Questions to Me about My Mission

So...my sister works for the Church. They are doing a project. She asked me the questions below. After answering them, I felt so grateful for the experiences I had. I thought I'd share the questions and the answers below:

A.       How did you see the Gospel of Jesus Christ change the lives of the people you taught?
I always loved seeing the people give up habits and turn their lives over to the Lord. I loved seeing their faith in the Priesthood.

B.       Do you have any powerful conversion stories from your mission you could share with us?
One lady, Tammy Thomas, found us. She had showed up in church on Sunday with several children, some hers, some relatives. We went over and introduced ourselves. We asked if we could come over the next evening.
At some point during the discussions she told us that her decision to come to our church was based on her opening the phonebook that Sunday, offering a prayer and saying that she would go to whichever church the book landed open on. It landed open on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She followed through, did what was needed, and became baptized along with her son and nephew. It was a powerful, miraculous experience for me. She was a great example of faith, and I think the Lord knew that she would really follow the inspiration given to her.

C.   Do you remember any specific moments when you felt the Lord guiding your work as a missionary?
Of course. When serving in the same area as the lady mentioned before - things had been going slow. So Elder Mathews and I set a goal to have a certain number of baptisms. It was pretty high for the time and area, but we knew the Lord would provide. I believe we either reached or came really close to that goal, it may have been reached just after I left the area through my companion. This same principle of goal setting came in handy when I served later as the Ward Mission Leader. We didn’t quite meet our goals (which were set purposely high), but we were blessed with many converts two separate times, and it was as much as we could receive at the time. Setting goals with faith and with the Lord works!

D.  Can you share a time when you could tell the Lord had been preparing the hearts of those you were teaching?
I think the story mentioned above was one situation. There were two separate incidents both involving exchange students from Albania. In the first situation, the girl was in a bad living setup and the bishop took her in. She was soon baptized. The other situation was a young man, about the same age, who was living with a member family. We worked with him off and on. We never were able to invite him to be baptized because he was the one who approached us about it. It was such a great experience to teach and know him. He is a great guy.

E.      Can you tell me about some moments where you felt you were serving where you were supposed to be?
I think I feel that way about every area - especially looking back, most particularly though about my second area in Choctaw, Oklahoma. The morning after transfers - I felt like I had been through areas I had never seen. It was quite a strong sense of “deja vu”. Call it what you will, I felt at home in that area.

F.      How and when did you feel the Savior was supporting you in your mission? 
I struggled with intense homesickness accompanied by panic attacks at the beginning of my mission. I look back and I’m not quite sure how I endured it other than it had to have been the blessings, journal writing, and intense feelings of the Spirit. Knowing I was doing the right thing at the time in my life gave me strength. Honestly, I don’t know if I recognized His hand fully at the time. I believed I was being helped, but I don’t know if I ever had that conscious thought. I look back now, 18 years later and I know I was being helped. Too many things worked out for the best. The Lord really does help us. In our full-time missions and even after. I would say especially after. Perhaps a mission trains us to recognize His hand more fully.


G.       Do any moments come to mind of when you turned the work over to the Lord and saw how He was able to use you as an instrument in His hands?
I think the example I shared above about goals illustrates this. There is another example though. I asked to extend my mission by about 6 weeks a few months before I went home. For that final transfer President asked me to serve as an Traveling Assistant with a few other Elders. I remember that first day as an A.P. not knowing what to do. I shed tears and prayed. I felt as out of my element as I did the first day in the field. We didn’t have a home base and we were going to be living out of suitcases. I prayed intensely seeking guidance. The answer...was to go and tract in the Elders’ area we were staying in. We got out the door. The Spirit came and my worries lifted.
Those six weeks were powerful. We worked closely with President Engebretsen going where he would send us and where we felt so inclined. I remember having some great experiences with other missionaries and seeing parts of the mission I would have never seen. They were probably some of my favorite weeks.
I think the reason this experience was so powerful was because, even though I had been out 2 years, I still had areas I could grow, and the Lord knew it. He taught me. I became even more than I would have because I put myself in His hands. This principle also applies to life after the mission. Life is a mission, and if we will follow the Lord, He will mold us in His image - gradually over time. I’m grateful for that because I know my weakness and I still feel hope!

