Kevan Kingsley Clawson's Blog, page 2

Seth’s home

We did get a chance to visit with Seth and our grandchildren for a few days. Seth has a great home in the woods and has his own wood shop!

 

Porter, one of our newest grandsons took a header off his bike and got a black eye!

Seth’s shop has a full woodworking shop, and a separate paint room with fans to paint all the things he creates

Here are a couple of items Seth has made:

 

Seth is still young at heart…

             Seth has become a great cook! We ate General Tso’s chicken with them one night…wow! It was better than any Chinese restaurant!

Seth has a large lot– 7 acres? And has lots of deer, turkeys, and other wild animals roaming through. He even can go deer hunting on his own property!

They are surrounded by areas set-aside for other purposes… for example, just across the street is a large Boy Scout camp.

We had a great time, and look forward to being home for a while now so that we can visit them more often.

PA Visit

The last ten days we spent in PA with our family there. We were met at the train by Terri’s parents, her brother and his family, and our son Seth and his family.

We then went to a large family dinner where we all shared a family favorite– shells. We also celebrated a birthday!

They put a cage around the living room and made it into a nursery for all the young children in the family! It worked well.

We then just had to visit Friendlys– an icecream and sandwich shop in the east, and also had to stop for lunch and get a REAL Philly cheese steak!

We spent most of our time at Terri’s parents house, as she helped them with their computer problems — they have been given the responsibility to put together a history of the LDS church in the area associated witht the Temple dedication.

Kevan’s Top Ten

I thought I would share with you my ‘Top Ten’ books of all time. These are books that either had a profound effect on my life, or were simply a good enough read that I have actually read them more than once!

Top Ten books:

The Holy Bible (written by the hand of holy Prophets in ancient Israel)

Reading this book, specifically the New Testament, brought me to an understanding of Jesus Christ. After studying most of the major religions of the world, I was drawn to, and believe in, Jesus Christ.

The Book of Mormon (written by the hand of holy Prophets in ancient America)

Reading this book gave me an understanding of which Christian church was right. This could have been difficult for me—believing in Jesus Christ but not knowing which of the many churches was true—but ended up to be quite simple: the Book of Mormon is proof that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church of Jesus Christ.

The Doctrine and Covenants (written by the Prophet Joseph Smith)

Reading this book gave me an understanding of the deep and profound doctrines that pertain to God on a universal scale. It is one thing to believe in Jesus Christ, it is quite another to understand the grand scope of existence—from the pre-mortal life to the many kingdoms and worlds that await us after death. This book gave me a more complete understanding of the Plan of Salvation and what is required of every person to be able to live in the Kingdom of God.

The Pearl of Great Price (translated from ancient papyrus of Moses and Abraham)

This book took me back to the beginning—to the creation of the world and the beginning of life on earth, and tied together the beginning of the world to the end of the world, when Christ comes again.

The Law by Frederic Bastiat

This taught me the true meaning of good government vs bad government. Why laws are created, and what constitutes a good law for society:

In brief, no government should create a law that permits a government to do what an individual cannot or should not.

For example: If I go to my neighbor and take something of his without permission, it is wrong. It is called stealing (one of the BIG Ten Commandments), and the act should be punished. However, if a government passes a law that takes from my neighbor without his permission, and gives what was my neighbor’s to me…they call that Socialism or Communism, and it is heralded as good. The intellectual disconnect between what we can and cannot do as individuals, and what we permit government to do as a society is the height of hypocrisy.

Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha by Thich Nhat Hanh

The ability to obtain peace and serenity through seeking and understanding universal truth can be life changing. Having studied Eastern Religions for many years, I have found this book is able to relate the simple and profound concepts better than any other I have read. Buddha, through the universal light of truth that dwells within each of us, was able to develop a way of life, and way of looking at life, that can bring great peace to anyone. It is unfortunate that the followers of Buddha turned his teachings into a religion (something the Buddha himself would not have wanted) that often distorts the truths that he found and was trying to teach others. When asked about God, the Buddha would simply answer truthfully that he did not know about God—he was simply teaching the truths that he was able to obtain through seeking to understand the universal truths he discovered all around him.

The Hobbit / Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

For the pure joy of reading and escaping into a fantasy world, nothing compares to this series.

Dune by Frank Herbert

The joining of fantasy and science fiction has made this series a classic.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

This was read to our entire class in 5th grade. Wow!  I can remember to this day the excitement and anticipation of reading another chapter in this wonderful book.

The Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov

A great science fiction series of space and exploration

I would be interested to hear from others what their Top Ten would be!

