June 15, 1971
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| Bremerton, Washington |
I have been giving serious thought to many things lately. In particular, I think we are suppose to prepare ourselves in every way possible to return to Heavenly Father. We must do all we can to "celestialize" ourselves- spiritually, mentally, and physically. Spiritually, we must be free from all sin, be "void of offence towards any man," forgiving and merciful, charitable, etc. Mentally we must be using all our God given talent. Physically we must live the word of wisdom and be physically fit. God is not fat or flabby--poor physical upkeep is not an attribute of godliness.
Milton R. Hunter visited our stake conference in the Puget Sound Stake. The leadership meeting was concerned with he social services bureau of the Church; particularly its job in settling domestic and personal difficulties. The Church has a vast program and excellent personnel to help troubled, or wayward saints. The bureau correlates with priesthood channels and operates only under their direction. The Quorum of the Twelve prepared an excellent movie showing the social services program in action.
Brother Hunter spoke on keeping things in confidence. He was speaking to those who interview
or otherwise have access to confidential information. He cited examples of high councilmen and stake president's councilors who were released because they insisted on telling their wives.
Today I realized that this lack of confidence is a serious problem in this ward. Gossip is a prevalent evil in the Church. Now that I see how badly it can hurt people, I am going to be extra careful about "bad mouthing" other elders. In as much as I'm a chronic complainer, this will be a difficult test. I must remember to speak highly of others, not be sarcastic, and not talk of things give to me in confidence. Heretofore, I've told my DLC's too much.
I'm grateful I'm learning these things early in life. Constant application of righteous living will set me on the straight and narrow permanently.
Sunday morning there was a special 70's meeting. Elder Hunter spoke extensively on the general missionary fund and stake organization. He seems to thoroughly enjoy steering people into repentance. (by sharing stories he'd experienced.) On Sunday his remarks were directed towards archeological proof of the Book of Mormon. Although I realize such research is necessary to satisfy the intellectual integrity of the Church, I personally find it superfluous to my testimony. In today's missionary work we need a spiritual conversion. I do suppose the intellectual beauty of it all does attract a lot of people. I don't believe the Book of Mormon can be proved conclusively with archeological (or any other scientific) proof. These things are merely evidence. Likewise, it is impossible to disprove the Book of Mormon intellectually, or otherwise, because, it is true.
We spent the entire weekend in Bremerton, leaving Monday AM after zone seminar. I got to see M's, T's. and H's. Sunday evening we went to a fireside. Brother P. the stake patriarch in Olympia Stake, spoke to us. His wife bore her testimony. It was a warm spiritual meeting. He told of his trials as a green patriarch, and of how the Lord blessed him in his calling. Brother P. testified that patriarchal blessings do come from God. (He blessed S.) He also told of certain special experiences that he had had.
Afterwards I bumped into some of the girls from the Poulsbo Ward that I'd known as a greenie. L. G. is baptized now. K. is on a mission in France. K. K. was there. Her boyfriend, R. C., is in Pennsylvania!
J.C. is also on a mission, New Zealand, I think,. His brother R. is home now. C. T. was there as was K. P. It was fun to see all of those people again. I'll also have to get out to Keyport to see L. B. He's a stake missionary now. He was really fired up when I was a greenie.
D. G., B's older sister was baptized in March.! That's sort of neat. Now B. needs to get converted! G. T. finally married his B. She was baptized a year ago. They plan on a temple marriage in a year from May. She has changed considerably. She is really active. They are two charged people.
At Bremerton Sacrament meeting, Bishop R.'s Norwegian father-in-law spoke. His story and testimony was very interesting, very engrossing. He told of his conversion and how he came to this country. I can't remember exactly what he said. I think I'll collect stories of people's conversions.
Brother H.'s son and his wife were visiting. They have a 3 month old baby already. It was only last January that he spoke on my greenie sacrament service. (I spoke at his homecoming.)
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_R._Hunter
Milton Reed Hunter (October 25, 1902 – June 27, 1975) was an American author, educator, and religious leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served as a member of the church's First Council of the Seventy from 1945 until his death in 1975.
Of Scottish descent, Hunter was born in Holden, Utah, the son of John Edward and Margaret Teeples Hunter. He attended Brigham Young High School, and Brigham Young University, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1929 and a master's degree in 1931.
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