We're Home!

On August 29, we started our last 2 weeks of working in the Cochabamba Temple. Our last 2 Sundays in Cochabamba ended up being interesting. We found out the first one was one of the days where no one was allowed to drive during the day. That included taxis, buses, and cars. That occurs three times during the year. They call it Dia de los peatones. We had a short Sacrament Meeting with the Temple Presidency in the Hospedaje. Martin had wanted to return to Jaihuayco Ward. So the last Sunday we went back there, but it was Stake Conference, so we didn't really get to see the people to whom we had wanted to say goodbye. The Salazars were speaking, and offered us a ride home. And that was it. My last Sunday with everything in Spanish.

Enjoying our last few weeks at the Cochabamba Temple

I'm just throwing this picture in here because I had said earlier I would post a picture
of the "hippy house" across the street from the temple. It was a very interesting house.

Family Home Evening with Mauricio and Varinia Parrilla Lara.
I'm sure they will be some of our forever friends.

Our last night in Cochabamba. Hermano Zuniga picked us up, and we went to dinner with
him and Hermanos Ibanez. We will miss our good friends in Cochabamba who have all been
so kind to us.

On the first Sunday night we went to the Lara's for our last visit with them. I could communicate with Varinia  a little better than I did when we spent Christmas Eve with them. Martin gave the Family Home Evening lesson, and then we had Bolivian hot chocolate and treats. We will miss their family. We have enjoyed seeing them in the temple, and spending time with them.

On Tuesday we heard that there was a hurricane forming in the Caribbean, that might be headed for Florida. Hurricane Irma ended up being one of the worst hurricanes to hit for many years. It decimated several Caribbean Islands, and then tore through Florida and did a lot of damage. We were worried about all the people affected. Many lost their homes and belongings. Maddie, and the other missionaries in Miami were housed in a church for 2 days and were protected there. 

During that last week I continued to pack and clean. Hermana Cespedes and Hermana Vasquez made Papas a la Hicancayna (vegetables with peanut sauce) and sopa de al cabella de angel. Another day Sister Vasquez showed me how to make sopa de mani. (peanut soup). Friday I got sick. I missed working in the temple Friday, and half of Saturday. I went for the last half of my shift on the last day we were there. I was very disappointed, but thankful to be there for the last few hours. It is hard to leave a temple that you have spent so much time in, and made good friends that you enjoyed working with. I sat in the Celestial Room for awhile.

Eating some wonderful Bolivian food made by expert cooks,
Hermana Vasquez and Hermana Cespedes

Juana cooking Sopa de mani

Our good friends who lived in the Hospedaje as our dear neighbors, and worked in

the temple with us. We love them dearly and will miss all of them.

Angel y Juana Vasquez

Elder Sixto y  Hermana Alejandra Batioja

Presidente Luis y Rosario Garcia
President of the Cochabamba Temple
They live in an apartment behind the hospedaje

Martin y Isabel Paredes

Pedro y Sonia Escobar

Presidente Rogelio y Blanca Coca - first counselor in the temple presidency

Valentina Zambrana y Felicita Quispe 

Sister Susan Farnsworth and me

Elder Martin and Sylvia Harris

My sweet friend, Hermana Ramos came to see me before we left.
You don't even have to speak the same language to be good friends.
She has rheumatoid arthritis. She doesn't have the ability to take the medications
Martin does for his, so she suffers with a smile on her face.

My friend Fanny Ruth Zurita Lopez from the Amancayas Sacaba Ward also came to
see me and brought me gifts. She is one of the friendliest people I have met. 

Monday, we found out our flight might still fly. It would be one of the first flights to land after the hurricane. They had cancelled flights for 4 days. We went out to eat Monday night with Hermano Zuniga, and Hermano and Hermana Ibanez. 

I was so thankful for the help of Sister Farnsworth on Tuesday, Sept 12,  to empty out my fridge, take things to neighbors, and finish cleaning for me after we left. I would have been in big trouble without her help. I will really miss her. We had some good times together. 

We made our flights. Miami airport was almost empty. They didn't even take us through customs. We were thankful to have made it, but were so sad to see the damage. From Miami, we flew to Minneapolis  and spent 4 days with Kaylynn, Daniel, Tyson, and Jace. We were so happy to meet Jace. He is 9 months old, and such a sweet baby. We enjoyed it.

