LIGHTHOUSE EVERMORE
While we were in Portland we took a walk out to the Portland Headlight, the first lighthouse built by the United States government and under the direction of George Washington. It was completed in 1791. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who visited there often wrote this about light houses. The poem expresses our appreciation for the Savior, the Light of the world,
Dave- Dad- President Wilkey (DLW for short) loves the hymn, "Brightly Beams our Fathers Mercy.” He loves to sing it, loves the harmony. He also feels deeply the story behind the hymn.
“Philip Paul Bliss was directing the singing for a series of services being conducted by the well-known preacher Dwight L. Moody. As he closed his message, Moody told the story of a captain who was attempting to bring his boat to the Cleveland harbor one very dark and stormy night.
The waves rolled like mountains, Moody said, and not a star was to be seen in the clouded sky. He pictured the boat rocking on the violent waves as the captain peered through the darkness for the sight of a signal light by means of which to guide his vessel to safety. When he finally spotted a single light from the light-house, he turned to the pilot and asked:
“Are you sure this is Cleveland harbor?”
“Quite sure, sir,” the pilot replied.
“Then where are the lower lights?” the captain continued.
“Gone out, sir,” the other man answered.
“Can you make the harbor?” the captain asked anxiously.
“We must, or perish, sir,” the pilot replied.
But despite his strong heart and brave hand, in the darkness he missed the channel. With a resounding crash the boat piled up on the rocks and then settled slowly to a watery grave.
As the congregation listened intently, Moody concluded with this admonition to the Christians:
“Brethren, the Master will take care of the great light-house; let us keep the lower lights burning.”
That was all Bliss needed to pen one of his most popular hymns, “Let the Lower Lights Be Burning.””
mormonstories.com Text and music: Philip Paul Bliss, 1838–1876
Brightly beams our Father’s mercy
From his lighthouse evermore,
But to us he gives the keeping
Of the lights along the shore.
Let the lower lights be burning;
Send a gleam across the wave.
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save.
Trim your feeble lamp, my brother;
Some poor sailor, tempest-tossed,
Trying now to make the harbor,
In the darkness may be lost.
MAPLE SYRUP – MMMM…GOOD
After interviews ….
In northern Vermont, we visited President Goodrich (2nd counselor in the mission presidency) and his wife Ruth. Their family farm, owned and operated since 1840, is location of over 20,000 trees which are tapped for the sap which is boiled down into maple syrup. (Look below for the questions about sugaring.)
DO – BE’s Yes and that’s not the term that originated from the Doobie brothers singing and is indicative of something that violates the Word of Wisdom…And no, it’s not even from Romper Room, a Do-Bee. (Listen to the Do Bee song. ( YOUtube, DoBee Song, my first record LP). It’s what the president and then the missionaries coined as a term to express the desire to follow the example of Jesus Christ. “What manner of men ought ye to be?” (3 Nephi 27:20, 27) He wants missionaries to follow the Savior. In the words of Preach My Gospel, page 123, “You need to be a Christlike missionary, not just do missionary things.” So now missionaries are finding “Do – Be’s” or if you want to spell it “dubeys” throughout the mission.
The two sisters are incredible! Both are tall, one nearly six foot and one, over. But they stand tall in their Christlike attributes. (The sister on the left beat four elders in a game of horse.)
AS THOUGH - AS IF WITH - AS FOR
It seems that many of our good habits are directly a result of the teachings and example of our parents. It will come as no surprise that President Wilkey encourages –or shall we say urges vehemently—no trace missionaries. So Elder Franklin has joined the no trace effort with gusto. Having discovered that some missionaries had become slovenly in their apartments, Elder Franklin has helped in improvement. Second mile as he and Sister Franklin are, he has been instrumental not only in clean up but in making some repairs badly needed. To teach “ No Trace” we have used the “as for” principle from Doctrine and Covenants 51:17. Act on the land as for years—in other words, make the best of the area you are assigned. Serve. Love the people. We also encourage the “as though” principle borrowed from Ian Morris, a wonderful executive secretary, BYU 1st stake. “As though” Jarom 1:11 – Have confidence to act as though the Savior has prepared hearts to receive the truths of the gospel because he has. We added the ‘as if with” – Alma 56:56 –Go forward with courage and faith to do the work of the Lord as if with His strength.
SPRING IS TRYING TO COME
Two glorious days of sunshine!! And the birds are back in abundance. One wonderful day we saw wild turkeys, deer, a Canadian goose, chipmunks, and a mallard duck.
Mimi ni mtoto wa Mungu 我是神的孩子 I Am A Child Of God
Swahili Mandarin English
So what is happening in our kitchen? Sisters Amuli and Hatch under the direction of Antonie made a genuine African dinner –fry bread, casaba, collard greens, fried rice, a ground white corn meal for a group of friends among whom are the four on the far right of the picture on the right, a family of ten who are refugees from Burundi. Antonie and her husband and five children are refugees from the Congo. However all are close families with a high work and moral ethic. All are studying the gospel of Jesus Christ, desiring to strengthen their faith and their families. Yes, of course, before the lesson centering on “I Am a child of God,” DLW did the famous rabbit magic trick.
And we really haven’t left New Hampshire to visit the Grimleys in Taiwan. The missionaries taught four students from Taipei, Taiwan in our home this Sunday night. Adam—his American name—received a text mistakenly, inviting him mistakenly to help to move a woman in his neighborhood. The missionaries were the primary ones involved in helping with the move. Adam received the text though mistakenly and spent a few hours helping with the move and learning about the restored gospel. Although not Christian, he and his friends were so attracted to the reality of God and his personal interest in each of our lives, they desired to know more. Tonight Sister Han, a missionary from Mainland China who has been serving about three hours from here came to teach in Mandarin. The four speak little English and are in fact taking an English speaking class taught by the elders.
QUESTIONS
Do you know how many gallons of sap are needed for one gallon of maple syrup? Did you know that Joseph Smith’s family gathered sap from their trees for making maple syrup for their family and for selling. Can you imagine carrying 40 to 80 gallons of sap via buckets like this to a hot fire so that they could be boiled down to one precious gallon of syrup? Some of the maple trees we saw on the Goodrich
Marvelous Moments – from Letters to the President --Typos
“What an up lifting conference we had these last two days. I think of how blessed we truely are to have the oppourtunity to witness the voice of a living prophet and apostates.”
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