If you're getting this email, then you know that I survived my first week in Australia! It has been very eventful, well where to begin...
My trainer is Elder Scott. He's 19yrs old from Utah, and has been on the mission for 1 yr & 2 months. Great guy, very knowledgeable of the area, good relations with the members, and also a Korean speaker like me!
Unfortunately, our level is about the same... and we are placed in an area with basically no Koreans. I haven't found any yet. The closest thing is a Sister in our Branch who served her mission in Korea. So a little concerning, but that's' ok. I like challenges anyways. I can't understand the accent anyways so there's my language immersion.
We have 2 potential baptisms coming up, which is great. We have Brodie, a baptismal date at the end of the month. Then I taught Jacob during Sunday School about the Book of Mormon and the Plan of Salvation. Then after the lesson he asked me about baptism. I shared with him my experience, what baptism was, why it's important, and the blessings that come from it. I asked him if this was something he was interested in learning more about and pursuing and he said yes. Later in the meetings I overheard him say that the Gospel just makes sense. So I'm excited to work with him and help him along the path.
Next, I've come to learn a very important lesson of missionary life.... We are poor. We live pretty frugally. Haven't eaten out yet since I've been out. We've have had ghetto lunches of whatever Elder Scott has had in the trunk of the car, like half bag of chips and chocolate... But that was more of a result of bad planning... I've never felt this poor before... So throughout the day I'll end up feeling starved, which isn't the best combination with the terrible feelings of jet lag I've had. I try to keep a good attitude but sometimes I think about it too much, and then we get blessed by someone offering us food and a member feeds us a wonderful meal and I am oh so grateful. Then I'm reminded of Alma 32:37-38.
So this missionary work is a very heart wrenching work. We were visiting one lady, we call her Grandma Jack. An older lady who absolutely loves the Bible. Loves reading pieces from intellectuals regarding the Bible that provide a different perspective and further analyzes the symbolism which she just gets so excited about. The approach I guess the missionaries have been taking in our area is more of being a friend and buddy buddies with the people they visit rather than... I guess being missionaries... who would want that, crazy... anyways, our visit with her was more like us checking up on our grandma as if we were in the area and seeing if she were ok... So no real lesson was prepared... more like did you read the Book of Mormon? No? Ok, cool all good, just get to it if you can.... I'm playing Junior companion and the Greenie and trusting and following my trainer and just following his lead... lets just say that we need to change some things. Anyways, as we were visiting and listening to her absolute love for the Bible I started tearing up a little. Because this was a daughter of our Heavenly Father who was lost. I could see the veil blocking her vision. She had done fantastic by loving the Bible, but was missing the full truth. She loved the intellectual men's words, but oh how she would lose it if she realized that I had the very word of God in my hand. I could see her in a temple session and she would probably die from excitement and absolute joy as she found the full truth. The Bible had given her this much joy, can you imagine how much more joy she would have if she realized what the Book of Mormon was and that Jesus Christ's true church was on the earth?!? She'd probably have a heart attack in front of us and beg for us to do her temple work or to baptize her.
