elder …”

Then I sat in silence for a few minutes going through the events of the day. A trip to Pusan, a whole mission conference, the Rotary Club, then back to Taegu, and finally Dong-Chil’s house. It was indeed a long day. And yet only the smallest echo of the great adventures that remained ahead of us for the upcoming five months we’d be together.

I drifted off to sleep, myself, my head full of all kinds of happy thoughts.

Next adventure: The Ambush

How to Progress with Imperfections

Early on in my music education, I had resisted anything that was not traditional tonal music. My freshman year at BYU, I was talking with one of the music professors: Dr. Sargent, and I confided in him my concerns. I told him how this atonal, 12-tone, and other "experiments" were ugly garbage. He agreed with me -- to a fashion. I can't remember exactly how he put it, but he definitely praised the value of "tonal" music.

So, for most of that first year, Dr. Sargent was my secret confidant in the music department. We had the other professors fooled. They could have their atonal music, and we would continue on pushing for excellent tonal music. But then something strange happened.

Dr. Sargent (and others) helped me to gain an appreciation for new music. I came to learn that it wasn't "ugly," but rather "beautiful." So -- when the time had passed, it appeared that Dr. Sargent had been with the other music professors that whole time!

For a couple of years after that, I wondered why Dr. Sargent had agreed with me. Was it a flat out lie? I don't think so. All he did was say that tonal music was awesome -- and he wasn't wrong. He could have instead stood up right there and then to defend atonal music, but he knew I wasn't ready to hear it. He could have pushed me away. Instead, he decided to tell me what I needed to hear as he incrementally helped me to get where I needed to be. The whole time, he saw the potential in my music, and he knew what I could one day accomplish.

Here's another thing to consider ... I'm currently having my teeth moved -- kind of like adult braces. You may have seen "clear-liners," such as this from my third tray:

Over a year, I must progress through a series of 25 trays. At the end, my teeth will be straight. But take a look at that third tray. My teeth are still crooked. So, the questions arise: Why does this tray insist to maintain some of my imperfections? Is it saying that it's okay to be imperfect? Why can't I just stick in my last tray and be done with it?

As you can probably guess, if I were to jump all the way to the fulness of the straightening, it would probably crack my teeth, cause great pain, or even cause some teeth to fall out. My teeth just aren't ready for the full straightening. This can only be accomplished by incremental steps, preserving some of my imperfections along the way. But at the end, the imperfections will be gone.

Take a look at my current tray, the sixth tray:

It looks a lot like tray #3, but my teeth are a tiny bit straighter -- and believe me, it's already been a journey to get this far (and for so little movement)!

Likewise, as we turn to God in prayer and ask for His guidance, He will lead us in increments. He will tell us what we're ready to learn. None of us is ready to know all the truths and secrets of heaven. He may tell us we're on the right path, even when an aspect of that path is incorrect -- because He will preserve our imperfections until we're ready to proceed past them -- as long as we're generally going in the right direction.

I'm just grateful for God's patience in dealing with us -- His imperfect followers. As long as we stick with Him, He will stick with us and lead us to perfection in the end.

Are We Worthy of Zion?

Did you know that the early Latter-day Saints tried to practice something similar to socialism? 

This all happened from around 1831-1834. During this time, the Saints were split mainly between Kirtland, Ohio (the majority) and Independence, Missouri (a small but growing community). 

The Saints in Kirtland tried out something called the United Order. This was based somewhat on 4 Nephi 1:2-3, right after Christ visited the North American inhabitants: "... and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another. And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift."

If you'd like to know a little more about the United Order, and how it compares to Socialism, this seems like a good article -- but the details are not in the scope of this entry I'm writing. In a nutshell, the Saints tried it. The main goal was to make sure that the poor were taken care of. It kind of worked, but then it failed.

At the same time, the Saints in Independence (Jackson County) were building up Zion, the New Jerusalem -- which would become a great city that would one day usher in the Second Coming of the Lord, and all kinds of other good stuffs. In a sense, Independence was marked by revelation to be our Jerusalem on the North American continent -- just as the original Jerusalem is to the Jews (and Mecca to the Muslims). And this also failed. 

The original citizens of Independence didn't like the "Mormons," mainly because these new folks in town didn't like slavery. During this time, Missouri was a slave state -- the first that the Saints tried to settle, and they tended to be abolitionists. The Independence folks feared that if too many Mormons came into town, they'd be too much of a voting block to threaten their way of life -- so they used illegal means to persecute the Saints (usually in the form of mobs attacking with guns, destroying houses, tarring and feathering, and so on). By 1834, the Saints were pretty much driven out of "Zion" into the neighboring county of Clay.