Going Home to Philly

Terri and I left St Martin early Monday morning– we were up at 5am to get ready for the Zone Leaders to pick us up at about 5:40am to head to the airport. We left about 8 am for Miami and then on to Philly.

Terri’s parents, brother, and our son Seth live in PA– so that would be our first stop on our way home to Utah. We also will be attending the dedication of the Philly Temple on Sunday. Since I served my first mission in Philly, and since so many of our family lived there, it seemed like a good place to come!

I have been trying to get a picture of this bird for 18 months! Finally, just a couple of days before we leave, during my morning walk, I finally got a picture or two!

Just some final pics of what was our beautiful home of St Martin!

Simpson Bay with all the boats– Sandy Ground (French side) in the background

The road leading to Marigot on the French side where two elders work

 

Just over the hill is St Peters and Ebenezer where four of our elders work

Just to the right of St Peters valley is the Salt Pond leading to Philipsburg

The Salt Pond is on the left, with the long strip being Philipsburg, and the ocean bay on the right where the large cruise ships come

Just to the right you can just see the two long piers where the cruise ships come into port. There are no ships in today– it is slow in the summer.

 

During our flight to Miami we passed many islands– I was surprised how many we passed!

    

We finally came to Miami– had no idea how flat it was! It is pancake flat for as far as you can see!

They had lots of water and ponds– not sure what they are for, but all we could think about was ‘breeding ground for Zika’ !

  

After arriving in Miami we had a short layover, then on to PA. Once at the PA airport we raced to catch the train to Warminster where our family would be meeting us. We had quite the crowd waiting for us! Our son Seth’s children, Eve and Josh had made welcome home signs for us. The people on the train with us were excited too! It was a great welcoming for us. We then all went back to Grandma’s house (Terri’s Parents) for dinner with the whole family; hot dogs and baked beans.

It brought back good memories. When we lived in Conn. way back when, and our children were little, we used to travel to visit the Grandparents on the weekends. They would always have a dinner of hot dogs and beans waiting for us when we arrived.

We will spend about two weeks here visiting–and go to the Temple dedication on Sunday, then travel to Utah for our second ‘homecoming’ with our family there!

Our last Sunday in St Martin

Terri and I had a busy Sunday– our last day in St Martin. I had been asked to speak (Terri had been asked to speak a week before), and I also had to teach the Priesthood lesson. Terri played the organ and also taught the youth Sunday School class. It was a great way to close out our service.

Since President Herrington was also speaking, I kept my talk short– just bearing my testimony of the power of the Priesthood and the truth of the Gospel.

The closing hymn was touching, and Terri gave the closing prayer– a tough emotional time for us both.

Priesthood was on the family.

During opening of Priesthood one of the investigators (who is planning to be baptized in October) asked for time to speak to the Priesthood. He gave some touching remarks about the time I have spent with him (I often gave him rides to church activities).

At the end of church Terri and the other sisters got one last picture taken:

That evening there was a Fireside on the Book of Mormon. Afterward, we went home to finish packing and get ready to leave early the next morning.

Last Zone Conference

We participated in our last Zone Conference on St Martin. Pres and Sister Herrington flew into St Martin on Friday, and we went out to dinner with them and with Pres and Sister Huggins of the local Branch.

On Saturday we had a Zone Conference with all the missionaries, which lasted about 3 hours, after which we ate lunch together.

Here the missionaries are getting all set-up to begin the meeting

Elder Anderson is playing the prelude music

The meeting begins with our two Zone leaders taking charge: Elder Kasteller and Elder Clement

President and Sister Herrington oversee the meeting with interest

Elder Rowley, who works the French side of the island, gives a short talk

Sister Maughn giving a short talk

 

Terri and I were given the opportunity to give one last testimony to the group

Sister Herrington giving instruction to the missionaries

Then it was lunchtime!

There is really no downtime for Pres and Sister Herrington– now that Terri is leaving Sister Herrinton must field all medical calls from missionaries!

One last Zone picture.

Back row L to R: Elder Sejournet, Brimhall, Lindsey, Anderson, Sandbakken, Clement, Rowley  From Row L to R: Sister Layton, Maughan, Pres Herrington, Sister Herrington, Sister Clawson, Elder Kasteller

It was a great way to end our mission!

St Martin Missionaries are detained…

Yes, it’s true! Two St Martin missionaries were detained by the French police on their way to Zone Conference! The police had set-up a road check between the French side of St Martin and the Dutch side. They pulled the missionaries over and asked for their papers…

Here and in most of the mission we ask the missionaries NOT to carry their passports, so they don’t lose them. They carry other ID, such as driver’s license, etc., and also a copy of their passport, but not the passport itself.

