Placentero Nos es Trabajar

I just sang a song this past Sunday called Placentero Nos es Trabajar. I sang it with the missionaries at my church, on of whom gets off her mission today and goes back home. It is a beautiful song and was a moving experience for me. The story behind it is pretty amazing.  Here are the lyrics, in Spanish and a rough translation into English (there is an English song called In the Sweet by and by, that this melody was taken from)

1. Placentero nos es trabajar en la viña del gran Rey Jesús, y honroso nos es predicar a Su pueblo, Su ley y Su Luz. Por Su luz, por Su luz, placentero nos es trabajar. Por Su luz, por Su luz, moriremos en El sin pesar.

2. La palabra de Dios escuchad con ahínco, lealtad, y fervor. Para siempre jamás recordad Su pureza, verdad, y amor. Con amor, con amor, la palabra de Dios escuchad. Con amor, con amor, la bandera de Dios empuñad.

3. ¡Oh hermanos, adiós, pues, adiós! El momento de ir vino ya. Si guardamos la fe en el gran Dios, nos veremos aun más allá, Más allá, más allá, ¡Oh hermanos, adios, pues adios!  Más allá, más allá, moraremos con Dios en amor.

It is pleasant for us to work
In the vineyard of the great God Jesus
And honorable for us to to preach
To His people, His law and His light.
By His light, by His light,
It is pleasant for us to work.
By His light, by His light,
We will die in Him without sadness.

Hear the Word of God
With eagerness, loyalty and fervor.
Forever and always remember
His purity, truth, and love.
With love, with love,
Hear the Word of God.
With love, with love,
Bear the flag of God.

Oh, brothers! Good-by, then Good-bye!
The moment to leave has come.
If we keep the faith in the great God,
We will yet see each other far Beyond.
Far Beyond, far Beyond,
O, brothers! Good-by, then Good-by!
Far Beyond, far Beyond,
We will live with God in love.

Clate W. Mask, Jr., of the Second Quorum of the Seventy, loves to tell how his grandfather, Andrés C. González, came to write this song. The story goes like this:

Andrés C. González was a schoolmaster’s son, and was one of the first called to serve a mission in Mexico City during the revolutionary era. Preaching on a street corner, he and his companion thought they could attract more attention by singing the popular Protestant hymn, “In the Sweet By and By.” Instead, they attracted the attention of the police, who jailed them for “stealing” the Protestants’ song.

Unable to sleep in the jail, Elder González wrote “Mormon” lyrics to the song. Back on the street corner after being released, the Elders sang “Placentero,” with the new words. The police were ready to haul them back to jail, but Elder Gonzalez exclaimed, "You can't take us to jail. It's not the same song."

Another time, federal soldiers accused him and his companion of being spies and threatened to shoot them on the spot. Convinced they were about to die, Elder González took a lesson from the great Book of Mormon missionary, Abinadi. Remembering how Abinadi gained his reprieve so he could preach to the King, Elder González told the federales, “You can’t kill us yet, we have a message for your Presidente which we have not yet delivered.”

The soldiers were sceptical, but eventually took Elder González to see the President of Mexico. On learning Elder González’ identity, the Presidente told him, “Your father was my favorite teacher.” He and his companion gave the president a Book of Mormon and taught him for two hours. He pardoned the two missionaries, and at Elder González’ request, proclaimed that the Mormons could preach the Gospel freely throughout Mexico without harassment. This was the beginning of the hugely successful LDS missionary movement in Mexico.
In those days, teaching the gospel there was extremely difficult. Today there are 12 temples and 199 stakes in Mexico.

I think of the last blog I wrote, about Esther, and this one about Elder González. Both of them risked their lives for the truth. There are many stories about martyrs as well. Brave men and women. Sometimes I think I must not be brave because I have never been asked to face death for the Lord, but then I realize that sometimes living for God is a greater challenge. I do not have to stand in front of a firing squad, but I am still out there, facing a world where morality is out of fashion. Religion has been called a crutch for the feeble minded, if you claim to believe in a god, people call you superstitious or uneducated. I am not superstitious, I walk under ladders, have broken more mirrors than I can recall and love black cats. I am also not uneducated. I have a couple years of college to my credit plus lessons learned in the school of hard knocks. The more I learn, the more I realize that I really need God in my life. Sometimes it is a little scary to stand up in front of a group of people I don't know and talk about my belief in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, but I know that They are real. I know that if we let Them work in our lives, we will be better people for it. I will end this particular post with some scriptures from some of my most favorite missionaries of all time Ammon and Alma. Alma 26 is Ammon speaking and Alma 29 is Alma :)

Alma 26: 8 Blessed be the name of our God; let us sing to his praise, yea, let us give thanks to his holy name, for he doth work righteousness forever... I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.

