Planning for Success and Building for the Long Term

This has been an exciting week.  I am down to two more class periods, a few short pages to write, and some revisions to make before I am done with this semester.  It has been a long semester, but it has been a good one and it is exciting to contemplate coming to the end of it and being able to move forward with my comprehensive exams in the Fall and then the dissertation.  The big news of this week, however, was the birth of my new nephew Maxwell Andrew Johnson.  I can't wait to meet him in a week and a half.  With a name like Maxwell, perhaps he will become a writer.

 I'm still trying to think which of Elder Maxwell's books best welcomes a baby boy into the world.  More importantly, I hope and pray that he follows the sterling example of his namesake who was among this world's most humble disciples of the Master.  I still remember standing in the line at my Nana Haycock's viewing--a much smaller affair than my Papa's Haycock's was--and having Elder and Sister Maxwell come in to pay their respects.  At the time I was nearly 19 years old and had received my mission call to Arkansas.  The moment left a lasting impression on me because of the way that he introduced himself to me.  He put out his hand, smiled, and said, "Neal and Colleen Maxwell.  We were friends of your grandmother."  No titles.  No presumption.  No arrogance.  No expectation of special treatment.  He was there to pay his respects to my Nana, not to be a Mormon celebrity.  That moment has never quite left me, not just because it was a time when I was privileged to meet one of the Apostles of the Lord, but because of the humility and kindness he displayed in that simple exchange.  Later when I read his biography, I learned that the Brethren had asked him to refrain from shaking hands with people because the dangers of infection were so high due to his Leukemia.  But in this moment when he had come to pay respects to a departed friend, he ignored that counsel and shook my hand.  It is these kind of attributes I hope little Max will develop.

Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, which some have argued was the Waters of Mormon

During my scripture study this week, I came across a few passages in Mosiah 23 that I found insightful.  The chapter begins by mentioning that Alma and his people had "been warned of the Lord that the armies of king Noah would come upon them" (Mosiah 23:1) and that they needed to leave the Waters of Mormon.  This must have been a difficult thing.  These people had already left their homes once to join Alma and now they were being asked to leave again.  And the place that they were leaving held a special place in their hearts.  It was a beautiful "fountain of pure water" (Mosiah 18:5) and more than that, it was the place where they had entered into covenants with the Lord.  One verse captured this significance beautifully:  "And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer" (Mosiah 18:30).

What a difficult move this must have been!  I know what it is like to leave a place that I love, and it is very difficult.  Some places are just special because of the people you were with and the experiences you had there.  But Alma's record goes on to say that after eight days of journeying, "they came to a land, yea, even a very beautiful and pleasant land, a land of pure water."  The waters of Mormon were not the only beautiful place out there!  In this beautiful world that the Lord has created for us, there are beautiful places and good opportunities and kind people to have wonderful experiences with everywhere we may go.

What impressed me most though was the next verse: "And they pitched their tents, and began to till the ground, and began to build buildings; yea, they were industrious, and did labor exceedingly" (Mosiah 23:5).  Given their recent history did it make sense to set down stakes, to build buildings and till the land?  Indeed, as the story goes, they didn't get to stay at this land they named Helam permanently anyway.  Why not just pitch tents for awhile and see if this place lasts?  If you have to leave, buildings and homes and tilled fields just make the departure all the harder.  So why do this?  Why plan for permanence when history was not on the side of permanence?

I believe they did this for the same reason that the Saints built Temples and buildings in Kirtland, laid cornerstones and tried to begin building temples in Independence and Far West, built a city out of a swamp and erected a majestic Temple at Nauvoo, and then began planning out a city and a Temple just a day or two after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley.  The Lord expects us to live for and expect success. He expects us to plan for things to work and then faithfully endure, move on, and build anew if they do not.  No matter how long we are called to be in a place, there are people to touch and communities to improve.  Our task is to set down our stakes and begin serving and building, leaving questions of time and permanence to the Lord.  In the process, each of these opportunities leave with us a small body of happy memories and stories of growth.

Brett