There and Back Again: A Missionary's Tale

10 August 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you so much for emailing me every week. I really appreciate getting to hear from you every week. That's really exciting that Rebekah was born this week! Tell Phil and Mirtha congratulations for me! That is pretty crazy that the elders left and now you have sisters {in the Princeton Ward}. It's kinda' weird, because I forgot that you only have one set of missionaries. Most places here in my mission have multiple sets of elders and then another set of sister missionaries.

This last week was pretty busy. So first off in the week we had Zone Conference in Prishtina. It's always super awesome when I get the chance to go to Prishtina, I love it there! It's always awesome to see the members there in Prishtina and get to talk with them again. It seems like whenever we have a missionary meeting in Prishtina that a ton of the members show up to say hi to all the other missionaries. The conference was really good over all! We learned a ton about ways to find people to teach and how to help people come closer to the Savior through baptism. It was a really awesome conference. It was also super awesome because for lunch they had the Himalayan place in Prishtina cater. Man did I miss chicken tika masala! It was so good!! This last week we also had an audit conducted on the Gjakova Branch. It was interesting sitting through an audit because I've never been through one before. I learned a ton! It wasn't as long, or boring, as I thought it would be, so that was a plus! We also had an activity this weekend where we watched 17 Miracles with the branch members. It was really successful! The Spirit was really strong and it touched the hearts of everyone that was there. It also touched me really hard. I've seen that movie before, but it really touched me after not seeing it for so long. It's amazing all of the sacrifices they made in order to receive the blessings of the Gospel. It really puts things into perspective. This week we also had a disappointing moment. We ran into Gembi in the road and we talked with him. He told us that his dad was against him learning from us. You could tell that he was really upset. However, with his family being Muslim, they aren't really happy with him learning about the Church. We're trying to meet with Gembi's father just to talk with him and get to know him so that he can see that we're two normal people and that the Gospel will bless the life of his son. So we're continuing to pray for Gembi, but there's not really much more that we can do.

Also this week at Zone Conference, we talked about what it means to be a successful missionary. We talked a lot about how baptisms and obedience are not connected. Some missionaries that are exactly obedient sometimes have very few baptisms over the course of their mission, whereas some disobedient missionaries will have a ton of baptisms over the course of their mission. We just have to remember that whatever the Lord calls us to do, we need to do that and not be discouraged. This kinda' relates to what I talked about last week, about how I know that I'm being blessed for the work that I'm doing. I may not be blessed in baptizing hundreds of people, but I know that the Lord's promises will be realized in the future. Sister Weidmann shared a story that relates to this, and I want to share it with you:

"P.U.S.H.

A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light, and the Savior appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained, that the man was to push against the rock with all his might.

This the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun-up to sun-down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might.

Each night the man returned to his cabin sore, and worn out feeling that his whole day has been spent in vain. Since the man was showing signs of discouragement the adversary decide to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the man's weary mind: "You have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn't budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it." Thus giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man.

"Why kill yourself over this?” he thought. I will just put in my time, giving just the minimum effort; and that will be enough." And that is what he planned to do, until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord.

"Lord" he said, I've labored long and hard in Your service, putting all my strength to do that which You've asked. Yet, after all this time, I haven't even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What's wrong? Why am I failing?"

"MY friend, when I asked you to serve Me – you accepted.

I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength - which you've done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to Me - with your strength spent, thinking that you've failed. But is that really so?"

"Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscular. Your back sinew is mighty. Your hands a callused from the constant pressure; and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you've grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. This you’ve done. I, my friend, will now move the rock.”

At times, when we hear from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He wants. What God ACTUALLY wants is just simple OBEDIENCE and FAITH IN HIM. By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know, that it’s still God who moves the mountains.

P.U.S.H. = Pray Until Something Happens!

When everything seems to go wrong, just P.U.S.H. - When the job gets you down, P.U.S.H. - When people don’t react the way you think they should, P.U.S.H. - When the people just don’t understand you, just - P.U.S.H."

Let's remember to keep PUSHing no mater what comes! Thank you for the love and support you give me! Thank you for all your many prayers! Ju dua shumë. Kaloni bukur! Javë të mbarë.

Me dahsuri,

Elder Watson