President Garcia seeing us off at the Cochabamba airport.

We felt so blessed to be able to land in Miami just a few days after a terrible
hurricane had hit them. Many people had water in their houses and no electricity. They didn't
even have the customs set up yet. That was fine with me. Our stuff was searched twice in Bolivia. I really enjoyed
having my belongings all placed for everyone to see on a table. They looked at everything! Lots of fun.

Most of the damage we could see in the airport was water damage through the ceiling.

Leaving Miami in the morning, I could see why a hurricane could be so destructive. 

We spent 4 days in Minneapolis with Kaylynn and Daniel.

We had fun with Tyson and got to meet our newest grandchild, Jace.
Luckily he liked us. He is a good natured, smiley guy. They have on their
Bolivian vests.

Our welcoming committee at about 11:00 PM on Saturday night, Sept 16, 2017.
We appreciated Cherie and Jason coming that late at night to get us, and for
the great job they did of taking care of our house while we were gone.

WE'RE HOME!

We arrived in Boise Saturday night, September 16, at about 10:30 PM. Cherie and Jason picked us up at the airport. It was good to be home. 

Sunday morning we met with the High Council at 8:00, and then President Maybon released us in his office. We took off our missionary badges for the second time. We are thankful for the opportunity we have had to serve the Lord in the Cochabamba Temple, Bolivia.

Our time of mission service was September 13, 2016-September 12, 2017.

Some have wanted to read Sylvia's sacrament meeting talk. For those who might be interested, here it is. Martin spoke on Ordinances and Covenants, but he spoke from notes so we are not including it here.

Saved by Grace

Sylvia’s Sacrament Meeting Talk 20170924

We just returned from serving a 1-year temple mission in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Bolivia is 1 of 2 landlocked countries in South America. It is surrounded by Peru, Brazil, Argentina, and Chili. This temple is the only temple in Bolivia, and is somewhat centrally located in the country, but not necessarily easy to get to because of the Andes mountains. Members come great distances from the surrounding countries, and from all over Bolivia to go to the temple. It is a third world country, with much poverty. There are two native languages spoken there besides Spanish. Many of them carry their belonging on their backs in a blanket, as has been the tradition for many years. There was a variety of interesting people who came to the temple. It was an amazing experience. We were very blessed to live in a nice, comfortable, modern apartment on the temple grounds. We learned many things in Bolivia. I am so thankful for those things.

Grace is a beautiful woman’s name in both English and Spanish. In Spanish it is Gracia. I love that word. If you add an s to Gracia, you have gracias, which means thank you. That was one of the words I used the most in trying to speak Spanish. Some words can get you in trouble, (like when I told Hermana Coca, a member of the temple presidency, that I was going to give her a shower instead of I was going to take a shower) Those kind of things happened to me all the time. But, you can hardly ever go wrong with gracias.

I learned some great things about Grace during the past year. I would like to share a couple of them with you.

The first happened right after I got to Bolivia. We met the other missionaries at family home evening. The black name tags only have last names on them, so nothing clicked then. But, the first day in the temple I looked at Sister Farnsworths name tag. Then I realized who she was. She was the person who for over 30 years I had wanted to have her forgiveness. In fact, just a couple weeks before I had given a talk in Sacrament meeting about forgiveness, and in the back of my mind I wished for an opportunity to meet her again and ask for her forgiveness. I won’t give a lot of details, but it was over a house and there were those economic, financial issues, where there wasn’t a good solution at the time, there seemed to be only bad, worse, and worst. So, any way you looked at it, it wasn’t going to turn out well. I have felt bad about the outcome for years, and especially that I could have acted better. I still learned good things from it that have helped me in other situations through the years. It still helped me to be a better person. I just didn’t have the courage to try and track her down, and ask for her forgiveness.

So, the Lord gave me some of his grace, and sent us both to Bolivia-that was no coincidence. Elder Bednar says that there are no coincidences in the work of the Lord. I went to her apartment as soon as I could find her at home. I asked for her forgiveness. She said she had given it to me long ago, and that when she found out we might come there, she prayed us there. She told me that what had happened ended up being a good thing for them-although that did not justify some of my actions. I still needed her forgiveness. We have become the best of friends. We needed each other in Bolivia, and I truly love her. I know that the Savior can fill the nail holes, and the scars, and completely take them away. I know that we can learn from bad experiences, and they are for our good if we accept the grace of Jesus Christ through his atonement. Grace is power.

