Let me just start off by saying, I love this mission!! To see people progress in the Gospel and come to feel the peace that comes from the Atonement of Jesus Christ is very rewarding. Our missionary purpose is to invite ALL to come unto Christ.
I have a very cool story from this week. A bit of background information. Deaf people (in Riverside) typically live together because it is hard to find employment, but with the Government sending them money they all help out and pay for a house. This being the case, we happened to teach someone who lived with a few other Deaf people.
We were teaching Carla (her parents are deaf) and a man who lived there (Glen) would occasionally shuffle in. And I do mean shuffle, you can always tell where he is in the house by the sound of flip flops dragging across the floor. Anyway, Glen would occasionally walk in to say hi, and we would chat when we weren't teaching a lesson. We invited him to join us in the lesson as well, but he always declined. I was always a bit sad when he said no, but it never changed my perspective of him. He always love to talk with us and helps us find Deaf events to attend so we can find more people to teach.
This week we were teaching Carla and preparing her for baptism. Carla went to go take a (video) call, and Glen shuffled-in and we started talking about the upcoming "Deaf-Con". He then started talking about politics, then how Satan influences the world. Then onto his study in the Bible which we didn't know he read. He shared with us Revelations 12. He didn't know what it meant and wanted to see if we knew. I never read Revelations, but for some unknown reason I had studied that specific chapter in the MTC. My Bible is essentially unmarked-up except for my annotations in that chapter having studied it at the MTC. Crazy (non) "coincidence" right? So, I shared my understanding of that chapter with Glen as well as the chapter footnotes and study cross references we have, then explained how it also relates to the Book of Mormon, especially Nephi chapters 8 and 11. Both the chapter in Revelations and the chapters in Nephi discuss the coming of Christ and the Iron rod. I highly recommend you read or re-read those 3 chapters because they have some very cool stuff. After I shared what I had learned, Glen was interested in what else the Book of Mormon had to offer. So, we left him with a paper copy of the Book of Mormon in addition to teaching him how to get the ASL addition on his phone.
How does my story apply to your life?
We must be patient with everyone we meet. Their interests and will doesn't always align with missionaries, but if we treat them with genuine love, they will eventually feel the pure love of Christ and desire to learn more. As missionaries we are representing Christ, and we are definitely far from perfect. One of Christs attributes that I admire most is his ever present love. 1 John 4:19 "We love him, because he first loved us" Christ is always there, always ready to embrace us with open arms! He has always loved us, and always will! He is ever-ready to take upon him your burdens and lighten your load, but you must first turn to him.
I love how simple our Primary songs put it;
I am trying to be like Jesus,
I'm following his ways,
I'm trying to love as he did
In all that I do and say
I try to remember the lessons he taught,
Then the holy spirit enters into my thoughts saying,
"Love one another as Jesus loves you,
Try to show kindness in all that you do,
Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,
For these are the things Jesus Taught"
When Jesus was asked, "what is the greatest commandment?" He replied "Love thy God... love thy neighbor" (Matthew 22:36-40) This is a Gospel of Love.
Be patient with all thy fellow mankind. If you keep loving them, they will come around. At the end of the day, we are all Children of our Heavenly Father no matter what we have done that day. Treat everyone with the respect that you would want yourself. No matter the background. No matter the religion. No matter their actions. We are commanded to love everyone. Grudges primarily hurt the one(s) harboring them.
Thank y'all for the many emails and prayers!
-Elder Vance
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