Dates To Remember

Let us all take a moment to remember the inspiring words of a poet:

David walked into the valley

With a stone clutched in his hand

He was only a boy

But he knew someone must take a stand

There will always be a valley

Always mountains one must scale

There will always be perilous waters

Which someone must sail

Into valleys, into waters

Into jungles, into hell

Let us ride, let us ride home again with a story to tell

Into darkness, into danger

Into storms that rip the night

Don't give in, don't give up

But give thanks for the glorious fight

You can tremble, you can fear it

But keep your fighting spirit alive boys

Let the shiver of it sting you

Fling into battle, spring to your feet boys

Never hold back your step for a moment

Never doubt that your courage will grow

Hold your head even higher and into the fire we go 

Are there mountains that surround us?

Are there walls that block the way?

Knock 'em down, strip 'em back boys

And forward and into the fray

Into terror, into valour

Charge ahead, no, never turn

Yes, it's into the fire we fly

And the devil will burn

Someone has to face the valley

Rush in, we have to rally and win boys

When the world is saying not to

By [Golly], you know you've got to march on, boys

Never hold back your step for a moment

Never doubt that your courage will grow

Hold your head ever higher and into the fire we go 

Let the lightning strike

Let the flash of it shock you

Choke your fears away

Pull as tight as a wire

Let the fever strike

Let the force of it rock you

We will have our day, sailing into the fire

Someone has to face the valley

Rush in! We have to rally and win boys

When the world is saying not to

By [Golly], you know you've got to march on, boys

Never hold back your step for a moment

Look alive! Oh, your courage will grow

Yes, it's higher and higher and into the fire we go

Into fire!

Onward, ho!

Sorry, I know that was long, but I absolutely love that song. You know, sometimes life can be very hard. Courage is a very powerful attribute. How can we have courage? Through faith in God, and through love, for perfect love casteth out all fear. God can be the source of our courage, and the source of our power.  To mind come the words of Isaiah in Isaiah 41:10:

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen the;, yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

I also think of the words of Matthew 5:5:

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

The world teaches that courage means charging the man who has wronged you and fighting him even though he is bigger and stronger. While there are times we must stand and fight, meekness is bolder and more courageous. Anyone can charge the offender and fight him, but who has the strength to turn the other cheek and walk away. Meekness and humility is a sign of true spiritual strength. When opposition comes, be not afraid, but remember who your strength is.

On another note, there are many people in our area who have come from Saudi Arabia and other areas in the middle east. They are all very nice, and are usually very interested when we tell them that God has called another prophet on the earth. We have already handed out one Arabic Book of Mormon, which is way cool! However, basically every single time that we teach someone from the middle east, they seem to feel compelled to feed us some dates. The first time we were handed dates, they were smothered in a grayish goop that looked sort of like the maple glaze on maple bars. Of course, I thought it would be delicious because it looked fantastic. The moment delicacy touched my tongue, however, I knew I had made a mistake. The date tasted alright, but the viscous tar-like substance tasted like paste made from Elmer's glue and the residuum of a frequently used ash tray. Blech. Sometimes it is very hard to be polite. The next time we were fade dates, however, they tasted fine, once I got over my trepidation and actually stuck one in my mouth. Anyway, that's all of got for this week. It was very stressful because an Elder in our Zone got hit by a car while on back, and they'd just barely lost their phone. He's fine, but we had to keep checking up on him and calling the mission president for him (since they didn't have a phone).

We also got to go on exchanges with the Assistants, and it was awesome.

I love the work here, but I must go now. Have a great week!

--

Elder Benge