July 30, 2012 "Final Exhortations"

Bonjour Bonjour mes chers amis! This week I've been spending alot of time looking at my plaque. I remember the day I first put it on. After being dropped off at the curb of the MTC, I was lead by a kind sister missionary. She helped me drop off my suitacses and then guided me to a room with a long line. At the end of this line, they gave your plaque (nametag...). As I inched along with other nervous missionaries I couldn't help but feel excited. I was about to recieve a real plaque-the sign of a real missionary! The kind volunteer helped me pin it on for the first time- not to high, not to low, right over your heart. I became...Soeur Smith. I soon learned I really had no idea what it meant to be a "real missionary". Sure I had heard it described- hard working, obedient, unshakable faith, follows the spirit in all things, etc etc. But these were no long attributes of missionaries in stories in the Ensign. This was real life. This was my mission. As a missionary I've learned alot of things, and I'm sure I've learned many lessons I don't even know I've learned yet. Somewhere between the rising in the morning and putting on my plaque, and coming home exhausted at the end of the day and taking it off -and repeating this day after day- I've learned to be a real missionary. But what does it mean to be a real missionary? Or maybe a better phrased question is "did I accomplish what Heavenly Father wanted me to...did I become a real missionary?" As my mission comes to a close, I've wondered, "how does one handle the end of a mission". I decided to take my question to the scriptures, by looking to see what prophets had to say at the end of their missions. Lets start with Lehi. The man who had the courage to flee into the wilderness. As his life comes to a close he first remembers of all the tender mercies of the Lord (2 Nephi 1:2-3). He gives the classic Book of Mormon promise - keep the commandments and you will prosper in the land (2 Nephi 4:4). And then he speaks to his family "according to the feelings of his heart and the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Nephi 4:12). I would love to hear the feelings of this dear prophet's heart. I feel like that is what I am trying to do today- express the feelings of my heart and the Spirit. Then we have Nephi. The first stud of the Book of Mormon. What does this man of great stature teach us at the end of his mortal ministry? He speaks of his weaknesses. ( 2 Nephi 33: 1,4) He testifies of the importance of relying on the spirit (2 Nephi 33:1). He prays and weeps for his people (2 Nephi 33:3-4).He testifies his purpose of writing the Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 33:4). He teaches the importance of charity (2 Nephi 33:7-9). And finally he glorifies in Jesus and exhorts us to believe in Him. ( 2 Nephi 33:6, 10-12). Despite his feelings of inadequacies he never looses site of his purpose- to invite others to come unto Christ. We then have the priviledge of hearing from Nephi's brother, Jacob, he who was born in the wilderness amongst tribulation. As he looks back on his life he poetically states "our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream" (Jacob 7:26). I feel like this statement hits a little to close to home when looking back on the mission. But Jacob died with peace of conscience that he had done all he could to be obedient to the commandments of God (Jabob 7:27). Jacob's son, Enos, was able to look back at his life and say he did all he could to declare repentance and he died with hope for the ressurection- testifying that when it was his turn to see the Lord, "then shall I see his face with pleasure." (Enos 1:26-27). Skip six generations of record keepers who didn't particularly love keeping records, to Amaleki- a righteous man who leaves us with one final inventation. He says " offer your whole souls as an offering unto him and continue in fasting and praying, and enduring to the end. (Omni 11:26). Then we reach King Benjamin. Really all the teachings we have of this righteous king are his final 'exhortations'. He first teaches his sons to search the scriptures diligently. Then he echos Lehi's final promise- keep the commandments and you will prosper in the land (Mosiah 1:7). After reminding his people the importance of serving one another, he asks us to "consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments" (Mosiah 2:41). He teaches the Plan of Salvation (Mosiah 3-4). And just as his time of perserving comes to a close, he invites us to "be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven" (Mosiah 5:15). This is where the Book of Mormon gets complicated. Groups of people start to break off and the lineage of who writes it the Book of Mormon becomes ...not so lineage-al. But we have some very powerful 'dying testimonies' of missionaries and prophets amongst all the confusion and 'ites'. First we have Abinidi, who give his life to defend his powerful testimony of Christ, reminding us to fear God more than men. Mosiah "labored with all the power and faculties" he had to teach the commandments (Mosiah 29:14). And he helped the people to establish righteous judges. To teach the people this he "unfolded unto them all the trials and troubles of a righteous kind, yea, all the travails of soul" (Mosiah 29:33). He told the people what he had suffered for