Remember Lot's Wife

Dear Family and Loved Ones,

     We had a chance to relax and enjoy summer this past week (except for Ted who is still in the middle of interviews). Ben went on a three day tall ship adventure with the scouts from our ward, the girls and I enjoyed relaxing at home and Ted helped many missionaries.

     Ben left Monday morning on his scout trip. They sailed on a tall ship from San Pedro to Catalina Island. The trip takes about five hours in a sail boat. Each of the scouts was trained on how to raise and work the sails and given responsibilities on the ship. They cooked their meals in the small kitchen and slept below deck in bunk beds and trundles (there were twenty five scouts and their leaders and five crew members). Most people who go to Catalina Island see Avalon but there is another harbor called Two Harbors which is where they anchored the boat for the night. The second day they enjoyed Catalina Island; they went snorkeling, hiking, played beach volleyball, etc. They also sailed around some of the other nearby islands. They returned home Wednesday after a great adventure. It took a day or so before Ben felt like he wasn’t still at sea and our Bishop said he felt like he was still swaying on Sunday :)

     Many of our new missionaries expressed some discouragement in their interviews this week. Ted does such a great job of helping them “get back on their horse” (Ted’s description of what he does so well). Usually they just need to be reminded of their purpose by talking and reading some scriptures together. They all want to be successful and often forget that as long as they are serving with their whole hearts and are doing the Lord’s work, no matter if they have baptisms of not, they are successful missionaries.

Friday we served Popeye’s chicken, beans, cornbread, watermelon and root beer floats to our Zone Leader before their Zone Leaders Council. The Zone Leaders have a lot of responsibility and are outstanding missionaries. We were recently encouraged to have them take on an additional assignment to provide training to their zone each month in a zone meeting. Zone conferences will continue to be held every other transfer and zone meetings will be the second Thursday of each month.

     Ted was able to attend three different wards yesterday including our ward, the Park Ward (Cambodian speaking) and the Ximeno Branch (Spanish speaking). While at the Park Ward he met the mother of one of our missionaries who will arrive tomorrow from the MTC. She and her daughter were in Long Beach for a dance completion so they decided to attend the Park Ward since her son will be assigned there (he has been learning Cambodian in the MTC). The mom loved the sweet Cambodian members and was so happy to see where her son will spend most of his mission.

     We had an excellent Relief Society Lesson in our ward. We are blessed with amazing teachers and leaders. Southern California members are so dedicated and are great examples of serving in the church. The lesson was given by one of the counselors in the Relief Society Presidency, she said, “We are going to memorize a scripture today.” Of course we were wondering how long the scripture would be. She quickly told us that it was only a few words long, she then posted on the white board three words that the Savior told his followers, “Remember Lot’s wife” Luke 17:32. She had my attention – I’ve read the New Testament many times but I must not have paid too much attention to those words. She then shared some insights from a talk given by Elder Holland at a BYU devotional, appropriately called “Remember Lot’s Wife”. Here is a short summary of his amazing talk:

     “One of the purposes of history is to teach us the lessons of life. George Santayana, who should be more widely read than he is, is best known for saying that those who disregard the lessons of history are destined (sadly) to repeat them.”

     “So, if history is this important -- and it surely is -- what did Lot's wife do that was so wrong? As something of a student of history, I have thought about that and offer this as a partial answer. Apparently what was wrong with Lot's wife is that she wasn't just looking back, but that in her heart she wanted to go back. It would appear that even before they were past the city limits, she was already missing what Sodom and Gomorrah had offered her. As Elder Maxwell once said, such people know they should have their primary residence in Zion but they still hope to keep a summer cottage in Babylon. It is possible that Lot's wife looked back with resentment toward the Lord for what He was asking her to leave behind. We know that Laman and Lemuel did when Lehi and his family were commanded to leave Jerusalem. So it isn't just that she looked back; she looked back longingly. In short, her attachment to the past outweighed her confidence in the future. That, apparently, was at least part of her sin.”

     “So, as a new year starts and we try to benefit from a proper view of what has gone before, I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone, nor to yearn vainly for yesterday however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we experienced, then we look ahead, we remember that faith is always pointed toward the future -- faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives. So a more theological way to talk about Lot's wife is to say she did not have faith. She doubted the Lord's ability to give her something better than she had. Apparently she thought, fatally as it turned out, that nothing that lay ahead could possibly be as good as those moments she was leaving behind.”

     “To all such of every generation I call out, "Remember Lot's wife." Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ is the "high priest of good things to come." I pray you will have a wonderful semester, a wonderful year, a wonderful life all filled with faith and hope and charity. Keep your eyes on your dreams, however distant, and live to see the miracles of repentance and forgiveness, trust and divine love transform your life today, tomorrow and forever.”

     I love being nourished, encouraged and uplifted each Sunday and very often I feel like the message being given is just for me!



We love each of you,

The Long Beach Buberts