Monday December 17, 2012

We had a Zone Conference up in Harrisburg this week and it went really well. Oddly enough, this is my second last Zone Conference in the mission. I know this because I will be giving my departing testimony at the next one which will probably be held in March. Scary.

At this Zone Conference, our Mission President emphasized the change that the First Presidency has added to our commission as missionaries – we are not simply to find, teach and baptize, but to find, teach, and rescue. This word change seemed very insignificant and kind of strange to me at first but the more and more we talked about it, the more and more I found that it applied directly to me. Rescuing implies finding everyone who is wandering and bringing them back to the fold. We don’t baptize people just for them to wander back into strange roads, but in order to rescue, we leave the ninety and nine and go out into the wilderness until we find them and replant them in a safe and comfortable environment where they will want to stay. It’s hard sometimes to remember the value of a person rather than a statistic or a number when we deal with key indicators all the time, but when we remember that the worth of every soul is great in the sight of God, we see these people not as dots in an area book or name on a list, but a child of God. Our family. Our brother or sister.

You asked about my companion’s health status. From what he and other medical professionals have said, he has completely recovered from his surgery. But that doesn’t include the many other medical problems he’s been experiencing lately. He saw our mission doctor at the Zone Conference and he may be going home soon because of it.

We started teaching a young girl of a part-member family this week and I remember how much I love teaching kids as opposed to adults. The faith that they have and the obedience they show is a lot easier for us to work with. That’s not to withhold light from Donna and Marty this week. In preparation for our lessons this week, they (without our asking to do so) studied up on the 10 Commandments, the Word of Wisdom, had many questions about the Priesthood (and also asked for a blessing), and watched 3 church produced movies to learn all they could about the things they would need to know in preparation for the covenant they would make at baptism. They’re wonderfully prepared and they came to our Ward Christmas Party on Saturday, but disaster struck Sunday morning.

We had anticipated Donna and Marty coming to Church on Sunday and we gave even more motivation to do so because my companion and I were speaking. 5 minutes past in the sacrament meeting and they didn’t show, then 10, then 30. By the time I got up to speak, I was disappointed to see that they weren’t among the saints in the congregation. I gave my talk and sat down, somewhat frustrated because of people not keeping commitments. In our gospel principles class, we discussed the Kingdoms of Glory while I only half-listened in my disappointment. And in a moment of idiocy I thought about how easy it would be to give up, right now. The Terrestrial kingdom would be pretty nice wouldn’t it? Heck, Joseph Smith said the TELESTIAL kingdom was extremely beautiful. Why did I put myself through so much stress and discipline to get to the highest tier of heaven anyways? Heaven is heaven right? But then all of a sudden I realized what I was thinking and the temptation subsided from me, realizing that I had forgotten the worth of my own soul to our Heavenly Father. It must have been so hard for a loving Father to let even a child like me venture out on my own in this world and oh how He awaits my return. If I in my selfishness were to suddenly fall and indulge in what is easy and convenient and temporarily pleasing, I would hurt the very being who cares most for me, completely wasting the gift He so graciously gave me – the Atonement of His Son. And in our Heavenly Father’s presence, He offers us a fullness of joy. The only thing He wants and works for is for us to come home (Moses 1:39).

I’m glad that I got a hold of myself that day. For when I had changed my attitude I got the inspiration to go to Donna and Marty and to tell them how concerned we were for them because they weren’t at Church, for it wasn’t about the numbers, but how we wanted them to have this fullness of joy. We stopped by Donna’s house and they both said that we had come at the perfect time. We offered them strength and solace at a time when they were all of a sudden facing family disunity and the rebelliousness of a son. How I know the feeling. I’m glad I was able to be the instrument to help their family on this road to our Father and the only way to everlasting happiness.

Elder Low