5 Years Later....

Today marks 5 years since I returned from my mission. It is hard to believe that much time has passed. Five years later I still count serving a mission as one of the best decisions I ever made. During my mission, I gained maturity, made lifelong friendships, and strengthened my testimony. Those two years contain some of my most challenging and sweetest experiences. As I reflect upon those years of service I am amazed by the impact certain events and aspects of my mission have 5 years later. Today I want to reflect on a few of these memories:

I met, Cameron Markert, one of my best friends the very first day I walked into MTC. We were missionary companions. We are very different in our backgrounds and our personalities. Yet these differences had a way of complimenting each other and we became close friends. I still remember as our time in the MTC was winding down we asked our MTC teacher if there was a chance we would be companions again. We were told matter of factly that it would not happen. The Lord had other plans. After spending one transfer with our trainers Elder Markert and I were reunited as companions. The next few months were some of the best of my mission. We may not have always known what we were doing, but our hearts were in the right place and we threw ourselves into the work. During this time we planted the seeds for the greatest success of my mission.






One of the most interesting challenges I faced on my mission was changing missions. We got a call on April 12, 2009, telling us about the change. I wrote this the next day, "Yesterday we got a crazy announcement. The San Francisco mission is being dissolved. Our mission is receiving 3 stakes from San Francisco and we are giving the Livermore and Pleasanton stakes to the San Jose mission. There is a chance that because I am in Livermore I might get moved to the San Jose mission. I don't know yet." I did in fact get moved into the San Jose mission. This was a surprisingly trying announcement. I was called by a prophet of God to serve in the Oakland mission and it seemed like the change was very sudden. It took some time and reflection, but as I looked back I saw the Lord's hand in my transition to the San Jose mission. I ended up serving in areas that were located in 3 different missions when I began my mission on January 23, 2009. There are so many people I wouldn't have met and experiences I wouldn't have had if the change had not occurred. I also never would have had President Jackson as my Mission President. The lessons I learned from him have been invaluable. The Lord always had a plan. I just had to learn to recognize it.


Right before the mission change
Right after the mission change
In hindsight one of the most influential days of my mission was March 22, 2010. On that day I wrote: Today has got to be one of the hardest days of my mission. Alison asked me to not write her as much anymore. She basically broke off our relationship... I took it really hard. I was angry and sad. On March 23 I wrote: I did not sleep well last night. I guess all of the stuff with Alison is getting to me. It is going to take me a long time to get over this... On March 24 I wrote: I have been physically ill for the past couple of days. Just the stress of everything that has been going on has been hard to cope with, but I am doing okay and I am just trying hard to focus on the things I can control. Looking back getting a dear john letter was the best thing that could have happened to me at that point in my mission. For a few days, it was terrible, but I quickly realized that feeling bad about it did absolutely no good for anyone. I gained a lot of maturity from this experience, and it made me a better missionary. One obvious example deals with a recent convert I taught. I had recently transferred areas so I wrote her a letter sharing my testimony of the gospel. She was one of the few people I told about my breakup with Alison. I shared how her conversion helped put my breakup in perspective and reaffirmed my decision to serve a mission. Her response is one of my most treasured mementos from my mission. She shared, "I understand that serving a mission brings extraordinary blessings, but I know that it comes only with sacrifice - "For it must needs be act there is an opposition in all things" (2 Nephi 2:11) I like what President Uchtdof said in the 2010 General Conference for young women: 'It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how your life's story will develop.' Thank you for responding to your trials by being an amazing missionary.)" When I left on my mission I told myself I was willing to make whatever sacrifices were necessary. It was on my mission that I learned to accept the things I cannot control and focus on the things that I can influence. Even though I decided to accept Alison and I would not be as close I never gave up. I continued to write Alison a letter every week for the duration of my mission. The tone of my letters changed. I focused more on the details and spiritual experiences each week. Looking back those months were an important time of growth for both me and Alison. March 22 and all the events in between made possible October 25, 2010, which was one of the best days on my mission. On that day I received a letter from Alison saying she wanted to date when I came home. It was very exciting news. I came home and it took all of one day for us to decide we wanted to get married. Looking back the dear john experience became an important part of our relationship. We both gained invaluable experience during our time apart that has strengthened our marriage. 