The Doctrine and Covenants captures both of these failures nearly simultaneously. Section 104 appears to be a sort of dissolution of the United Order. And Section 105 is about delaying the building up of Zion. Yet in both cases, there seems to be a sense of "this will all be back." The United Order is expected to be a thing in the future. 

And Independence is still marked as our Zion. The promised temple will be built, and then it will become the New Jerusalem -- Second Coming -- and all that. In fact, just about any Saint today knows to say, "We know the Second Coming can't happen until the temple is built in Independence. If we ever start construction over there, then whoa Nellie! Y'all better watch out."

"But wait!" is what I expect from my non-LDS friends. "Isn't Salt Lake City your Mecca?" I suppose right now it is. It's definitely built up as a major congregation of Latter-day Saints -- with plenty of tourist-related sites to see. It's where we hold our Conferences. It's where our core church buildings reside. It's also where we store the majority of our disaster relief supplies. Right now it appears to be our Zion.

But it isn't. The revelations from the D&C are clear about this. And this has always bothered me -- or at least made me wonder. After the Extermination Order was rescinded in 1976, why did my Latter-day Saint friends not flock back over to Zion, and take it back? Why do they seem content to stay in Salt Lake City? With hundreds of temples being built all over the world, why can't they seem to build one more in Independence?

A few years ago while taking one of my kids out to BYU, we visited the Independence area. Our church has a visitor center there, and there were hardly any people in it -- nothing compared to Salt Lake City. (That was kind of nice.)

Now imagine four corners. (It's not quite four corners, but it's close.) The visitor's center is in the southeast corner. There's basically nothing in the southwest -- forget it even exists.

In the northeast corner, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ (now called the Community of Christ) has built a remarkable temple. (I got to play the organ in there -- couldn't resist playing some "Interstellar" -- much to the chagrin of the organist.) 

This Reorganized church I mention is the second-largest church of Latter-day Saints -- a branch that remained in the Independence when the majority left to Salt Lake City. The ones who remained behind were led by Emma Smith (wife of Joseph) and her son, Joseph Smith III. 

Some might think that this temple fulfills the requirement for Zion, but two problems: #1) my church thinks it's the wrong church. The "original" Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints needs to be the ones to build the temple. And #2) it's in the wrong lot.

For that, you must go to the northwest corner. There, you can see the cornerstones that were laid in the early 1830s. And the rest is an empty field -- except for some kind of museum that was closed at the time we visited. That lot of land is owned by yet another branch of Latter-day Saints with much, much fewer membership.

So, yeah -- our "official" church, with the vast majority of membership of all Latter-day Saint sects, doesn't own the land. So we can't build. (Dang these stupid laws.) Kind of sounds like a watered-down version of the religious strife and conflicting claims happening in Jerusalem now.

Supposedly when the time is right, we're supposed to return to Independence, but not before other things happen. And in reading in the D&C lately, I believe that I may have found a major answer to my questions.

D&C 105:3-5:

But behold, they have not learned to be obedient to the things which I required at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of their substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and afflicted among them; And are not united according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom; And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself.

In other words: if we want Zion to happen, we have to be better people. Thus, taking care of the poor isn't just a nice thing to do -- it's kind of a requirement. Unity -- also a requirement.

It's another reminder that being a Christian, or even a member of the "True Church," alone, is not sufficient enough a requirement to enter into Zion. We have to ... actually be Christian.

As long as we ignore the poor and leave them to themselves, and act with contention toward our family, friends, and neighbors, we really aren't worthy for Zion.

And yes -- I realize that my church participates in an enormous effort to combat poverty and homelessness. I believe most churches do. But many of the Christian membership does not necessarily share this same devotion. I hear often comments like, "The poor choose to be where they are." Or: "We should give our money to the rich so that it flows down to the poor in the form of jobs and charity." But in each case, it's really passing the buck on to others who care about the poor. And is this the best we can do?

Either way, the revelation is clear -- if we're unable to impart of our substance and unite with others, then we'll just have to wait till later to have Zion.

The Word of Wisdom

For this month's spiritual thought, I'd like to touch on my church's Word of Wisdom. Looking back, I'm surprised I hadn't broached this subject, as by far, it is the answer to the most popular questions I receive from people who are not members of my church.

I don't know how many times I've heard the following ...

Is it true that you're not allowed to drink coffee?

You can't even have a little wine?

Can you drink Coke?

But you can drink hot chocolate? Doesn't it also have caffeine?

