The Blacks' Mission Report

This is a hard article to write.  These things are private, but I feel prompted to write them anyway.  Hopefully these musings will be helpful to someone else. Personal revelation comes often when we are ready to receive them.  In my own experience, I receive revelation after I have studied and prayed about a gospel topic about which I have had questions.  Sometimes it comes after praying and considering a personal or family problem.  And then it comes at a time when I am in a quiet location and when I am quiet. Occasionally, revelations come to me to warn me about a situation I may be in or to warn me of danger. Sometimes, they come to me at inconvenient times. Personal revelation can be persistent and can be hard to ignore even when we don't want to receive it. Do I hear an audible voice?  Sometimes, but it is very quiet and gentle.  Do I have thoughts inserted into my mind?  Sometimes, and sometimes immediately after asking for enlight...

Sometimes I get a sudden burst of instant insight into things I've been studying and considering for some time.  Often times these little epiphanies come while I am meditating in the temple, but sometimes I get them as I kneel and pray in the evening. Last evening I got a little insight with regard to Jesus' fast.  Matthew reports in Chapter 4: 1  Then was Jesus  a led  up of the Spirit into the wilderness  b to be   c tempted  of the devil. 2  And when he had  a fasted   b forty   days and forty nights,  c he  was afterward an hungred. This report given by Matthew is important for a couple of reasons.  It was unusual.  Fasting was not done that way.  In that time period it was normal for the pharisees to fast, but they only fasted during the day and then consumed their meal after dark much as do Muslims today.  So when they fasted for a week, for example, they really didn't miss any calor...

We were released and asked to go home on March 20.  We didn't actually leave until March 24 because of Dr. appointments, but when we left we were given an envelope to take to our Stake President in Washington, Utah.  We presented that envelope to President Carnavale when we met with him on March 29.  Included in the envelope was a letter from President Hewlett to President Carnavale along with our release certificates. President Carnavale gave us an official release and gave us our certificates and the letter President Hewlett wrote. Then, a week later I got a call from a Church Service Elder Missionary working in the Missionary Department wanting to know our intentions when the COVID-19 issues are finished.  I told him that my lung disease had exacerbated over the past few months, and that I didn't think we would be able to return.  I thought that would be the last call.  However, I got a call from a Sister Missionary, reportedly calling from the Mission...

President Hewlett advised us on Friday, March 20 to pack our stuff and head home from the Texas Houston East Mission as a guard against the COVID-19 virus.  However, we could not leave that early because we had doctor appointments on Friday, March 20.  We let him know we could not leave immediately, but that we would have everything packed up on Monday, March 23 and leave on Tuesday, March 24.  Elder and Sister Hughes gave him the same schedule. So, on Saturday, March 21, Hermana White and Hermana Burdett came and helped us pack our stuff.  They did real well and by the time they were done we had nearly everything packed.  On Monday, Elder Blackburn and Elder Wilkinsen came and helped us load the U-Haul trailer that we rented.  After they were gone, Hermana Merrill and Hermana Austin came and helped us finish up.  On Tuesday, March 24, we stripped the bed and re-checked the apartment to be sure we had everything in order and headed to the Mission Off...

We left Houston on Tuesday morning in great haste, took care of our last-minute errands and then headed on the trail to St. George, UT.  But when we got to Wichita Falls, where we spent the night, I could not find my pill minder.  In it were all of my medicines dosed out until Sunday morning.  We unloaded the car, looked through each suitcase, bag and every other container we are using to no avail. Last night in my prayer I asked Heavenly Father's help in finding my pill minder.  I cannot afford to lose any of my meds because some of them are very expensive and are only partially covered by insurance.  I got an immediate response: "garbage can". I assumed He ment the waste baskets we are using for small stuff.  So, this morning I went through them again.  Nothing.  I was pretty disappointed,  but I examined everything else just in casr.  The thought came to me that it had fallen into the garbage sack that we threw in the dumpster just as...

We have been asked to return "home" due to COVID-19 fears. Church Missionary authorities have asked all Senior Missionaries to return home and be released.  We don't really have a "home" to which to go, but we have a plan. We are finishing the packing and loading process today.  Then we will get a good night's sleep tonight and set out on our travels tomorrow morning. We will stay the night in Wichita Falls, TX Tuesday night. Then we will stay the night in Moriarty, NM Wednesday night And then we will travel to Page, AZ and stay the night there. We will be in St. George for a few days while we re-design our trailer, drop off a few things in storage, pick up our piano and another few things. Then on to spend a week or so in Salt Lake City. "Home will ultimately be in Box Elder, SD. We are extremely grateful for the folks in the Jacinto City Ward and the Channelview Ward for the love and concern they have had for us during the past 14+ months ...