Last week we had our exit interview with Elder Sabin. He asked us what we would take away from this
mission. As I have pondered this question I believe there are three main subjects
I have gained a greater appreciation for on this mission. 1) A love for the temple with a desire to
attend regularly; 2) A deep love and appreciation for the humanitarian couples
serving in the field; and 3) A gratitude for being able to serve as missionary
companions with my good husband.
We had only been serving in Frankfurt for a couple of weeks
when Elder and Sister Rueckert asked us if we would like to join them
in going to the LDS temple in Switzerland. We had much to do and Russell
initially declined. However, we both decided that this was an opportunity we
couldn’t pass up and we were willing to work late before and after the trip to
make up for lost time. We were grateful for the opportunity. We
performed multiple ordinances that day, done in several different languages.
I mentioned to Elder and Sister Rueckert that my father had
lived in Basel as a toddler while his father was serving as mission president
for the Swiss/German mission. They suggested that we look for the house he
lived in almost 90 years ago. On our return trip to Frankfurt we stopped in
Basel. The day we stopped happened to be my father’s 92nd birthday. Although
the mission home my father lived in is no longer standing, there were many
homes in the neighborhood with dates on the door jams going back to the late
1800s. It was a remarkable experience to
walk the streets which my father and grandparents walked so many decades ago.
During that trip, I caught the vision of temple work and family history. I determined
that I would be more committed about going to the temple and performing the
work for family members. Since that
time, we have been on a number of temple
trips. It is expensive, time consuming and many times inconvenient to go to the
temple from Frankfurt. However, it has truly been worth the sacrifice. I have
developed a great love for temple work. I find peace in the temple that it is
sometimes difficult to find in our day to day endeavors. I have had some wonderful spiritual
experiences with the veil being very thin while in the temple.
Two weeks ago, we traveled with the Garretts to the
temple. I had a number of family names found
by my sister which needed ordinance work completed. We
scheduled a time to do initiatory work. I had 17 female names which needed the
initiatory work done. As Sister Garrett
and I went in with my family names, we were told by the supervisor that there
would be a maximum of 5 names/person. We
sorted through the names and tried to keep families together, leaving out 7 of
the names which the supervisor had originally pulled out to be done. After 4 of my 5 names had been completed I
asked the temple worker if it would be possible to do a few more names. She
told me that was not possible, and said we were lucky to have been able to do
the names which we had already done. I agreed and thanked her. As I was leaving
to go back to my locker the supervisor asked if I had more names to be
done. I showed her the remaining
cards. She said that one of the workers
needed to leave, but she would be willing to help so that we could do more
initiatory work. When Sister Garrett
came out of the booth and saw me waiting to go in she was surprised. I told her that we would be able to finish
the remaining names. She was grateful. She said she had felt an immense sadness
thinking that the sisters whose name were originally in the pile had been
pulled out. Perhaps they were disappointed that their work wouldn’t be done
that day. While I performed the initiatory
work for these remaining sisters the veil was very thin. As I did 2 of the
remaining 4 sisters, the feelings I had were almost overwhelming. I knew they
were aware the work was being done for them and were grateful. The temple
worker which had initially told me I would not be able to do the remaining
names said to me “there is something really special about those sisters, I can
feel it.”
What a blessing it has been to go to the House of the
Lord. I recognize that it is a special
privilege, as most missionaries cannot leave their mission boundaries. We have
been granted a special opportunity by the Area Presidency to attend the temple, for which I am most grateful for.
In our humanitarian work we use the word beneficiary.
A beneficiary is a person who gains an advantage and/or profits from
something. In our position as Area Welfare Specialists we do not directly work
with the individuals ultimately receiving help from LDS Charities. Rather, the
true beneficiaries of our work are the 15 senior missionary couples throughout
the Europe Area. I consider these
missionaries our friends. We communicate with the missionaries by email and by
telephone on a regular basis. If you were to blindfold me and have one of them
say hello to me, I would know who I was speaking to, just by hearing the voice.
If I were to look at a writing sample of a project without any identifying
information, I would know who wrote the project, just by the writing style.
We are concerned for and pray for these couples. Having
served a humanitarian mission in Indonesia, we can relate to their loneliness,
the challenge it is in sometimes finding good NGO partners, and the struggle it
is to get adjusted to a new language and culture. It can oftentimes be very
challenging. Although we have a myriad of responsibilities in our calling, the
one I consider to be most meaningful is the moral support we give to our
humanitarian couples. I am grateful that
we have been able to establish a meaningful relationship with them. We have told the couples that if they ever
need to vent to please call or email. There have been many times I have slipped
out of the office to go to our apartment in order to have a private
conversation with a senior sister missionary.
