Stressed Out, Heard a Big Boom, Rare Osolodor Found, New Leash on Life, Humorous Revelation

Stress & Anxiety

This week in institute class we talked about stress and anxiety.  We all have it to one degree or another.  Some amount of stress and anxiety is healthy and helps us move forward in our jobs and callings.  The key is  learning to recognize when it is unhealthy.  Feeling stress and anxiety too often or for too long can cause significant problems and lead to mental illness. If you are dealing with too much stress and anxiety, you might get sick often, have headaches, feel angry, have drastic changes in your appetite, or experience a lack of focus. 

Stress and anxiety can also impact your ability to feel the Spirit or distort your understanding of spiritual promptings. Sister Reyna I. Aburto said, “If we are constantly sad and if our pain blocks our ability to feel the love of our Heavenly Father ... and the influence of the Holy Ghost, then we may be suffering from depression, anxiety, or another emotional condition.”

The foundational principle to help us manage stress & anxiety is to manage time wisely. We do this by prayerfully prioritizing the needed tasks for each day, and remembering to focus on becoming more like Christ, worrying less about checking off long "to do" lists.

If you feel you are feeling an unhealthy level of stress or anxiety check out the coping tips under section 4 of the Self Reliance Emotional Resilience Manual.  (Nature helps me cope said Elder Betteridge). 

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/emotional-resilience-for-self-reliance?lang=eng 

Elder & Sister Boom (North European Area President) Visit our Mission

Elder and Sister Boom are from the Netherlands.  (The pronunciation of their last name is "Bome", like home, not Boom like a Bomb going off).  But their message was like a bomb going off for us!  

They met with us in the mission home Tuesday night-- 12 senior missionaries in the Leeds mission.  Elder Boom talked about the importance of the European saints staying in Europe to sustain the growth of the church.  Many of the leaders in the UK are young; Bishops under 30 years old,  Stake Presidents around 40 years old.  We need our European brothers and sisters to build Zion here in their native lands.  So he encouraged the senior missionaries to support the 'stay in country' strategy as we interact with these wonderful saints here. 

The early saints of England, immigrated to the United States which saved the church, now we need to help them save the church in Europe so that it flourishes and grows. This message has adjusted our strategy with the Young Adults, to invite them to help with the teaching of the institute lessons, helping them develop their leadership skills. 

The Booms with our mission leaders, President and Sister Clare, taught the missionaries for two days, with half the mission meeting with them on Wednesday and then the other half on Thursday.  The wonderful experience went from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm each day.  We were in the Thursday group and had the responsibility to organize the lunch for the group of 70-80 missionaries.  We prepared 135 home-made chicken salad croissant sandwiches! 

Sister Boom taught us about finding Christ in the world around us.  We loved this message and so have been praying everyday to have our eyes opened to finding symbols and examples of the Savior around us, and have committed to recording in our journals each night what we learned during the day about the Savior.  As some of you may recall, President Eyring in 2007 taught us to ask ourselves the question at the end of each day 'how have we seen the Hand of the Lord in our lives that day?' and then to record what we observed in our journals so our posterity can know how we remembered and experienced the Savior in our lives.  

Kelvin Osolodor and daughter Victoria baptized

Kelvin's family is from Nigeria.  He is a unique, beautiful Osolodor.  His wife was a member of the church when they married and had drifted away from the church for a time, but upon moving here to England Kelvin's wife reached out to the missionaries to be taught and receive more light in her life.  The missionaries visited them and began to teach them, and invited the whole family to join in the experience,  so Kelvin, her husband, and their teen-aged daughter, Victoria, joined in learning about Jesus Christ and His restored Gospel.  They decided to follow the Savior and be baptized.  The two young boys are not quite old enough yet.  They are now looking forward to attending the temple as a family and being sealed for time and eternity.  Victoria is hoping to serve a mission.  It is such a beautiful experience to see a family united in the cause of Christ.  

Elders Lindfors (from Sweden) and Elder Fong (from California)

Visiting South Shields Ward

We had the wonderful opportunity to visit the South Shields ward in our stake and share a message in Sacrament meeting.  This is the town that houses St. Hilda's church where Elder Betteridge's great great grandparents were married in 1840.  Sister Betteridge shared a message of choosing Christ in our lives and Elder Betteridge shared a message of finding Christ each day as Sister Boom had invited us to do:

Jeremiah 29:13 “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

On Saturday morning, we went about our morning exercise routine, Elder Betteridge jogging and Sister Betteridge walking-- we had an amazing experience as we began to see symbols of the Savior around us, it filled our hearts with joy and gratitude for the blessings He has bestowed upon us. Here are a few of our experiences:

1. I passed a mother and daughter walking on the path.  The daughter was clearly in the image of the mother, the daughter was leading a young dog on a leash as they walked.  This reminded me of the fact that the Savior is in the image of the Father and does nothing save what He sees the Father do.  The Savior leads us along  connected by covenants we have made with the Father. (Certainly this has given Elder B a new 'leash' on life).
2. I came across a beautiful vista of the waterfall in the Jesmond Dene park and the water flowing over the falls and down the river continuously, never stopping, reminded me of the Savior and His Atonement and the ever flowing power that is available to us if we draw upon His 'living water.'
3. I apparently was running on the 'ParkRun' path before a run was about to start, I passed a woman in a safety vest at the fork in the path placed there to direct people the way to run, I said,  "you are doing a great job."  She said, "I’m not doing anything yet."  I thought to myself of the many good people around us who live in such way that they are a great example of following the Savior.  Just being good and standing there on the Rock is an inspiration to me.   I also thought of the many leaders in His Church who stand at the crossroads of life and point the way for us to go.
4. As I came to the end of my run down the shady lane of Jesmond Park road, with massive, mature oak trees on each side of the lane.  I said to myself these are like the prophets of old or our faithful ancestors of the past, shading our way and providing guardianship for our trip home to our Father and the Son. 

Sister Betteridge added the following observations on her walk:

1. I passed by a secondary school where parents were engaged in watching their children during 'field day' activities.  This reminded me of Heavenly Parents and Christ cheering us on in what we are doing on our mission. 
2. There was a gentle cool breeze that ruffled flowers and hedges along my walk.  This reminded me that Christ knows when I need a warm breeze or a cool breeze and tailors the help He provides to me according to my specific situation and circumstances.
3. I observed a duck in the pond we passed.  He was reaching deeply in the pond upside down into the water.  This reminded me that I need to venture into unknown waters to drink deeply the blessings that can only come from experience and new challenges.   

Humor and Revelation

Elder Richard G. Scott said:  "A good sense of humor helps revelation ... A sense of humor is an escape valve for the pressures of life."  So, keep smiling and learn to laugh at yourself!