Happy Memorial Day - 05/29/12

He is already learning so much ... and his mission is just beginning.

Happy day after Memorial Day! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. Elder G and I are just peachy. Our lessons seem to come and go in spurts. One day we had six lessons scheduled in one day, and four of them canceled on us. But the lessons we did teach were pretty spectacular! My family of four (the Nielson family) is still on date for June 10th. They came to church and the ward just loved them! I knew they would. It seems like they are going to keep their commitments and keep progressing just as wonderfully as anyone could ever ask of them. It hasn't been entirely easy, for sure. The daughter's grandfather, who they live with, is against them joining the church. The mom gave up tobacco but still smokes an electronic cigarette occasionally. They don't have churchy clothing, so they felt a bit underdressed at church. They almost ran out of gas on the way to church. But they came, and they sent us a text message thanking us for teaching them and helping them get there. We just wanted to cry.

Oh, and I don't know anything for sure, but it seems like our friend (S) on parole is finally getting her letter to the First Presidency written. Our mission president called us yesterday about getting her to write down her testimony to include in the letter. Elder G and I were so excited! We just bought her a study journal on Monday, now we have some excellent news to deliver with it.

 

It's amazing to me how the things that I study in Preach My Gospel are immediately applicable to the work at hand. I had questions about finding and using our planning resources, so I looked in Preach My Gospel. The very next week, our training program had us review those same chapters. I started feeling that we needed to work more closely with the ward members. That same week, our training program had us read about working with the ward. Then we attended my first Ward Council, and I think the gears in my head are starting to mesh as I see the big picture.

Bishop L gave a beautiful testimony of our determination to be good missionaries at Ward Council and encouraged everybody present to try harder to focus on helping the missionaries. This is especially odd because this bishop is not very emotional at all, but we had him in tears as he talked about how hard-working we are. I guess that all the tracting we did, including the time he pulled over and talked to us, paid off. Oh, and our Primary President prayed for us and our families at the end of Ward Council. You have been blessed.

I'm starting to understand how kindness is its own reward. Matthew 25:40 helps us put our service in perspective of the Savior. D&C 4 talks about how serving others brings about our own salvation. We are taught from childhood that helping other people brings us happiness and lays up in store treasures in heaven, so we are personally rewarded eternally for helping others on this earth. I see that, but I also see something more.

I told Elder G that being a missionary is the coolest thing, because I get to spend two years making friends. For me, I'm not looking forward to a pat on the back or a bigger inheritance in the kingdom of God. I'm looking forward to meeting these people in the spirit world and being their friend. There are a lot of people that we talk to that I won't baptize. Some of them, I'll probably only see once. But because I have tried my hardest to serve them, I have come to love them, and I hope to take that love with me to the spirit world and beyond. Hearing their story and feeling that connection is more than enough of a reward for me.

Our dinner appointment for Memorial Day forgot they signed up, so they left us money instead. Our first pick of restaurants didn't work out, so we ended up trying a pizza place that we'd never been to before. On the way there, we saw a girl with a sign that said "Homeless and Hungry". I asked Elder G if we could share our pizza with her. So we ended up having a picnic by the side of the road with a homeless person. Her story struck me so deeply, that I could not get her out of my mind that night. I know that we can't baptize a person without a permanent address. Teaching her probably wouldn't yield any measurable key indicators of missionary success. But I felt like we did what Jesus would have done that night. Maybe someday our paths will cross again. But if not, I am looking forward to seeing her again, spirit to spirit.

Perhaps as a result of my two-hour nap that day, I couldn't fall asleep that night, so I got out of bed at 11:20 and started praying for her. I didn't get back in bed until after midnight. My mind poured over all the friends I haven't heard from in years. I want so badly to just bring everybody to a greater knowledge of the truth. Maybe I'll get that opportunity, maybe I won't. But I prayed for the blessings of heaven to be given to them. If nothing else, I feel more at peace now. And the things I learned from the Lord will remain with me forever.

Good luck guys, and God bless.