Foust in Fort Worth: December 2011

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The man who holds the complete works of Aristotle in one hand, and a delicious sandwich in the other‏

Hello everybody! Merry Christmas again, even though it is 3 days late!
So I'll bet many of you are wondering why I am emailing on Wednesday, the answer is simple, burleson library is dumb and is closed until the new year. So, not knowing that previously, we failed our attempts to email yesterday (we already knew it would be closed on Monday). But luckily, after a quick phone call to President Sagers, we got permission to email today. Good stuff.

So, I had an awesome Christmas. I really missed going to grandparent's houses like normal, but it was ok. On Christmas eve we went to a party at a member's house. It is the parents of the family with the 12 kids in the ward. So, basically it was a mad house. We even played the game where you get to pick a present and open it, or you can steal someone else's present they chose. I picked a new one scored some Starbucks Coffee grinds,

and every member in the room literally laughed out loud with me. luckily someone took pity on me and stole it so I got an Outback steakhouse gift card instead.

On Christmas day I got to spend time with some great people out here. We had 3 meals fed to us on Christmas, which is about average for this mission. We had pumpkin pancakes for breakfast after church at one member's house, then some good breakfast casserole/lasagna stuff at another's for lunch, then Texas BBQ for dinner at a third. It was great. The members out here are very generous and have been giving us tons of food and candy, it's crazy. I feel like I am getting fat again. I am not really, but I feel like it sometimes. I was very grateful to get a package with freshly picked fruit yesterday.

The work is going great. We are going to have another baptism on Tuesday! I am very excited, it is the 9 yr old boy we have been teaching. He is excited to get baptized and will help his parents to become active again. He is a smart little kid.

We went tracting this morning and found a new investigator with great potential. I think she is very sincere and wants to learn. We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and are going back on Friday afternoon. It will be a good lesson.

Alright, random rant moment from Elder Foust. What is happening to our Country? I heard from someone again that they are pushing to take "One nation under God" out of the pledge because it "takes away Atheist's rights". Bull-freaking-crap. They have every right to not say it if they don't want to, but to take away someone else's right to say it is completely unconstitutional and ridiculous. And then the whole thing about kids reading their scriptures and praying in public schools. Guess what, atheists have every right to not do that, and others should have every right to. If a so-called atheist is offended by it, that is their own personal problem and they need to mature. And the parents that come in and fight it are absolutely ridiculous too. it's so stupid, what are these people thinking? Someone gave me this awesome commentary by Ben Stein to read, I have gotten it in emails before, but it is still great. He talks about how even though he is a Jew, it does not offend him to see Christmas trees in public places, or nativities. He says he even likes it when people say Merry Christmas to him because it is a friendly gesture and helps bring this country together.

Back to "One Nation under God." It doesn't say "one nation under Christ" it doesn't say "one nation under Allah" it doesn't say "one nation under Elohiem" and it doesn't say "one nation under Buddha". It says God. It is Deity. It is the belief that there is something there that binds us together. Be it a holy spirit, a loving father in heaven, life force, chi, or emotion, it binds us as one. It makes us Indivisible, as the pledge states. It makes us united. As the song in Lion King 2 states, We are one!

And, if anyone tried to take that away from me, Toby Keith puts it best. I'll stick a Boot in your _____ Cause it's the American way.

And I can do that, because I bought boots on Monday. Boo-yah.

I love you all. I know this church is true. I know Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and that Thomas S. Monson is today.

-Elder Foust

by the way, it is transfers next week and I will not know until Monday whether or not I will be staying, so if anyone is planning on sending me anything, do it before Saturday or wait until I know where I'll be next month.

LOVE YOU!!!!

--
--Elder Braxton C Foust--

Monday, December 19, 2011

I'll be home for christmas, if only in my dreams.

Sorry, It is going to be a short email this week.

This week has been great.

On Tuesday we had a great District meeting about Inviting people to learn and make commitments. It was really good, I learned a lot and so did my district.

On Wednesday we had Zone Conference! it was awesome! Being the Christmas Conference, President Sagers showed us a movie. Unfortunately, he is not like the old Mission President who showed Ben Hur, but what we saw was maybe even better. We got to watch 17 miracles. It was great. (Especially looking at all the common LDS actors, like the ones who played Joseph and Hyrum in The Prophet of the Restoration, and T Homas in Finding Faith in Christ) But seriously, that movie rocks. If you have not seen it, go get it. Anyway, during ZC, they took all of our phones away, then at the end gave us new phones. So that's pretty sweet. I like our phone.