them and then taught them the importance of sharing responsibility and bearing one another burdens (Mosiah 29:34). When Alma summarized Mosiah's life he simply stated he "warred a good warfare" (Alma 1:1). Alma encourages his sons to "learn wisdom" and "to keep the commandments" (Alma 37:35). He promises us that the words of Christ "will point to a straight course to eternal bliss" (Alma 37:44). But this great missionary could not rest, he wanted to preach (Alma 43:1) and continued to do so until he was taken up unto the Lord (Alma 45:19-19). Helaman leaves his sons with some beautiful fatherly wisdom. He says "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." (see Helaman 5:7-12) And then, the most important event of the Book of Mormon. Christ comes to teach the people. And while Christ does not directly say when he will stop visiting them- we can see what is important by looking at what is mentioned in his last recorded sermon ( 3 Nephi 27). He teaches what is to be the name of His church. He declares His gospel. He invites us, "for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do" (verse 21). He promises "Therefore, ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for he that asketh, receiveth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened" (verse 29). He warns us of worldliness, and finally "it came to pass that when Jesus had ended these sayings he said unto his disciples: Enter ye in at the strait gate; for strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it; but wide is the gate, and broad the way which leads to death, and many there be that travel therein, until the night cometh, wherein no man can work." (verse 33). The rest of the Book of Mormon is like unto the first half - people falling into wickedness and prophets exhorting them to remember God. At the end we have two incrediable heros, who manage to have hope in the most destitue of situations. Mormon testifies one last time perserverance- reminding all followers of Christ to "labor diligently" so that "we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness and rest our souls in the kingdom of God" (Moroni 9:6). Moroni says goodbye twice- the first time he simply testifies that God is a God of miracles and reminds us to "doubt not, but be believing" (Mormon 8:27). The second time we recieve a farewell from Moroni, it is full of "exhortations". He invites us to do many things- but theme of his exhortations is it to come unto Christ. He says "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot." (Moroni 10:32-33). Isn't the Book of Mormon wonderful? I've loved studing the final testimonies of these prophets. It has helped to see what kind of things these 'real missionaries' valued at the end of thier ministry. And while I'm sure your eyes are tired and your wondering when I'll finish this email and face the fact that I'm just one little missionary and not an epic war hero in the Book of Mormon, I just have a few scriptures I want to share that I think summarize how I feel at the end of my mision, and to me define "a real missionary". First, I want to express humility. Like Nephi and Moroni, I worry sometimes that my weaknesses could keep people from accepting the gospel. But I gain strength from the scriptures Doctrine and Covenants 1:23 that says "the fullness of my gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the world, and before kinds and rulers." I feel a real missionary knows thier weaknesses and depend on the Lord to quailfy them for the work. And I know that as we forget ourselves and our weaknesses, the Lord will make us strong so that we may " preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound" (Isaiah 61:1). And as we serve others - something wonderful happens. We start to love them, and you can truly loose yourself in the work. And " So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us" (1 Thess. 2:8) and as we give our whole souls to people they become "our glory and joy" ( 1 Thess. 2:20). But the more we invest ourselves in people...the more room they have to disappoint us, to make us cry, and to make our very souls..sad. As we watch them reject the gospel...it hurts. Again, I've learned to trust and rely on the Lord in all things- for there is always hope in the gospel. "And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise." (Moroni 7:41). So, the real question, have I become a real missionary? Yes. I love this gospel. I love the people of France (and Belgium, and Africa, and China, and Russia, and everyone else I've had the chance to serve during my mission). As I look at my plaque I know that it is really just an outward expression of all that my mission has meant to me. An outward symbol of my desire to serve God. I know when I take it off, that underneath lies my new heart. On that heart, the name of Christ and the spirit of missionary work have been permanently carved into it. I am so grateful for the chance I've had to serve a mission. I know its changed me forever. And if I could leave you one more exhortation, my dear friends and family-whether you are a return missionary, future missionary, current missionary, member missionary, or even if you not sure quite yet what the big deal is with missionary work- remember always to "cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you" (Jacob 6:5) God loves you. I love you. Soeur Smith.