Ending a School Year and Measuring its Impact

The humor for me here is that I am finally able to process everything that happened last year and this year has already begun! It all culminated this last Friday when about ten girls from last year's class popped in to say hello. I miss them! I take for granted all the amazing interactions that happen in a class when a teacher really tries to make a one on one connection with each student. The results are amazing, but it isn't just results:
I have FIFTY-SIX people in my life from last year that mean the world to me. Each one of them brought something special to me, and I am not just saying that.
I miss seeing them daily. I miss their humor and struggles. I miss worrying about them and being able to impact them. I now worry that they make the transition from childhood to teenager to adult successfully. Most do, some struggle. I miss my time of being able to influence them daily towards successful adulthood. I have to believe they have people in their lives that will guide them along that path.
Ending a school year is always bitter sweet. It is nice to have the break, but there is always the realization that most likely these interactions with students won't ever be the same again: The inside jokes, the personal struggles and victories, the heartbreaking events in their lives. These are the things that make a school year. The instruction is lovely and fulfilling for me, but the connections and love I gain from being a teacher and mentor to these students is what it is all about.
You cannot measure it. You cannot replace it. It's a blessing in my life.
I have often thought about the path that led me to being a teacher. I can see the Lord's hand in it. He took my personality and some of my desires, and He put me in a position that would be the best for me. He will do that for anyone who wants it. He knew me better than I knew myself. This is my twelfth year and it just gets better. I'm grateful for the stretching that comes from this "job" (honestly, it feels more like a calling most of the time). I'm grateful that there are hundreds of kids that I can call my own and that I love.
Teaching definitely isn't about all the money I'm raking in, for me it's about trying to change a life, and sometimes save a life. Sometimes it's the life of a student, many times it is mine. Teaching success is measured  in more than just test scores. It is measured in love, time, tears and in people.
Lucky me!

Accomplishing Good Things - Thanks Brother of Jared for Your Example

I have had the story of the Brother of Jared - specifically the lights in the barge section - in my mind a lot the last few days. We are considering some big choices at this time and we're trying to do the right thing. I think the principle in these verses is really profound and applicable to many of the problems and situations we face. We sometimes struggle because we "think" that there is "one right answer". The brother of Jared could have just said to himself, "Well we'll just have to cross in the dark because the Lord didn't say anything about lights."
BUT he didn't. He saw an opportunity to make life a little easier an better quality. So he approached the Lord. Did the Lord hand out a free answer? Nope. He said, "[W]hat will ye that I should prepare for you?"
I believe that the Lord expects us to believe that He can and will help us achieve goals, dreams, desires that are good. He can build our faith when we need and want to accomplish some great thing - whatever it is. This whole situation the Brother of Jared found himself in was because he wanted to help his family. It was his desire - the Lord was there to help and offer assistance to righteous desires. So...what does that mean for us?
If it worked for the Brother of Jared, it will work for us. We need to be prayerful and counsel with the Lord about what we desire, about what we feel impressed to do, but I believe the Lord will be there to help us. I think He's happy about us being "agents unto ourselves" (D&C 58:28) and He knows our abilities and strength will grow as we pursue things we want that will benefit our families and the people around us. We need to trust Him more. He's not just a law-giver, he's a helper, a friend, a builder, a guide.
So the actual scriptures are right here. Read them for yourselves, they are pretty awesome:

22 And he cried again unto the Lord saying: O Lord, behold I have done even as thou hast commanded me; and I have prepared the vessels for my people, and behold there is no light in them. Behold, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this great water in darkness?

23 And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have windows, for they will be dashed in pieces; neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire.

24 For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth.

25 And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?

My Father

A misshapen, leather hat.
A walking stick cut from the Narrows in his hand.
Pulling out a map and charting a course.

A voice sounding out words:
Bingo!
Only in America!
Das Fenster!
Love you buddy.

A man walking in the evening towards home with his brown briefcase. The sun behind his back.
Years later rushing towards his son who has returned to face a trial.

Blowing a fake bugle to wake up his boys for their paper routes.
Driving them around town when the snow is too deep.

Making sure his children know what is expected of them. That there is a high standard to bearing the name 'Corry'.

His boy running a race and hearing his encouraging yells all the way to the finish line.

Seeing this man on the passenger's side of a driver's instructor car all over town.
Grandma and her ice cream.
Scribbled on legal pad showing a fake intersection and the results of not watching for 'grandma and her ice cream.'

Silently feeling the hurts of his kids, not knowing what to say, but we know he loves us.
Sending them far from home, knowing they are doing a greater work. Knowing they'll be protected, emotional to let them go, but he does it anyway because he believes in greater things than himself.
Hugging his children fiercely because words won't work when they return to him.

Working tirelessly to help his family. To help his community. His ward. His God.
Working because he loves it. And that is life to him.

Sharing his feelings of God. Of the prophet, his emotions just below the surface.
Being a model of manhood. Not perfect, but inching closer everyday.

His son watching his dad and mom in the rear view mirror, following their boy even though their boy is a dad himself.
That son feeling comfort because he knows his dad is watching out for him...and always will.

The word 'Herr' means Dad to me.

President Nelson's Talk on Priesthood Power

This talk was very powerful. I know there is real power in the Priesthood. I'm far from perfect (very far), but I know these things are real. I have felt and been apart of that power. President Nelson makes some great points and explains the high standards required to obtain more spiritual power in our lives. So I am just making a ginormous post that is basically a really long quote from President Nelson:

I urgently plead with each one of us to live up to our privileges as bearers of the priesthood. In a coming day, only those men who have taken their priesthood seriously, by diligently seeking to be taught by the Lord Himself, will be able to bless, guide, protect, strengthen, and heal others. Only a man who has paid the price for priesthood power will be able to bring miracles to those he loves and keep his marriage and family safe, now and throughout eternity.

