Juggling African Jugs in Our Lives

So I got a crazy e-mail this past week from one of my friends who is also a French-speaking missionary on the other side of the world on a little island off of Africa called the French Reunion, and she is going to be transferred from this little island to Madagascar in a couple of weeks.  This doesn’t seem as if it would be that big of a change since it is all around Africa, but as far as I can tell, the French Reunion is a little more like France and Madagascar is a little more like the rest of Africa.  I’m actually very excited for my friend because, having lived in Africa for four months, I know how incredible of an experience being there really is.  I have been reflecting quite a bit about the experiences that I had in the Ivory Coast and how it definitely contrasts with my mission and life now.

I can remember everything as if I had just left there yesterday, and I really do miss being there.  I’m not sure if I will ever have a chance to go back and visit there, but I will always remember the things that I experienced and saw in the Ivory Coast, such as people carrying things on their heads as they walk down the road.  I can still remember a little girl that stopped my companion and I to ask for help in carrying a huge jug of water on her head.  She was probably between the ages of 6 and 8, and she asked if we could help her lift the jug so she could stand up because when she got it on her head it was too heavy for her to stand up.  Once she was upright with the jug on her head, however, she set off for home, balancing the jug as it was the lightest thing in the world.  Even though I know it was not very light because I helped her to lift it up, this experience reminded me of something very important.

Super-Star Super-Saint

"Before there was Danny Ainge and before we even knew what a Jimmer was there was Krešimir Ćosić. Krešimir Ćosić was born in Yugoslavia in 1948."

I served the first eight months of my mission in Slovenia, which is one of the three countries of the former Yugoslavia to which we have Krešmir to thank for introducing the gospel. The picture of him jumping up for a throw hung in our kitchen in my apartment in Slovenia.  Elder Davis brought back memories of my mission when he posted Krešmir's story in the Mormon March Madness segment of his blog.
When I'd bring up the restoration with people in Slovenia, most people were atheists and very few of them had heard of Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon. Personally, they had no interest in it, but when I'd bring up Krešmir Ćosić they light up with interest and find a little desire to learn what he dedicated his adult life to. A great man that I helped to join the church was once personal friends with him.
Krešmir was an important part of my mission, even though he passed away before I gave any serious thought to going on mission. Thanks for sharing this. I'm glad that his efforts mean something to you too.

See Elder Davis' full post about how Krešmir Ćosić brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to the former communistic Yugoslavia and watch a video about Krešmir's inspiring life combining basketball and the gospel.

Don't Get Caught!!!

As much as I love fly fishing, I've never been good at it. Thus, I probably wouldn't be good at the Devil's job either. What really matters is the job we've got head of us as we try to avoid the devil's lures....

Fantastic Blog Badges!

This morning after studying in Ezra which was a great example of how important temples should be to us.  The Book of Ezra in the Old Testament accounts how the Jews returned to their homeland to rebuild the temple to the Lord that had previously been destroyed.

And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy, [Ezra 6:16]

In response, I felt like displaying how important the temple is to me and my family in some way on my blog to celebrate a bit.  I admit, going there myself and walking the grounds or serving inside is a better way to show my gratitude for the temple, but I won't be able to go to see the temple at least until Sunday afternoon.  I looked online for a picture of one of my favorite temples and found a great blog with a ton of temple blog badges ready made to put on a blog.  I know it's called "One Cute Blog Blinkies" and that a lot of the badges are just too cutesy for me, but I still found some that were sufficiently manly.  :D
The Washington DC temple has always stood out to me as one of the most beautiful.  I chose it to show on my blog today, and also found a great badge with a quote by President Gordon B Hinckley about books.  See if there's a badge you'd like, especially about the temple.

Elder Neubert's Favorite Videos

On his blog "The Missionary Talk," Elder Matt Neubert has posted his three favorite videos from the quickly growing list of profile videos on Mormon.org.  Check out what he's posted, and then look through some of the other profile videos.  Comment below and share your favorites.

Sharing Faith in Christ on the Web

There's little stopping most of us from sharing our testimony online like this.  I know that Jesus Christ continues to live today and the major work of preparing for his return is to tell the entire world that he lives and appears to modern prophets.  As Lindsay says in this video, we have the privilege of being able to share our faith.  Let's put it to good use.