This week has definitely gone by in the blink of an eye, not
to mention all of August !! (I never understood that expression, you still say
what isn’t mentioned….) So things that transpired this past week…
I forgot my planner !!! Well not so much forgot as I started
a new one today ! The first thing to say is HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM !!
I feel as though nothing SPECTACULAR happened, but it was a
reflective week. I spent a lot of time writing in my journal and just trying to
figure out a lot of things of spiritual worth. It typically comes through the
question that sits in my mind, how can I make the situation that I am in better?
It is a question that can branch out to areas further than just a mission, but
something I feel I will start learning here on my mission.
I don’t remember what lead me onto the idea of improving my
situation. It is a feeling that is related closely to a brick wall at times. A
daunting task of changing how this mission can progress, whether it be through
my direct help, or the influence of example that I show. I have heard some
pretty discouraging things from other missionaries, and it is a challenge I
have taken upon myself to not be a missionary that will have millions of
regrets with each passing day.
The most disheartening thing that I have ever heard drip
from the mouth of a foolish missionary: something that would shatter an
Apostle’s heart. It is something that automatically made me pity this
missionary for how long he has wasted his mission. He said, « in my two years,
my testimony hasn’t grown. »
HOW ON EARTH !!!?!?!?!?! There is no clearer sign of one
that came into the mission, either not prepared, or for the wrong reasons. He
is going home in a month, and I am scared where life is going to take him. I
don’t know if the way he treated his mission will be an exact reflection of his
life after his mission, but it will have an impact that will definitely
originate from how he treated his responsibilities here. He being a « leader »
here on the mission is something that I can see obviously as why it is slow
going in this mission.
I have a hard time with figuring out why some people are
serving their missions… I wasn’t one to talk very long ago, but I could never
let anything deter me from this great opportunity to share the testimony that I
have strived to acquire. This mission is literally everything to me. I wouldn’t
trade it for anything in the world; the price of my eternal salvation is too
steep to trade for anything. There is nothing bad that could come from a
mission; it is exactly what you make it out to be. The Lord has promised all of
us blessings, and it becomes our choice to accept them or not.
So, after two months since my last baptism I got another! It
is the cousin of my first one, Edem was the first on July 6 and Abel was on
August 31.
 |
| Abel |
It was a great opportunity: events like that where you see someone
accept to follow the Savior‘s example and enter the waters of baptism! He was
happy, and that makes the weeks of working with them and helping them find
their own desire to do these things. That is the most important thing that we
as missionaries do, we help others take the information that we share with them
and teach them how they can turn it into a self-witness through the promptings
of the Holy Ghost. Nobody knows the truth of the things that we teach until they
try it for themselves and see the blessings come into their lives.
 |
| Edem |
So we had a strange event happen on Thursday, our mission
president, President Weed came and worked with my companion and I in the
morning. It was strange, it isn’t something that happens too regularly here, so
I may read into it too much. It was probably nothing, which is what I hope for.
The sad thing about Thursday is five of our scheduled baptisms fell through…
The mother of the children that we were planning on
baptizing wanted to have a party (not necessary with baptisms) but she couldn’t
afford it. Her husband, he is living in Nigeria for a little while, said that
if the church demanded a party for baptism the children couldn’t get baptized.
This was following her asking us to find someone to give her 25,000 cfa around
50 dollars, but NOBODY has 25,000 that they will just give away. People here
fight to save 500 cfa (one dollar) in every situation. They enjoy negotiating
prices here, but mostly because arguing is something that seems natural in this
culture.
The next thing that happened was she « sold » her son into «
bondage » at the request of their landlord. The landlord felt him, the son,
needed more male influence in his life and recommended that she lend her son to
the landlord’s sister for a while because she has a son around the same age. It
seemed without reluctance that she sent him away… It was sad to see so many baptisms
dropped. The children were all sincere and really wanted to be baptized, but
the parents haven’t gotten to that point yet and so it affects the children. We
can’t do much because the first thing of importance with this gospel is uniting
families, so we weren’t going to force it down their throats to be baptized.
The mission is always full of unique and exciting surprises
each and every day. There are good things and experiences to learn on a
mission. The hard parts are the ones that mold us like a refiner‘s fire, and we
need to learn how to submit to the blows of the hammer at the forge. The Lord
is working with the missionaries and those we teach equally. We are learning
and growing together, so there isn’t a lesson where both aren’t edified and
spiritually enlightened together. I love my mission! Each day is a blessing to
be here in this magnificent part of the world. Learning and growing through the
joy and love of the gospel!
Sincerely,
Elder Haggard
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