Category: Missionary

#Goals

I don’t think we’re using hashtags or saying “#Goals” anymore, but this verse is pretty aspirational for me.

Notice that Nephi says his father Lehi was obedient unto the word of the Lord. End of statement. This is a character trait of Lehi, a long-established pattern in his life. Nephi continues, “Wherefore (meaning because of this, or for this reason), [Lehi] did as the Lord commanded.”

Nephi also says he was born of goodly parents. To Nephi, GOODNESS and OBEDIENCE were defining characteristics of his parents, so (of course) they would do what the Lord asked of them.

I have parents like this, and they have been missing from our lives for a year because they have been serving a mission. This is their second mission together. They served as mission leaders for three years when they were in their fifties, and now they are in their seventies. They have been serving in Puerto Rico where my dad served as a young missionary in the early 1970’s.

I can say of my parents, “They are obedient, so they answered the call for more senior missionaries to serve.”

They come home this week. I have their car in my driveway, a nice bedroom waiting for them because they fly in so late, and flags to wave at the airport. Hooray!

Or, as my dad would say, Hurrah for Israel!

I will miss him.

In honor of President Jeffrey R. Holland who passed away last week, Mark and I spent a lot of time sharing with one another our favorite talks by this beloved Apostle. After our call ended, I took a minute to appreciate the privilege of having such a conversation with a 19-year-old.

There are so many talks that we shared and there are many that I love. If I had to choose just one, it would be The Grandeur of God from 2003. I keep it folded in my scriptures for ready reference. Here are some of my favorite words,

God, in His ultimate effort to have us know Him, sent to earth His Only Begotten and perfect Son, created in His very likeness and image, to live and serve among mortals in the everyday rigors of life.

To come to earth with such a responsibility, to stand in place of Elohim—speaking as He would speak, judging and serving, loving and warning, forbearing and forgiving as He would do—this is a duty of such staggering proportions that you and I cannot comprehend such a thing. But in the loyalty and determination that would be characteristic of a divine child, Jesus could comprehend it, and He did it. Then, when the praise and honor began to come, He humbly directed all adulation to the Father.

“The Father … doeth the works,” He said in earnest. “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever [the Father] doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” On another occasion He said: “I speak that which I have seen with my Father.” “I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me.” “I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.”

He came to improve man’s view of God and to plead with them to love their Heavenly Father as He has always and will always love them. The plan of God, the power of God, the holiness of God, yes, even the anger and the judgment of God they had occasion to understand. But the love of God, the profound depth of His devotion to His children, they still did not fully know—until Christ came.

So feeding the hungry, healing the sick, rebuking hypocrisy, pleading for faith—this was Christ showing us the way of the Father, He who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, long-suffering and full of goodness.” In His life and especially in His death, Christ was declaring, “This is God’s compassion I am showing you, as well as that of my own.”

I am so blessed to have had Elder Holland’s witness of Christ through my years of important decisions, marriage, and all the years of raising children. Apparently, he spoke at my middle school because his youngest son was in my class, but I don’t have a memory of it. Foggy middle school years aside, he was very influential in my life and I will miss him.

Mark’s new area

The white is Denmark, and the red is Bornholm, also part of Denmark.

There are two missionaries on the island of Bornholm, and one of them is Mark. To get there, he travels through the southern tip of Sweden. He is part of a district centered in Copenhagen, but he and his companion are very removed from their district. There is a church building on Bornholm and there are 7 people who attend sacrament meetings regularly. Mark says all the good pictures come from Bornholm.

I am glad we bought a really good coat for him. The Baltic in December and January is dark and very cold. I know he is fine, but for some reason while I write this, I have begun to cry.

Here is a recent picture that I love of Mark, taken in Copenhagen. ♥️

Repeat

I didn’t thin the sunflowers this year as they popped up in a great company of heart-shaped leaves. They continued to grow and blossom through the summer, and now the flowers begin to fade. The bees that collected nectar begin to close out their shift as small birds come to snack on sunflower seeds.

