Being Thankful For What You've Got

The reality of missionary life is presented in this unedited weekly letter from one of our missionaries:

Dear president

This week has been a week of great sorrow and great triumph. On Monday we sat in the middle of district meeting in the Pennypack building when all of the sudden Elder ________ (a senior missionary) told us that there was an family out in the lobby that were not members of the church. Immediately my companion and I ran out of the district meeting to take this family on a tour of the building.

We made our way to the lobby and saw the family. Clearly they were from a Spanish country and after a few moments we found out that they were from Puerto Rico. As the tour of the church continued the family asked if they could come to this church. Trying to keep our cool Elder _________ and I calmly replied with a yes; however, the simultanious reply from the two different individuals immediately blew our cover. This did not detract from the tour or the fun that we had with the Puerto Rican family.
After scheduling an appointment with the family for the following day and then inviting them to Mutual the following night we parted ways. Elder _________ and I then headed off to start our day long exchange. Through the hours following our meeting with the great family my excitement started to grow. In fact the excitement for the next days appointment outweighed the excitement that I was expecting to have when going on an exchange with Elder ____________.

The day slowly passed by as if it were a week. seconds ticked by like minutes, minutes ticked by like hours, and hours ticked by like days. The lesson with the Puerto Rican family was my pot of water and I was watching it with all of my heart might mind and strength hoping that it would boil.

Eventually, the time arrived for my companion and I to reunite and then head over to the Puerto Rican's home. When we arrived they graciously welcomed us into our home fed us and then awaited patiently for us to share our lesson. We proceeded and everything went well. In fact, the mother told us that she had been praying to find a church that would fit the needs of her children and she then stated that she believed that they had found it. The lesson continued to go well even until the end when we gave them finding faith in christ DVD and an El libro de Mormon.

Excited we headed to our next appointment and we happily awaited for tommorow when the Puerto Rican family would make their way to the church for enrichment night and mutual. the next day once again passed and all went well. Surprisingly well.
Six forty five came and we rushed to the church to wait for our Golden investigators. Time ticked by slowly as it had for the past three days. six fifty five came and there was no sign of the family. "Not to worry." I thought to myself, "no one is ever five minutes early." Five minutes past seven arrived and I thought to myself "Do not worry they probably are on central american standard time." Time still passed and there was never any sign of the family.

Elder _________ and I then decided that it would be best if we were to head over to the families house in hopes that the family had just forgotten. We arrived at the large apartment complex which they lived in and headed to their home. As we walked apartment 23-1 appeared far off in the distance. Myself and Elder _________ then arrived at the door we knocked, but no answer. We knocked again, but no answer. We knocked a third time and we then heard the sound of a unlocking door. It was the families sixteen year old boy came to the door with the el libro de momron and finding faith in christ DVD that we had given the family the previous day. The boy explained that the family was no longer interested in what we had to offer and would be attending another church.

As a missionary no matter how prepared you are for rejection it still hurts and I was unprepared. I hate the feeling of those experiences. It is like asking a girl out on a date and then having her say no and like the girl that says no there is nothing you can do when your investigator hands back a book of mormon. I went back to the car and held the tears back. I did not talk for several minutes.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and experiences like these tend to damper ones spirit. It is cold here in Philadelphia. The people are harsh. I am having little sucess. The city is dangerous. The work is difficult. My job is demanding. and I am far from home. While others remain in doors bundled up with their loved ones, I remain outside working. Many things have gone wrong. Despite all this I have never been more thankful in my life. I am grateful for experiences like these that allow me to build character. I am grateful for my investigators, My bishop, my mission president, my family, but above all else I am grateful that I know that God lives and that he has restored his true church on the earth and if my mission is filled with experiences like this. If my life is filled with experiences like this I will still be thankful because I know that my father in heaven loves me and I know that all things will eventually be for my benefit.

Elder _________