At least for this mission. (warning--some of this might be reused in my talk in our ward on February 26)
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED
When we do oral histories with mission leaders, the
last question I usually asks is: “What have you learned from your
service?” It seemed appropriate as we
are ending our service hereto answer that same question for myself. Hopefully, in doing so, it might also be
helpful to you. While I will share some
of what I have learned, it is probably more important for you each to reflect
on what you are gaining as you are serving in your various assignments in the
Church History Library.
The first thing is that I have learned is to love
Church History more than I did before.
Not just the capital “C” capital “H” history that we learned in seminary
and in Sunday School—although it has been amazing to see the Foundation of
Faith displays with the pieces of the Book of Mormon transcripts, the First Vision
documents, and the first edition of the Book of Mormon. But I have also loved
the small letter church histories—the stories of everyday members of the Church
as they tried to live the gospel.
Stories that can be found in the Saints volumes, in journals collected,
and stories shared in our devotionals by all of you. Thank you for sharing your sweet stories of
faith, tender mercies, and conversion.
Let me tell the story of Andrew Gibbons shared by
Elder Thomas Clark at a mission wide devotional in 2021. I will paraphrase: “Andrew
Gibbons met his wife in Nauvoo when they were both quite young. They married in the Nauvoo Temple shortly
before leaving Nauvoo. Their family
motto must have been “We can do hard things.”
They were asked to settled 15 different communities during their life
time including: Council Bluffs, Salt
Lake City, Bountiful, central Utah, southern Utah, and then ending up in St.
Johns, AZ. During all of that community building, his wife gave birth to 15
children, only 7 who lived to adulthood. Andrew Gibbons and his son went out to
an orchard in St. Johns to pick the fruit and Andrew told his son, “I have
planted 9 orchards in my life and this is the first time that I will taste the
fruit from a tree that I planted.” Isn’t
that a great story. Are we like
that—maybe it isn’t orchards, but often we are called to do things—teach
Primary, minister to each other, fulfill assignments as missionaries, etc. and
we may never see the impact of what we have done in this lifetime. Yet we move forward, do as we are asked, not
requiring to “eat the fruit” of our service.
I hope to meet Andrew Gibbons and I want to be a Latter-day Saint like
him.
Second, I have learned that Heavenly Father and Jesus
love Their missionaries. I guess I
assumed that was true, but serving as a missionary and fulfilling our
assignments both as zone leaders and also interviewing mission leaders has
reconfirmed that truth over and over and over again. Do you feel Their love for you each time you
come into the Library to serve or for full-time missionaries every morning and
every night as you serve here away from your homes? I am quite in awe of that feeling and the
only way that I can feel okay (somewhat) about being released is knowing that
we will shortly be serving again. I told a friend it is like standing on a step
stool—I feel just a bit closer to the spirit everyday than before. I know that
we will not be set apart missionaries for the rest of our lives. There are other things for us to do as
well. But it is a remarkable feeling to
put on the tag each morning and to think about the Savior whose agent we
are. We started serving during Covid
when the temples were still closed. On
my birthday, on July 1, 2021, we were able to attend the Ogden Temple for the
first time. I remember the prayer in the
temple that day—when the person blessed the missionaries—a common, almost
expected request—I was overwhelmed by the feeling of the Holy Ghost that those
requests from this temple and many others were literally blessing the
missionaries across the world and that included Gary, Jena and I. I cried and tear up even now when I hear that
plea in the temples.
We have seen the Lord take care of you. Not that your lives or ours have been smooth
and pain free over the past 2 ½ years—but His help and tender mercies have
surrounded us. As zone leaders, one of
our assignments is to request for missionaries and then make their assignments
within the Church History Library.
Sometimes that has been very easy and other times it has been
difficult. One month last year, we got
two full-time missionaries and we had requests in for 6. Some of the requests were higher priority but
that wasn’t the most important. What we
tried to determine was “where does the Lord want THIS missionary to serve?” Usually, Elder Hall and I would have feelings
the day before about the assignments, some times when we meet the missionaries
at the Go Forth meeting…. This time,
however, we both felt stuck. We met the
two missionaries, ate food with them, took them to the library for an
orientation—but neither of us felt any clear direction. We loved these missionaries immediately and
knew that they would do great wherever we put them—but the where wasn’t coming
to us. We finally sent them off, telling
them we would let them know that next Monday.
That was not fun for them or for us—And it didn’t come easily over the
weekend either. But as we pondered,
talked, and prayed—the assignment for one came and then finally the
confirmation for the second. I am not
sure why that particular time was so hard, but it has been amazing to watch
them serve and to see the unexpected ways that where they served has blessed
them and those that they serve with.
The final thing I have learned is that Heavenly Father
and the Savior love me and also each of you –fully, completely, and
individually. Now, I have known that
since I was a little child and had my first spiritual experience, but serving
here has caused that knowledge to grow in leaps and bounds, as they say. Sitting with mission leaders as they share
their unique experiences, listening to you share at devotionals and in private
conversation, and hearing people share in Sacrament meetings and in comments at
Church---all of these reconfirmed over and over again this foundational
truth—We are his children and They love us.
As part of the Introduction to the Church History
Library, I have seen the video “The Story Lives Here” twice a month for almost
2 years. The story shared about Joseph
Millet still mays me cry. Remember how
Joseph Millet shared flour with a neighbor and the neighbor said that he had
prayed and the Lord had directed him to Joseph.
And then my favorite line by Joseph which he recorded in his journal
which is here in the library: “It is good to know that God knows Joseph
Millet.” Have you had those moments when
you know that God knows you? Let me
share one of mine. Last February one
Monday, I had a long conversation with one of our daughter who was having a
hard time and also difficult news
regarding one of our son’s health. I was
discouraged and had one of those prayers with Heavenly Father during the middle
of the day where I was complaining “like where are the blessings for our
families which are promised for serving a mission”—not really the kind of
prayer that I am proud of. Fortunately,
Heavenly Father seems to be patient with those types of prayers. I didn’t feel anything after those
complaining prayers—no surprise.
However, that night, we had an evening fireside and a
couple spoke who had served in the area presidency in Africa. The wife spoke and shared a very similar
experience and prayer to mine. Her
husband shared a different but similar hard time. Five times within their
remarks, they commented about Heavenly Father’s care of us as his children, as
missionaries, and our families. Each
time those remarks were made, I had a strong overwhelming confirmation of the
truth of those basic statements and that they applied to me specifically and
personally. My heart was opened and it
was filled with the great love of our Heavenly Father and our Savior and their
awareness and care for our children and for us.
Yes, They love me and They love you! Thanks for loving us for the past 2 ½
years. You will always be in our hearts!
I have learned to be a better Saint because of knowing each of you.
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