Sunday afternoon Kent and I attended a worldwide Church training all about missionary work. It was a wonderful meeting, rich in spirit and direction, thought-provoking and inspiring. It made me think a lot about my mission, why I went, those I met, the good I might or might not have done. In a way, my mission experience feels like a life-time ago, almost like it happened to a different person. I suppose in a way I was a different person. There were times during the eighteen months I served that I wanted to be almost anywhere else. It was hard to be out trying to share my testimony, especially when I often felt no one really cared to hear anything I said. I think France and Switzerland remain difficult places to do missionary work. There is a lot of apathy towards God and religion and seemingly few people really searching for spiritual nourishment.
There were, however, other times when I felt caught up in the work, willing to give my all forever if necessary, to see the Church grow as I shared the gospel. I felt powerful, full of the spirit, and "on fire" to use a missionary term. It was good. And looking back, it still feels good. While I didn't see huge success numbers wise, I know I made a difference in the lives of at least one or two people.
Sunday's meeting stirred up those missionary feelings again. I want to get out there and wear a badge and represent Christ and the Church again. Thing is, I have young children at home. Blythe is five which means the soonest Kent and I could be out serving as a couple is another fifteen years. And if I was being honest, I would confess that I don't really want to serve a proselyting mission, I want to do humanitarian stuff, or work in a temple somewhere, or almost anything other than knock on doors and try to find people to teach.
The great thing about this meeting, however, if that it is readily acknowledged that door knocking is super ineffective. We shouldn't be doing it. Instead, we should be looking to our friends and neighbors who don't have the gospel and seeking ways to invite them to learn more. Several of the fantastic videos shown made it look so easy. I do have a slight problem, however. I live in Provo, Utah in a ward that geographically holds two non-member families. That's right. Two. And one of those families used to be members but have joined another church and had their names removed from the rolls of the Church. Not much work to do here.
However, there is a new family that has just moved into the ward with two Primary aged children, and they are not active. Their daughter was in Brandt's class last year and had a little crush on him. When I went over last week to introduce myself, the mom, Kim, told me, "We're not super active. If we go to church on Sunday, great. If not, no big deal. We're pretty cazh." I have thought about that all week. It has bothered me. Now is not the time to be casual about one's eternal salvation. I worry all the time about my children developing a strong testimony and remaining faithful to the gospel, and Kent and I are doing all the right things to insure our children will be active.
As I sat through the meeting, I thought about this family a lot and what I might do to involve, embrace, and invite them to participate. As the Primary president, I have been called to serve the children in our ward and by extension, their families too. I don't need a badge, I don't need to travel to a foreign country, or even leave my home. Right here in Provo, Utah, I can be a missionary. And I intend to share my testimony as I have opportunity.