Isn't the Church using these rules to control you?

Well -- here we go...

Perhaps one of the best ways to understand this counsel is to read it from the source: D&C 89. (Which was part of our weekly reading a couple of weeks ago.)

To summarize, this revelation received by the Lord, states the following:

• An introduction -- not a commandment, even the weak can follow.
• Avoid the following -- alcohol, tobacco, hot drinks (coffee and tea).
• Consume the following -- wholesome herbs, meat (sparingly), grain, fruit.
• Promises -- health, wisdom, treasures of knowledge, no weariness, destroying angel will pass by.

One thing to realize is that initially, this was not a commandment. It was given as advice. Do this, and you will get these blessings. Immediately after the revelation was received, many of brethren threw out their pipes and tobacco. However, there were some reports that some still continued some of the alcohol and perhaps some tobacco, even including Joseph Smith, himself, but not so much in excess.

It was only later that it was adopted as more of a commandment. Today, if you do not follow the Word of Wisdom, it is difficult to have your temple recommend renewed, which means you can't enter the temples.

Also, many don't realize that the Word of Wisdom also contains the section on eating healthy, which is as important, if not more important than the avoidance list. And if you think about it, wouldn't it make sense? If you eat healthy, then you'll actually ... be ... healthy?

It is only when you consider the whole of the entire revelation that one can see the sense of it all. When I'm barraged by all the nit-picky questions (doesn't chocolate have caffeine in it?), I try to explain how they're looking at the trees in the forest. The guidance wasn't meant to be a list of specifics -- only general guidelines.

Overall, I do feel the blessings of following the guidance. The outcome seems worth following the guidance. 

A funny story from my past ... when I was a teenager, a neighbor came over to my house, challenging me to a race. This other teenager was someone known to smoke, and also possibly did drugs. He was stronger than me, and just wanted to be a jerk -- wanted to show that he could run faster. So, we raced, and I won handily. He said, "No way. This is because you're a Mormon, isn't it? You have that Word of Wisdom thing." Yeah -- this really happened.

It's not that I'm a fast runner, and I still get weary. (I may not be the most healthy eater.) But there do exist people -- even those who are not of my church, who inadvertently follow the Word of Wisdom better than I do. So, anyone can follow and benefit. Good things make you healthy. Bad things make you unhealthy.

Finally -- I pointed this out in a recent testimony. With the coronavirus pandemic, most of the people who have died have done so with underlying comorbidities. In other words, if you catch the virus, and if you're already unhealthy, you have a smaller chance of being able to fight the infection, and you have a greater chance of dying.

When you look at each of the 50 US states, there's one state that stands out. Members of my church out west (bless their hearts) are notorious for not avoiding the coronavirus. At the time I bore my testimony a few weeks ago, Utah was in the top 5 states of the most cases per capita. Due to the Delta outbreak, Utah has now fallen to 10th place, with some southern states overcoming it.

But when you look at deaths per capita, Utah comes in at the bottom 5. And when you divide official deaths by official cases, Utah comes in with the 2nd lowest observed death rate. So, even though Utah did terribly in controlling the pandemic, they did have an amazingly low death rate -- evidence that the Word of Wisdom has helped many of my church members to weather this storm and survive. 

So -- Word of Wisdom -- perhaps you should check it out. Be healthy and prosper.

Does Your Heart Fail You?

As much as I long to write a spiritual thought having nothing to do with the pandemic, this is not one of those times.

This past week, my church has released a statement urging everyone to wear masks and to be vaccinated. Since this is such a short statement, I'll include the entirety of its body here:

We find ourselves fighting a war against the ravages of COVID-19 and its variants, an unrelenting pandemic. We want to do all we can to limit the spread of these viruses. We know that protection from the diseases they cause can only be achieved by immunizing a very high percentage of the population.

To limit exposure to these viruses, we urge the use of face masks in public meetings whenever social distancing is not possible. To provide personal protection from such severe infections, we urge individuals to be vaccinated. Available vaccines have proven to be both safe and effective.

We can win this war if everyone will follow the wise and thoughtful recommendations of medical experts and government leaders. Please know of our sincere love and great concern for all of God’s children.

In my own humble opinion, this announcement should have been made months ago, but I can also see their wisdom in waiting. As it happened, a few members of the Church have responded with hostility and much antagonism. I think Church leaders took the chance now to make this announcement only because of the urgency of Delta.

