Week 99 - One Rainy Week

We've had a couple of trade-offs this week which have allowed me to see how missionaries are working in other areas. It's been a good refresher of a few different aspects of missionary work. I had a good experience in Ryde (the Harbour Stake's Chinese Ward) that I'll share here. We were out street contacting on a cloudy, somewhat rainy day. This usually makes for dismal street contacting since people don't go outside unless they have to, but as we were sitting at a bus stop, I prayed for someone to share the gospel with. Before long, a Chinese woman came and sat next to us, so we started talking with her. She was interested, and the bus she was taking actually passed by the Ryde chapel. Eventually her bus came and she left, but she committed to come to the Chinese ward on Sunday. I'm thankful that Heavenly Father was merciful to us and sent us someone who was in the right position to receive the invitation to act. Even on a day when things seem like they will drudge on, Heavenly Father can provide a way to do what he asks.

Our work continues with our part-member family in the ward. Something different happened this week that enlightened my perspective on fellowshipping investigators. The family had another family from the ward over, and they joined in for our lesson on the priesthood and auxiliaries of the church. The husband of the visiting family told us about his conversion story and how he came back to church. He talked about how having the priesthood had blessed his family and how they were better off because of it. As we were listening, I realized that there was something different about him telling us about his experience. When he spoke it had a certain degree of reliability that we didn't have. What I mean by that is that when people see us as missionaries, they expect us to have good experiences with the church and to share them, whereas when a member shares their testimony, it's a "real person" who probably has a lot more in common with the investigator than we could.

Looking back at the beginning of my mission until now, I'm not really sure what my expectations were when I started. I remember writing a letter to my post-mission self before I left, but I can't remember what exactly I wanted from my mission when I began. I probably wanted to do what was expected of me, and I probably wanted to serve with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. I do remember that I wanted to experience the Christlike change of heart that I had seen in so many returned missionaries. I do think that in many ways, I have thus far done those things, but I'm not done yet. Now, I expect my self to serve the remainder of my mission with those same goals in mind, but I also expect myself to lift the missionaries of the district, zone, and mission in the same way that so many have lifted me. I owe so much to my mission experience, and I fully intend to give my mission all I've got until the end.

Love,

Elder Clark