I got a great letter from my grandma this week and it was funny because it described some of the feelings I have had on my mission and this past transfer. She talked about a "failed missionary effort" where she and my aunt hosted a birthday party for the relief society sisters in their ward. They were really excited about it, and made handouts for everyone so they would remember. They prepared and had cute little chocolate boxes for everyone, and were hoping it would be a great opportunity for fellowshipping, which it is. Then the day of the party came, and...only 2 other sister showed up. Both active. She talked about how it was disappointing, and I smiled. I thought back to all the disappointing experiences I have had as a missionary, and the crushed feeling you get after putting so much effort and love into something...and then it doesn't work out. I think sometimes people get the idea that missionary work is all miracles and fun! But of course, it isn't. Some of it is, don't get me wrong. I always like to write the stories of miracles and cool things that happen, because they do happen. And if we look for miracles, we will see them. But we wouldn't be able to see those miracles if we didn't have to go through lots of other junk too. But I have learned (and am still having it pounded into me) that those "failed" experiences are totally necessary for us. That sounds kind of funny, but it's true. If we always had success, what would I be learning? We wouldn't even need missionaries, people would just line up after church by the baptismal font. The Book of Mormon would be the #1 read book in the world. We would be going crazy with the demand for churches and temples and wouldn't be able to keep up! Even though that would be amazing, would we even notice? Would it mean anything to us? I think about these people that we meet with, we pray with and for, we nudge and push to do things like read and come to church, and the changes that happen in them. Sometimes they get baptized, sometimes they don't. And sometimes we put in so much work that we are crushed when they use their agency and don't follow through. And it is heartbreaking! But I know that these experiences are necessary. Heavenly Father is teaching us to be grateful for the good things that do happen and also making us into invincible disciples of Christ. He can't do that if this is the easiest thing in the world to do. The thing to do is to not give up! Even though some of those people I was talking about don't get baptized, they still touched my life, and I hope that I touched theirs. People are watching us and what we do, and the tiny things we do- invite people to things, share testimony, give someone a pass-along card- have an impact. Sometimes we don't feel like it! But they do. And we are blessed for any tiny effort we put forth to help the work. Ok, this is kind of "sermony," but it is something that I have been thinking about and I just loved her letter because it made me think more about it.
This week I got to go on exchanges with Sis. Webb, which was awesome! I can't believe she is going home in less than two weeks. It was just like old times, except we have both grown and changed actually since we were companions. We had a funny thing happen- we had to go to the post office to mail something to the mission office, and Sis. Webb decided to buy some stamps since we were there. We were standing in line and the lady behind us says, "what ministry are you with?" We told her who we were and she told us that like 15 years ago she had met with missionaries. It was a funny experience, because I asked her if she remembered anything and she didn't, but she liked it. We ended up getting her info to come and visit her. Things like this normally don't happen. People don't normally start talking to YOU, tell you they have met with missionaries before, and then accept invitations for you to come over. It was awesome. So we'll see what happens there. Other investigators are doing well for the most part, we didn't get to see a lot of them this week, but hopefully this next week will be better.
I guess I'll end with my General Conference thoughts. I love General Conference! It was funny because my first weekend in Missouri last year was conference weekend. I kind of measure my mission experience and growth by conference because the April conference before that was the time I decided to serve a mission. Anyway, I love how there is always some kind of unplanned theme and it is always what the church and we individually need at the time. I guess that is what a living prophet and apostles are for, right? To me, this conference talked a lot about faith and agency and how they interact. It also talked a lot about keeping the commandments and the importance of obedience, and the importance of the priesthood and the living prophet. Anthony loved conference, and it was an amazing experience for him to gain a testimony of the prophet and apostles that way. He was already solid before going, but even more solid after. After the first session we talked about it and he said that he loved the direct way the leaders talked about things, and he said "I just know in my heart that this is right." So awesome! My favorite I think was President Eyring's talk about having trust in God. When we trust God, we know that everything will work out. Like I was saying earlier. No matter what happens, no matter how much you fail or think you do, no matter what ridiculous things like has to throw at you, when we really trust God we know it will be ok. I love General Conference!
Well, I could go on forever but I have to go. Thank you all for all you do! Hopefully this week I will remember to take more pictures. Love you all!
-Sister Hafen
No comments:
Post a Comment