Actually, I think most of the members are taking this announcement in the correct light and taking measures. My area is now going to enforce the wearing of masks in church, and I expect this will be the case across the US and in other countries heavily bombarded by Delta. I've also read from some members saying that even though they have resisted masks and vaccines, they will now mask up and get vaccinated because the prophets have told them to. With this in mind, I expect to see vaccination rates increase in Utah.

Some people have even likened this announcement to Moses' placing the brass snake up for people to look to and live -- a concept I mentioned a few months ago. (Heh.)

However, the few members who are reeling are very loud on social media, and I'll go ahead and say it: the anger is coming from all sides.

Those who tend to be anti-mask and anti-vax are saying that the Church leaders are overreaching and becoming too political. Some have said that they will stop coming to church (which is kind-of an empty statement when most units are still broadcasting sacrament meetings). Some feel attacked -- they see this announcement as a type of "get with the program or else" message. They feel pressured and judged by their own peers.

Those who have strived to follow the mask and vaccine instructions are angry at the first group for being "selfish," or "hard-hearted," or for helping to prolong the pandemic. I've even read some comments that say that these people are guilty of manslaughter and how God is going to judge them harshly. Yeah -- wowzers.

Even in my music world, this Church announcement has triggered near-vigorous debates as to whether or not ward choir directors should help enforce and urge the wearing of masks and getting vaccinated. The moderators in that group have even had to moderate both sides from getting out of hand.

Reading all these surprising comments has put more hair on my chest, and it makes me think: are we this bad that we can't handle a simple announcement from our leaders? Why are so many people taking it so personally and reading so much into the announcement that just isn't in there?

And then this morning I read from our weekly reading (D&C 88:91):

And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men's hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people.

And then I realized: we members of the Church are not immune. If we are living a Christlike life and holding to the Gospel, then there is no need to fear. No need to be contentious, judgmental, nor condemning.

If you haven't read last month's post, I strongly recommend it for today's time. Especially note the part where I express concern where I may be judged for possibly pushing people away from the truth and closer to death.

When it comes down to it, the statement is just three old guys who are concerned over the safety of the members they are leading, one of whom is a very knowledgeable and experienced medical professional. There is nothing at all political in the statement. It is a desperate call for action against a foe in a "war" that we're currently losing. They aren't mandating anything. They're in no way threatening to take away anyone's temple recommends. They are simply asking us all to chip in and do our parts. That's right -- asking. Lift where we stand.

And we can do whatever we want with it. If we don't want to get vaccinated, we can simply just wear a mask at church. If we don't want to mask up, we can watch church from home. Whatever we're willing to do, the Church is doing its best to make sure we can all participate so we can enjoy all the blessings church attendance provides.

I wish you all well. I also ask you to watch your hearts, and make sure they don't fail. This by no means means that all discussion has to stop. But we should make sure to continue loving our neighbors, and we can get through this together.

We Are All Being Tested

My church has this belief. One of the biggest purposes in life is to learn how we react to a plethora of different situations. In other words, we're being tested. In the last days, God will judge how we did in life, and we will receive a reward accordingly. 

The Bible teaches that in heaven there are many mansions (John 14:2), which means the rewards are variable. If we are valiant and faithful in this life, the rewards can be many. If we are lazy or just all around terrible people, then the rewards can be fewer. It's not so much a binary heaven/hell thing, but something more like a continuum of different levels of reward, so that in the end, we can receive perfect rewards that fit how well we do.

And the thing is -- it is ultimately God's job to judge. It is very easy for all of us to misjudge others, especially when we do not know all the details. There could very well be a person who I see as "terrible" and "unrighteous," who in the eyes of God is worth the highest rewards. Then perhaps if I knew a little more about that person, I would understand why that person is different than he seems.

I know that I've struggled these past couple of years as the human race has been dealing ineffectively with the coronavirus epidemic. Even though we have years of experience in fighting these situations, we also got hit by a lot of misinformation that confused a lot of people -- causing many to throw out the standard pandemic rule book. Thus, many behaved in ways that actually helped to drastically increase death and pain.

So, I'm quick to judge particularly those who intentionally propagated misinformation, as I know their actions did increase death and pain. But then when I dig in, I find out that many of them feel that they're following their own well-meaning missions -- to protect freedoms and to call for sanity. Even if it did lead to more death, is God going to count these actions against them when they, to their own knowledge, felt that they were only doing what they thought was right?

And what if I helped to increase death by pushing people away from doing what minimized death? What if I helped some people not to put on masks or not get vaccinated? Could these actions of mine count against me?

Only God knows our hearts. And only he can judge. The best we can do is to continue to love each other no matter what.