On Thursday I got to go on exchange with my mission brother, Elder Gypp, so that was fun. We did some good work.

On Saturday we had a baptism! Preston got baptized! (I called his elvis before because he had this awesome hair do that looked nothing like Elvis, but it worked). Anyway, it was really good. Then on Sunday he got confirmed in one of the best sacrament meetings I have ever seen.

We had the confirmation, 2 Christmas musical numbers, a youth talk, and a Homecoming talk. It was one of the best RM talks I have ever seen too. Cameron (The RM) Had a few non-member friends from high school there, and he was very very bold in his talk, talking about the restoration, the plan of salvation, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. It rocked.

And then this morning, I started playing around with a chorus for the song I have written on guitar, so that's pretty sweet too.

I love the Christmas season. It is going to be weird not being home, not getting to be with friends and family. My best friends are scattered around the world anyway, but still, I am going to miss my family a lot. I'll miss going to Grandma Stokers on Christmas Eve, playing with Eli, Caleb, Hannah, and Lily. I'll miss spending time with the Foust side on Christmas Morning. But, I will get to have new experiences in Texas, things I have never seen before, and my family will still be there in 14 months (not that anyone is counting). This is the Lord's Work. This is the Lord's time. I am happy to be a part of it.

I love you all, I hope you have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New year.

--
--Elder Braxton C Foust--

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

• Exchanges, Interviews, Emergency Transfers, and Dogs‏

Good Morning everyone. This week has been great.

Being the District Leader, I get to go on exchanges with every Elder in the District. So on Tuesday I went with Elder Fowers. He is from Hyde Park Utah, which is really close to the school in the world. Go aggies.

Anyway, Elder Fowers is awesome. He is new this transfer, he is being trained by my "younger Brother" Elder Gypp (Elder Gypp and I were both trained by Elder Warburton, in case you do not remember me telling you that before). We had a great time talking about music (even though we have very different tastes) and about the gospel (obviously). He is a huge Josh Groban fan, so we are going to rock out to some You Raise Me Up when he gets his CDs from home. It was a really good exchange, he is a really cool kid.

Then on Friday, Elder Whittier and I went on Exchange. It was also very good. I got to work with a missionary who has been out for 23 1/2 months, so I learned some good contacting skills. (but not nun-chucking skills or computer hacking skills). It was really fun. On Friday morning, right before we exchanged, President Sagers called them and told them that Elder Jardine was being transferred the next day. They had a tri-panionship in Joshua ward and the member that they lived with was worried about the sewage lines with three 20 yr old men living in their little apartment, so he got sent to Denton. Anyway, that exchange was also quite fun.

While I was with Elder Whittier, we went to teach the three little girls we are teaching. We had a great lesson and taught them all of the commandments (lesson 4 in PMG). After we finished the lesson we were talking for a minute and the girls started playing with one of their four dogs. They have four Labs, 3 full labs that are pretty small, Cody, Bear, and Buddha, and a Big one that is half something else, named Diesel. Well, as the girls were playing tug-of-war with Cody, he started getting really worked up and they quit pulling for a bit. He walked away and just started growling, so the Mom grapped him and petted him and told him to stop growling, then he barked at her. So she grabbed his collar and lifted him up onto her lap and tried to get him to calm down. he barked again so she hit his nose and he growled and barked again, this time with more anger with his forehead all crinkled and angry looking. Then Diesel jumps at him and starts biting and growling. At first we thought they were just playing again, but after about 3 seconds it was obvious that they were not, and bear and Buddha started in too. So The Mom of the Girls, who is sitting on a couch, gets between Diesel and Cody, trying to protect the smaller dog, and Diesel just freaks out and starts barking and biting and just freaking. So I jumped up and grabbed his collar and ripped him off of Her, but his collar was loose and he pulled out of it. Then Elder Whittier, being the Virginia Farm Boy he is, Jumps on top of Diesel, Grabs his ear, twists it, and shoves his head to the ground. As he is doping that, I grab Bear and Buddha’s collars and pull them away, luckily since they are smaller I was able to keep them away and then the oldest girl jumped up and opened the back door to let the three attacking dogs out, then we tried to cam cody down. He had one tooth mark above his left eye that was bleeding a little bit, but just enough to see some red on his fur. He was scared and shaking bad, so the next few minutes were spent trying to calm him down, and the three little girls who were all bawling and shaking too. It was crazy. Now I know what to do to get a Dog off of someone. Crazy huh. The girls dad was out of town, and our exchange was elderly, so he didn't jump up to help either, so it was all me and Whittier. It was so crazy. They are all ok though.

