I want to do this week's weekly email a little different. Yes, we had transfers and my new companion is Elder Andersen. He has been in the country for about 6 months now. He is from Utah as most of us are and he did a little time in the military before coming out. We have a lot of fun together and its gonna be a good transfer.
Now I said I wanted to do it differently cause I have now been out on my mission for a year! This is where I hear from missionaries all the time, that the time just goes faster from here and there's no slowing it down. Once you pass the peak of the mountain you are just going down and apparently you go down fast. Well right now I don't really feel like going down the mountain, or want to start going down the mountain either. I thought it might be nice to kind of write about my mission experience so far... and just some of my thoughts and some things that I have learned.
A year ago I was just Austen Love going into the MTC getting ready to embark on this adventure as a missionary. I was going out to serve the Lord for 2 years. I knew it would be good, but I don't think you can really describe how good a mission is, how much you can learn, and how much fun you will have. You can try, but I just can't find a way to do it. I was called to serve in the Finland, Helsinki mission. Did I know the language was gonna be hard? Yes. Did I think I would learn it? Probably. But I went in ready to face whatever was to come.
Holy Cow! Did the language kick my butt in the MTC. For those nine weeks I studied Finnish and I tried my best... and in the end,,. I still really didn't know Jack squat what I was trying to speak:) But hey, you can't learn everything in nine weeks. Yeah.. I did get frustrated with it... you have times where you feel like you'll never figure it out. But I absolutely loved the MTC cause despite the frustrations with the language, I learned a lot. For the first time in my life....I can honestly say that I read my scriptures every day... and if I didn't understand something, I would reread it until I understood. I wrote hundreds of notes in my scriptures and some stuff in journals cause I was like "woah I did not know that" or "like that's so cool! I gotta share that with someone" I learned so much about the scriptures, I learned a lot about God and Jesus Christ, I not only found out how gospel topics related to me, but I found how I can help others relate it to themselves and learn from it. Do I wish I would have studied earlier and better before my mission? Yeah, I really could have used those lessons before. But now I know them, and I can help others cause I have been in that spot before of maybe not reading the scriptures a ton or something else. I feel like I have seen the before and the after effect. Am I still learning? Yes, I still find new things that I did not know or I gain a better knowledge of the things I knew. The MTC is like a power plant for the spirit. There is so much there it's overwhelming.. and it's so cool to be able to be in a place like that. I made some good friends and we were all able to learn together. So many good memories from the MTC. But in the MTC I wanted to make sure I could be the best missionary that I could be. Yeah, it was gonna be tough but I could do it. You'll never be able to go on a journey this long and not have some bumps and bruises along the way. Like that time I hit myself with the laundry room door my first transfer in country. It happens hahaha.
I got to Finland pretty nervous...cause this was like the real deal! It's not more role plays, it's real people, real lives. Yeah.. that's not scary right? Just go up to random people and promise them that you can make their lives better and you know the way. Not scary at all. No, it was terrifying! And especially when you speak like 0.01% of the language. But I learned an important thing that first transfer. Nobody is perfect, and nobody is expecting you to be perfect. There is not a single person that is expecting you to be fluent in the language, or know everything about the deepest deepest doctrine. I learned that all really anyone is expecting is for you to do your best. All our Heavenly Father wants is for us to do our best. So by the time that my second transfer came... I swallowed my pride and accepted that I I'm gonna be perfect and just go out and do what I can. If I mess up, just move on. I got to the point where I could see where I made mistakes in the language and I could start to work there on making my speaking better. You go out and you talk to people...trust me I've walked into my fair share of awkward situations to talk to people. But that's what you do to share something that is this important. I started to slowly learn the ropes of how to do missionary work. How to study. How to do all the other things we do. I even learned how to cook. Well at least I think what I do in the kitchen is cooking so take it for what it's worth Haha.
