Challenges and Promises

The Elders came to our house on Monday. They just dropped by. I was sick Monday and in my sweats, the house was a mess and I asked my husband to "turn them away". He didn't and I knew he wouldn't. Because if I had answered the door I would not have been able to either. So we invited them in. They issued us a 21 day challenge. A promise has gone out in the Salt Lake City Mission that if members would pray morning and night for a specific set of people to accept the gospel, that someone will accept the gospel. We accepted the challenge. So now we are going to issue a challenge to you.

Scrapbook those promises and challenges that you or your missionary received in the field. I think all missionaries receive special challenges with promises attached. One that we frequently talked about in my mission was to be a bold and testifying missionary. We were promised if we were bold and committed people to baptism on the first contact, that people would join the church. I have to admit my faith lacked on this one, but those who had faith like Nephi (build a boat, commit someone to baptism upon meeting them) had great success.

Companions

A couple of years ago I was relaxing on the couch and my mind wandered off to my mission. I started to think about my companions from my mission. I could see their faces and remembered their qualities and irksome behaviours. One thing I could not remember was their names!! What?! How could I have forgotten my missionary companions names, not even their first names (which is of course Sister) but their last names that they went by every day!! I was so shocked, then I thought of all my mission pictures and wondered what else I had forgotten.



We have to be honest here. I really loved my companions, but did not particularly like all of them. I must say that I did learn something form each of them. Not that I was the best, I am sure I was not a favorite for some of my companions. However companions are unique people. They are the one person who can relate to the current moment of your missionary's life. Once I had a Mom tell me "you know you are the only Sisters my son ever wrote home about." It made me feel good. This particular area was good area for me and I worked with great Elders and Sisters.



So here are some ideas for scrapbooking/journaling about your companions.....



If this is your own mission experience...



1. Write down their names because you will forget!

2. Do a quick statistic chart

name

area served

time served together

home

3. Scrapbook a page about what your companions taught you- diligence, love, patience, faith. How did they help you grow?

4. Do a specific page on a favorite companion (because we do have them).

5. Missions are hard, and that is OK. Write about or scrap the hard times with a companion, but remember you can talk about hard things without being mean.



If you are doing this for someone else who is on the mission currently....



1. Write a letter to your Missionaries current companion. Send them a set of questions to answer. They do not have to be about your Missionary. You could ask him about the area, the people, or the mission itself. It is always good to look through someone elses eyes.