On this particular day, and for the first time ever, the police decided that what they had was not enough and wanted to see their actual passports—and until they could produce them, they were going to be taken to the police station and detained.

So Terri and I, just as Zone Conference was starting, had to head off with the missionaries’ passports to get them out of holding. It was a difficult place to find, as we wandered around the French side of the island… But we finally found the right place, and after producing the passports, the missionaries were released into our care– with a warning to make sure they carried their passports with them at all times.

We got back about 40 minutes after Zone Conference had started, relieved that it wasn’t something more difficult to deal with.

Now the missionaries really have something to write home about!

Zone Conference with Elder Zivic

We have a busy last week! Today we held Zone Conference with a special guest: Elder Zivic of the Area Presidency. We did this the modern way: via Skype/Gotomeeting! The Conference was held on Barbados, with all of the Zone Leaders present, while the rest of the Zone members gathered on their various islands and participated over the internet.

Our group on St Martin met in our apartment, where we set-up a computer link with the meeting, and watched the procedings on our TV. After the meeting we ate lunch together before the missionaries headed out to go back to work.

After the meeting Terri and I spend some time answering gospel questions the missionaries had conerning various doctrines and principles. It was quite far ranging: from the premortal life to life after death. It was fun for us and instructional for them. Most of their questions could have been answered by simply reading the scriptures…they do a lot of studying, but often limit their studies to the Book of Mormon. We encouraged them to read ALL the scriptures!

Tomorrow Terri and I begin packing and cleaning the apartment. Friday the President comes in and then we are busy most of the day Saturday and Sunday with meetings.

Local member runs for office

It is election time here on St Martin, and we have a member of the Church–our Elders Quorum President–who is running for office. To my knowledge he is the only member running for office here on the island (there are a number of members who work for the government here, but only one running for office).

Brother Somersall is a great guy, and would make a wonderful and honest leader for St Martin! We wish him the best. The election is just in a few weeks, the end of September…so we will just miss it!

Our landlady, Gracita Arringdale is also running for office! She even formed her own party: the PPA . She asked if we as missionaries ever got involved in politics…perhaps wondering if we would aid her in her cause? The answer, of course, was that we as missionaries could not get involved in local politics while serving a mission. We had to remain neutral in all things political so as not to offend anyone who might be seeking to hear and accept the gospel! Hearing and accepting the Gospel of Jesus Christ was much more important than any political movement: the Gospel is eternal and never changes, while politics and other social issues can change–they can come and go, ebb and flow–depending upon the whims of the people and the times. It is why the Church tries to stay out of politics–other than to encourage people to get involved.

On very rare, and important, occasions the Church will get involved and make a stand for or against a specific issue (not for or against a specific party) when they feel that the issue directly effects the Church. Then, like any citizen, or any group, Union, Corporation, or other organization of people, they will get involved to make sure their side of the issue is heard and supported.

Most of the time though the Church will stay above the riot of political retoric and speak to issues that directly effect people. One of the proudest moments I have had as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was during last General Conference when the Church let everyone know that they would be giving aid to refugees. In spite of the harsh views on either side of the issue, the Church looked at the need, and chose to help!

 

A few mission memories

Here are a few mission memories and pics:

This is a picture of Terri and I ‘lost’ in the Congo jungle. Our vehicles had became stuck and we were sure we were going to spend the night in the bush– but  our group found some local natives who came to aid us in getting our vehicles out of the mud, and we continued on our journey. This was just one or two days after arriving in the Congo!

Terri and I celebrated our 40th wedding aniversary here on St Martin!

I had the privilege of baptizing a few people here on St Martin. This is Roger, with the Sister missionaries who taught him the gospel.

We were blessed to work with a great group of senior couples while in the West Indies (when we first arrived, this was the West Indies mission– later to be divided into the Trinidad and Barbados missions).

I also had the pleasure of working with Brother Lee from the FM group now and then, when he came to see the local building.

St Martin is truely a beautiful island! Terri and I made it up to Pic Paradis, the highest point on the island, to take in the view.

Terri was choir director for a time– a great opportunity to get to know the members and to worship God through song.

Terri spent a lot of time playing music for the Branch

One of the highlights of Terri’s time here was teaching a small group of Seminary students.

Of course Terri’s main job here, and on previous missions, was the medical care of missionaries (and others). While here she actually took care of TWO missions: both the Trinidad and Barbados missions–over 200 missionaries!

We will miss living and serving in the mission field!