All saints, especially priesthood, should be required to spend at least a week on the Navajo Reservation.

Why? There are two main reasons. First, we need to know the difference between our culture, or way of living, and the gospel way of living. Second, we are commanded to take the Book of Mormon to the Lamanites.

Traditionally, when people from our culture attempt to take the gospel to other cultures, we invariably weaken the gospel message by trying to impose part of our culture on the "foreigners" along with the gospel. This is because we frequently fail to discern the difference between our cultural way of living and the gospel way of living. By being restricted to one culture, we are blinded to the difference. The best way to learn about and appreciate your own culture is to live in another culture humbly without complaining. One of the best and least painful ways to do this is to spend a week on the Navajo Reservation by attending the Navajo Reunion which is the third week of July. I am very serious when I say that everyone should be required to spend time with the Navajos. I am not just trying to persuade you to go to reunion. This is not just propaganda. You owe it to yourself to be exposed to another culture so you can better view your own culture.The effort is well worth the benefits. Your life will be more productive upon returning home because it will be easier for you to remove from your lifestyle some of those things that you thought were indispensable. Take, for example, our concept of time.

Every culture has its own view of time and how to manage it. In our culture we are very time conscious. This is a source of stress for us although we may not realize it. Spending time with the Navajo provides a refreshing look at how another culture deals with time. For some "white eyes" this can be a source of frustration if they forget they are in a different culture and forget to exercise brotherly love and forbearance. For instance, it is a scientific fact that you have to live in a different culture 12 years before you can completely understand the language of time in that culture. The Navajo sense of time is similar to the Mexican sense of time. "White eyes" like to be on time. I am especially that way. However, in Mexico to arrive at eight o'clock for an eight o'clock appointment would be unthinkable. The proper time of arrival would be from 8:20 to 8:40. One time I went to an eight o'clock evening prayer service in Mexico City at eight o'clock. All the North Americans (in Mexico we are called North Americans) in the area were also there by eight o'clock. The prayer services were normally conducted in Spanish but since no Spanish speaking members were there yet, the service was opened in English some time after eight. The prayer part was over, and still no Spanish speaking members. It was well past 8:20 p.m. It was during the testimony portion that the Seventy in charge gave a message of encouragement from the Lord to me that I was in the right place doing the right thing. The message was in English which was better for me than to have it in Spanish. Shortly after the message, all of the Spanish-speaking members arrived and the language of the prayer service was switched to Spanish. This was one time that I did not mind the local custom of late arrival. I do not remember whether or not the prayer service started over with prayers. It probably did in deference to the local culture.

I consider it a great blessing to have had the privilege to have lived in Mexico for four years. Our culture looks a lot different from Mexico than it does from our own hometown. Alma asks us, are we stripped of all pride? To live in another culture without complaint is a good exercise in humility. We sometimes fail to realize that Zion itself will be a culture different from our own. Just how different we do not know. Learning to appreciate another culture such as the Navajo is a step in preparation for Zion. During the Nephite Golden Age we are told that there were no more "ites" even though we know that the tribes continued to live as tribes. This means that there were no more "ites" in the sense that the spiritual condition of the people was such that they no longer thought of themselves primarily as members of a tribe but as followers of Jesus Christ. As soon as their spiritual condition declined, they reverted to putting tribal status first. By going to the Navajo Reservation you are telling the Lord that you are willing to put your "tribal status" aside for a while.

We are commanded to take the gospel to the Lamanites in Doctrine and Covenants 31, given in October 1830. The spirit of that message was not carried out as the men lost precious time by going to the white man. Because they did this, a great opportunity was lost and the Restoration Movement has been suffering ever since.

One example of this lack of interest in the Lamanites is our lack of under-standing of the main purpose of the Book of Mormon. If you would ask several of your Book of Mormon-believing friends what is the main purpose of the Book of Mormon, they would say "to the convincing of Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ." This is the purpose of the Book of Mormon but not the main purpose. The main purpose is to restore a knowledge of the covenants to the Lamanites. The Book of Mormon is very clear (see also III Nephi 10:1-7 and Mormon 2:39-41) that the Lamanites come first followed by the house of Israel and then the rest of the world. The phrase "Jew and Gentile" means everyone since everyone is either a Jew or Gentile. We are told in Doctrine and Covenants 3:15b that when we take the Book of Mormon to the Lamanites they will receive it, "they shall build it up, and shall bring to light the true points of my doctrine;" III Nephi 9:92 tell us that "the true points of My doctrine" is the covenant relationship, "come unto me" and "be baptized" are the first two steps of the three step covenant. The third step is doing what the Lord tells you to do.

The Book of Mormon also tells us that the purpose of the Restoration Movement (a marvelous work) is "that I may remember my covenants" II Nephi 12:42. It is a fact that the white man in the United States and other countries that are part of what is called Western Civilization knows less about covenant relationships than any other culture. We call ourselves Ephraim and we call the Lamanites Manasseh. We read in II Nephi 2:20-23 that when the Bible and the Book of Mormon grow together that Ephraim and Manasseh are going to lay down contentions and the covenants are going to be restored. Manasseh needs Ephraim but Ephraim also needs Manasseh because Manasseh knows more about the covenant relationship. That is why everyone needs to spend time on the Navajo Reservation. The Navajo Reunion in July is a very convenient way to do this. We are still a scattered people because we have been treating the Book of Mormon and the covenant relationship lightly. Taking the Book of Mormon to the Lamanites will help both cultures and allow the Lord to gather us to Zion both physically and spiritually.