Sabbath
Day January 29th, 2024 / Our Challenge with Cody Pate-
We meet Cody Pate at our first YSA activity -
and what a joy to meet him and associate with him. He is very handsome and has
this fun, loving charm about him- we have enjoyed each of our encounters as we
have gathered for YSA activities and our sacrament meetings on Sunday. He
has been attending here and there - not regularly- We have missed seeing him.
He came to our Christmas dinner and the last time to have seen him. We
were thrilled to see he actually came to Church today- when I entered the building I saw Cody sitting toward the back of the chapel greeting
him and so happy to see him. Corey Stock sat by him - then Lexi came in
the only YSA young women attending came and sat by them also- We were few in numbers
attending sacrament this week. Paige Argle came in after our meeting started.
We had three of the elder missionaries there to help with the
administration of the sacrament. Kyle Cazier our YSA elder quorum
president blessing the sacrament, Brandon our down syndrone elder passing the
sacrament, with another elder Ryan attending the Paris, Idaho section of our
stake, along with Brayden Gifford- YSA adult from our Garden city 1st Ward - so
in attendance was only - 9 YSA members which include the three missionaries and
two YSA Sisters- we had thee guest members visiting and supporting the two YSA
speakers in our Stake who are both engaged, also today our speaking High councilman-
that adds 6 to our total - leadership attendance included -
President Symes and Sister Symes along with our two counselors Brother & Sister
Smoot and Brother and sister Rasmussen - and Brother and sister Droesbeke who
are the parent's of Brandon- sister Droesbeke plays the piano for us- 8 adults -
So our total attendance for our sacrament meeting was 25 this week. We are very few in numbers and striving to
bring the YSA member attendance up We look forward to attending Sacrament and
fellowshipping with the members who attend each week. So, we were so thrilled
to see that Cody had come today. He stayed for our second hour Come
Follow Me discussing chapter 11-14 of 1 Nephi- Book of Mormon - Nephi’s vision
of the Tree of life and panoramic vision the history of the earth in a 2600
time period- highlights of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the
latter days - the time in which we now live- In our lesson material was
discussed what is the abominable church and the Church of the Lamb of God? 1
Nephi 14: 13 And it came to pass that I beheld that the great mother of
abominations did gather together multitudes upon the face of all the earth,
among all the nations of the Gentiles, to fight against the Lamb of
God. 14 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of
God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the
covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth;
and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great
glory. The lesson opened with these remarks - When God has
monumental work for His prophet to do, He often gives that prophet a monumental
vision. Moses, John, Lehi, and Joseph Smith all had visions like that—visions
that expanded their minds and helped them see just how grand and awe-inspiring
God’s work really is. Nephi also had one of these life-changing visions.
He saw the ministry of the Savior, the future of Lehi’s posterity in the
promised land, and the latter-day destiny of God’s work. After this vision,
Nephi was better prepared for the work that lay ahead. And reading about this
vision can help prepare you too—for God also has work for you to do in His
kingdom. You are among “the saints of the church of the Lamb” seen by Nephi,
“who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with
righteousness and with the power of God in great glory” (1 Nephi 14:14).
Cody contributed comments in the beginning of
the lesson - but then became contentious about who is the church of the lamb of
God - saying it is all churches and that the LDS Church today is a false
church- he felt comments made by some of the older members in the circle were
being high minded and feeling we don’t need organized religion- I could see
Cody heat up and become offended and somewhat angry- his body language totally
changed to being closed off - and not making any more commitments- after the
closing prayer he abruptly got up and walked out not saying anything to anyone
- getting in his truck and racing off out of the parking lot - he couldn’t
leave fast enough- my heart ached for him - by his actions I said, to myself
his is not coming back! Making me very sad! We need you and you have
much to offer to our small branch if you would just try and give of yourself.
Not knowing his background and what he does believe? Not really sure what
set him off- all I knew was President Symes and I have to try to smooth this
out with him and find out where he is at on his spiritual journey? It was very
obvious he was upset- I came home and fell to my knees to ask Heavenly Father
for the insight and direction of what we can do or say to help this young man.
He obviously came to church today for a reason and then to see him leave
so upset was heart breaking- we are trying to witness of Jesus Christ, his
doctrine and not run him off with false doctrine- President Symes joined
our Come Follow Me lesson toward the end and did not see what had happened in
our discussion- he could sense members were back peddling, so to speak, to try to
smooth things out - but it was not working- He had to stay after our
meetings to meet with the church auditor for the financial accounting of our
branch. He was gone for a couple of hours- that was stressful for him in
learning the new responsibilities on his part serving as the new branch
president. He was drained from being in church meetings from noon to 6pm
- I told him what had happened and that we needed to go visit with Cody and try
to smooth things out, listen to him and try to find out where he is- what upset
him? I felt strongly he needed our visit tonight, we shouldn’t wait.
President Symes texted him and he agreed to let us come visit with him- we
arrived at 8pm- and visited for an hour and a half. We got a good idea
where he is at- he has a good foundation. And says he believes the Book of
Mormon and that Joseph smith is a prophet of God, but now believes the church
is misguided and that none of the prophets since Jospeh Smith are true prophets-
he doesn’t need organized religion - yet he does come to church off and on -
Since the Covid pandemic he believes our church leaders are misleading us - his
parents have left the church recently and he has had long telephone visits with
his mother talking about the misleading doctrine - basically the church is not
the true church of Jesus Christ- He did
tell us he would not be coming back - which makes me so sad to hear- we had a
good visit with him but he is very set in his views at this time- we are being
led astray by the church and he is not going to support the corruptions- he is
only 21 years old and left home when he was 17 living on an isolated ranch by
himself on the boarder of Wyoming and Utah- he has not been attending church regularly
the past 4 years and is being lead in the direction of other views that are
being discussed and condemning toward the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day
saints. He is being fault finding
in the leadership of the church and that President Nelson is not a true prophet
of God - it saddens me to lose him at this point - technically he is not in our
assigned district as a branch, he is out of our stake boundaries- we have
serval YSA that come to the activities not in our assigned area to socialize
with us with them being so spread out in rural areas of farmland. Our
stake boundaries north to the south is over an hour drive. We have been trying to gather the lost sheep
that are in our stake. And we aren’t going to turn anyone away.
I’m not giving up on him- he is a special young man that has a lot to
offer if we could get him turned in the right direction- We have prayed, to know how to help him and have turned to our
last conference addresses looking for guidance, a message to share with Cody
and try to discuss with him, to open his point of view- We have read several
that we thought would be good. I'm thinking of inviting him
to Sunday dinner and having an open discussion- in reviewing the talks given,
President Ballard’s last message given to the world stood out to us as a
witness of Jesus Christ- he spoke his last sermon in the October Conference and
then died a month later- he is a descendant of Jospeh Smith and a great
defender for the true and living church on the earth today- he was very influential
in updating our missionary training Manuel- preach my gospel and an
amazing missionary his entire life- a defender for the restoration of the church
in our time period. From this experience it has given us a desire to
study more and learn how to overcome his misconception of the church - time
will tell as we strive to work with him and encourage him to come back - not to
be a fence sitter but a participator in serving in the Kingdom of God on the
earth-