In 2010 I was serving in the Stanford Singles wards. It was an area where I felt blessed to serve. The work there was exciting and there were many people to teach because the students were constantly inviting their friends to be taught. There were so many appointments that most days nearly scheduled themselves and my companion and I would only have to decide what we would do for a few hours each day. Things went like this for several months. Then we hit a roadblock. In March of that year, Stanford scheduled their spring break, and overnight our teaching pool was gone along with most of the members of the ward. Suddenly, those days that had seemed so easy to plan become very difficult. My companion and I still found ways to stay busy during the week and before we knew it Saturday had arrived. This Saturday turned out to be particularly difficult. We struggled to plan what to do and as soon as we left the apartment that morning things did not go as we had planned. We blew through our plans; our backup plans, and spent most of the day on the street contacting as many people as we could. It was one of those days that just felt very discouraging and although we started with high hopes my companion and I felt as though we didn’t accomplish the things we wanted to accomplish. As it began to get dark we wondered what we should do. Only one idea came to mind. One week earlier we had received a referral for a man named Darian Bailey. He wanted a Book of Mormon. We called him, as soon as we got the referral, and he met us outside his dorm. We taught him a little bit about the Book of Mormon and invited him to read. He was so nice and seemed very open, but because he had “intense track practice” during spring break he asked us to call him later to schedule a time for a lesson. We called and called throughout the week and never got a response. We couldn’t stop by because we only knew the dorm building where he lived and not the room number. Knocking doors on Stanford Campus was strictly prohibited. So now one week later we had an idea. We had met Darian Bailey in front of his dorm at around 8:30 on a Saturday night. We decided would go park in front of the dorm building and see if he happened to always be in front of his dorm building at 8:30 on Saturday night. We sat in front of that building waiting and watching the minutes tick by. As it got later and later I wondered why we would have thought that he would actually just show up. Finally, it was 9 and we decided it was time to head back to the apartment. Then right as my companion began to pull the car away from the curb lights began to flash and a siren began to wail. I was so startled that it took me a minute to realize what was going on, but then I realized it was the fire alarm. We pulled back against the curb and watched as every single student who lived in the dorm came out on the front lawn, including Darian Bailey. We got out of our car and talked to Darian and we set up an appointment where we would have the chance to teach him about the restoration of the gospel. I share this story because I have a testimony that my companion and I were there that night. After all, the spirit prompted us to go. I also have a testimony that miracles are real. Our Heavenly Father is mindful of us. He knows our thoughts and our intents and rewards our righteous desires. At the time I don’t think either of us realized that it was the spirit instructing us where to go, and I didn’t have the slightest thought that a miracle would occur. My companion and I did what we were supposed to that day. We followed a feeling and we were richly blessed. This story is important to me because sometimes it is hard to recognize the spirit, but the most important thing is that we do what we know is right and the spirit will guide us whether we realize it or not. I love the assurance in Proverbs, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Early in my mission, I remember one Sunday sitting in Gospel principles class when an odd-looking couple entered the room. They were the Griffins. Brother Griffin wore an old worn-out bomber jacket. He was mostly bald and his eyes were crazy. He looked as if he was permanently cross-eyed. Sister Griffin is older and was stooped over. She also had a little bit of a mustache growing on her lip and was missing a few teeth. That Sunday and the Sundays that followed I didn’t really see anyone talk to them or try to find out who they were, but each week they would attend church and come to the gospel principles class. One weeknight I was out on splits with the ward mission leader visiting less active members of the ward. We decided to drop by the Griffins and find out more about them. That night we also met their daughter Denise and her husband John. Denise was a less active member of the ward and John had never heard about the church. They were invited to come to church and to take the missionary lessons and they accepted both invitations, that Sunday they came to church and they were there nearly every Sunday from that point on. John had never been a part of an organized church, but he had faith and basic knowledge of the bible. He also had a strong desire to learn more. As we taught them, John became excited about the restored gospel. One of the most important things that happened as John investigated the Church is that the member we lived with, Brother Camp invited John and his family to come over watch the last session of the April 2009 General Conference with them. As the session was underway and John and his family were watching it I was somewhat disappointed that of all the sessions at that conference this was the one that John saw. It was so focused on temples, and I wished that John would have seen an earlier session that was more focused on the restoration or on sustaining the Prophet. I thought those would be more important topics for John to learn about. I was wrong. As John heard living prophets, seers, and revelators testify of the reality that the priesthood authority of God has been restored to the earth today and that through that authority families can be sealed together for all eternity he felt the spirit bear witness that it was true. That Sunday afternoon in April John heard an invitation by Elder David A. Bednar a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Elder Bednar said,  “Within the sound of my voice are individuals who… have not yet received the ordinances of the house of the Lord. Whatever the reason, however long the delay, I invite you to begin making the spiritual preparations so you can receive the blessings available only in the holy temple. Please cast away the things in your life that stand in the way. Please seek after the things that are of eternal consequence.” When John heard that invitation he desired to receive the blessings of the temple.  He asked us what he needed to do to take his family to the temple. We told him that the first step to preparing for the covenants of the temple was to be baptized, and he was. On May 3, 2009, John was baptized. That day I wrote in my journal, "He is so excited to be a member of the church and he was so ready to be baptized. After his baptism, he took his wife up to the temple just to look and set that as their goal. The Lord has great things in store for John." A year after John was baptized Elder Markert and I had the opportunity to go to the Oakland temple and watch as John and his family made sacred covenants and were sealed for all eternity. The spirit there was indescribable. That day I wrote in my journal, "By far this has been the greatest experience of my mission." I wish this story had a happier ending, but unfortunately, the Vanluevans are not as strong in the church as they could be. I try to stay close to them and help them remember the important experiences we shared. Even if they don't recognize it right now I believe the spirit will inspire them to embrace the blessings of the gospel again one day.



The most important thing I received from my mission was a strengthened testimony. A testimony that my Heavenly Father loves me. That Jesus Christ lives, and that he is my savior. That the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored along with the priesthood of God. And that the temple is the house of God, the only place where the powers to seal families for time and all eternity are found. For two years I saw these truths in action every day. The impact it has had on my life has been immense. I will always be grateful for those two very special years. 

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