Oct. 19, 2009

I've gained a totally new perspective on the military and war since I've been here in Clarksville working with a predominantly military community. I cant remember if we told you or not be we're now covering the Fort Cambell branch too so we work on post as well as in the city. Its crazy because its a completely different culture then anywhere else in the mission because its a melting pot with people from all over the world.

Maurice and Vanessa are doing well. They're planning on being baptized on Halloween day, they weren't at church because Vanessa's sister was in a hospital in Nashville and they went there for the weekend. She's alright now and things are going well. However she didn't go to church this week either, we'll find out more about that tomorrow. Everyone else is doing pretty well. Cody has a cool story, every time he prays about that truth of the Book of Mormon he feels prompted to be baptized. The snag is that its not the answer that he's looking for, he wants to know whether the book is true or if Joseph Smith is a prophet but he's just being told to be baptized. So he wants to be baptized but he doesn't know if Joseph Smith is a prophet yet. We've explained several things but he just doesn't make the connection that the prompting to be baptized is a spiritual witness. Until he comes to know for himself that Joseph Smith is a prophet he can't be baptized because he cant pass the baptismal interview. He's planning on being baptized on Halloween as well.

Thanks for the quotes and concepts from that book Dad. It was really insightful. In most of Tennessee and Kentucky the people are very 'religious' or they like to be perceived as such. They claim a religion and claim to read the Bible but they really don't go to church or read the bible at all. However here with the army post a lot of people struggle believing that there really is a God who loves his children. A lot of people believe in God but don't think He cares because of the turmoil of war and other things. Then on the flip side of that a lot of the members here who have been on two or three 14 month deployments have a really solid testimony about how God does live and love us. Their testimonies really help and they are all willing to help us teach. Its great because I think that it is a decision that everyone in whose gone to war has to make at some point whether to accept the comfort of God's love or sink into despair, they all seem to have felt some of that despair. So they want to share the joy of the gospel to everyone who is trapped by the cunning devices of the devil. So their testimonies are really helpful.

The guy who teaches priesthood every week brother Stucki (we talked about the name already he says that we're probably related because his Stucki ancestors came across the plains but he hasn't looked too deeply into it) when he was in Iraq their caravan got attacked and the jeep that he was in was blown up. Shards of metal tore open his arm and his leg, they emergency evacuated him to the base where his lds group leader was waiting for him and he received a priesthood blessing under the rotating blades of a helicopter that flew him to their medical center. Its been almost two years and now he's just barely being able to bend his fingers again but he has a super solid testimony of God's power and love for us.