The only thing I know for certain these days is that we're being tested. COVID19 is a test. Our entire toxic political environment is a test. These droughts and floods are tests. They are all opportunities for us to show the best of ourselves, or to fail miserably.

However, there is one person on Earth who may be most qualified to judge you, second to God. And that would be you, yourself. Nobody knows the full ins and outs of what we believe than ourselves. It may be a biased view most of the time, but if we dig into our hearts and get past all the bias, we all really know deep down how well we're doing. Or at least we can always perform a self-assessment.

We can always ask: "How did I do during the pandemic? How am I treating my political opponents? How am I loving my neighbor? Am I helping or hurting?" Chances are very good that God will judge consistently with how we honestly view ourselves deep down in our hearts.

So -- if you're worried about how well you're doing, just remember -- we can always do a self-assessment and then you can always get a good sense of what to work on next. We can pass the next tests that come along our paths.

Looking Back on Spiritual Thoughts

It's been almost a full year that I've been doing weekly spiritual thoughts ... and then a vacation happens, I miss a couple of weeks, and now I'm rethinking.

Overall, it's been a fun campaign. Some of my posts were pretty decent and thought-provoking. Others were kind of meh. Sometimes I felt that I was just checking off a box -- picking some random topic and blah-blah-blah-ing for 30 minutes. And sometimes I felt that I had more to say.

It's also gotten my post count up -- 2021 is already my biggest year -- more posts in this blog than in any other year. But now, looking back, I see absolutely zero progress in my other projects planned for this blog -- such as my upcoming "The Adventures of Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin" series, and my unnamed "Why I'm a Mormon" book. Also, I want to make sure that everything I produce is quality instead of quantity, so you'll feel like you're actually getting something when you read my blog.

So, instituting changes -- I'll continue having 30-minute sessions (or up to 60-minutes) each Sunday in which I'm working on something, and then when I finish something, I'll post. And I'll also make sure to include monthly spiritual thoughts (instead of weekly) to make sure you get at least one post a month. It'll be fewer posts, but overall, I hope it increases the quality -- and we can have more fun.

Forgiveness Is Required

This week's reading is another reminder that no one is perfect. Think of any of your friends -- and chances are very high that they have sinned against you, and you have sinned against them. And then think about how the two of you react. Do you get over the sins and get on with your friendship, or do one of you (or both) let it fester and allow it to tear apart your friendship?

From this week's reading:

I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men. (D&C 64:10)

The message is clear: we should be forgiving -- no matter what. I try my best to forgive, but I'm not always successful.

I find it hardest to forgive someone who just won't repent. You may know the type. They're always right. They refuse to apologize, but it's really "you" who sinned. They're angry at you no matter what you say. And when you do apologize, they rub it in your face and sometimes capitalize on your "weaknesses." I've even had people say to me that my sincere apology is fake -- full of flowery words. And then I realize that they just generally hate me and they somehow need that hate. How do you forgive these types of people? I usually end up letting them drift away and eventually forget about them. 

Also, we humans are built with this thing called "memory." It's a very useful tool in our day-to-day survival. If we can remember what hurts us, we can learn to avoid those situations and avoid further hurt. This seems counter to forgiveness. Because if someone stabs us in the back, it becomes very hard to trust that person anymore. It would seem wisdom not to associate with that person anymore.

But here's the rub -- in Jeremiah 31:34, the Lord says: "for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." So, sometimes -- yes, if we truly forgive someone, it would include forgetting as well -- sometimes realizing that we could be opening ourselves to more hurt later on.

In watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy this past week, I'm reminded by all the Christian overtones (and surprisingly, a lot of "Mormonism" as well). Gandalf tells Frodo to have mercy on Gollum, as the monster halfling (Gollum) still had a part to play. And throughout the story, Frodo forgives Gollum several times, while Sam is slow to do so. At one point (as Jackson presents it), Sam's lack of trust helps to push Gollum back over to the evil side. Frodo's forgiveness allows for a favorable ending.

Also, I noted how someone of Rohan says "Why should we help Gondor when they didn't come to our aid?" But they ride nonetheless. Again -- forgiveness saves the day.

People often equate forgiving someone as being freed of chains. That is -- we bind ourselves when we choose not to forgive. And I can testify -- that hundreds, if not thousands of times, I have forgiven many -- sometimes the same person several times, and the vast majority of the time, it works out much better for the two of us.

Because ... when it comes down to it ... nothing's more important that our interactions with other people as we help each other throughout life.

So -- think about it -- is there someone you know who needs your forgiveness? Can you find a way to forgive them, and free yourself? 

What are your thoughts?