Sharing The Love - Week 38

A couple of weeks ago I had dinner with the Rabbi who was here to support Passover. We started discussing how people of my faith have more in common with the Jewish religion than we do with other Christian denominations. I told him of our understanding of the Abrahamic Covenant, how I am of the tribe of Ephraim, how we see temple worship as a continuation of receiving the fullness of the Abrahamic Covenant, and how we have a book written by a branch of the house of Israel, whom the Lord led away from Jerusalem just before the Babylonian captivity, which captures words of the prophets God called among them here on the American Continent (The Book of Mormon). 

He was very interested to learn about this book, and I offered to give him a copy of it. He was excited to learn of the Washington D.C. Temple Open House and hopes to attend here shortly before it ends. As he left this week to go back home, I brought him a Book of Mormon and wrote my testimony in the cover. I told him how this book was written to his people, the Jews, and how it is one of the most sacred things in my life, and I appreciated him treating this book with the same respect he has shown me in our conversations together. He received it with gratitude and even kissed the book (something Jews do to sacred things). I felt honored that we were able to share our faith with each other in respect and love during these last couple of months.

I also had the opportunity to minister to a Soldier who found out about some severe and alarming news happening with his children back home. As he was debating what to do, talking to his wife who was trying to do the same, he was having difficulty sleeping and really struggling with feelings of powerlessness and guilt for being here during all of it. I helped him process his thoughts and feelings about it and his wife called during our discussion. I was able to provide some counsel, having worked as a counselor with children who have gone through similar experiences as they are now going through. I reminded him of the power he has access to through his covenants and faith in the Lord. We prayed together and I felt like the Lord would be with him and his family every step of the way. The next day he was granted emergency leave to go home and be with his family during this difficult time.

That same day is when we heard about the mass shooting at the elementary school in Texas, and my heart felt heavy with the tragedies of this world. I went back to my list of scriptures that help me put things like this into the Gospel perspective and sent them out on the LDS Group chat. We have a large unit from the Texas National Guard stationed here, and this hit home for a lot of them too. I felt love for those families and the community that was affected. I felt God reassuring me of His plan that this will all work out in the end.

For those that may be interested, here are the scriptures I learned from John Bytheway that help us during times like these:

1. 1 Nephi 11:17: God loves us, but we don’t know the meaning of all things, especially when bad things happen.

2. Moses 7:26-33: God gives us all agency, and some use it poorly resulting in evil. Sometimes bad things happen as a result of the imperfections of this fallen world or the influence of Satan. God weeps with us during those times. All of it is made up in the Atonement of Christ. Learn to seek the power and grace available through the Atonement of Christ.

3. Alma 14:9-13: Some tragedies take the lives of those we love, presumably earlier than expected. Death is a part of life and the gateway to immortality. Those who die innocently or in the Lord are merely transferred to the next stage of immortality and eternal life sooner than we are. But we are still here, to learn, love, endure, and help others to endure as well.

4. Alma 7:11-12: The Atonement of Christ allows Him to be there for us in our tests, trials, temptations, and tragedies so we do not have to endure alone. He wants to be “At One” with us during those times too and can be even more if we let Him.

5. D&C 101:32-36: One day we will understand the reasons and purposes behind all of this. One day we will rest from all our sorrows and challenges. In the meantime, trust in God and hold fast to His words, the Iron Rod. Use the gifts that the Lord has given us to endure well in this life: The restored Gospel and His Restored Church, the power of covenants, the power of the Word of God available in restored scriptures and modern-day prophets, the priesthood, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, Families, Priesthood Quorums and Relief Society organizations that can support each other, and above all The Atonement of Jesus Christ.

All in all, it was a week full of opportunities to share the love that God has for all of us, no matter what our circumstances may be.

In His Service,

Chaplain John Critchfield

Making Time Count - Week 37

I feel like I am counting down the traditional 40 weeks it takes to carry a baby full term. Only, at the end of this term there is a ministry to finish and a page to turn to the next chapter of life. I have been just as busily preparing for that day when I turn the page and allow the next Chaplain team to take over the responsibilities I have been doing here. As a Boy Scout, we were often taught to “leave it [the campsite] better than you found it.” Well, after all these months of hard work developing products to better perform religious support operations, as well as lessons learned I want to pass on, I continue to stay busy leaving this position better than I found it. Just a few more weeks and I will be making my way back to the U.S. for more de-mobilization and “reintegration training.”
Many people have asked me how much time I have left, or how long I have been here. I am trying not to count the days until I leave, like so many others do (it’s actually discouraging to see people mark off days on a calendar like they are serving a prison sentence or something). While I am excited to get back home to see my family and spend time with them, I also want to work hard until the end and leave here with no regrets or wasted time. I promised the Lord I would consecrate myself to this ministry while I am here and I intend to carry that out to the last day. I remember this same feeling as a missionary. I later heard John Bytheway (LDS Speaker) describe it as: “Instead of counting time, make time count.” I am using that idiom now.

