Thank You For Everything, Sister Holt

I found out this afternoon on facebook that Margaret Holt, my Grade 9 seminary teacher, passed away today. I haven't seen any other details, but I wanted to put down some of my thoughts and feelings.

Thank you for being so willing to teach a bunch of rowdy 14-year-olds at 7:00 AM every day. Your love of the gospel was transparent and infectious. You put up with a lot from us, but I hope you knew how much got actually through. Sure, we did stupid things like dress up the fire extinguisher, and there was the time Malcolm jumped out and almost gave you a heart attack as you came up the stairs one morning. But we also listened and learned and you made it fun. You gave us some of our first real experiences in learning from the scriptures and from the Spirit. You showed us how to study and learn at home and introduced us to real heroes in class. I hope you realized the impact you had on our lives.

It might be a little selfish on my part, but I feel honored to have had the opportunity to have you as part of my class as you came back to visit during the summers after you moved. Even though I was at the front supposedly teaching, I still learned from you as you shared your insights and thoughts. Each time you came to visit, I wanted to thank you for the way you helped shape my life, but I would always freeze and the words never came out. So I guess this is my way of trying to make up for having missed those opportunities.

Thank you for countless hours of preparation and study. Thank you for sharing your testimony with us. Thank you for the love which always came through your lessons. I wish there was a way to repay you.

"Finally, I bid you farewell, until I shall meet you before the pleasing bar of God..." (Jacob 6:13)

Lesson 8: Pitching Your Tent

I seem to have missed a couple of lessons somewhere... Oops (in my defense, things have been a little crazy on this end).

This week's lesson deals with Abraham, Lot, and essentially their choices in mailing addresses. After they left Egypt, they found the land couldn't support both of them because their herds were so great, and their herdsmen apparently weren't getting along. Abraham, not wanting any strife between the two families, gave Lot first pick on where to settle (Gen 13:9). Lot saw the Plains of Jordan and how well-watered they were and called dibs. Abraham stayed in the land of Canaan at Bethel.

Seems rather innocent, doesn't it? Here's the kicker, "...Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom" (Gen 13:12, emphasis added). What could be so wrong about that? Well, read the next verse.

"But the men of Sodom were wicked ... exceedingly" (Gen 13:13).

Did that make Lot a bad person just because he chose a view of the city? No, it's clear from later events that Lot was still righteous, but he ends up paying a price. And somewhere between chapters 13 and 14, Lot has moved into the city.

Meanwhile, Abraham is visited by three holy men (see JST Genesis 18:23 for clarification), they tell him, among other things, Sodom and Gomorrah are about to be destroyed because of their wickedness.

Abraham then prays to the Lord on behalf of the righteous, asking if the cities could be spared. The Lord replies that if he (Abraham, not God. See JST Gen 18:29) can find fifty righteous, the city would be spared. I'm not sure if Abraham knew that was a tall order, but he continues his "negotiations" until the Lord agrees to spare the city for the sake of five righteous people.

The three messengers from the Lord visit Lot, warn him, and help him to escape with his wife and two daughters (couldn't even find five righteous people to save the city) before Sodom is destroyed. His sons-in-law thought he was crazy, so they stayed behind, along with their wives (Lots' daughters) and Lot's grandsons. On the way out, Lot's wife looked back (or went back) and perished as well (see Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's talk "Remember Lot's Wife" for a more in-depth discussion). So Lot comes out with only his two unmarried daughters, who weren't overly stellar examples of the Young Women values, and no mention of any of his prior wealth.

How many times do we, like Lot, pitch our tents towards Sodom? We know there are evils and dangers in the world, and yet we sometimes try to keep "one foot in Babylon and one foot in Zion" (Carlos E. Asay, "Be Men!," Ensign, May 1992, 40). He may have thought there was no harm in facing his tent towards Sodom, just as I'm sure he was convinced he could still live his standards while surrounded by "exceedingly wicked" men in Sodom.

Abraham on the other hand chose to stay in Bethel (which means "House of God"), much like the Nephites who chose to set their tents "with the door thereof towards the temple" (Mosiah 2:6).

In our day, we are constantly bombarded by the evils of the world. President Hinckley said, "All of the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah haunt our society. Our young people have never faced a greater challenge. We have never seen more clearly the lecherous face of evil ("Living in the Fulness of Times," Ensign, Nov. 2001, 6.)." The direction in which we have pitched our tents will largely determine our ability to withstand and remain faithful.