I mentioned that Elder
Renlund and his wife visited the mission during a Zone Conference a month ago.
I was very impressed with both he and his wife. It turns out that Elder Renlund
was one of the speakers in General Conference. Our Mission President shared comments
from Elder Renlund’s talk as they were very applicable to missionary work.
The following comments were
taken from Elder Renlund’s General Conference talk. I thought the
comments were helpful in learning to improve our relationships with our
companions and in evaluating our live. I believe the first three bullet
points below will become “classics.”
“Some years ago a wonderful
young man named Curtis was called to serve a mission. He was the kind of
missionary every mission president prays for. He was focused and worked hard.
At one point he was assigned a missionary companion who was immature, socially
awkward, and not particularly enthusiastic about getting the work done.
“One day, while they were
riding their bicycles, Curtis looked back and saw that his companion had
inexplicably gotten off his bike and was walking. Silently, Curtis expressed
his frustration to God; what a chore it was to be saddled with a companion he
had to drag around in order to accomplish anything. Moments later, Curtis had a
profound impression, as if God were saying to him, “You know, Curtis, compared
to me, the two of you aren’t all that different.” Curtis learned that he needed
to be patient with an imperfect companion who nonetheless was trying in his own
way.
“My invitation to all of us
is to evaluate our lives, repent, and keep on trying.
· If we don’t try, we’re just latter-day sinners;
· If we don’t persevere, we’re latter-day quitters; and
· If we don’t allow others to try, we’re just latter-day
hypocrites.
· As we try, persevere, and help others to do the same, we
are true Latter-day Saints.
· As we change, we will find that God indeed cares a lot
more about who we are and about who we are becoming than about who we once
were.
“I am deeply grateful for the
Savior, for His infinite Atonement, and for latter-day prophets who encourage
us to be Latter-day Saints, to keep on trying.