One of the ways I have been making time count is through counseling Soldiers who are going through tough times. One in particular is a young woman who has been through much trauma in her past and has been trying to cope out here in many unhealthy ways. The day I saw her sitting on the bench outside our office in the middle of the hot day vaping and listening to heavy metal music, I asked if she was okay and she said, “I’m just enjoying the fresh air.” That seemed incongruent so I looked at her compassionately and asked again “Are you sure? You look like you are avoiding something…” She started to open up and I invited her into the office to discuss this in a more confidential setting. 
She had a lot to let out and we began to meet weekly over the last couple of months. We have worked on healthy coping skills and preparation work for trauma therapy. She has improved significantly at setting better boundaries with herself and others, seeing that she does have value, worth, and potential. She has come a long way in a short amount of time, and we had our last meeting this week since she is going home soon. We reviewed all the challenges she has faced during this deployment and how she has grown. I provided encouragement and empowerment of her efforts that have helped her come this far and to continue that progress when returning home. I felt the Lord inspire me to say certain things to her. I know it was inspired because I was learning as I was saying it. I could feel a portion of the love that God and Christ had for her and was reminded of how my own challenges have helped me grow too.
I know the Lord has put me here at this time for a reason, actually many reasons. I am reminded of that each week as I reflect on the hand of the Lord in my life every day and share some of these experiences. I just hope I can continue to make time count so I don’t miss anything He wants me to accomplish with the time I have left here. Thank you all for your sustaining prayers for me and my family that help us to endure well (or at least better). May the Lord continue to strengthen us all to make time count with each day He has given us.

In His Service,
Chaplain John Critchfield

I Love The Book of Mormon! - Week 36

Since I finished a major goal two weeks ago by completing my military course online, I have felt the need to set a new goal to occupy my time in a useful way. I realized that I don’t function well unless I have a goal to work toward. I think I picked up this pattern as a missionary 20 years ago and have been doing it ever since. President Spencer W. Kimball said: “Goals are good. Laboring with a distant aim sets the mind in a higher key and puts us at our best.” Growth and success in life don’t happen accidentally, they happen intentionally. I am trying to be deliberate about my growth opportunities while I am here, and I am seeing the benefits in my daily life. 

So, I decided to read The Book of Mormon again before the end of my deployment, which will be in about two months. I happen to have the military-sized Book of Mormon with me that I used in 2018 when taking President Russell M. Nelson’s challenge of highlighting all the times we see a reference to Christ. I love reading this copy because it reminds me not only of the Savior, but His mercy, love, grace, plan, and role in my life. 

I had the opportunity this week to meet with a Soldier who I have come to know here. She has been struggling with relationship issues back home and wanted “advice” on how to deal with it. I helped her navigate through her challenges by processing what it was really about and getting to the heart of the issue. We discussed what a healthy relationship looks like and how to work on how she sees herself. She is a self-proclaimed Atheist (and has mentioned it to me several times) but that hasn’t stopped me from discussing what we have in common. I felt inspired to share with her about exercising faith in what she believes as a principle of action (which I learned from Alma Chapter 32-33 in the Book of Mormon). 

We discussed changing her paradigm to getting her worth from who she really believes she is as opposed to others who have emotionally abused her. Though she may not believe in a higher power, I was able to share with her true principles that align with her belief system as a way to help her grow. Regardless of people’s belief system, true principles resonate with our heart and are encouraging, uplifting, ennobling, and empowering. The Book of Mormon has taught me so many of these true principles that I am able to share with others in a way that meets them where they are. I love The Book of Mormon because I love the Savior of whom it testifies on every page, and it not only helps me learn of Him but come closer to Him and share His love with others any way I can. 

One of my favorite quotes about The Book of Mormon comes from President Ezra Taft Benson’s monumental talk "The Keystone of Our Religion":

“It is not just that the Book of Mormon teaches us truth, though it indeed does that. It is not just that the Book of Mormon bears testimony of Christ, though it indeed does that, too. But there is something more. There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. The scriptures are called “the words of life” (D&C 84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance.”

May we all find life in abundance in Christ!

 

In His Service,

Chaplain John Critchfield

Happy Mother's Day! - Week 35

For anyone reading this, know that my wife, Dana, is an AMAZING woman. I know in my weekly emails I get to talk about some of my experiences during this deployment and how they have been growing experiences for me. But Dana has shared many of her growing experiences with me as well. I can only try to understand and appreciate what it must be like for her to be a solo parent for the last eight months, with about two more to go. She has had to fill the responsibilities of both mother and father for the most part. She has had to learn to do things that I would normally take care of. She has learned much better how to ask for help. She has had to learn to nurture children who are dealing with my absence in their own ways, which has often been full of anger, and forgive them on a daily basis knowing that they are struggling too.

