Missionary work can be hard. In fact it is almost always very hard. We have this great message that we want to share with everyone: A way for them to have eternal families; A way for them to return to the presence of God; A way for them to take full advantage of the Atonement offered by Jesus Christ and wash away all the past mistakes and sins from our life. As missionaries, we dedicate two years to go out and share this wonderful message with people, two years of being away from our families to go try and help other families. And what do we get? A lot of times, rejection. I remember a talk I heard from Jeffrey R Holland about missionary work. Why it's not easy, why we don't have people asking us to be baptized. I think he says it best so I will just copy it on here instead of paraphrasing. It's a little long, but it's so good.
"Almost everything I have said here has been an aid directed toward the missionary process, ultimately toward the investigator. May I close with an extended testimony about how focusing on the Atonement helps full-time and member missionaries and mission leaders.
Anyone who does any kind of missionary work will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why doesn’t it go better? Why can’t our success be more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the Church? It is the truth. We believe in angels. We trust in miracles. Why don’t people just flock to the font? Why isn’t the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font?
You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. Missionaries and mission leaders have to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary.
Now, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking about anything anywhere near what Christ experienced. That would be presumptuous and sacrilegious. But I believe that missionaries and investigators, to come to the truth, to come to salvation, to know something of this price that has been paid, will have to pay a token of that same price.
For that reason I don’t believe missionary work has ever been easy, nor that conversion is, nor that retention is, nor that continued faithfulness is. I believe it is supposed to require some effort, something from the depths of our soul.
If He could come forward in the night, kneel down, fall on His face, bleed from every pore, and cry, “Abba, Father (Papa), if this cup can pass, let it pass,” then little wonder that salvation is not a whimsical or easy thing for us. If you wonder if there isn’t an easier way, you should remember you are not the first one to ask that. Someone a lot greater and a lot grander asked a long time ago if there wasn’t an easier way.
The Atonement will carry the missionaries perhaps even more importantly than it will carry the investigators. When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him—the Way, the Truth, and the Life."
I know that this is true. There are so many times where missionary work can be so frustrating. Those we teach can come up with every excuse in the world not to keep their commitments. And at the same time we know the one most important reason why they should: Because it's for them, their family, and for their eternal benefit. And so we teach them. And despite the rejection, we keep going. Because as Elder Holland said, One that is greater than us was rejected more than any of us ever will be, He got hit harder than anybody ever has or ever will be. But He got back up, and He rose again, and kept pushing forward, and in fact, still is pushing forward. This Church and this Work is evidence of that.
I know that despite all the difficulties we experience in life, there is a purpose to it all. "Salvation is not easy." But that's because it's worth it to those who endure.
I hope you all are still doing great and I always love hearing from you! Have another good week this week. Love you all.
Elder Van Boerum
3/9/14
No comments:
Post a Comment