Called To Serve

I received the call to serve in the Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission. I arrived in the Missionary Training Center in July 1980. I was beyond excited and loved every moment in the MTC. There were 4 of us in the MTC together who were heading to Louisiana. We were ready to set the world on fire and had that ultimate confidence of young men who have no real idea what is ahead of them. The MTC was a spritual feast for me. My testimony was strengthed in so many ways. Before I knew it we were on an airplane heading for Louisiana. I was certainly suprised when I was informed that I would be getting on a bus and heading for Mobile Alabama. I didn't even know that my mission went into Alabama. The first door we knocked on in Mobile was answered by a young women in her twenties. She let us in and we taught her the first discussion. It was amazing to teach on the first home I tracked to. I wish I could say that she was soon baptized, but we actually never saw her again. The work was challenging as you would expect in the Bible Belt, but we did have some success. The primary president of the ward invited two of her neighbors to be taught in her home. It was a wonderful teaching experience. Both of them ended up joining the church eventually. I really enjoyed Mobile and was there six months with three different companions. My next area was A real small town named Pounchatoula LA. I was made a senior companion and given a new missionary to train. This is where I began to struggle. My new companion ended up really sick and eventually was moved to a mission with a dryer climate. I then had a second new missionary assigned to me. We truly knocked on every door in the town with no success. We did eventually find a women to teach and things were going well until her husband told us to leave because he said "I would kill her before I let her join your church". Through all this I let discouragement take over. I struggled the rest of my time in that little town. I was next assigned to another small town called Eunice LA. It is truly in the middle of no where. I did enjoy this town and the two companions I served there with. I was then assigned to Gretna LA which is a suburb of New Orleans. I had three different companions there and looking back I fell into a really bad habit. I was willing to just go along. If they wanted to work hard, fine with me. If not, fine with me. I realize now that the discouragement I let get a hold of me earlier, was clouding my vision of what I was there to do. I finished my mission in Houma LA. I finally got back on track with help of a couple of great companions. I did finish my mission working hard again and came back to realize what I was there for. Serving a mission was truly a great experience for me. I came home with a firm testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I came home with the confidence to live independently and move forward as a beginner adult. There is a reason the Lord sends young people out to teach the world. They are at a point where they just really don't know that this really shouldn't work. The spirit of the Lord can then come along with them and do the real teaching. I am so grateful for having had this experience.