Hey Family,
It was great to hear that dad and Jordan made it home safely (check editor's note below). I was expecting it would take them a few more days than it did, with a lot more challenges than they met, but the lesson learned from the ease of the experience is probably the one that is just right.
Lets see, what happened this week? Wednesday we had a remarkable zone conference for the missionaries serving in Queensburgh, Chatsworth, kwadabeka, Clermont, Hillcrest/Kloof, Molweni, Umbhedula, Marion Hill, Imbali, Mpumalanga, and Pietermaritzburg (just in case you want to see where those places are. It was such a rich zone conference. It was President Von Stetten's last one as well. There was a spiritual buffet to pick and pile from. One remark that President made struck a chord with me. He shared a poem written by a poet/writer whom I am fond of, Robert Frost. I don’t remember the title, but it spoke about a fork in the road, and a decision to choose one path over the other. The principle President Stetten pulled from it and shared with us is that you cannot go back to that other path. For us, at this time in the South Africa Durban mission we have chosen our path to follow the Savior’s admonition and serve his children. It is a choice that leaves us unable to return to the other path (our previous lives), and ascends us to celestial heights. Sometimes, that ascent is grueling.
This week was difficult. Despite the spiritual outpouring of the Zone Conference, the work in Pinetown is fighting back. It just seems that people are facing opposition. We are keeping our faith though, that all things will work out. We will keep doing what we know we ought to.
I love you guys,
Elder Gold
Editor's Note:
Landon's reference to a journey made by Steve and Jordan was of a 1000 mile road trip back home from Idaho in a 1973 Volkswagen Beetle. Much preparation, speculation, and perhaps trepidation was made beforehand. So, much to everyone's surprise, the only mishap was running out of gas in a vehicle whose gas gauge does not work. Really, I believe it was sweet mercy that brought them safely home because, not two hours after arriving the old car, 'Herby-Kay,' groaned abruptly to a stop on it's maiden voyage as Jordan took it out for a spin with a friend. Several things just fell apart and came undone forcing them to be towed home. It is a good match for this old car to now have a teenage boy. Both a work in progress, with the fine tuning of each being an ongoing task....for both will test each other and fix whatever may be broken.
The above photo was taken of Jordan as a carefree child walking down a path to which he was brought. It is not until most are teenagers that pathways become their own. Their eyes may be wide in wonder to what the grand world will have for them just around the bend, and as we watch them from a distance we know it won't be long before they are out of site. A prayer remains on the lips of all parents as their children venture out of sight, "Keep them safe, Oh Lord, and help them to choose the right path."
Robert Frost's poem is appropriate to all no matter where you are on your journey. And as the old saying goes, "Live life without regrets!"....but, if you do look back and see that the 'Road Not Taken' was perhaps the better path, find another that will lead you closer to where that other one will go. You may have to bushwhack! Oh, that is alright,...for I know it well.
Landon's reference to a journey made by Steve and Jordan was of a 1000 mile road trip back home from Idaho in a 1973 Volkswagen Beetle. Much preparation, speculation, and perhaps trepidation was made beforehand. So, much to everyone's surprise, the only mishap was running out of gas in a vehicle whose gas gauge does not work. Really, I believe it was sweet mercy that brought them safely home because, not two hours after arriving the old car, 'Herby-Kay,' groaned abruptly to a stop on it's maiden voyage as Jordan took it out for a spin with a friend. Several things just fell apart and came undone forcing them to be towed home. It is a good match for this old car to now have a teenage boy. Both a work in progress, with the fine tuning of each being an ongoing task....for both will test each other and fix whatever may be broken.
The above photo was taken of Jordan as a carefree child walking down a path to which he was brought. It is not until most are teenagers that pathways become their own. Their eyes may be wide in wonder to what the grand world will have for them just around the bend, and as we watch them from a distance we know it won't be long before they are out of site. A prayer remains on the lips of all parents as their children venture out of sight, "Keep them safe, Oh Lord, and help them to choose the right path."
Robert Frost's poem is appropriate to all no matter where you are on your journey. And as the old saying goes, "Live life without regrets!"....but, if you do look back and see that the 'Road Not Taken' was perhaps the better path, find another that will lead you closer to where that other one will go. You may have to bushwhack! Oh, that is alright,...for I know it well.
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
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