Week 52 - ONE YEAR
As the title states, it's been about one year since I started my mission! August 22nd, 2022 is my official mission start date. It's hard to believe it's already been a year. It's weird, it feels like it's been longer than a year, but it happened in a few weeks. I also feel like I should have come a lot farther as a missionary by now and haven't. Don't get me wrong, I've definitely come a long way. I just feel like I still have a lot of room to grow. I guess the reassuring part of that is I can see the path towards the growth I'm looking for. This next year is going to be busy, that's for sure 😅.
One thing I've definitely learned is that God has a plan for us. Everything we experience is part of that plan. The good and bad alike. If we strive to further God's purpose "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39) by loving and serving those around us, seeing God's hand in our lives becomes so prevalent. Even today we had one of the craziest strings of events happen. We went to stop by one of our church members that someone recommended we reach out to. We buzzed the apartment a couple times and didn't get an answer. Then, a lady climbing through one of the windows distracted us. Super odd, but apparently, she talked to missionaries once before, so we talked a little bit and gave her a pamphlet with our phone number. Then, the owner of the apartment building came and got mad at the lady for climbing through the window. Again, really odd, but hey we were able to meet the building owner and we asked if the member we were looking for was there. Turns out, we were originally given the wrong apartment number. Also, this time when we buzzed the correct number, he had just gotten out of the shower and would have missed us had we left after the first buzz. It was all so chaotic. Multiple people and weird events were in our path, but they all lined up perfectly so that we could talk to this guy. If any one of those bits didn't happen, we wouldn't have gotten in touch with him. But God needed us to meet him, and to extend a loving hand. All we had to do was be there, and willing. If you are ready and willing to do good, you will see incredible opportunities arise.
Another thing I've learned is God knows us personally. It sounds similar to the previous point but that's more outward and this is more inward. I know with 100% certainty that God knows me. He knows everything I enjoy, everything I struggle with, everything I need, and most importantly he loves me. A lot of my experiences with that are too personal to share. But I PROMISE YOU. If you reach out to him, and seek him out, you will come to know the same.
Lastly, I want to share that we are all spiritual siblings. God is our Heavenly Father. The actual father of our spirits. That makes all of us part of one big spiritual family with a loving Heavenly Father. When we love our neighbors as if they were our siblings, we see so much more good in the world. A lot of the internet and news point out the bad in people. People being dishonest, people committing crimes, people being hateful. That lens is restricting and leads to more judging and more hate. By choosing to love people before we've even met them, it's so much easier to see the good. People are so cool! There are people who love each other, who serve each other. People who sacrifice their time, their money, even their lives, all for the sake of other people. It's incredible! Learning to love has been such a blessing. By loving more, I feel more loved too! Not because the people have changed, but the way I see them has changed. If you make an effort to do the same, your days will be filled with more joy than I can describe.
There's so much more I've learned this past year, but that's all I'll share for now. Some updates from the week, we put Solomon on date to be baptized! Also, me and Elder McFadden get along super well. This transfer is going to be amazing. And of course, today was pretty fun. We went bowling, and discovered when we got there that it was a 5 pin bowling place. Which was so weird. The balls are small, there's only 5 pins, and I have no clue how scoring works. However, I did end up absolutely destroying everyone. So, I'd say it was pretty fun 😂.
That's all for now! It's been a great year as a missionary!!!
-Elder Hays