On Sunday Elvis, who's real name will be revealed next week once he is baptized and I send the pictures, got interviewed and is being baptized on Saturday! it is going to be sweet. Then after church I interviewed JB, a Guy from Joshua who is getting baptized on Wednesday. So it was pretty sweet, I got to do my first baptismal interview. I enjoyed it and learned a lot from it.

This Wednesday will also be Zone Conference, I am excited for that, it will be awesome.

Well, I am out of time. I love you all! I look forward to hearing from you soon :)

Love, Elder Foust
-- --Elder Braxton C Foust--

Monday, December 5, 2011

Both ends of the spectrum‏

This week has been one of the absolute best weeks of my mission, and one of the worst.

This week was one of the best because we taught several lessons to investigators in a member's home. This is actually really significant because the baptismal and retention rates are hugely significant when they are taught in this situation. And then, all four of the investigators who we taught were at sacrament meeting. And one of them has a baptismal date for December 17th! That's the one I have been refferring to ya'll as Elvis. It was a great week in teaching and talking to people. Plus, the weather has completely changed. I have not seen the sun for a week now. It has been overcast and rainy the whole time. Yesterday it was raining literally all day long. it was wonderful. The only problem is now it is cold, and we are basically wanting to wear our suits everywhere, which is hard since they need to be dry cleaned which isn't the most inexpensive thing in the world. Thank goodness for overcoats. On Saturday we walked 6 miles in the rain. It came in waves, sometimes the rain stopped for a few minutes, other times we had to stop talking because we couldn't hear each other. crazy huh. Several people offered us rides, but we can't talk to people if we are in a car, so we just kept walking. That is when I found out that my overcoat is not water proof, just very water resistant. It rocked.

That's what made this week so great. It may not seem like much to you, but it is huge for us. Getting people to sacrament meeting is the best thing to do to help them progress and feel the spirit. I love church.

Plus it was fast Sunday yesterday, and I had a great fast. It was one of those little things that just helps, you know? And the testimonies shared in sacrament meeting were great.

Now I guess I'll go to the "one of the worst"

Sunday evening I got a phone call from President Sagers, informing me that Jim Hefner had passed away. It was a bit of a blow, because I didn't see it coming at all. I had hoped he would beat the cancer and come out on top. But the Lord's hand is in all things. President Sagers told me that being in the field was the best thing I could do right now to help his family, and I know that is true.

This is the second time I have had a phone call like this on my mission. It is such a weird sensation to be told "Elder, Your stake president just called me. ________ has passed away." To think to yourself, that person I knew and loved is no longer in the physical realm of this earth. They are not here anymore. They've gone on. They won't be there to tell you welcome home in a little over a year. and you didn't get to say goodbye. But that's the miracle of the plan of salvation. It's not meant to be a goodbye, it's more of a "see you later." In the eternal scheme of things it's really a "see you soon." God is in control and knows us all perfectly. Jim is no longer in pain. He's not bound by his mortal body. He is in a better place. I love you Jim, and I'll see you soon.