What is the price to develop such priesthood power? The Savior’s senior Apostle, Peter--that same Peter who with James and John conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery--declared qualities we should seek to “be partakers of the divine nature.”

He named faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity, and diligence. And don’t forget humility! So I ask, how would our family members, friends, and coworkers say you and I are doing in developing these and other spiritual gifts? The more those attributes are developed, the greater will be our priesthood power.

How else can we increase our power in the priesthood? We need to pray from our hearts. Polite recitations of past and upcoming activities, punctuated with some requests for blessings, cannot constitute the kind of communing with God that brings enduring power. Are you willing to pray to know how to pray for more power? The Lord will teach you.

Are you willing to search the scriptures and feast on the words of Christ—to study earnestly in order to have more power? If you want to see your wife’s heart melt, let her find you on the Internet studying the doctrine of Christ or reading your scriptures!

Are you willing to worship in the temple regularly? The Lord loves to do His own teaching in His holy house. Imagine how pleased He would be if you asked Him to teach you about priesthood keys, authority, and power as you experience the ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood in the holy temple. Imagine the increase in priesthood power that could be yours.

Are you willing to follow President Thomas S. Monson’s example of serving others? For decades he has taken the long way home, following promptings of the Spirit to arrive on someone’s doorstep and then hear words such as, “How did you know it was the anniversary of our daughter’s death?” or “How did you know it was my birthday?” And if you truly want more priesthood power, you will cherish and care for your wife, embracing both her and her counsel.

Now, if all of this sounds excessive, please consider how different our relationships with our wife, children, and associates at work would be if we were as concerned about gaining priesthood power as we are in progressing at work or increasing the balance in our bank account. If we will humbly present ourselves before the Lord and ask Him to teach us, He will show us how to increase our access to His power.

In these latter days, we know there will be earthquakes in diverse places. Perhaps one of those diverse places will be in our own homes, where emotional, financial, or spiritual “earthquakes” may occur. Priesthood power can calm the seas and heal fractures in the earth. Priesthood power can also calm the minds and heal fractures in the hearts of those we love.

Are we willing to pray, fast, study, seek, worship, and serve as men of God so we can have that kind of priesthood power? Because two little girls were so eager to be sealed to their family, their father and brother were willing to pay the price to bear the holy Melchizedek Priesthood.

My dear brethren, we have been given a sacred trust—the authority of God to bless others. May each one of us rise up as the man God foreordained us to be—ready to bear the priesthood of God bravely, eager to pay whatever price is required to increase his power in the priesthood. With that power, we can help prepare the world for the Second Coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. This is His Church, led today by His prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, whom I dearly love and sustain. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

President Nelson's Talk - April 2016

Knowing Someone's Name Can Make a Difference - Thoughts on Elder Neil L. Andersen's April 2016 Conference Talk

I love the focus Elder Andersen places on being sensitive to everyone's situation when teaching them the gospel. Too often we think of and compare ourselves to the perfect standard while forgetting that none of us is really quite there. It is easy to become overwhelmed and discouraged. The miracle of the gospel is that Christ can take us from where we are, to where He wants us. The even greater miracle is that he will do it in a way that we are able to feel like we can actually make those steps. He empowers us. Emboldens us. Feeds our confidence. Too often as humans we tend to destroy each other's confidence by showing them how they are failing - rather than focusing on the good and then giving encouragement to be even better. Elder Andersen focuses on our ability to encourage and lift:

While a child’s earthly situation may not be ideal, a child’s spiritual DNA is perfect because one’s true identity is as a son or daughter of God.

President Thomas S. Monson has said: “Help God’s children understand what is genuine and important in this life. Help them develop the strength to choose paths that will keep them safely on the way to eternal life.” Let’s open our arms and our hearts a little wider. These youth need our time and our testimonies.

Brandon, who joined the Church in Colorado in high school, spoke to me of those who reached out to him both before and after his baptism. He said: “I was in the homes of families that lived the gospel. It showed me a standard that I felt I could have in my own family.”

Veronique, born in the Netherlands, attended school with our daughter Kristen when we lived in Germany. Veronique noted: “Students who were Church members had a light about them. I came to realize that that light came from their faith in Jesus Christ and living His teachings.”

My friend Max was baptized when he was eight years old. His father was not a member of any church, and Max could go to church or not go.

As a teenager, after not attending for several months, Max had the feeling that he needed to go back to church and determined one Sunday morning that he would return. But his resolve weakened as he approached the front door of the church; his stomach tightened.

There, standing at the door, was the new bishop. Max didn’t know him, and he felt sure the bishop didn’t know Max. As Max approached, the bishop’s face lit up, and he put his hand out and said, “Max, it’s so good to see you!”

“As he spoke those words,” Max said, “a warm feeling came over me and I knew I had done the right thing.”

Knowing someone’s name can make a difference.

Elder Andersen's April 1016 Talk