Written by Carter: I trained a new mission president (and his wife) over Zoom on how to use the Church’s medical software to monitor and care for missionaries’ health. They will serve in Fiji…whenever they are able to travel there. Not coincidentally, they live about 15 minutes away from where Jacob and Gracia live! They asked if they could deliver a gift when Jacob Antonio is born in the near future. What a kind offer!   

We also had dinner at the home of a couple in our ward who have done a lot of traveling around New Zealand. They gave us some tips if/when we are able to travel again. We’d like to go next to Wellington, on the south end of the north island.   

Another night, we had dinner with two other senior missionary couples who wanted us to give them tips on traveling around Queenstown. One of the “hidden blessings” of serving a senior mission is all the fantastic friends we have made with other missionaries, members and other neighbors in the areas where we have served. Those friends have been a tremendous blessing for us!   

Yesterday was my New Zealand birthday and today was my US birthday…so I have celebrated for two days! Yesterday, Faye made my favorite chocolate cake (see a previous post about that) and we had four other senior missionaries over to help eat it and to play Five Crowns, a very fun card game. Today, Faye made my favorite meal: pork chops! And I had some more chocolate cake!   

I’ve been memorizing some scriptures about marriage. I’m realizing increasingly what a precious gift Faye is from God to me! May I pay her a tribute? Ecclesiastes 9:9 says this: “Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.” To me, that says that one of my main purposes in life is to live joyfully with Faye! Proverbs 31:10-12 says this: “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.” Wow! What a blessing to be able to safely and implicitly trust in Faye!   

After meetings today, we visited the 84-year-old widow we told you about in a previous post. She is such a delightful person (“lovely” is what they would say here)! We had a wonderful visit! She shared some touching experiences she had recently. I felt honored that she trusted us enough to share them.   

I’ve been participating in Tommy Newberry’s “40-Day Joy Challenge” for the third time. This time, Candace is my accountability buddy; that alone has been awesome! In one of the sessions, I made a goal to postpone my worrying to a specific time. I don’t think I worry excessively, but I do worry sometimes. I was reminded of Scarlett O’Hara from “Gone with the Wind,” who said, “I can’t think about that right now…I’ll think about that tomorrow!” I decided to set my timer for 5 minutes, close my eyes and think “What if/worst-case scenarios.” I found the best time to do that is in the morning, right after breakfast. That’s when I feel the best and when the worrying is least likely to “get away from me.” It has been an almost-fun experience to have this time set aside! Often I’m done before the timer goes off.   

In another lesson, Tommy encouraged me to ask myself joy-producing questions. Most recently, I’ve been thinking this to myself when drying off after my shower: “What are four of my best strengths, and how could I use them more often in the next week?” It has been fun to think about how I can use the strengths God has given me to try to bless others. When we served in the Peru Mission Training Center, Faye  attended a Relief Society class (for women) where she made a list of my positive traits and gave me the list. Being a “words of affirmation” person, I still have that list in my wallet. I used the traits on the list when asking myself this question in the shower.   

Here’s an inspirational quote from a recent video devotional for the area office employees and senior missionaries: “Life is so generous a giver, but we, judging its gifts by their covering, cast them away as ugly or heavy or hard.  Remove the covering and you will find beneath it a living splendor, woven of love, by wisdom, with power. Welcome it, grasp it, and you touch the angel’s hand that brings it to you. Everything we call a trial, a sorrow, or a duty, believe me, that angel’s hand is there; the gift is there, and the wonder of an overshadowing presence.” Fra Giovanni, a 16th-century priest and scholar.   

My favorite scripture this week is Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” What a promise! I believe it with all my heart! I have experienced it personally and have witnessed it happening to others!   

My favorite thought for the week: How do I build my faith? By doing what God asks me to do even/especially when I don’t know why. That may be some of what Hebrews 12:2 and Moroni 6:4 are talking about when they say that Jesus is “…the author of my faith…”; it’s not just me believing. Christ is actively involved in helping me grow my faith.   

I witness that Joseph Smith was given the gift and power of God to translate an ancient record: the Book of Mormon — Another Testament of Jesus Christ. As I’ve stated before, I believe that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and a companion scripture to the Bible in testifying of Christ.