As I have mentioned before, I interpret these unintended sunflowers as the Lord’s cheer and encouragement to me as he cares for my missionaries. To me, quite literally, they are my “son-flowers.”

They bloom in my backyard, but I see them everywhere this time of year. Looking through photographs, I find them in the background of Daniel’s wedding pictures, and now, Tim’s. I collected the round, burr-like remnants of Mark’s first-year missionary sunflowers last winter to keep in a glass box on a shelf.

We need the rhythm of seasons and the predictability of daylight and sunset. Yet with all this predictability, there awaits a perpetual wonder inspired by the beautiful creations of God. I smile almost every day when I see how that one little sunflower that appeared while Daniel served his mission has become this array, reminding me of a glorious God, who blesses us with a “multiplicity of blessings.” (See Doctrine and Covenants 104:2.)

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August 7 was the 7th anniversary of Daniel’s mission departure and Mark’s 10-month mark as a missionary. This was also the beginning of many years as a missionary mom, as Tim’s mission also deserves mention here.

The missionary years have offered some of the biggest lessons of life for our family.

This short video came up in my feed and I appreciate how he describes one of those big lessons. Whether as a missionary, or basic disciple like me, sharing light matters.

The following passage of Scripture describes the creations of God, including the sun, moon, and stars, but all of His creations can shine His light. I like to think this verse describes an important purpose of life,

And they give light to each other in their times and in their seasons, in their minutes, in their hours, in their days, in their weeks, in their months, in their years…

Doctrine and Covenants 88:44

Ældste Ross’s Monkeys in Aalborg

The original monkeys that inspired it all, purchased from a vending machine in 2008.

Mark sent me a voice message he received this week from Emily in Denmark. In the message, she tells Mark that she keeps one of his tiny monkeys in her kitchen as a reminder of his kindness. Six months ago, Mark hid monkeys for her children throughout their home.

I’ve written before that Mark likes to hide monkeys and yes, they are pretty silly. But this small and completely authentic habit endeared Mark to Emily’s family.

The Lord translates into love whatever earnest offerings His young authorized servants have to give. To be clear, Mark did more than hide monkeys, and Emily and her family were super kind to the missionaries. This voice message reminded me that the Lord is really good at multiplying love and helping people feel seen. He can use any small thing, even tiny plastic monkeys, to accomplish his purpose to lift us.

Emoji time 🔥📖🦸🙏

We have a good conversation with Mark on a video call each Monday and he is happy and busy working in the mission office, assigned to travel logistics. There are lots of train tickets to purchase and coordinate in the mission. He gets to leave the office every day to contact people and teach, and he loves living in the city and being so close to the temple. The mission office has a good atmosphere since it is a consecrated place, and he enjoys his connections with missionaries. He serves each week as the pianist in Primary in his ward.

His weekly emails are basically brief statements punctuated by emojis. Here is a small collection of fun lines from his emails from the past few months:

Do-si-don’t do that, elder. 🕺(Reflecting whether missionaries should have accepted the invitation from older ladies to join in the folk dancing at a ward activity.)

I’m trying to make Mexican food in Danmark; it’s me against the world with their spice selection though🧂🧂

Sisters had a baptism yesterday. I got one days notice to play music for it, but as a wise philosopher once said: “Sometimes if you do a job bad enough you don’t get asked to do it again.”🐅

I made pickles for our zone pday and everyone ate them. Before I got any.😒

🖥🔥💳☢️😨It’s going well.

With transfer news we had to hit the office for 11 hours to crank out the fastest ever travel plans💪

Elder Harris moving in on Thursday🕶🪇

Alma 32 keeps coming in clutch with lessons so shout out Alma the younger. Always worth [a] read, but so is the rest of the book.🪇

19 today

He’s entered the year of his life that I won’t be able to hug him because he is serving so far away, but I am thrilled that he is a missionary. I am so proud of him.