From August 6, 2012: Alligators; Wise Counsel From President Judd About Our Challenges; Pictures!

For this week it started off by having a very well off member give us an akai berry. Basically it made everything else we ate taste very sweet. Also a few weeks ago Elder Bladen and I saw a small alligator. A member named Prince told us that they are around in the river/ gutter we saw it in, but people eat them so they don't grow very large. This week we also went into the Nugua market and while it's not very large; I really love the cultural environment of them, and as it was Elder Bladen's first time in a market, he really liked it. We also had a day where Elder Bladen and I took the same member named Prince to teach with us, and Elder Bladen stepped on some human feces, and we also learned that a specific building we often pass daily is a brothel. Friday Elder Bladen and I split and I took Elder Naison from Zimbabwe while Elder Bladen went with Elder Anifousie from Nigeria. Elder Naison is 25 and just shorter than Elder Bladen. That day we worked hard and were able to locate several members' homes. On Saturday we wanted to see one of our baptismal candidates, but when we went to see him his brother said he wasn't in the house while his friends said he left the house at a different time, and Elder Bladen also saw a person hiding in the house. When we called on the phone, the same friends answered, and after we left we saw and noticed how there was another person with them.  Dare I say that we were like secret agents following them to see if that extra person was the man we were looking for. After stealthily tracking them, we concluded he was the man. The event was fun, but we don't know how this will turn out baptism wise now. We have to talk to him face to face about this. On Sunday an Area Seventy, Elder Curtis, and his wife came to visit the ward and brought a referral for us who is a security guard for the area they stay in. The woman lives in the neighboring area and by the end of Sunday, Elder Bladen and I were watching our high hopes for this month get taken out like bowling pins. We will have a baptism for a member's son Saturday and we are counting our blessings. I know we are working hard and we are obedient, I just hope that others watching don't draw false conclusions in relation to our success. I have mentioned before how I feel that in this companionship, while we get along great, the work is hard and one of the things we are learning the most is to have a positive attitude and to not give up pushing. We are becoming better people and when this rock does move, it will be replaced with a larger one, but we will have the ability to carry on. President Judd had a very good letter about our challenges. I figure I will copy it here too. 

Dear Elders and Sisters:

Thanks to each of you for working so hard and doing so much good. We are making progress as a mission and are moving the right direction. 

Even though we are experiencing success as a mission, sometimes we will be given assignments where it appears we are having little or no success. Even though we are working hard and smart and are striving to be obedient, there will be occasions when we will not see the success we hope for. The following story illustrates that there are often reasons for the problems we face even though we may not be able to understand them in the beginning. To my knowledge, the author of the following story has never been identified, and the story is obviously not scriptural, but I believe it contains truth that can be helpful during difficult times:

There was a man who was asleep one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and the Savior appeared. The Lord told the man He had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might. This the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock pushing with all hismight. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

         Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture placing thoughts into the man's mind such as; "You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn't budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it? Etc." Thus, giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man even more. "Why kill myself over this?" he thought. "I'll just put in my time, giving just the minimum of effort and that will be good enough."

         And that he planned to do until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. "Lord" he said, "I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock a half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?" To this the Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when long ago I asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to me, your strength spent, thinking that youhave failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled; your hands are callused from constant pressure; your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in my wisdom. This you have done. I, my friend, will now move the rock." (Author Unknown) 

I once had a calling in the Church where it seemed to me the harder I worked and the more carefully I tried to live a life worthy of the Spirit's guidance, the more difficult things became. Sometimes it felt like the rock I had been called to push was rolling backwards and crushing me. It was a very difficult time in my life. Nevertheless, now that I look back on those challenging years I understand the Lord's wisdom in allowing me to have such a difficult experience. Many of the lessons I learned during those difficult days are helping me in my present calling in ways I didn't understand at the time. 

