FISHERS OF MEN

In Matthew 4:19 we read, “And he saith unto them, Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”  While the “them” in this instance, was addressed to a few who would become his apostles later, the same invitation is given to each of us by Jesus Christ: to follow Him and share His message.  

As I look at myself and the other full-time missionaries called to the Missouri Independence Mission, it is sometimes easy to forget that lofty calling when dealing with the realities of daily life.  It is easy to become distracted by the immediate but less important things going on around us.  As Eileen and I interact with the young missionaries, addressing issues that can seem to be very trivial, it easy to forget their calling and just repeat to ourselves, “Only six years out of primary.”  Because of the nature of our callings in the mission office, we spend the majority of our time with a minority of the missionaries.  But every once in a while we have an experience that reminded us of who they really are (sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven) and we see the progress they are making.

As the mission nurse, Eileen reviews the missionary recommendation papers of each missionary before they arrive.  On the day they arrive, she also interviews each one with regards to their medical issues and needs.  Most are inconsequential, but a few face challenging obstacles.  With some you wonder how they even got this far in the process.

One such missionary can neither smell or taste.  As such he can’t or doesn’t eat most foods. His papers even noted that he disliked interacting with people.  Eileen and I wondered just how long he would make it on a mission.

On the day after he arrived, I tossed a large bag of potato chips in the back of his new companion’s car, as I thought the new elder was going to need something to eat that night.  When we saw this missionary and his companion a couple of months later at a restaurant with a member family, Eileen took a picture of them and sent it to his mother, who was also worried about how her son would do in the mission field.

With our most recent batch of 25 new missionaries, and after several experienced elders having to go home early, the mission was quite stretched to find trainers for each of the new missionaries.  We were pleasantly surprised to see the elder with the unique eating habits assigned as a trainer.  At the first zone conference following this assignment, Eileen talked to the elder and asked him how things were going. The elder said he was concerned he wasn’t knowledgeable enough to be a trainer. Eileen told him that President Sommerfeldt must have confidence in his abilities. The elder became a little flustered and Eileen knew he was trying to be humble.  He then said, I see how much my new companion is like I was when I first arrived, just afraid to speak to strangers.  In that conversation it was amazing to see the growth and maturity which had occurred since the now senior companion/trainer first arrived in our mission.  It was one of those moments where God reminded us that with Him nothing is impossible.

Last Monday, at our senior missionary FHE dinner, we said goodby to several missionaries who were finishing their missions.  Elder Christiansen, who is known for telling jokes at each of our get-togethers, bore a strong testimony of our Savior, His work and church.  It has been 48 years since we both served our first missions in Indonesia.  Sampai ketemu lagi Penatua!

President and Sister Sommerfeldt presented for FHE on Monday. They told us about themselves, their family and their call to be mission leaders.

Sister Braillier and Elder and Sister Christiansen will be leaving us.

One of the wards did a clothing drive and included the whole stake. They collected clothing for weeks and then had them all organized into sizes and sex.  Over 850 people came to get free toys and clothing.

As the song goes....one of these ankles is not like the other.

While getting my hair done I had 3 calls come in within the first 10 minutes of processing.  By the time my hair was colored I had 7 calls and 4 texts.  Since I never know which call is going to be an emergency I always have to answer. I am basically on call 24/7.  Friday night I didn't pick up a call and the missionary hung up and immediately called back. I assumed it was an emergency and quickly got the call. Turned out it was a missionary with a rash on his foot.

I guess my zone conference presentation on ingrown toenails had an impact. I have had a number of missionaries in the last week contact me to tell me they have one. This missionary had 4 which had to be removed. 

Early morning session at the temple.