When we were engaged, my mom’s friend asked me “So what is it you love most about her?” I thought for a second and said, “She is a stalwart woman.” I further expounded about how I saw this hard-working nursing student who was a Relief Society President in her Student Ward, working for her dad’s business since she was 14, excelling in academics, and still found time to serve others. I thought to myself, “There is a strong woman who will be by my side through the hard times of life, no matter what the Lord calls us to go through.” I knew then, and am even more convinced now, that my wife would be an amazing mother. She is like one of those pioneer women who walked across the plains without their husbands, caring for their children and few belongings while enduring great trials, trusting in the God of our fathers to lead her through. I am blessed to have her nurturing our children, especially during this difficult time.

She is one of the women spoken of in Proverbs 31:

10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

…

17 She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.
19 She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
20 She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

…

25 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
29 Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

There is no way I could accomplish any of this without her and I am forever grateful that she chose me.

I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge as well the mother who brought me into this world, cared for and nurtured me, taught me the Gospel of Jesus Christ, showed me unconditional love, and made me into the man I am today. Her 15 years of single parenting was, without a doubt, extremely difficult I am sure. And yet we have grown stronger in our character and in our relationship with God and Christ through those tribulations. I hope I can honor my mother (and father) through the way I live my life, honoring the covenant that they gave to me by serving others. I feel as Abraham Lincoln when he said, “Everything I am I owe to my angel mother.” Thank you, Jody Seamons Schuman for your nurturing love and showing me an example of a “stalwart woman” so I knew what to look for in my own wife. 

I am forever grateful for all the mothers in my life. Not just for giving life, but for nurturing life. Birdie Speirs and Pam Bartschi have helped to nurture my life and the life of my children and I am so grateful for them.

So on this day, I have arranged for an American Flag to be flown on our deployed military installation for each one of these women. The same flag that we all turn and salute each day, look to as a symbol of freedom and sacrifice, and honor with the utmost respect because of what it represents.

This is the same flag that will be given to each of these women who also have served, sacrificed, and are deserving of honor and the utmost respect as well. I love you and hope to honor you all the days of my life. God be thanked for the amazing women in our lives! Happy Mother’s Day!

In His Service,
Chaplain John Critchfield

Interfaith Experiences and Another Goal Met! - Week 34

Yesterday I accomplished a significant goal I have been working on intermittently for the last 18 months, and during most of this deployment. I turned in my last assignment and finished the required schooling I have to complete as a Major to eventually be able to promote to the next rank! It is known as Intermediate Level Education (ILE) or Command and General Staff Officer College. All field grade officers are required to complete it, so it is geared toward understanding the Army and all branches of the military, how they operate, how to put together operations, and so forth. So, it was way above my head most of the time. It was quite a challenge trying to balance life while making time to go to school online watching lectures, doing reading, quizzes, exams, and papers. After spending 10 years in college, I thought I was done with school! This felt like getting another degree, but I am glad it is behind me now and I am excited about completing this goal with the Lord’s help.

This last Thursday was Holocaust Remembrance Day. We were fortunate to have a Jewish Rabbi here with us who was supporting the Passover and he shared some touching stories and prayers. One of which was about a Jewish Hungarian man named Tibor Rubin (Tibor Rubin - Wikipedia) who survived the Holocaust, was liberated by the U.S. Soldiers from one of the camps, moved to the U.S., and wanted to become a U.S. Soldier as well. He ended up fighting for the U.S. in Korea and saved many lives. He then became a Prisoner of War there for another 30 months and kept many people alive while imprisoned. He was eventually awarded the Medal of Honor. We had a candle-lighting ceremony that was deeply touching.

It reminded me that we live in a world where tragedy and trauma happen all too often. But the God who loves us all receives these innocent lives to Himself, and ultimately His grand purposes are accomplished beyond what we can see with our mortal eyes.

I also had the chance to attend another Iftar (fast-breaking meal) with the Muslim Chaplain, this time at their local mosque here on our installation. I respectfully observed the local Muslims as they said their prayers after sundown, broke their fast together with us as we feasted on some amazing local food.

These are cherished memories, to live and work with people of other cultures and faith traditions. I am touched by their devotion to God and the tragedies of their ancestors. I have ancestors who were persecuted and driven from their homes for their faith as well. Ultimately, anything we sacrifice in love toward God and our neighbors, for the God we love more, is worth more than we can imagine.
 
In His Service,
Chaplain John Critchfield