--
--Elder Braxton C Foust--

Be of Good Cheer

Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith. My dear brothers and sisters, I express my love to you. I am humbled by the responsibility to address you, and yet I am grateful for the opportunity to do so. Since last we met together in a general conference six months ago, there have been continuing signs that circumstances in the world aren’t necessarily as we would wish. The global economy, which six months ago appeared to be sagging, seems to have taken a nosedive, and for many weeks now the financial outlook has been somewhat grim. In addition, the moral footings of society continue to slip, while those who attempt to safeguard those footings are often ridiculed and, at times, picketed and persecuted. Wars, natural disasters, and personal misfortunes continue to occur. It would be easy to become discouraged and cynical about the future—or even fearful of what might come—if we allowed ourselves to dwell only on that which is wrong in the world and in our lives. Today, however, I’d like us to turn our thoughts and our attitudes away from the troubles around us and to focus instead on our blessings as members of the Church. The Apostle Paul declared, “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 1 None of us makes it through this life without problems and challenges—and sometimes tragedies and misfortunes. After all, in large part we are here to learn and grow from such events in our lives. We know that there are times when we will suffer, when we will grieve, and when we will be saddened. However, we are told, “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” 2 How might we have joy in our lives, despite all that we may face? Again from the scriptures: “Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you.” 3 The history of the Church in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times, is replete with the experiences of those who have struggled and yet who have remained steadfast and of good cheer as they have made the gospel of Jesus Christ the center of their lives. This attitude is what will pull us through whatever comes our way. It will not remove our troubles from us but rather will enable us to face our challenges, to meet them head on, and to emerge victorious. Too numerous to mention are the examples of all the individuals who have faced difficult circumstances and yet who have persevered and prevailed because their faith in the gospel and in the Savior has given them the strength they have needed. This morning, however, I’d like to share with you three such examples. First, from my own family, I mention a touching experience that has always been an inspiration to me. My maternal great-grandparents Gibson and Cecelia Sharp Condie lived in Clackmannan, Scotland. Their families were engaged in coal mining. They were at peace with the world, surrounded by relatives and friends, and were housed in fairly comfortable quarters in a land they loved. Then they listened to the message of the missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and, to the depths of their very souls, were converted. They heard the call to gather to Zion and knew they must answer that call. Sometime around 1848, they sold their possessions and prepared for the hazardous voyage across the mighty Atlantic Ocean. With five small children, they boarded a sailing vessel, all their worldly possessions in one tiny trunk. They traveled 3,000 miles (4,800 km) across the waters—eight long, weary weeks on a treacherous sea, watching and waiting, with poor food, poor water, and no help beyond the length and breadth of that small ship. In the midst of this soul-trying situation, one of their young sons became ill. There were no doctors, no stores at which they might purchase medicine to ease his suffering. They watched, they prayed, they waited, and they wept as day by day his condition deteriorated. When his eyes were at last closed in death, their hearts were torn asunder. To add to their grief, the laws of the sea must be obeyed. Wrapped in a canvas weighed down with iron, the little body was consigned to a watery grave. As they sailed away, only those parents knew the crushing blow dealt to wounded hearts. 4 However, with a faith born of their deep conviction of the truth and their love of the Lord, Gibson and Cecelia held on. They were comforted by the words of the Lord: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” 5 How grateful I am for ancestors who had the faith to leave hearth and home and to journey to Zion, who made sacrifices I can scarcely imagine. I thank my Heavenly Father for the example of faith, of courage, and of determination Gibson and Cecelia Sharp Condie provide for me and for all their posterity. I introduce next a gentle, faith-filled man who epitomized the peace and joy which the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring into one’s life. Late one evening on a Pacific isle, a small boat slipped silently to its berth at the crude pier. Two Polynesian women helped Meli Mulipola from the boat and guided him to the well-worn pathway leading to the village road. The women marveled at the bright stars, which twinkled in the midnight sky. The moonlight guided them along their way. However, Meli Mulipola could not appreciate these delights of nature—the moon, the stars, the sky—for he was blind. Brother Mulipola’s vision had been normal until a fateful day when, while working on a pineapple plantation, light turned suddenly to darkness and day became perpetual night. He was depressed and despondent until he learned the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. His life was brought into compliance with the teachings of the Church, and he once again felt hope and joy. Brother Mulipola and his loved ones had made a long voyage, having learned that one who held the priesthood of God was visiting among the islands of the Pacific. He sought a blessing, and it was my privilege, along with another who held the Melchizedek Priesthood, to provide that blessing to him. As we finished, I noted that tears were streaming from his sightless eyes, coursing down his brown cheeks and tumbling finally upon his native dress. He dropped to his knees and prayed: “O God, Thou knowest I am blind. Thy servants have blessed me that my sight might return. Whether in Thy wisdom I see light or whether I see darkness all the days of my life, I will be eternally grateful for the truth of Thy gospel, which I now see and which provides the light of my life.” He rose to his feet and, smiling, thanked us for providing the blessing. He then disappeared into the still of the night. Silently he came; silently he departed. But his presence I shall never forget. I reflected upon the message of the Master: “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” 6 My brothers and sisters, each of us has that light