I did not realize the number of days I have let pass since the last post. I get so wrapped up in preparing lessons and then teaching them I don't notice some of the little things. Since posting last we have had Institute discussions on the Creation, the Fall, the Atonement, and Why Are We Here?
I think in my reading one of the most beautiful things I have come across is from "The Infinite Atonement" by Tad R. Callister, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. He quotes Truman Madsen who gave these consoling words: "Men have stood at pulpits and elsewhere-great men-and have testified that their knees have never buckled, that as one said of another, 'He had nothing to hide.' We have had monumental men who did not need redemption as much as they needed power, and who never fell very far from the communing light of which I have spoken. I cannot bear that kind of testimony. But if there are some of you who have been tricked into the conviction that you have gone too far, that you have been weighed down with doubts on which you alone have a monopoly, that you have had the poison of sin which makes it impossible ever again to be what you could have been-then hear me.
"I bear testimony that you cannot sink farther than the light and sweeping intelligence of Jesus Christ can reach, he is there. He did not just descend to your condition; he descended below it, 'that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth' (D&C 88:6)." (Madsen, Christ And The Inner Life, 14)
Saturday was a beautiful day for a walk. We chose to return to Mendenhall glacier and this time we made the mile hike to Nugget Falls.
That is comforting. That is, to know that Christ has descended below any depth to which I may have sunk, in order to lift me from my weak and fallen state, and with his mercy and grace, grant me forgiveness. I could go on and on about the Atonement. It is the single most important event to have ever happened on the Earth. But I will move to other aspects of our mission as well.
I have always gotten a chuckle out of this lawn ornament I pass often when driving on North Douglas.
Last Thursday we had our largest attendance since we have begun. I expected that with the coming of summer our numbers would go down. Instead they have increased. We discussed the first nine chapters of Acts. I love Acts. It helps me to understand even more fully the apostasy and the need for a restoration, the same restoration completed by the mission of Joseph Smith.
Our last Wednesday Institute was heavily attended as well. The food Diane worked so hard to prepare was devoured quickly. There was barely enough for all and not enough dessert for all. Her desserts are getting more exotic and enticing with each week it seems. She is really going to town on her genealogy. I am doing a lot of indexing when not studying or fishing.
Yes I have been fishing. I can't believe my luck. On my very first cast I hooked a King Salmon. I did not have my drag set well and quickly lost it after a few acrobatic leaps. Three casts later I connected again. This time I had a tremendous fight on my hands. But I didn't have a net. I had no idea what I was in for casting from the shore. I did get it into the shore. But there was just no place I could get that big thing out of the water. When I tried to put my hands around it, it took off out into the ocean again. I was able to fight it for well over ten minutes before I lost it too. It was definitely beginners luck, and an Alaskan tease. I did not get another bite. A second morning of fishing I had to return home without so much as a nibble. My third morning, Saturday, I caught all sorts of stuff. I caught Dolly Varden and Rock Fish and even a Scorpion fish. They are really ugly and with porcupine like spikes along their fins and spine. And their mouth is big like a large mouth bass. But I still haven't seen the elusive King Salmon again. I'll try again this week some time.
Over the phone I have been helping Ketchikan and Skagway organize their summer Institute programs. Ketchikan is going strong but I have yet to hear from Skagway. We do have a new seminary teacher in Sitka. We will be making arrangements to visit with her in the next week or so.
We finally made the visit to St. Therese's Sanctuary out the road. That made for a beautiful walk and visit.
There were a mother Humpback whale and her calf off to my right playing lazily in the water. They were very close to the shore.
I took lots of pictures in and around the Shrines at St. Therese's Sanctuary. I'm still learning how to use this point and shoot camera, and the brilliant light behind the shadows of the forest were giving me fits. I ended up having to throw most of the pictures away.
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