Can Ye Feel So Now?

  Wait! Stop! Turn around! turnaround and go south!

South? but that'll take you past Isengard...

Yes. -insert part I can't remember- The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm. It's the last thing he'll expect.

Hmmmm... That doesn't make any sense to me. But then, you are very small...

Hello everybody! So... This was a really a great quote for everything going over here in South Korea. I'm sure you all have heard about the nuclear tests that are being run and the tensions that are building up and so on and so forth, but we had a little bit of fun yesterday, for a zone activity. We went and visited the DMZ. That's right, the DMZ. The border between North and South Korea. Were we nervous? Well, yes, quite. We had had this planned for a little bit though so we thought we would go and visit regardless of all that fun stuff going on politically speaking ^^ Love It! I'll be honest though, we were kind of bored after fifteen or so minutes of it ^^ There wasn't much to see where we went. You see there are actually two or three main DMZ points and we went to the one that iw on the east coast, so there really wasn't anything there. Lots and lots of rocks though. It did really cause us all to ponder on what those people have to live with over there though, it was fun going there, but the ride back was a little more somber than the ride up.

And before I get into this next part, I just want to acknowledge something. Yes. I am fully aware that the challenge I issued to you two weeks ago was worded in the lame format that a lot of people like to put on their FAcebook posts. It was worded that way deliberately. I now ask you, how many of you let that become an excuse not to follow through with that challenge? I am genuinely curious as to how many of you read those words, but did not stop to think about the feeling that I was putting behind them? This is what I think is one of the saddest and most difficult things about maintaining spirituality in this day and age. How desensitized we are to the spiritual. One thing that has impressed me is how often we just say things without contemplating their meanings. To just name a few, "I'd like to bear my testimony..." "I know that..." "I bellieve that..." Have any of us thought of that? Have you thought about the meaning of the word 'testimony'? In a court, for example, the testimony of one individual has great power. One eyewitness to a crime is enough to substantiate a claim. To bear testimony is to, in a sense, put true conviction ib the line. To show to the world that you are putting yourself as a witness to the world of your conviction. 'to know' in my mind means to have no doubt as to something's existence or truth. And to declare that one believes, I think, may be one of the most powerful of them all. I am guilty of thinking to myself before my mission, that if someone says, "I believe..." it meant that their faith was weaker than those who said "I know.." To say that one believes, though, is to act with much greater faith. It is truely to say with great feeling that, "I don't know this, but I have a hope. I have a strong hope 'for a better world' I have a faith strong enough that even though I do not enjoy an assurance of knowledge, I will stand here in fron of you to express this belief, in hopes that one day, I will know." The statement of belief truely seems to me more powerful than many things.

I love you all so much. Please forgive my weaknesses in writing and pay attention to the words that have been whispered to your soul as you read this. For I know you have had words whispered to you. Follow them.

Good Luck, God Bless, and God Speed,

Sincerely Yours,

Elder Annen