Missionary moments: 'Imagine my delight'
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My mission call came in July 1983 when President Spencer W. Kimball called me to serve in the Texas Houston Mission. I was thrilled to be called by a prophet of God and also to be going somewhere that seemed so different from the green fields of my native England. I wondered about the wide open space, the Longhorn cattle and the cowboys. Through my mission, I came to love the people in such a way that I have seen Texas differently ever since.
One such experience came toward the end of my mission when I had the privilege of teaching and participating in the baptism of Pat Zacharias and her two daughters, Selena, 14; and Christina, 12. All three members of this wonderful family were ready to hear the gospel and conformed their lives quickly to the standards required for baptism. Both Selena and Christina showed great maturity for ones so young, and they both bore a strong testimony to the truth. Their enthusiasm and excitement about the gospel was such that I left my mission field grateful to the Lord for having the opportunity to have known them.
Several years later and back in England, I was called to serve as bishop of my ward. One Sabbath morning, I was greeting members of the ward. I knew that one of the full-time sister missionaries we had serving with us had been transferred, and we were expecting to see the new sister that very morning. Imagine my delight when this sister walked into the chapel and turned out to be none other than little Christina.
For the second time in my life, I was able to hear her bear a strong and powerful testimony to the truthfulness of the gospel, and watched as she worked diligently to spread this same gospel to my community. I hope that my example as a missionary to her was as worthy as the one she showed to me.
That experience has taught me about the marvelous effect that missionary work has on both the convert and the missionary. I never knew how far reaching my knock on the Zacharias's door would be, but I now look at others and approach experiences for who they will produce and not what they will produce. The most important ingredient for all of us is the individual, whether that individual is our parent, spouse, child or someone whom we have yet to meet.Another in the series of "Missionary Moments."
Illustration by John Clark.
