On the 2nd and 4th Sundays, the Senior Missionaries gather for a Come Follow Me lesson. On June 22nd, I was fortunate enough to be able to teach that lesson. Many of you will remember it, as it covered Doctrine and Covenants 64-66 with a significant focus on Section 64 and the topic of Forgiveness. Other themes we covered were “Giving the Lord our heart and a willing mind” and “Be not weary in well-doing”. And while those other themes were equally uplifting, I want to talk a bit more about the discussion on Forgiveness. There were a number of questions we discussed (most came directly from the lesson material) which created a rich discussion:

• Reflect on a time the Lord forgave you.  How did you feel?
• Think about someone you know you should forgive.  Why can forgiving others be so difficult?
• Why do you think the Lord commands us “to forgive all”?
• Apostate Nephites were continuously successful in stirring up the Lamanites to go to war against the Nephites. Why do you think this repeatedly occurred? What can we learn from this?
• Why must we forgive one another for the Lord to forgive us?

It was during the discussion of these questions that a comment came up that stayed with me. It was “Forgiveness is different from Reconciliation“. We can forgive someone who has hurt us and still not reconcile with them because they are not remorseful.  That makes sense.  And yet, it seems the Savior wants us both to forgive and reconcile, at least when the other person is ready.  Sometimes we think we have forgiven, but like the Lamanites are easily stirred back up to anger. Our goal is to be like the Savior.  Yes, He had enemies with whom He did not reconcile, but only because they wouldn’t.  There will be no unreconciled issues in the celestial kingdom.  When the comment above was made, it was meant to give people assurance that we can forgive someone and still not be reconciled with them and that is okay. But what if two people, neither who want to be enemies, feel they have forgiven one another (for whatever the underlying cause of the rift), yet they have no desire to reconcile. Is that okay? If those individuals were both filled with the pure love of Christ would the outcome be different?

During the lesson, I spoke briefly about justification and sanctification. It was something that we taught the missionaries in the Ghana Kumasi Mission frequently. Here is a link (it is a picture of a marker board halfway down on the right hand side) to my explanation of that topic and some insights I gained during a meeting with Elder Christopherson. A year later, Elder Christopherson revisited the discussion of sanctification and justification and spoke about it relative to the sacrament. He emphasized the importance of the sacrament and how partaking of the bread and water allows us to renew the covenants we have made with the Lord. “The sacrament is very helpful in the divine process of justification and sanctification. These two words became understandable when we replace them with forgiveness and cleansing. We don’t only take the sacrament to remember the Savior’s Atonement, but also to feel the power of the Savior’s Atonement.”

It is this concept of “cleansing” that reverberated in my mind in the moment the statement above was made about forgiveness and reconciliation. And I feel as though the spirit taught me something in that moment. “Forgiveness is like Justification, and Reconciliation is like Sanctification.” This was a powerful moment for me that I was unable to share at the time and something I wanted to ponder on more. I sent this new found insight to some close friends to get their thoughts. One of them came back with this:

“Do we need to reconcile before we can be purified? Reconcile with self, reconcile with those who have been offended, reconcile with God. Come to the realization that Repentance; can and does have the power to cleanse us from our sins. Make us clean before our God. Purification, can only take place with those who are pure in and by the blood of Christ. We then are joyful in His redeeming Love and grace. Our hearts are changed by His forgiveness. We then become changed , knowing we have been forgiven, changed, and that He remembereth them no more. This frees us from our suffering and wallowing in our sorrow and suffering the pains that sin brings upon us. This is the state that Satan desires us to chronically live in. For in it we are trapped in the cyclical state of guilt and shame. Sanctification is a state of being cleaned up after we are pronounced clean. We are made holy. No longer chained to our past behaviors that made us feel unworthy of His/Their love and ability to cleanse us. We then can go forward knowing we have been forgiven. We then become one with them in purpose, in Faith, and in hope. We being sanctified/ made clean and holy before them, can go forth in sure confidence that we are clean every whit. To do their work. To become one with them. To have the mind of Christ, the hope in Christ, and the knowledge that we now can accomplish all He has commanded us to do.  We know he goes before us in our work. He stand behind us to protect our flanks. He is at our left and at our right. He blesses us in all the ways spoken of in or initiatory ordinance. Our mind is clear and active. Our heart is directed in charity towards His Children and His work and Glory. Our feet are planted and only move forward in what is in righteousness and truth. Our arms and hands only seek that which is of His truth. Our mouth that it speaks of Him and no longer seeks or speaks of Babylons Blasphemy. Our ears hear the voice of Jesus and the Holy Ghost and the many voices of the world they become deaf to. Sanctification becomes our daily reward , we seek after it unrelentingly. Then we become a sharpened arrow in the Lords quiver. He then uses us at his will!

I felt it was a leap for me to consider that “Forgiveness is like Justification and Reconciliation is like Sanctification” but when I read this response from a good friend, I felt like I had moved an inch and he had taken it a mile. I am more convinced than ever that this statement is filled with truth and light.

