A real Missionary Story

St Nick, a Turkish Saint

Saturday was my birthday, we spent it, as usual, not celebrating but just living the normal life.  This is a routine for me since I was young.  Maybe that is the source of my pent up anger.  Any December birthday is just a nuisance because everyone is focused on Christmas and it is not convenient to celebrate a birthday, but that is another story.  We met with the members of Zone 4 in the Sophia Bulgaria Turkish Mission Area.  This is the Turkish speaking and serving elders.  Six from Istanbul and six from Ankara.  President and Sister Wilstead along with the two assistants to the president met with us in Ankara and we held the first ever zone training in Ankara.

The training was really cool in that the two zone leaders led and taught the lessons.  The Zone Leaders are elders that are part of the original 4 that we met in Istanbul last year and so it was a real treat to see one that we had not seen for about 8 months.  Elders (names withheld by mission rule and security) have grown so much that it would literally blow your mind.  We could not believe the maturity they have gained. 

 

Planting pansies for my birthday

This is the second time Nori and I have been included in a mission function and it is the only time we actually feel like we are part of the mission and not just disenfranchised Americans living in a foreign land.  You really feel part of a bigger picture and that perhaps you actually have a purpose.

We finished the training and ate together and played a couple of typical Christmas games and traded for gifts that no one really wanted, but we had a great time. 

Sunday was another great day and we listened to one of our recent converts teach us about the Holy Ghost.  I think that new members with a fresh testimony have the very best perspective on the blessings of the Gospel.  He is an amazing young man from the Islamic Republic of Mauritania; a small northwest African country that is Muslim and the language spoken is Arabic.  He is a pharmacy student studying here in Ankara.

We finished our Sunday block of meetings and our struggle to speak Farsi, Arabic and Turkish and then slipped off to our apartment for a quick nap and relaxation.  We were sitting around talking in our pajamas when one of the Elders called and asked if they could bring a young lady investigator to our apartment.  Of course we said sure, after all we have people teach here all the time.  When I asked when, he said at 5.  It was exactly 7 minutes before 5!  This is how we live, spontaneously.

Entertainment at the mall 

Well we hurried back into our Sunday best and had barely brushed out the bed head when they arrived.  This was such an unusual situation.  The Elders are not supposed to approach or talk to women.  We never get women visitors or for sure no female investigator, but there she was, a Turkish girl about 26 or so that speaks impeccable English, French and Turkish.

She had seen the Missionaries on the street and then ended up getting on the same bus that they were on.  I am thinking it was not just a coincidence.  She was curious about what they were doing and why they were here.  She said she had seen other young men like them when she was in France some time ago and she wanted to know about them.  She also normally drives a car and does not usually ride the bus.  She told us that she even called her mother to tell here she had found out that these guys were religious people.

Well to make a very interesting story short, she says she is not religious, but that she believes there must be a God.  She cannot understand the concept of religion as explained by Islam so she has not been religiously active since she was little.  So we told her about our Church and what we believe.  Basically we taught the restoration lesson and talked about Christ.  She genuinely seemed interested and when we asked her to read a passage from the Book of Mormon, she exclaimed, “That is so true, I cannot believe it, that is so true!” When we asked her how she felt about that feeling, she responded as she touched Nori's arm, "I just wish I could stay right here.  I would like to sleep here!  It feels so good!"

 

Some volunteers in an unknown
location and with no names.  Somewhere
in Asia.

The Elders had another appointment and needed to leave, we visited with our new friend for a while and invited her to bring her mother and come to the Christmas Party on the 21^st,  she was so excited.  Hopefully excitement will result in action.  The Elders came back when they had finished their day and were still so wound up.  Elder (name withheld) said, "This was the best teaching experience of my mission!"   He just wanted to keep saying it over and over again and they were just beaming with joy.  What a great and extremely unique experience.  

It will be a birthday weekend I will remember for a long time, or until I die, but that will most likely not be such a long time.

Our branch had not actually planned a Christmas party or celebration because too many of our American expat families were planning to be gone over the holidays, so Nori and I just simply decided to have a party.  We scheduled the night of the 21^st and we will do the party.  We are not doing back to Bethlehem or a Country Christmas, but we will hold a festive event and if we can get food from the American Commissary, we will eat like kings.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good life.