Yesterday, at our district meeting, Sister Rossell gave a wonderful and inspiring spiritual thought. She shared parts of President Kimballs October 1979 conference talk, titled, Give me this Mountain. It was a fantastic talk. He tells about Kaleb who was with Moses and was sent to scout out the promised land, with Joshua and 10 others. They discovered a beautiful land filled with milk and honey and with figs and grapes so large that it took two men to carry a cluster of grapes. But the one problem was that there were giants in the land and the Israelites were too afraid. They did not think they would be able to chase the giants out. They were afraid for their lives. They didnt trust The Lord. All of the Israelites except Joshua and Kaleb were afraid. Kaleb trusted in The Lord and tried to convince the others that they could do it if they trusted The Lord. The Israelites were so afraid that they tried to stone Kaleb to silence him. Anyway, 45 years later, The Lord allows Kaleb to enter the promised land. It was still filled with giants and had the same challenges as it did earlier. Kaleb, now 85 years old, says, "give me this mountain." This means he was ready for the challenge, just as he was 45 years earlier. I think you would enjoy reading Joshua chapter 14.
The reason, it was such a good spiritual thought for me is because we have such overwhelming challenges here. I personally have the huge challenge to learn Italian. I feel so unhelpful, because I can't say what I want to say yet. There are many giants here that could cause us to shrink and be afraid to try. But we were called by The Lord, to serve here in Battipaglia, and he will help us overcome our challenges and find a way to beat the giants, if we are willing to climb this mountain.
I think we share the same challenge. The one thing that makes me the most nervous is the language. No matter how hard I try, it just doesn't seem to sink in my little brain. By the time we get there in a month, you will have been climbing the mountain for six months. Hopefully you will be able to tell me how to climb and avoid the rocky ridges and slippery slopes.
ReplyDelete