The long drive home from Brno to Prague was a pleasant one. Elder Thompson and Elder Anderson had been asked to retrieve some property from an old apartment and were headed back to Prague on a bright saturday morning. Fog laced the edges of the rolling hills in the czech highland countryside, and the hum of the diesel van was rhythmic and almost soothing.
That week had been a whirlwind, and it was almost alien to think that it was now behind them and that there was that much more ahead of them.
Monday had been occupied with teaching and preparing for the conferences that week, as was tuesday. Unfortunately, Elder Thompson took sick as well and spent those days recovering, while Elder Anderson prepared reports, planned, and drafted agendas for the week. They found a few neat people to teach as well, and knew that their purpose was to baptize them, which was coming up for some of them.
The Elders first met Elder Teixeira on wednesday. He was an impressive man with piercing blue eyes, silvery hair, and a uniquely fluent yet foreign accent that had a uniquely Portuguese flair. His mission and vision for this tour was clear, and he spent little time mincing words. He had a job to do.
It was evident from the beginning to Elder Anderson that this man was united with the spirit of the Lord and was an instrument in the Lord's hands when it came to his teachings and training and instruction to the Elders. They spoke of goals, accountability, teaching by the spirit, praying with investigators, preach my gospel, the scriptures. They expounded the parable of the talents and talked about leadership, they discussed stories of missionaries modern and ancient. Promises were made and given to the Missionaries that stretched their faith and raised their vision, and the missionaries across the mission in all three of the conferences and both evening firesides knew that he was called of God.
It was like drinking from a fire-hose.
Interestingly enough, Elder Teixeira didn't use notes, neither did his wife. But both of them were inspiring in their delivery and application of their remarks, and Elder Anderson wished that, while this week had been exhausting, that it could have lasted just a bit longer.
In looking back on the week, he saw a few things that were most important, those being that there was so much more to be done in the field, there was so much more he could become in the time left, and there were yet many baptisms that had not been realized.
Of note, his birthday had been a great one. Many gifts had been given, but the most important gift was seeing where he had been able to make a difference in the lives of all these people, and knowing that the best was yet to come.
Elder Anderson recalled an email from many many months ago, where he suggested that a mission is like a 4 quarter sporting event with overtime, and he knew where he stood in the game and what was most important. It was overtime, and he was glad to have everything he'd ever done leading up to the moment when it would all become meaningful as he preached the gospel. It was all coming to a climax and, as far as he was concerned, that climax was going to crescendo right through the rest of his life.
He had so much more to live up to that he couldn't afford to not let his mission change him, and he knew that despite the opinions of some, the Lord changes the hearts of men for good if it is to be meaningful.
--
I'm grateful to be a missionary and I'm glad to see and hear missionary work changing your lives as it's changed mine. It will be interesting to read all of these letters from beginning to end and see that in myself. In the mean time, it's about the same as watching yourself grow or grow older. It happens, but you don't notice it until someone points it out.
Love you all, and I hope you have a fantastic week! I know I will, we have another four day conference ahead of us, then more trainings, baptisms, and it just keeps going...
Elder Brent Anderson
No comments:
Post a Comment