I've been having these "visions" of the families we visit. Non-member like member. These visions are of their potential. When we visit with a broken family that we do service for pretty regularly, when we were with the family together in the kitchen chatting. I have this vision of them in the kitchen but on a Sunday morning getting ready for church and eating breakfast together. The family is no longer broken, but filled with absolute love for each other. Then I snapped out of it when they ask us where the church originated. This is it. This is the moment where we would get the ball rolling to fulfill this vision I've just seen about their potential. I look to my companion waiting to just follow his lead since he's seasoned and I'm think he's thinking the same thing. This family who have never received a lesson before and are about to receive the lesson of the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ after several months of receiving gardening service from the missionaries. My companion opens his mouth and merely says that the church started in New York and then moved to Utah. I just sit there, absolutely shocked that this is all he could muster to get out... then before i could save and get something useful out, the moment is gone and the family needs to leave... It was a moment given to us on a golden platter and we did nothing with it.... There seems to be no spirit of urgency to get this message, the greatest message ever known to mankind, out to these people. The missionaries have been content with just making friends and visiting grandma and grandpa checking on them to see how bingo night went or how their grandkids are doing. Well don't get me wrong that's great and i think it's very important, but on the other hand, we're missionaries who are supposed to be bringing people closer to Christ. Additionally I understand every case is different and sometimes thats all we can do is be the grandkids or just offer service. But the other day we tried switching it up and actually asking if we could share a quick message and they were more than willing to listen. I don't want to make the other missionaries seem like their bad missionaries because they put on a good image for the Church and did a lot of service. But if these people are ever gonna reach their potential that God intended for them to achieve, we need to be bold and open our mouths and not be wishy washy. My companion has trouble with this. Rather than using church terms like companion or Apostle, he'll call me his "buddy or friend" when meeting other people, or call the Apostles these "good, cool, nice guys." His reasoning is that people would often get confused and ask what he meant or what those things meant. He got tired of trying to explain... I looked at him and told him, well isn't that the perfect opportunity for a missionary? To quickly and simply explain a lesson, and also to see if the people actually are listening? If they ask what is that, that's great because it shows that they're actually listening and trying to understand. 2nd it's the perfect opportunity to teach a quick overview of the Restoration or about Prophets and Apostles. Boom, easy. I think a lot of these missionaries think that they need a formal setting to teach a lesson where we're in a quiet place, free time and sitting down together. Well, as i look back we don't get very many of those opportunities because the rest of our time is spent getting yelled at by ladies who have to calm her frightened, scared to death daughter down from us merely knocking on the door and standing there, perfectly still.... So we need to take every single small opportunity we can get where people will even let us spit out that we are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To let those small moments be led by the Spirit and allow these people to feel the special Spirit we carry with us, if we are worthy of it. This is done by having a bit of urgency and fire in your pants to share this message to every single person, the same desire that the Sons of Mosiah had in Mosiah 28:3-4. So it breaks my heart when we get to a door and they say their husband isn't home (because we can't enter a house with just the wife alone) and we say well we'll try again next week. NEXT WEEK!! Is this not the greatest blessing that anyone could possibly receive? Why not a quick scripture or video to watch later? Is this not the same fruit that Lehi desired of his sons to have that was described in Alma 32:42?! I just guess we'll let them wait to have this fruit for another week, they made it this far right? No, we can't wait. These people can't wait. They don't know it yet, but they are so desperately needing the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives. We all do. We must share it, or else we'll be held accountable for it later. Can you imagine their response when they realize this incredible gift and find out that you've been keeping it from them this entire time? Can you hear them say "I suffered for days because of the loss of my family, because I thought I would never see them again. But you knew all along that this wasn't the case? You've known me for years but never thought to share this incredible knowledge?" We need to treat this Gospel like Gold, because it is far greater than that. Please open your mouth.
We are gonna change the atmosphere in this mission. Miracles are gonna take place and our little branch of 30 is gonna be a booming ward. You know why? Because God loves every. Single. One. Of. HIS. CHILDREN. He wants every SINGLE ONE OF US TO COME BACK HOME TO HIM. HE WANTS EVERYONE TO FIND TRUE, PURE JOY THAT MAKES OUR HEART WANT TO BURST OUT OF OUR CHEST. Have you felt this? I have. It is the greatest thing in the world. I testify that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints IS GODS KINGDOM ON EARTH. If you don't know it, then study the Book of Mormon and Heavenly Father will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost. Please find out for yourselves, "for ye may" Jacob 3:2. And even all this ye can do if ye will Alma 33:23.
Long email, if you made it this far thank you. Not bad missionaries here. Its just good, better, best. They are in between good and better. Getting around doing some good. But i want best, and I think Heavenly Father and His Children deserve the best. I love you all, but more importantly Heavenly Father loves you. Have great week.
Elder Escamilla
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One less door to knock on during our rounds
This dinner with a part member family was a huge blessing
One of the many millions of spiders in Australia
Sharing some live oysters fresh from the ocean with Frank
Our small branch of 30 after church