I am very grateful for these relationships, and hope that in some small
way I have made their mission an easier place to serve.
The third matter which I would like to share my feelings
about is my good companion and husband. We recently celebrated our 39th
anniversary. We realized that we had spent our last six anniversaries in the
mission field. It is going to be strange to take off my missionary badge and no
longer be serving together as missionaries.
I love him and appreciate the patience and guidance he has shown me
during our missions and hope that we can be directed to what the Lord would
have us do next.
Russell's talk in zone conference:
Our role
during this mission as Area Welfare Specialists basically involves assisting
Welfare/Humanitarian missionary couples serving in 15 locations around
Europe. Mostly they are in the countries
of Central and SE Europe, and also in Cape Verde. We don’t initiate or implement the humanitarian
projects or meet the beneficiaries. We just
teach, coach and support those who do.
About a
quarter of our mission has been spent going to visit the new couples shortly
after they arrive in the field. We help
them get their technology working, acquaint them with the Humanitarian computer
program, train them on keeping track and reporting of Humanitarian finances,
and teach them about the different types of Humanitarian projects and their
various requirements. On our visits we
have also tried to introduce them to local NGOs who might make good project
partners. Foremost, we tried to
establish a friendship with the couple that would allow us to continue supporting
them from Frankfurt during the other three quarters of our time here.
As I look
back on my missionary experience, I find the things that I will treasure the
most are my relationships with three individuals or groups of individuals. The first is my relationship with the
missionary couples with whom I serve; primarily those that I serve on a daily
basis. Second is my relationship with my
eternal companion. And most important is
my relationship with God. I feel very
fortunate to have had this opportunity to serve on this mission and build or
strengthen these relationships.
In addition
to helping our humanitarian couples develop good projects, assisting them with
their computer challenges and resolving financial issues, we spend a lot of
time lending moral support. Our couples
often serve in locations where isolation is a major concern. Many times they just need someone to talk to
who has been thorough a similar mission experience that can just listen. I have grown to love those couples that I have
served; and I have found joy in seeing their success and happiness.
When we entered
the MTC for our third time, our instructor asked what we hoped to achieve
during our time there. My answer was to
emerge with my wife having had a good experience and being happy with me as her
companion. Seeing my wife happy in her
service as a missionary has been a top priority for me. Working with her as an
equal partner in our calling has been a pleasure. I have truly enjoyed studying the Book of
Mormon with her. I will always treasure
our early morning walks in the graveyard and bike rides along the Nidda River
together. I am going home having a better
relationship with my spouse, and for that I am truly grateful.
In 3 Nephi
27:13 Jesus tells us that, “I came into the world to do the will of my
Father.” And then in verse 21 he states,
“and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye
have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even
that shall ye do.“
My primary
goal during this mission has been to submit my will to that of my Father-in-Heaven;
a goal that I have failed at again and again over the last
year-and-a-half. My time here has helped
me see my weaknesses more clearly, my murmuring and trusting in my own
understanding. Yet in my failing I seem
to have grown closer to my Father-in-Heaven and appreciate more the atonement
my Savior Jesus Christ. I find my
motives in attempting to “do good” are less and less to achieve some future reward
and more just a desire to try and please Him.
My
understanding and testimony of God and my relationship with Him come from four
different but complementary perspectives.
First, from a lifetime of personal experiences, most of which are simply
recognizing the tender mercies of the Lord in my life and a few of the more life
changing variety, I can say that I know that God lives, that he hears and
answers my prayers, and that be blesses me far more than I deserve.
Second, as I
view the completeness of God’s Plan of Salvation as revealed through modern day
prophets, I find that it fits logically together; although it’s not that I
don’t have questions and things that I do not understand. For me it’s like a puzzle with a few pieces
missing, wherein I can still see the big picture. I look forward to the day
that I can see the whole picture more clearly, but what I cannot yet see does
not dissuade me from that which I can see.
Third, as
one who values practicality I love Christ’s admonition, “by their fruits ye
shall know them.” From personal experience
I know that obedience to God’s commandments does help us find happiness and avoid sorrow. The truth of this gospel
does set us free from sin and error, both through helping us avoid error and
allowing us a way back, a way to recover, when we do inevitably sin.
And then I
have the Book of Mormon, a tangible piece of evidence that Joseph Smith is a
prophet and a second witness with the Bible that Jesus is the Christ. All of these things form the basis for my
testimony that the work we are about here is God’s work; and I will be forever
grateful for the opportunity He has given me to serve as a missionary.
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