 12Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

14Yea, we have reason to praise him forever, for he is the Most High God, and has loosed [us] from the chains of hell.

16Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.

Alma 29: 1 O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!

 2 Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.

And if I perish, I perish

I love the story of Esther, as an incurable romantic what's not to love? You have a beautiful queen, a cunning villain, a noble king and a righteous prophet/scribe. There is adventure, romance, palace intrigue, danger, murder plots and revenge. It reads almost like a Hollywood movie, but it is a true story. As has always been the case throughout history, the Jews had enemies, people that wanted to destroy the Covenant people of God. This time it happened to be in Persia. The King had a beautiful wife and after several days of partying he sent for her. Now the queen refused to come, we aren't really told why. The king being angry appealed to the princes and was told that law decreed that she be relieved of her crown. A proclamation was sent out that all virgins would be brought to the palace where after a year of purification the king would see them for a night and then decide if he wanted her to be the queen.
For Hadassah, a Jewish orphan raised by her father's nephew, it must have been a time of excitement and also fear. There must have been doubts in her mind as she wondered how she would live Jewish law in the palace. After the one night with the king, all the women were sent to the second house of women only to see the king if he called for her, so pretty much all the girls that were rounded up became concubines. Mordecai charged her to not reveal that she was a Jew, so when she was picked up she went by the Persian name Esther. She kept the law in her heart. She was very beautiful but very kind and soon won over the hearts of the people she was with on a daily basis, much like Joseph who was sold into Egypt. When the time came for the one night with the king, the candidates were allowed to take whatever they wanted to adorn themselves, jewelry, clothing etc. Esther in a very wise move asked the head chamberlain for advice and went before the king with only the things Hegai recommended.
Esther was chosen to be the new queen and the kingdom celebrated. Several more interesting things happen which lead up to an extermination order being sent out against the Jews by Haman, an Agagite - long-time enemies of the Jews on account of the Jews pretty much destroying their people and culture.
Esther was asked by her Uncle to go before the king. She responded that he hadn't called for her in over a month and that to go before the king unasked for could result in death. It all really depended on the mood of the king. If he raised his golden scepter the "offender" was allowed to live and approach him, if he didn't the person quickly lost their head.

13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews.

14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

15 Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,

16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

Esther had to choose between two deaths. The physical death that would come if the king was displeased with her, or the spiritual death that would come if she did not speak up for what she knew was right. Esther does go before the king and he raises his scepter and agrees to have dinner with her in her chambers. Haman is invited as well and feels pretty proud of being invited to a dinner with just the royal couple. His pride turned to sorrow when he realized that Esther was not Esther the Persian, but Hadassah the Jew. The Jews were given permission to fight back and take the property of their attackers and Haman and his 10 sons were all killed.
I own a movie called "One night with the King". It is a fictionalized version of the story of Esther. I really like the scene where she confronts Haman before the king. She stands and says that she is not Esther, but Hadassah. "Hadassah Bat-Abihail, daughter of the tribe of Benjamin, child of the Most High God!" I love the calm confidence she has as she states who she is. She knows where she came from, and when you know that you can be confidant about where you are going.
Esther is my heroine for multiple reasons. She consistently followed her priesthood leader in all things he directed her. When faced with a serious situation she asked for prayers and fasts on her behalf and also did those things herself. She was beautiful but didn't use that as an excuse to be mean or petty.
Her statement, "If I perish, I perish" to me shows her reliance on the Lord. She knew it was a definite possibility, and yet she still did what was right. It would have been easy to hide, to continue to be Esther, queen of Persia. She took the harder path and is still to this day honored among Jews.
We don't always know why we are put in the situations we are put in. Mordecai was wise in saying "who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" We need to be examples wherever we are. We may not save a nation, but we never know. I hope that I can be like her, that when my turn comes to stand before the world to declare who I am, I can say with the same confidence, "I am Kiersten, daughter of the Tribe of Joseph, child of the Most High God!"