in his or her life. We are not left to walk alone, no matter how dark our pathway. I love the words penned by M. Louise Haskins: And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown!” And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than [a] light and safer than a known way.” 7 The setting for my final example of one who persevered and ultimately prevailed, despite overwhelmingly difficult circumstances, begins in East Prussia following World War II. In about March 1946, less than a year after the end of the war, Ezra Taft Benson, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, accompanied by Frederick W. Babbel, was assigned a special postwar tour of Europe for the express purpose of meeting with the Saints, assessing their needs, and providing assistance to them. Elder Benson and Brother Babbel later recounted, from a testimony they heard, the experience of a Church member who found herself in an area no longer controlled by the government under which she had resided. She and her husband had lived an idyllic life in East Prussia. Then had come the second great world war within their lifetimes. Her beloved young husband was killed during the final days of the frightful battles in their homeland, leaving her alone to care for their four children. The occupying forces determined that the Germans in East Prussia must go to Western Germany to seek a new home. The woman was German, and so it was necessary for her to go. The journey was over a thousand miles (1,600 km), and she had no way to accomplish it but on foot. She was allowed to take only such bare necessities as she could load into her small wooden-wheeled wagon. Besides her children and these meager possessions, she took with her a strong faith in God and in the gospel as revealed to the latter-day prophet Joseph Smith. She and the children began the journey in late summer. Having neither food nor money among her few possessions, she was forced to gather a daily subsistence from the fields and forests along the way. She was constantly faced with dangers from panic-stricken refugees and plundering troops. As the days turned into weeks and the weeks to months, the temperatures dropped below freezing. Each day, she stumbled over the frozen ground, her smallest child—a baby—in her arms. Her three other children struggled along behind her, with the oldest—seven years old—pulling the tiny wooden wagon containing their belongings. Ragged and torn burlap was wrapped around their feet, providing the only protection for them, since their shoes had long since disintegrated. Their thin, tattered jackets covered their thin, tattered clothing, providing their only protection against the cold. Soon the snows came, and the days and nights became a nightmare. In the evenings she and the children would try to find some kind of shelter—a barn or a shed—and would huddle together for warmth, with a few thin blankets from the wagon on top of them. She constantly struggled to force from her mind overwhelming fears that they would perish before reaching their destination. And then one morning the unthinkable happened. As she awakened, she felt a chill in her heart. The tiny form of her three-year-old daughter was cold and still, and she realized that death had claimed the child. Though overwhelmed with grief, she knew that she must take the other children and travel on. First, however, she used the only implement she had—a tablespoon—to dig a grave in the frozen ground for her tiny, precious child. Death, however, was to be her companion again and again on the journey. Her seven-year-old son died, either from starvation or from freezing or both. Again her only shovel was the tablespoon, and again she dug hour after hour to lay his mortal remains gently into the earth. Next, her five-year-old son died, and again she used her tablespoon as a shovel. Her despair was all consuming. She had only her tiny baby daughter left, and the poor thing was failing. Finally, as she was reaching the end of her journey, the baby died in her arms. The spoon was gone now, so hour after hour she dug a grave in the frozen earth with her bare fingers. Her grief became unbearable. How could she possibly be kneeling in the snow at the graveside of her last child? She had lost her husband and all her children. She had given up her earthly goods, her home, and even her homeland. In this moment of overwhelming sorrow and complete bewilderment, she felt her heart would literally break. In despair she contemplated how she might end her own life, as so many of her fellow countrymen were doing. How easy it would be to jump off a nearby bridge, she thought, or to throw herself in front of an oncoming train. And then, as these thoughts assailed her, something within her said, “Get down on your knees and pray.” She ignored the prompting until she could resist it no longer. She knelt and prayed more fervently than she had in her entire life: “Dear Heavenly Father, I do not know how I can go on. I have nothing left—except my faith in Thee. I feel, Father, amidst the desolation of my soul, an overwhelming gratitude for the atoning sacrifice of Thy Son, Jesus Christ. I cannot express adequately my love for Him. I know that because He suffered and died, I shall live again with my family; that because He broke the chains of death, I shall see my children again and will have the joy of raising them. Though I do not at this moment wish to live, I will do so, that we may be reunited as a family and return—together—to Thee.” When she finally reached her destination of Karlsruhe, Germany, she was emaciated. Brother Babbel said that her face was a purple-gray, her eyes red and swollen, her joints protruding. She was literally in the advanced stages of starvation. In a Church meeting shortly thereafter, she bore a glorious testimony, stating that of all the ailing people in her saddened land, she was one of the happiest because she knew that God lived, that Jesus is the Christ, and that He died and was resurrected so that we might live again. She testified that she knew if she continued faithful and true to the end, she would be reunited with those she had lost and would be saved in the celestial kingdom of God. 8 From the holy scriptures we read, “Behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in [Him], they who have endured the crosses of the world, … they shall inherit the kingdom of God, … and their joy shall be full forever.” 9 I testify to you that our promised blessings are beyond measure. Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments. There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us. My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith. I declare that God lives and that He hears and answers our prayers. His Son, Jesus Christ, is our Savior and our Redeemer. Heaven’s blessings await us. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.