Our last post was on June 20th, and since that time much has happened. I have worked 45 cases since that time. These cases have involved Pre-MTC assignments (primarily because the missionary has not yet received a visa to travel to the assigned MTC or there is an overriding reason why the missionary needs to start their mission on the date they were supposed to enter the MTC but couldn’t due to the visa issue); Reinstatements after going home on an early medical, emotional, or misconduct release; rejection of a visa to travel to the assigned MTC to learn the language of the mission they were called to and so now reassigned to a different permanent mission; early releases for university entrance; releases for serious misconduct; releases for medical or emotional reasons; leave of absence for the death of a parent; confirmed case of Tuberculosis (not nearly as contagious as is advertised); a missionary’s own insistence to return home; and the last one is a broken arm from an arm wrestling match in an MTC. We continue to experience a low degree of theft and break-ins scattered across both areas. I am happy to report through it all, that all missionaries are safe and accounted for! All of these cases are just part of the experience of establishing the Church in Africa and across the world. We will never expect 18-25 year olds to come on a mission already perfected and sanctified. It takes time and sacrifice to build a foundation on the rock of Christ, and there will always be bumps along the way. I am grateful to be engaged in this work. These missionaries that go home for a myriad of reasons and then come back, are spiritually stronger, more humble, harder working, and more committed. It is the very reason why the Lord, in Doctrine and Covenants 72:3-4 said, “And verily in this thing ye have done wisely, for it is required of the Lord, at the hand of every steward⁠, to render an account of his stewardship⁠, both in time and in eternity. For he who is faithful and wise in time is accounted worthy to inherit the mansions prepared for him of my Father.” There has to be accountability in the Lord’s work or we end up with chaos and spinning wheels with no progress.

In addition to the day to day activities of supporting Mission Leaders and Area Presidencies, we have had other highlights as well. On Saturday evening, June 28th, the couples got together for a dinner of Hawaiian Haystacks. Lloyd and Gayla Allen were the hosts (well, mostly Gayla). It was a fun dinner. We always enjoy rubbing shoulders with these amazing couples who have left home and family to come here and serve. The wide picture below was taken during a special musical number by the senior missionaries who chose to participate during the Monday morning devotional on June 30th. We sang “I Need Thee Every Hour” with an incredible piano accompaniment and some nice harmony on the final chorus.

I should mention that we had to leave the dinner a bit early on June 28th, because Chase and Heidi were having the blessing of our newest grandson, Rory Hayes Kunz at their home. Our daughter Kira and two of her kids were able to represent the Kunz side of the family. And took the responsibility of streaming the blessing to rest of Chase’s siblings and his Africa-based parents (that’s us) after getting permission from the Bishop. Chase gave that cute little guy an inspired blessing. We are so proud of Chase and Heidi and their cute little family! (As we are of all of our other 6 children and their spouses and all 28 of our grandkids!

On Monday, June 30th, we drove out to the Johannesburg MTC with Elder and Sister Johnson. He is the Area Medical Advisor and LaDawn and Lisa work together on missionary applications. We wanted to visit with President and Sister Hall (MTC President and wife) as well as see the facility. I suspect it is the smallest MTC in the Church’s system, as you can see we easily all fit into the same room. Sister Shiffler and Elder Johnson, the area mental and physical health advisors go there every three weeks and talk about staying healthy, both mentally and physically. Afterwards, the Shifflers, Johnsons, Halls, and we had lunch in the Hall’s apartment that is attached to the MTC. It was a great way to spend a mid-day (11-3) Monday!

We had a really nice surprise on July 3rd when we went to the Temple. Sister Nkosi from our Mission was there and she and her mom waited for us to get out of our 11 am endowment session so we could take a picture with her. Such joy for us to see one of our Africa-based returned missionaries. At the Branch where we worship, Brother Tapson was recently baptized on June 22nd. He is a good man and will become an even better man as a member of the Lord’s Church. We were also able to catch a few talks from the Mission Leader Seminar at the Provo MTC. We made sure we were able to view the sacrament service on Sunday, June 22nd when President Nelson spoke by pre-recorded video about Joseph Smith, the restoration and the critical importance of the Book of Mormon in the Gathering of Israel.

I continue to find an outlet for some physical exercise and good fellowship in playing golf each week. We usually play 9 holes early Friday mornings at Killarney, but this past week we played at Parkview. This was the first time we pulled our cart with our clubs for 18 holes. I was pretty beat by the time we finished. It was a crisp 40 degrees when we started with a very cool breeze to make it even more frigid. But needless to say, we had a great time. World of Golf is another venue I have been visiting. It is a membership and public golf practice facility that is about 20 minutes north of us in Woodmead. I have gone down the last couple of weeks on a Tuesday during the middle of the day when things are the most quiet (mostly because mission leaders tend to contact me in the evenings after they get home from interviews, conferences, and meetings). It is a place with a driving range, bunker practice, putting greens, chipping practice, and they even have a Golf Simulator. It cost me about $45 to join and then $35 a month to go as often as I want. If I can make it there 4 times a month for 90 minutes or so, it will be less expensive than paying a daily rate of about $20. Now I just have to figure out how to transfer my practice to my play!

That is what is happening in South Africa. It is still pretty cold here, especially in the mornings. These last Saturday morning we played pickleball at 7:30 am and it was 31 degrees. By the end of the month, winter will be turning into Spring and new life will be everywhere! How grateful we are to Serve Together in South Africa at this time in our lives. We love being full-time missionaries!