To start off, it was an exciting week! Things aren't ever too eventful but this last week was a little out of the ordinary. We have been involved with creating new videos and coming up with new ideas and that's been lots of fun! One thing we did was an idea from the Come, Follow Me. We used an egg, potato, and pot of boiling water. The boiling water represents our trials in life and the egg and potato represent our hearts. We then set the egg and potato in the pot and later demonstrate how the egg becomes hard and the potato becomes soft. So the question is, do we soften or harden our hearts because of our trials? We think it went well! We are doing some video editing and we will hopefully get the post out soon.
The craziest event we had was a hurricane warning! Evidently it never showed up. It was going up and down between a tropical storm and a category one hurricane. So it was never too serious. The track was supposed to come up through the coast of Florida but we prayed and it took a different course straight north. The Lord hears prayers!
That's about all the update for now! Lately, we've been encouraged to share more testimonies and share about why we are serving a mission. So I would like to share some of those things! First, I really do love being out here! It's been a great experience. I've spent time in two different missions with three different mission presidents. I've met so many wonderful people from all over the world- missionaries and nonmembers alike. I've heard stories and other experiences that are touching, challenging, and exciting! One missionary I met has managed to serve with six different mission presidents!! Other missionaries I've met have many other skills and abilities. A couple other elders in my zone speak about five different languages. It is amazing to see the lengths these people have gone to in order to fulfill the missionary purpose which is to invite others to come unto Christ! Wherever we are, or however we do it, that is the reason we serve. And along the way, we get many opportunities to learn of and from others. The Lord places us perfectly so that we gain experiences necessary for our mortal and, ultimately, our eternal progression. And what a blessing it has been for me to realize the great worth of God's children as I meet and talk with them along the course of not just a mission but life as well. Each member, missionary, or other person I talk to seems to have one trial or another that has helped them carry on. Those trials seem to also help them recognize their own worth in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. Among the variety of different experiences, each person seems to have a common theme regarding what they come to know best. And that is that they know Heavenly Father loves them and that they are His son or daughter. Imagine that, being the spiritual offspring of God Himself. The point to that is, we each have a purpose. Everything that our Father in Heaven and Savior do is full of purpose. Our Heavenly Father sees us individually. He knows us by name. And because our God is a God of purpose, He created you and I with a purpose. He knows the individual long before He creates them. We don't simply just fill in a role but we possess the God-given potential to become like our Heavenly Father! And so, why only 18 months to three years? What is the point of that? Especially if it seems like nothing is going anywhere? Why do people leave things behind that seem like it would benefit them more than a mission? The answer is in the call. I have heard that the call letter has been slightly modified, but here is part of what it says from what I have, "The Lord will reward you for the goodness of your life. Greater blessings and more happiness than you have yet experienced await you as you humbly and prayerfully serve the Lord in this labor of love among His children." Is that not something that would benefit any missionary, even more than anything else they can do at that moment of their life? Prophets tell us that the most important work of anything is missionary work and genealogy work. Therefore, serving the mission is what is most important regardless of limitations. This is not the first time that life has seemingly come to a halt. It is a commandment that the gospel is to be preached throughout the world to all that would hear it. But sometimes we are limited because of things outside of our control. Nevertheless, Nephi says, "...for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (1 Nephi 3:7) We have a way that the Lord has provided. And that is technology! Often, others use their agency to stop progression as well. Through the Church's history, it has been ridiculed, criticized, cast out, persecuted, and beaten. Why would the Lord allow the delay of His work if He commands it? He first revealed the answer to Alma the younger. Alma tells Amulek by saying, "...for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just." (Alma 14:11) Many generations later, Joseph Smith received a similar answer. The Lord told him, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, that when I give a commandment to any of the sons of men to do a work unto my name, and those sons of men go with all their might and with all they have to perform that work, and cease not their diligence, and their enemies come upon them and hinder them from performing that work, behold, it behooveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept of their offerings." (D&C 124:49) And yet, the situation is a bit different right now with what is going on. So as missionaries, we are asked to give all we can with what we have. Even if no one is baptized, there are still many who are hearing the gospel. Elder Klebingat gave a wonderful missionary devotional some weeks ago and he gets into a lot about why we do missionary work. He mentions how missionaries are called of God and that His prophets and apostles exercise the proper keys of the priesthood to call men and women to serve missions. And because they have the proper keys to call missionaries by inspiration, they also have the proper keys to release missionaries. That authority/duty is delegated to the stake presidents of the missionaries who then release the missionaries. With that being said, the missionaries do not have the authority to release themselves. Which means they do not receive revelation to go home. We as missionaries do not possess the authority to determine if the mission is pointless. If we are called by God to serve then it is a call of purpose and authority, regardless of the circumstance. Again, Heavenly Father is a God of purpose. Nothing is done on a whim. I just love that idea because with that confidence, any missionary can complete anything the Lord needs them to do! It is also important to remember that little progress is still progress. Little by little, we become closer to Heavenly Father. I also admire that analogy of just a drop in the ocean. Our labors often seem to be only a drop in the ocean in comparison. But without those labors, the ocean would be without one more drop. It is very sad if you think about it. But to help just one more person come unto Christ means that Heavenly Father has one more of His numberless children back with him.
I want to leave this testimony here, that there is a purpose to be a missionary at this time! We are called for a reason. Jesus Christ is the Chief cornerstone of His church. He leads it as the head. And He will continue to lead it now just as in times of old! I love serving and being out here even on days that are more difficult than others. No matter what happens, the Lord's church will always be the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Take Care!
-Elder Markham