My father died about 4 years ago while we were on our mission in Uruguay. That was very hard for me to be so far away. We all miss him every day. While I was in Bolivia my mother sent us an email. She had been going through the letters my father had written home and found one where he talks about being on a Navy ship during World War 2. My father grew up in an alcoholic, part member family, where his mother had also been inactive. Neighbors and friends and taken him to church some. For some reason he decided to pull the Book of Mormon out of the bottom of his duffle bag, which I’m sure took some effort, and started reading it. I don’t know exactly how my father came to the conclusion that the Book of Mormon was true, but I know what that conclusion was by the way he lived the rest of his life. My father took advantage of the grace of his Savior. He received a free gift which the Savior could offer him because of his atonement. He made a choice, repented, and never looked back. I believe my father had to make that decision only once. Many people have to make it more than once, but every time, the Savior will wrap his arms around us and give us the gift of grace, if we wil ltake it. Many of us misread the scriptures that we have to be perfect, or we can’t receive Christ’s help. Just the opposite is true. Being perfect is a process to become like the Savior. I’m so thankful that my father didn’t just tell himself, “I have made mistakes for over 20 years, I can never receive forgiveness, I better just keep making the same mistakes.” He put his trust in the Savior, and the Savior took all his sins upon himself. He will do the same for us, our sins, our trials, our sorrows, our mistakes. It is our choice to give them to him. His grace is sufficient for all of us.

In his April 2016 General Conference talk “Tomorrow the Lord Will Do Wonders among You.” Jeffrey R. Holland says in part, “Verily I say unto you, the gifts of God are given for the benefit of those who love me and keep...my commandments, and for them that seeketh so to do” Boy, aren’t we all thankful for that added provision “and seeketh so to do! That has been a lifesaver because sometimes that is all we can offer! We take some solace in the fact that if God were to reward only the perfectly faithful, He wouldn’t have much of a distribution list.

“The Lord blesses those who want to improve, who accept the need for commandments and try to keep them, who cherish Christlike virtures and strive to the best of their ability to acquire them. If you stumble in that pursuit, so does everyone; the Savior is there to help you keep going. If you fall, summon His strength. Call out like Alma; “O Jesus...have mercy on me.” He will help you get back up. He will help you repent, repair, fix, whatever you have to fix, and keep going. Soon enough you will have the success you seek.

...to qualify for these blessings, we must make certain we do not deny them to others; we are to deal justly, never unjustly, never unfairly, we are to walk humbly, never arrogantly, never pridefully, we are to judge righteously, never self-righteously, never unrighteously.” (End of quote by President Holland)

He then states that we should keep extending the grace that we receive to our neighbor.

Listen to or read the talks in General Conference, they will help you to be successful in following Christ.

I recently read some articles by someone who has left the church. In one of them she goes through some of the bad things that people have said to someone who is struggling at church. It was tugging at my heart because I know at one time or another, we have all said or done something at church that hurt someone else. I know I have. We can learn to be more like the Savior. Jesus would let his children play with the nonmember children. Jesus would be happy to see all the sinners enter his church, which is all of us. Jesus showed love to everyone, even those who taunted, abused, and even eventually killed him. Everyone who walks through the door of this church should be greeted with smiles and love. If we show grace to everyone, we can help them to feel welcome. We should all remember Christ’s admonition, “He who is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” Sometimes that stone casting is just in our minds, sometimes it comes through our mouths, or an expression we have on our faces. If we listen and follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost, we can have the spirit in our meetings, and people will feel his presence. We should see lots of smiles!

We can show grace by not judging others, or the church by their mistakes. There is a lot of judging going on of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and many other members because of mistakes or perceived mistakes they made. There are quite a few sections in the Doctrine and Covenants where the Lord was chastising the leaders and telling them to repent. We should leave that kind of judging to the Lord.

One of the things I didn’t thank my father for at the time-but I do now, was that he made us all take debate. (He was a lawyer) I was terrible at debate. But I learned some very good principles from it. In debate you gather up as much information about your assigned topic as you can. Then you are assigned to defend one side of the issue. One time you will be for the issue, and the next time you will debate against the issue. Using practically the same materials, you will pick out what parts of it to use, and argue your case as convincingly as you can. We each have to decide what side of the debate we chose to be on. It will determine which direction we go.

