Mission Report

Our oldest son was called to serve in the Billings, Montana Mission. He has been out 10 months, transferred 3 times. As a mother of a missionary I have found great comfort in his email letters. We told him about this assignment to give a mission report, and these are his words to you:

I am participating in finding work most often; I have no baptisms that I can trace to my personal efforts, so I have put a great deal of time into tracting, service, and simply looking for new people. I have been given leadership responsibilities of a district leader, …. I enjoy the chance to drive a 2012 Chevy Colorado, I live in a member's spare bedroom, and we are fed every day. There have been times that I was a little bit cold, but that was due to below zero temperatures and standing still.

I've been stuck in mud; a few months ago when I was still junior companion, we were driving near Fort Washakie (for pronunciation, the a's are both short, as in wash, and the kie sounds like key) and we got into a big mud pit. Fortunately, we were in a truck and [my companion] could just put it into 4 low and back us right out of the bog. The truck was covered in mud, but we were safe from the flying mud clods since we were inside the entire time!

When I was young, I sort of knew that I was going to serve a mission. It's what I told my teachers, my family, even some of my friends. It was never a worry for me. I still needed a moment more recently in my life where I looked at what serving a mission was, the fact that I was donating two years of my life to the service of my God, and feel that confirmation that this is what I needed to do, but I always "knew" that I was going before that, as well. Some of those listening will hear this and think, "Well, I'm a different case. I'm not sure that serving a mission is right. I'm not even sure if I'm in the right place right now." You are the ones that especially need to consider serving a mission. Study what serving a mission is, the things that you might need to use if you do decide to serve, and then ask God if it is the right thing to do. If you do this, I can promise a number of things. Importantly, you will receive an answer to know if you should serve a mission, but more importantly you will receive an answer to know if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church of God and if you should hold to the Iron Rod, which can include church service.
I tell you to prepare to serve a mission not just because it is the place I have seen so much growth (in myself, those missionaries I've served with, and with every day people I have taught), but also as you prepare for a mission you will be preparing for the most important mission possible: to live life as a worthy member of God's true church, understanding His true doctrine that will comfort you when you are distressed and lift you up to become a better person…

…Some of the greatest advice I have for the young men is to strive for humility. Strive to be able to submit yourself, not only Spiritually but also to rules, leaders, work. The most frequent stumbling block for missionaries that I've seen is pride, especially in the new missionaries that refuse to follow their trainer's good instruction. You can't have humility without also having faith. With faith and humility, however, you can achieve all the other attributes of Christ by putting your trust in Him and allowing Him to change your ways.

I've definitely gained a deeper sense of faith. [Before my mission] I could say I know the Book of Mormon is true, and I'm grateful for that. Now I can also say that I know Christ has atoned for our mistakes, and because of his infinite Atonement we all have the very real ability to become perfect, something we can start to realize here in this life (notice it was "start," which implies a journey beyond this life). I can now say this, but also feel it deep within me. I've been able to look at my faith, and understand what I believe and why but also what that really means to me.

Cool service projects: we've chopped wood, bucked hay shoveled walks. The coolest project would probably be the time we helped get wood for the Bishop's storehouse from the mountains. A fun morning of moving logs and watching the elders quorum wield the chainsaws.

The other week we were in a lesson with a part-member family, and the wife hadn't had a strong Mormon child-hood and needed just as much teaching as the husband did. We were teaching the plan of salvation, and we were talking about Jesus Christ and his Atonement and how we can return to him through repentance. The husband asked a question, "what does that mean, repentance?"

Since I'm good with doing things in order, I wanted to finish the Plan of Salvation lesson, and then get into repentance as part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So, I started to give a quick answer so we could get back on track, but it turned into a longer answer as more questions were brought up. I then heeded the council to "teach people, not lessons" and we spent the rest of the lesson on repentance and how true repentance is a turning from sin, a change of heart and mind. It turned into one of the best lessons I've had.

[Then I read excerpts from my favorite blogs of his from GEEKS, GAMES & GOSPEL. His mission is one of several chosen as a pilot program for missionaries to spend an hour each day prosyleting on-line, using technology to do the work of bringing people to Jesus Christ.]