The Mist of Darkness

The air in Ulaanbaatar has been very thick, heavy, smelly and just plain awful lately.
The coal smoke is so bad that it burns the back of your throat and irritates your eyes.
You can barely see where you are going, so you always find yourself looking down,
 trying to avoid falling or tripping over some hazard.
It is also cold and miserable because the light of the sun is blocked from view.
The smoke penetrates into your hair and clothing so that when you come in
 from outside all that you can smell is the coal smoke.
The "mist of darkness" even tries to creep into our apartment,
through any small crack or opening it can find.

We find that we need to protect ourselves from this "mist of darkness".

  We need to take preventative measures so that we do not have permanent damage
 to our physical health from having to go out into this cold and dark world.

First, we layer ourselves with warm clothing to protect us from the freezing air.

We bundle up good and tight.
We use a good coat, hat, gloves, socks, boots and a scarf to protect us from the biting cold.

The scarf is especially useful. It can be wrapped around your neck and it keeps the cold from going down your body.
You can wrap it around your face, mouth and nose to keep the fumes and the particulates out of your lungs and throat.

We also use face masks to help protect our lungs from this dark unhealthy influence.

We have "sealed" our apartment against the infiltration of the "Mist of darkness".

We have taped every crack trying to prevent the invasion of this dark, unhealthy presence.

After having been out in this bad air, (for we do have to go out in it) we take a shower,
 wash our hair, hang up our coats to air out, and wash our clothing.
We do this to try and cleanse ourselves from the after effects of being in this smoke.

I am grateful to be here in this "Mist of Darkness" and to learn from this physical experience.
It is helping me to ponder and understand the things I need to do
 to get through the spiritual "mist of darkness" that we all have to travel through in this earth life.

The spiritual "mist of darkness" are the temptations that Satan puts in our path on the way back to our Heavenly Father.

The "mist" is cold
.

 It tries to block us from the influence and warmth of the "Son",
our Savior Jesus Christ who is the light and the life of the world.

We need to protect ourselves from this "mist of darkness"
or it will destroy our spiritual life and our ability to return back to be with our Heavenly Father.

We can protect ourselves by putting on the appropriate clothing or the "Armor of God"

Let's put on the appropriate layers of "truth"(Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having you loins girt about with truth)
that will insulate us from the temptations of Satan.

We tell the truth, we are honest in our dealings with others and
 we seek to know the truth and live by the truths that our Savior taught

Next we put on the coat of obedience and righteousness
(Eph 6:14 and having the breastplate of righteousness)

We are protected when we keep our covenants and are obedient to God's commandments.
We are blessed when we obey.

Next we put on the warm socks and boots of knowing the gospel
(Eph 6:15 your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace)
We do this by reading and studying the scriptures, everyday.
This will help us to feel the spirit, to be at peace with our self and our family.

Now we remember the scarf, an essential item in curbing the cold and noxious mist.
This is the shield of faith.(Eph 6:16).  We need to have faith in Jesus Christ. 
Believe in him and Believe in what he did.  He atoned for our sins. 
Because of Christ we can repent.  We can have hope not despair.
Because of Jesus Christ we know that the darkness will pass and we will be brought into his light.

Next is the hat (Helmet) of salvation and the sword of the spirit. 

Now we will use the face mask of prayer. As we pray for guidance
 we will be led by the spirit through the mists of darkness.
We will not get lost, or fall if we listen and follow the spirit.  

Nevertheless, because we are human, we still sometimes make a mistake
 or take a wrong turn while we are out in the darkness.
When that happens, we do not have to lose hope or give up or think all is lost.
There is still hope.  Let us remember and use the great gift of our Saviors atonement and repent.
We do not have to be swallowed up by the darkness.
We can repent, we can be made clean again.

We also seal up our homes against the evil influence of the mist with the
same steps we use to put on the armor of god. 
We read the scriptures, we pray, and are vigilant in monitoring any entrance
or crack that leads into our homes and stopping the dark evil mist before it comes in.

May you have a Merry Christmas and bask in the warmth and light of our Saviors love!