As I went on in the life of a missionary I met some amazing people and made some way good friends with people that I will never forget,and had some amazing experiences! I have also had some moments where it kind of hurt. That first time someone slams the door in your face, which typically happens to be your first door. Doesn't feel too good. When people don't like you so much that they just yell and scream at you... tell you that you belong to the devil and you are one of the worst human beings for doing what you are doing. Being chased out of buildings so that you will go away. Being in a crowd of people and having everyone ignore you, tell you that they don't need your satanic message. It happens. But that hurt doesn't last long, it goes away cause you know what you have brings you joy. Simply they are just not ready to hear it, one day they will be. Eventually another slammed door is just another person who will meet missionaries again, and they will then be ready. But then you have some of the most rewarding times. When you get to be there for the first time someone says their first prayer. Hearing someone tell you how big of an impact God and Jesus Christ have made in their life. Seeing people understand something that you have been trying to teach them for so long. Having those times with your comp on a long tracting block, and you are just having a blast. Getting to be with members. Helping someone come back to church. The list goes on and on. One of these things will outweigh all of the "down times" you have. If that isn't amazing I don't know what is.
Now here I am...been out a year...and here are some of the things that I have learned on my mission and gained a better understanding of:
1) I feel comfortable enough to say I know Finnish decently well. I still don't know everything that's going on and I'm still learning, but I can now actually have a good long conversation with someone in Finnish. We can go and teach someone in Finnish. And the gift of tongues is real. No joke. Like it is at work 24/7 helping us every single day. And I'm gonna do what I can to get better.
2) One of the best feelings is that moment when you pull your socks off at the end of the day. I thought it would be unbuttoning that top button and getting the tie off, but the socks win Haha.
3) Not matter what kind of mistakes we have made in life, doesn't matter how our lives have gone. Our Heavenly Father still loves us with that same amount of love all the time. He is there and he cares about us very much and wants us to be happy. He has the plan for us, he is ready day and night to be there to listen to us and to help us. I never thought it would be possible to love random people as much as I do. Everyone that you meet, it doesn't matter who they are, what they look like, or how they act with you... you still love every single one of them. You may be weirded out a little cause you meet some strange birds out here, but you still love them. I never thought you could love these people so much and have it be so sad when you have to leave an area. Even if you've only known these people for 2 months. But seeing how much our Heavenly Father loves these peoples helps you love the people. Looking at them through his eyes.
4) The Book of Mormon is TRUE. Like I said earlier, I know I wasn't the best at reading my scriptures and the Book of Mormon. But I started, and I've read it and I know it's true. Nothing drives me more nuts than when people want to tell me that this book is not from God. That he doesn't have more to say to us. Like do you really think that God would just stop revealing things to us and leave us hanging. Personally I don't think that someone who loves us so much that he gave his Only Begotten Son to die for us and Atone for all of our sins, someone who just wants us all to be able to return home. I don't think he would just leave us hanging out to dry and only give us a little bit. He still speaks to us. He revealed all this to the prophets in the Book of Mormon, specifically for our day to help guide us. And more words from God is a bad thing? The Book of Mormon is the True word of God. Along with with the Bible. We believe in both. Along with this, Joseph Smith is a prophet. God the Father and his son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith that day in the Sacred Grove, they told him to RESTORE his church. This is the Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth. I know it. And you can to. Read the book, you don't even need to read the whole thing to know that it is true. Then pray about it, I promise you and I know that you will receive an answer. God is not going to hold back and not give you an answer and be like "nope not for you" he will give it to you. It may not come in that very second but it will come. Sorry for the mini rant but really not all that sorry Haha.
5) One of my favorite things is Prayer. How great is it that we can talk with our Heavenly Father anytime, anywhere. Yes I've prayed all my life but never do I think I have really seen the answers to my prayers in my life as much as I have now. Maybe that's because I have less distractions now...but he answers. You say whatever you need to say. And if you just take your time, you listen, you can feel his love and you can find the answers that you are looking for. I am very thankful that I have the opportunity to talk with him and receive help every single day. The best way to receive answers is through prayer and scripture study. You do that and you'll be able to find what you're looking for.
I hope you all know that I am loving my mission and I am happy with how this first year has gone.. and can't wait to see what this next year has to bring!! I am proud to say that my time on my mission, I have no regrets. Not a day goes by where I regret something. I am proud of the thing that I'm doing and I am enjoying every single second of it! Hopefully the time will slow down a bit but I can't control that.. so I'll have to take it all in while I can.
Hopefully that all made sense, sometimes when you start and there's a lot you want to say it can be hard to keep your thoughts organized.
Hope you all have a good week.
Elder Love out
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