In deciding which side of the debate to be on, we have to decide who we will follow. There are some very outspoken, prominent people right now who are leading many away from the church. I have recently seen some articles where some of the people who followed them out of the church, are now criticizing them for some of the same things they criticize our leaders for. There are no perfect people. There are circumstances in church history where people made mistakes, some of them big mistakes. Joseph Smith talked about his mistakes and imperfections. The Lord only has imperfect people to work with. Even though Joseph Smith was not perfect, the Lord used him to restore his gospel on the earth. God accepted his work and showed him grace and allowed him to repent when he made mistakes, just like he does for us.

We can show grace by not judging others, or the church by their mistakes. There are quite a few sections in the Doctrine and Covenants, and all of the other scriptures, too, where the Lord was chastising the leaders and telling them to repent. We should leave that kind of judging to the Lord.

I want to be on the side of the debate that my Savior is on. I have been learning more this past year how to do that better.

In the last General Conference in President Nelson ‘s talk, titled “Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into our lives”, he talked about reading and underlining all of the scriptures listed in the topical guide under the subject of Jesus Christ. There are 18 pages of them. He said it made him a different man. I bought myself a blue pencil, and tried it myself. It has made me a different person. There are no discrepancies, or variations between the Bible, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price. It helped me to become closer to the Savior. I loved doing that so much, that I underlined the scriptures under the topic of “God” in all the scriptures. Then I went through the Book of Mormon and underlined scriptures on every page that talked about God. I only found 30 pages in the whole Book of Mormon that didn’t mention something about God, and many of them were in Alma where they were describing the long wars with the Lamanites. Do you know that there are 37 references to the Savior and his teachings in the Book of Mormon. I learned this in reading the book “Doubt Not But Be Believing” by David B Marsh. I underlined them. Now I am underlining scriptures about Grace. The scriptures can change our lives.

I just read that President Nelson has given a new challenge to read the Bible and look for references to the Book of Mormon in the Bible. He specifically mentioned Isaiah 29 and Ezekiel 37. How many of us will do the same?

Another article posted by the woman who had left the church was talking about her experience in the church. She stated that we worship a plastic Jesus. Some of her earlier complaints about the church had truth in them. But this one is absolutely false. I am sorry that she didn’t find the Savior as a member of his church, the Church of Jesus Christ, but we can. Joseph Smith was not the founder of the church, he was just the instrument. Jesus Christ is the founder of our church. We find him in the scriptures. We find him in our personal prayers. We find him in our Sacrament prayers and by partaking of the sacrament. We find him in the hearts of our children. We find him by serving others, by loving everyone, by forgiving, by dedicating our lives to him. We find him by reading everything we can about him in the scriptures, and then trying to be more like him. We find him by taking the challenge in the Book of Mormon, Moroni 10:4 “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.”

It is okay, and even good to have questions, as Sheri Dew talked about in her book “Worth the Wrestle”. What is important is how we get our answers. Are we willing to wrestle to get our answers from God?

As I was unpacking this past week, I listened to all the talks from the last General Conference. I testify that we can receive our answers either directly from our Prophet and leaders, or they will direct us how to receive our answers. What is most important right now? I think the title of President Monson’s talk tells us “Kindness, Charity, and Love”.

I want to stay in this church because I know it is true. If you don’t, I will still love you, and so will Jesus, and I hope you will love me, an imperfect person. We each have the freedom to believe whatever we want.

I will do it by reading all the scriptures about Jesus and try to be more like him. I will listen to Conference talks over and over and try to follow the guidance given to us by prophets of God. I will read books by people who believe what I believe. To compliment what I have been trying to learn about Grace in the scriptures, I would recommend three very good books by knowledgeable, and faithful members. “Believing Christ” by Stephen E. Robison, “Changed Through His Grace” by Brad Wilcox, and “Amazed by Grace” by Sheri Dew. There are so many good books that can help counter the charges being made against the church. The scriptures are the greatest.

Let us each learn all we can about our Savior Jesus Christ. I testify that he lives, he loves us, his grace is available to us all. Someday we can know him because we will be like him.

I know this mission has made me a better person, not more perfect, just better. I have made many mistakes in my life, just ask my family. But I can be a better wife, a better mother, a better grandmother, a better friend, and a better representative of Jesus Christ, through his atonement, and through his grace.

Gracias