We are serving in a mission where we are blessed to see many people baptized, but each of us has or will yet face difficult times. During these times it will appear the harder we try, the more difficult the work will seem to become. Please do not become discouraged and give up. There are better days ahead. I promise. Ammon, the great Book of Mormon missionary, recorded the following words of encouragement given to him by the Lord Himself during a time when Ammon and those with whom he was serving became discouraged:

"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give thee success." (Alma 26:27)

It was also during this same time that Ammon learned what the Lord would have him do to be a successful missionary:

"Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing--unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance." (Alma 26:27)  

Sometimes the "rock" you will be asked to push will be your companion. Other times the "rock" may be yourself or difficult investigators. You may have to deal with difficult health issues or problems in the ward or branch where you serve. You may even find that your family is having difficulties at home that make it difficult to focus on your work here. You may have other times when even though you are working hard you can't find seem to find the "elect" spoken of in scripture.  

Some of us could push a little harder than we are pushing. I have been disappointed at such things as the number of unauthorized phone calls I observe on the phone records provided by our cell phone company that lead to being out of credit before the month ends. Others aren't working in the evenings (including Monday). Some are being disrespectful to leaders, listening to unauthorized music, etc. I am happy to say that we don't have a lot of such things going on in our mission, but even a little disobedience hurts the mission as well as the missionaries and the people we are called to teach.  

While the examples of the various "rocks" we are called to push are numerous, we have and will yet be asked to push different sizes and shapes at different times during our missions and during our lives. When you do, I hope you will remember the story and the scriptures above and they will help give you the strength to "bear with patience thine afflictions" with the knowledge that in the end, God "will give thee success" (Alma 26:27) if we are faithful.  

With all of this said, it is also important to remind ourselves that success as a missionary should never be defined solely in terms of the number of baptisms we have as individuals or as a mission. In Preach My Gospel we read: 

"Your success as a missionary is measured primarily by your commitment to find, teach, baptize, and confirm people and to help them become faithful members of the Church who enjoy the presence of the Holy Ghost.  Avoid comparing yourself to other missionaries and measuring the outward results of your efforts against theirs. Remember that people have agency to choose whether to accept your message. Your responsibility is to teach clearly and powerfully so they can make a correct choice." (p. 10). 

We will continue to have success as a mission, but the more "successful" we become as individuals and as a mission, the greater the opposition will become as well. Don't let this discourage you. I have learned a great lesson over the years that even though success often bring greater opposition, the Lord gives gives us greater strength and ability to deal with the problems that arise. This is one of the reasons men and women of God learn to find joy in the problems they face. One of my favorite examples of this is in the 17th chapter of Alma where we find the account of Ammon helping guard King Lamoni's sheep.  Ammon's fellow servants began to weep when the wicked Lamanites came and scattered the sheep, because they feared that losing the King's sheep meant they would be killed. Ammon's response to this life-threatenting situation was very different:

Now they [the King's servants] wept because of the fear of being slain. Now when Ammon saw this his heart was swollen within him with joy; for, said he, I will show forth my power unto these my fellow-servants, or the power which is in me, in restoring these flocks unto the king, that I may win the hearts of these my fellow-servants, that I may lead them to believe in my words." (Alma 17:29)

Ammon's companions were full of fear, but his heart was full of joy. He saw this as an " opportunity to use his priesthood and his preparation to bless the people---- including the King. I believe that Ammon had pushed a lot of rocks as the Lord prepared him for such a day as this. Similar accounts are found in Alma 32:6 and Alma 8:31. 

It is my prayer each of us will prepare ourselves well and will perform effectively when called upon to push the various rocks we are called upon to push. I know that as we are obedient and put ourselves in the position where the Lord can bless us, not only will rocks move, but mountains will be removed and hearts will change as well. 

I also pray we will not allow any success we have to create pride as these rocks and mountains move. We must never take personal credit for the miracles the Lord performs through us. We must always be sensitive to the dangers of success. Pride as individuals, companionships, districts, zones, and even our mission as a whole will lead to failure. President Ezra Taft Benson warned that, "the hour of a man's success is his greatest danger" (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson , p. 465).