Korbi

Korbi 12/1/08

My son, Mark, and I have made it a point to take the Book of Mormon with us when we fly in support of our work. We’ve had limited success in past years talking to the people we sit next to about the gospel and giving them a B of M. Mark put together a plan to help increase our success rate. His plan uses two pictures, one of the world showing the Bible coming from the old world and the B of M from the new world. The second picture is of God’s Plan of Happiness. Then he marked important items on the introductory pages and then specific scriptures through out the book. Next to the marked scriptures is a simple statement of what the scripture is about. We mark at the bottom of the page telling what page to go to next. When you’re through reading these scriptures you don’t know who Lehi and Nephi were but you do know the doctrine of Christ,

Let me tell you about Korbi

I traveled from SLC to Santa Barbara CA on 12-1-08. I brought a marked copy of the B of M and intended to place it with whoever sat next to me. If I really want to place a B of M I’ve found it necessary to let the Lord know that I’m prepared and will need His help to meet the right person. I got to the airport with more than enough time and security was a breeze and I had over an hour before flight time. As I walked through the terminal I noticed the Cinnabon counter and the smell of fresh cinnamon rolls. I decided to get two of them and maybe I could share with the person that would sit next to me.

I was one of the first ones to board and had an assigned aisle seat near the rear of the plane. I watched the plane fill up and looked at each person wondering if he or she would take the seat next to me but no one took it. The plane finally looked full except for the seat next to me. I kept thinking maybe I wouldn’t get to meet anyone. Finally a middle aged lady got on and I was sure she would be the one but she had a different seat assignment two rows in from of me and someone was sitting in her seat.

A young girl got up and was told by the attendant to take the seat next to me. Just after she sat down I called home to check in before the door closed. I spoke to my oldest daughter Jodi who was visiting her mother and told her I was sitting next to a lovely young lady about 18 or 19 and the young lady smiled and agreed. Then I spoke to my wife and told her I was sitting next to a young lady beautiful enough to be my granddaughter. I asked her name so I could tell wife and her name was Korbi. I asked my wife if I could adopt her for 2 hours and spoil her little and Korbi smiled and laughed a little and said it would be OK. After I finished talking and turned off my cell phone. I reminded Korbi about the wonderful meals we get on the flight and she said oh I know I got peanuts on my last flight. Then I brought out the Cinnabons and gave her one. She had never eaten one and neither had I. We had to use our fingers as I hadn’t picked up any utensils, just napkins. Next time I’ll get forks and knives.

We ate them with our fingers and had fun just visiting. She was from Vail Colorado and I told her one of my daughters lived in Highlands Ranch, which is near Denver, and she had been there playing sports of some kind. She was going back to college in Santa Barbara. Korbi has an older brother and two younger stepsisters. She wanted to know how many granddaughters I had and I couldn’t instantly remember (I have 15 granddaughters) but told her I had seven great granddaughters. Becoming friends is so easy when you both share information about yourself. By the time we had finished the Cinnabons we both were pretty gooey and sticky. I just happened to bring some alcohol wipes with me on this trip and we got ourselves fairly clean using them. We talked about her school and she had a class about religion and history. She said she didn’t belong to any special church and was trying to find one. I asked if she had been to Utah before. Only driving through, she said. When she flies she has always gone through Phoenix and this was the first time she had ever gone through Salt Lake City.

I asked her if she believed in the Bible and Jesus Christ and she said yes. I told her I was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we’re called Mormons. I asked if she knew why we were called Mormons and she had no idea. I pulled out the B of M which I had placed in the seat pocket and showed her the book. We talked a little about the Bible. I asked her if she could tell me what type of book the Bible was if I knew nothing about Christianity. She did a fair job by saying it was about the prophets. I told her I think of it as a history book about the children of Israel and the dealing of God with them through the prophets and also about the life of Jesus. Then I opened the B of M to the map pasted in the front. It is so easy to explain where the Bible comes from and show how the B of M is the same type of book only from another part of the world. It is a different history but with prophets receiving information from the same God the two books should teach the same things. I asked her if she believe she existed before this life and she wasn’t sure. This led into the next picture of the plan of happiness. This is such an important part where they learn they are spirit children of heavenly parents and they just didn’t happen when they were born. I told her I was sure we were friends then and our spiritual brains knew it but our bodies are controlled by our physical brains and they don’t remember. We talked about all of the phases and importance of the plan. I told her about Joseph Smith and having the first vision and the great knowledge that the Father and Son are separate beings and not three rolled up into one as was taught by all of the Christian churches at that time. I told her if we did have a Father in Heaven wouldn’t he really want us to know what he looked like.

We talked about Adam and Eve and that they were our first parents. We went through the introductory pages of the B of M, the three witnesses and all of the parts that had been highlighted. I like to use a red pencil and highlight individual sentences. In the book where we have scriptures I just color in a line down the side of the passage so it is easy to find. Next to the scripture I had written one or two words about the scripture subject. This really helps. There isn’t time to read all of the scriptures but with the explanation next to them they can easily go back and find a subject they are interested in. We went through each explanation talking about it to about page 400 and we were almost out of time so I turned to the promise. We had talked about so many things. I tried to stress the importance of free agency, making good choices and that she was a daughter of our Father in Heaven. She believes in prayer and I encouraged her to pray about the B of M and told her she would receive an answer just as I had. She asked if I had always been a member of the church and I said yes but I had to find out for my self if it was true and if the B of M was true. I told her that I hadn’t had a marvelous manifestation as some have but every time I picked up the book and read it I know that it is true and that Joseph Smith or any other man could not have written it and that it had to have been translated by the gift and power of God.

She is still young and does not know much about religion except she wants to find one. I told her that there should be an LDS group at her college. I told her if she read only the scriptures that had been highlighted she would know more about Jesus Christ and His doctrine than anyone else in her class including the teacher. She was excited to have the Book of Mormon and she said she would call me if she had any questions. This was a great visit. It’s exciting to look back and see how the hand of God helps us accomplish His work. It is amazing how things just work out.