Missionary Moments #20, January 18, 2015

We spent yesterday on Cape Cod and enjoyed many beautiful sights.  A new storm is suppose to come in this afternoon so we were glad to have a little time away from Concord before the snow hits again.  I will post pictures and information about the trip on our blog this afternoon. Work is progressing nicely and we are working mostly on documents from the mid 1880s. I was taking pictures of a folder which had a newspaper article in it about an upcoming disposal of property.  On the other side was an article that caught my attention--"Suicide of a Snake." Definitely had to read it.  First let me say that I hope none of our grandkids would do something so stupid!  Apparently some men were plowing a field and came upon a good sized rattlesnake.  They were going to kill it when one of them decided that they should test a theory he had heard about.  Starting to sound a little like Myth Busters?  The theory was that if a rattlesnake can't get out of a bad situation (ie. escape from a problem) it will bite itself and die. So using their long whips they kept moving the snake so it couldn't get away.  According to the newspaper article the snake finally reached around and bit its body and died.  From reading that story I remembered the story I had heard in conference a number of years ago about the warrior who encountered a snake who wanted to be carried up a mountain.  At first the warrior refused because he said he knew that the snake would bite him.  The snake promised that wouldn't happen so the warrior relented and tucked him inside his shirt and proceeded to climb to the top.  When he got to the top the snake bit him.  Surprised the warrior said, "but I helped you and you said you wouldn't hurt me."  The snake replied, "you knew I was a snake when you picked me up"  and then slithered away.  Another story about a snake was when Joseph Smith was marching with the men from Zion's Camp.  They encountered a snake and one of them was going to kill it.  He stopped them and with a long branch moved the snake far away from the camp and told everyone to respect their right to live--just not with them.  So here is my analogy--stay away from snakes (SIN)!!  If we learn nothing else in life but this simple thought we will be well served.  Keep away from sin and don't let sin come near to you!  Satan would love to entrap us and once he has us he has no more interest in us and will move onto the next victim in his desire to destroy righteousness.  So remember if you see a snake don't tease it, hurt it, or pick it up!