July 23, 2012 "Preparing for baptism is like being pregnant"

Bonjour Bonjour. Miracle number one of the week: the sun is shining. And its actually lasted for 24 hours. Sometimes the sun shines and I get all happy inside, and then 10 minutes later its back to being gray and I'm back to scowling at the skies. But its actually been nice out for more than an hour....so I'm letting my guard down and I'm just rejoicing in the sun. This week was quite eventful. We got permission from President to have Tracy do a four-day mini mission with us. I have honestly forgotten what it's like to have the energy of 16 year old. Or maybe I've just forgotten what its like to have any sort of excess energy at all. haha. It was a great experience to introduce someone to missionary life. Even if she wasn't too keen on going running at 6:30, she was a trooper and was much happier in the morning than I generaly am. (no parents, if you were hoping that one of the lessons I've learned on my mission is how to be a morning person, that one never quite settled in) Tracy told us one day she wanted to try passing by her aunt's house. Her mom had told me about her aunt already and they had tried to share with her the gospel and she was never very open to it. But Tracy was very persistant so we finally agreed. When we first got there it was akward because her aunt's friend answered the door and thought we were jehovah's witness and told us to go away, but Tracy then said she was looking for her aunt. Her aunt let us in and we tried to keep it pretty casual, just talked about where we were from and ask about them. The aunt's friend, Jessica, told us she was believing but not practicing. We explained to here the Book of Mormon and a little what we believe, and afterwards she said "I'm actually really interested, how much does the book cost" oooh I love it when people ask that because then we can say its FREE! And the look on their faces are priceless...Anywho, Jessica ended up taking the book of mormon and saying she would come to church (you know after vacance, etc....) and we were able to fix a return appointment with Tracy's aunt! She was prepared this time... or the love of an aunt for her niece softened her heart a little Well then Day 2 of the mini mission hit and our dear little Tracy fell asleep in a rendezvous...luckily it was a less active member who thought it was hilarious. Made me feel a little better about being exhausted all the time haha. But my favorite experience with Tracy this week was while we were porting. We were going from door to door, and getting kindly rejected at each door. And when I say kindly, the people really were very nice. One man let us explain that we aren't polygimast (sp?), another old couple told us about how they had met with elders 30 years ago, another lady told me how about her vacation she is going on to Canada next month...all nice people. No one interested in the gospel. But after every single door Tracy would say "aren't we so blessed! we found a neighborhood full of people with open hearts!" Soeur McGhie and I just looked at church confused because no one had actually been open to learning more, but I soon realized it was us that needed to change perspective. Our little "Soeur Tracy Tessa" taught us that its ok to count those little seeds planted at open hearts. And we had another lovely experience contacting with a member this week. This week at ward council the bishop asked if we would be willing to go out and passby some less actives with the young women's president for the evening.We passed by a couple people we knew of and no one would let us in...so we decided to just pick a random name on the ward list. Well we ended up finding the apartment complex...but could not actually find the apartment building. While investigating one apartment building a lady came out of the door, our YW president asked her if she knew the family we were looking for. The lady said no, sorry, I'm not from here. Well then our YW president pulled out a pass-along card and asked if she could leave her our card anyways, and started to explain the restoration. It was awsome! We ended up talking to her for a few minutes, and while in the end she didn't give us her number she did say "thank you for talking with me, I really enjoyed it". Go member missionaries! And the elders had a baptism this week. Wahoo! And one of our amis decided to come. She even brought cookies for everyone afterwards. Afterwards the Relief Society president was talking with her about baptism. Solange, our ami, said "the baptism was so quick! just in the water and back out again!"...and then our relief society president explained "well its like giving birth, there are nine months of preparation before you go into labor. Preparing for baptism is like being pregnant, and being baptized is being born, quick compared to the preparation". I'm assuming she had easy labors....most people I talk to dont seem to refer to labor as "quick". haha Anyways, it was great for Solange to see a baptism and for her to feel the spirit of a baptismal service. We keep asking her when her's will be and she is very insistant on 'researching the whole book of mormon first". We're working on convincing her that preparation for baptism does not actually have to take as long as a pregnancy.... And this week we are going to start teaching a chinese girl, Grace, that the elders contacted on the metro. She is amazing! She came to church yesterday and everyone thought she was a member already. As my district leader put it, a christian chinese? How could you be more prepared by God? I really hope we can fix a baptismal date with her this week. And we finished of the week with some porting. The last door of the night was answered by this older man who threw open the door and said "vous cherchez quoi?!?" (what are you looking for?) I told him we were looking for someone who wants to learn about Christ. He softened and told us he was practicing catholic, then he looked at us and said "arent you a little young to be doing this?". Gave us some room to tell us a little bit about our missions. He told us a little bit about how has been a volunteer for Catholic church for 50 years and how his family has been clergy since the 15th century. Honestly, I didn't feel like telling him his family has been mistaken on doctrine for quite awhile, so I just said "you know, it is so nice to talk with someone who loves Christ and wants to serve him". (and the entire street had been athiest...so it really was a nice change) He asked when I went home, (since we had already explained how long missions are, etc). I got a little sad inside and told him next week. When I gave him our card he put it in his shirt pocket and told us he would cherish it. I don't know why I enjoyed talking to this old, catholic man so much, but our entire exchange just made me happy. I guess Tracy taught me to look for 'open hearts' in a new way. As we walked away from his house I couldn't help but think I have to keep practicing my french so when we meet up in the spirit world I can still teach him and 9 generations of catholic family the gospel. Good thing I've still got some time to keep practicing the french ;) Love you all, have a great week! Soeur Smith