[DJRoss]

a fellow members journals into English and the idea was to actually write a book of his experiences. I tentatively took the assignment and told the brother that I would review his journals and would get back to him to see if it is something I would be able to do.

At first I thought what a great opportunity. He wanted to share his experiences while he was a missionary in South America. He was inspired to do this because of someone he knew State side had recently written a book on a gospel subject and it spurred him to want to share.

As I began reading through his journals I was stunned at some of the spiritual experiences he had. As I continued to read though I began to feel uneasy about the whole idea of translating these and sharing them for the world to see. The stories began to become fantastical in nature with an aire of the prophets of old. I was torn between working on the book with him and just leaving it be.

The decision was made easy for me when I came upon a peculiar passage in his journal about an area he served in where he was near the ocean and the spirit revealed to him that the place he was standing on was the same place Nephi and his family had stood on when they landed on the beach.

I prayed hard about what I was going to say to this brother. I cared about him, but I didn't want to lie and make up an excuse. I didn't want to be brazen in my doubt about these things. After some time I felt inspired to hand the journals to the brother and tell him that it was a privilege to have shared such personal experiences. I told him that I would not be doing the book project. When he asked me why, I told him that I would not be able to translate his personal experience in a way that would accurately depict what had actually happened. To capture something so personal and intimate would require having gone through similar experiences. Since I had never had such I would not understand.

He was disappointed, but he understood. I felt that much of what he had written was his way of dealing with his emotions about serving the Lord as a missionary, and it's connection to having served in what we often refer to as the Book of Mormon Lands.

I think some people have difficulty separating a truly spiritual experience and their own emotional need to feel spiritual. It can be difficult to separate the two.