Remarkable Young Men and Women

 "Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." John 15:8       "And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them."  Abraham 3:25

Today was our interview and training day.  At these meetings, we meet with the mission president for a few minutes and discuss our work, then we are trained by the young elders.  We also get instruction from the mission president's lovely wife on keeping healthy, eating properly, keeping clean apartments, cooking, and many other useful things missionaries need to know to stay safe, healthy, and productive.

Tip of the day:  If you have a gas appliances (water heaters, stoves, etc.) in your home or apartment, please have a carbon monoxide detector.  The mission president said two missionaries lives were saved this week because they had a detector.  It was discovered there was a leak in one of the valve connectors.  Some missionaries have died in the past year in another mission because they didn't have an operating detector, so the mission keeps checking to be sure everyone is in compliance.

Here is a picture of what we saw most of the day today (except when there were those up front training).

There were about seven other missionaries not in this picture, but this is most of our zone.

Now, think about around 50,000 + of these 19-21-year-old young people (Elder and Sister missionaries) all over the world giving up prime time in their lives to unselfishly serve the Lord by getting up at 6:20 a.m. every morning, praying, studying, preparing, and then going out the door exactly at 10:00 a.m. to spread the restored gospel message to anyone who will listen.  They do this all day until 9 p.m. every day, with the exception of an hour for lunch and an hour for dinner, Church on Sunday, and preparation day on Monday.  They go to bed at 10:30 p.m. every night.

Preparation day consists of the regular study schedule until 10 a.m. cleaning the apartment, doing laundry, banking, writing home, grocery shopping, service projects, and a variety of other duties.  It ends at 6 p.m. and they go teach.  We unexpectedly dropped in at a missionary flat to talk with the missionaries the other day.  It was two minutes past 10 a.m. and they had already disappeared to go work.  Impressive.

That is how obedient these amazing young people are.  They all have varied personalities and are not ruled over with an iron fist with anyone checking up on them constantly.  They know they are accountable to the Lord for this time doing His work above all else.  They govern themselves.  We never cease to be amazed at their faithfulness.  Of course there are periodic inspections of apartments and interviews, and they report at the end of the day by phone to the district leader, but they are on their own for most of the time.

The young missionaries are miracles in and of themselves.  They are evidence of the truth of Christ's Church and its inspired organization on the earth today.  Where else would you be able to keep a workforce of this number productive and motivated like missionaries are every day?  Those who train are as prepared and skilled as (and usually more so) any professional trainers I've had in the work force.

Today, I celebrate and deeply appreciate the finest youth in the world--our faithful missionaries!  Please continue to pray for the young missionaries, the senior missionaries, and the mission presidents and their wives every day.  You will bless our lives in this way and you will also be blessed.  Thank you for your constant support.  We love you all.

 

Saturday it was raining and we were out trying to find members who haven't attended in years.  We found one very delightful lady and one who had died.  This is the view the passed-on lady had from her home.  We taught the live member.  (Come on, smile.)