As part of my Christmas gift to my brother, Elder Aaron Fox, I wanted to send him these little interviews, completed by returned missionaries. Please just reply with your answers, if you or your spouse are willing to participate.
If you want to email me your answers instead of posting for everyone to see, that is fine! marriedtoachef at gmail dot com
Thanks!
My Mission
Name:
Mission:Language:
My favorite part of serving a mission was:
The hardest part of my mission while I was out in the field was:I overcame this hardship by:My one piece of advice to a missionary is:
Posts
6 comments:
Name: Mike Livesay
Mission: Indianapolis Indiana Mission
Language: English (Hoosier)
My favorite part of serving a mission was: waking up every morning and knowing I am going to do something great for someone else. I was going to change a person or a families life forever.
The hardest part of my mission while I was out in the field was: Seeing someone who had felt the spirit and had built a testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Prophet Joseph Smith and because of someone else's opinions/ questions stop meeting with us.
I overcame this hardship by: It still hurts 10+ years later. One specific example was a young mother who without a doubt felt the spirit, the night after the first lesson with her we came back and taught her husband and their relationship improved and the spirit was in their home. After a few weeks things were progressing very well until we came one night and their old preacher was with them when we got there. After a few minutes we knew it was time to go. A couple of days later we went back and talked to the young wife whose husband was now back in jail and she herself told us one day I will join your church. That hope is what helps me to overcome the thought of that day.
My one piece of advice to a missionary is: It is the same advice that I give to all the missionaries leaving the Portsmouth Ward in Portsmouth Virginia. That thought is to be obedient with exactness. Whatever your President/ Mission request you do, please do it even if the other missionaries are not. You will then always have the Lord's spirit with you. The spirit is the key to the Conversions you will be a part of.
Hi! You don't know me, but I came over from the Young's blog and thought this was such a good idea!!
Name: Meredith McIlrath
Mission: Michigan Lansing Mission
Language: English
My favorite part of serving a mission:
Definitely seeing people gain a testimony of the gospel. There's nothing like seeing someone get to the point where they know that what they are being taught is true. Also, meeting SO many different people! Some of my best friends are people I met through my mission.
The hardest part of my
mission while in the field was: Okay, I have two. 1) When people decided not to continue learing about the gospel. There were multliple times when someone we were teaching would be making awesome progress, and then the next thing you know they say they don't want to continue learning/in the gospel. HEARTBREAKING!!!
2) when people would tear down and bash our faith. It's hard to take that when it comes to something you hold so dear!
I overcame this hardship by:
Relying absolutley on the Savior's atonement. When things got frustrating and seemed too hard to handle, I worked as hard as I could, and the Savior truly carried the rest. I ALWAYS turned to him and asked for His help.
My one piece of advice would be:
Cherish your mission. Work your hardest and try not to spend too much time missing home, friends, etc. It goes by SOOOO fast, and when you get home, you will miss it! It is truly such an amazing opportunity, so don't take it for granted.
Thanks, Meredith! And welcome to my blog. :)
Name: Jay Bostwick
Mission: Kenya Nairobi Mission
Language: English
My favorite part of serving a mission was: Getting to know and love people so well, to be able to spend so much of my time focusing on others. In real, everyday life you need to learn to balance a lot of different things, much of it rather mundane and practical. On a mission, though, you are free to focus on the gospel and service almost exclusively. Enjoy that freedom while you have it!
The hardest part of my mission while I was out in the field was: Motivating myself to keep investing time and energy in investigators, members, and branches knowing that they were not always going to be giving their time and energy to revitalize me. The trick was learning to look for strength from God, rather than “trusting in the arm of flesh” to meet my needs.
I overcame this hardship by: Reading the Book of Mormon, praying, and serving my companion.
My one piece of advice to a missionary is: Try to see things from other people’s perspective. As a missionary it’s easy to get so completely wrapped up in one worldview that you can’t even relate to what other people are thinking and feeling. For the most part people believe they are living decent lives, and having some kid from some other part of the world come and condemn them isn’t what will get them thinking about how the gospel of Jesus Christ might help them live even better. If you can understand where people are coming from, though, not only will you be able to address their specific needs in your teaching, but you will instinctively begin to love them—even with their faults. If you can get to this point it won’t matter how many discussions you teach or how many baptisms you have … you will be satisfied knowing that you have shared in the love of God, and that, more than anything else, this is what will bring contacts and investigators to the Savior, even if it takes years and years for them to join his Church.
Those are such good thoughts! Thank you, Jay!
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