Hey hey tout le monde! It's another sunny day here in Canada, where
even the sunniest of days can apparently turn to the raniest of storms
in a matter of minutes. Such has been our life this week.
"Do you think we should grab the Umbrella before we leave Elder Christensen?"
"Of course not Elder Wright! Have you seen the sky today? It's gorgeous!"
"I know, but the weather said we might have rain today...."
"Listen. Who do you trust more, me or the Weather man?"
Poor
Elder Wright should probably have listened to the weather man. On that
particular occasion we did have ONE umbrella in the trunk, which we both
tried to use at the same time. The end result? One half of each of us
was drenched. But, that's what life is about right?
The weather has been tempermental this week to say
the least, but it has made for some GORGEOUS days! I didn't ever really
pay that much attention to the clouds in Utah, but I'm convinced they
move faster up here. You can watch them fly across the sky, it's really
something, especially when the sun is setting. Canada is another
testimony that God is an artist.
Apart from the tempermental weather, we had some
tempermental appointments. All week long we had similar things
happening, to the point where on saturday we called our potential three
hours before we came over, just to double check that all was well for
our four o'clock
and she assured us that she would be there. When we were standing at
her door with our member, however, she was nowhere to be found. We later
found that she had somehow gotten all the way down to Ottawa, where her
phone had died. Why she took the hour and a half drive to Ottawa three
hours before our appointment, I'll never know. But, that's an accurate
description of how our week has been. At least, how the FIXED
appointments have been.
One of the most amazing things I've learned as a
missionary is that God always has a plan. On the days when it seems like
nothing is going right, it's simply not going the way YOU thought it
ought to, but it's usually going exactly the way le bon Dieu le voulait.
So, when this happens we usually say a quick prayer and try to listen
to the spirit. We haven't been disappointed yet as we've stumbled into
miracles every day of the week. I think that's a principle that applies
pretty well to life. One question we get asked almost every day out here
is "If God exists why do bad things happen?" It's a question that comes
in a few different forms, but the point is basically the same all the
time. People see something awful that happens in the world and they
think to themselves "If God is love, that person wouldn't have to
suffer". It's a question that is really hard to answer for someone who
is currently living a terrible experience. It's tough to tell someone
that the tragedy in their life isn't really that big of a deal, and that
they ought to just have more faith. :P
Thinking about it, I've realized that that question
is, more often than not, brought up by a lack of undestanding about the
pre and post mortal lives. Have any of you ever read the talk "the play
and the plan" by Bruce R. McKonkie? or was it Boyd K. Packer.... either
way, if you type "the play and the plan" into google, it'll auto finish
with the correct author. It's a discours given at a youth fireside,
where life is compared to a three act play. Every good play has three
acts. The introduction, where the stage is set, the characters are
introduced, and an important decision is made. A decision which leads to
Act two, where the heroes find themselves with a seemingly impossible
conflict, which is nicely wrapped up in Act three where we find the
classic "happily ever after" that we all look forward to.
In this talk, we are reminded that we are living in
Act two, where the impossible task is. Act two is one of turmoil. There
are always problems, there must be problems. With no problems we have no
solutions, we have no progress. It's easy, without the knowledge that
there is an Act three coming, to become frustrated with the immensity of
the "badness" of life, but when we have a knowledge of the gospel plan,
we remember that "happily ever after" always comes in act three. A
perfect resolution, a solution to all of our problems, Peace and rest
from trouble and trials, will not come in this life, because it's not
supposed to. That comes next.
So. That's my soapbox for the day. I encourage all
of you to look up and read that talk, it's a great one. :) This is
getting long, so I'll leave you with one more story and then I'll give
you a break.
Saturday we had around six people tell us they could come to church the next day.
Sunday morning at ten o'clock,
there were no non-members in the chapel. I think I'll be permanently
scarred by this missionary service, because I've found that it's grown
quite difficult for me to fully appreciate sunday services if everyone
in the congregation is an active member... So. As the testimonies
started, I got to dwelling on that, and I tried to remind myself of the
reason we come to church, and right when I was feeling good about that
and had made my peace with noone being there, Elder Wright nudged me.
"someone just walked in the door, lets go see who it is!"
We hopped up, ran into the foyer, and there found Chad. A man we've
recently started meeting with. A man with many, many trials in his
life. The man that had told us he'd fast with us to ask for help with
those trials, and had assured us he'd be at church on Sunday.
He was there, and my heart sang. :)
The
rest of church (obviously) proceeded to be completely centered on topics
that applied directly to his life and his problems, and by the end he'd
told us he had a packet of questions to talk about with us that week,
and had promised our branch President (who he just HAPPENED to work with
a while back. what?) that he'd be back next week for more.
Chad tried to tell us that us being there has meant a
lot to him. I don't think he realizes, I don't think any investigator
realizes, what it means for a missionary when they walk through the
doors of the church on a sunday morning. Why? Because we know what that
will do for them. We know how much that will help, and we love them.
"there are only two kinds of people in the world, those you love, and
those you don't know yet." That statement has sunk into my life over my
time here. I know it's true. So get out there and get to know somebody
new! You never know, they could save your life. ; )
have a good week everyone!
Much love,
--
Elder Christensen
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