Well Hey There Family!
I love you guys so so much! I feel so so blessed to have such a wonderful family. You guys are the best! I don't think a missionary could ever ask for a better family than the one that I have. And that family clan stretches all the way across the board from immediate family, to extended family and other loved ones! I am so blessed. I know that the Lord works through those who surround us to help us progress and become who He wants us to be.
I don't know if I can sufficiently describe this idea, but I often imagine the mission field as the Lord's specialized training center. The mission is AMAZING! It's as if The Lord is my personal trainer in EVERYTHING for two years.
Even as I describe this idea I realize that it could be hard to imagine having the Lord as your Personal Trainer. But on the mission, that is really how it is. I LOVE IT! Everything that we do from the moment we get up until the moment the head hits the pillow is focused on the Lord's training program (which in reality is an on-the-job-training type experience). His training program is focused on His work of "bring[ing] to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." And I get to be involved in it 24/7. Even after the head hits the pillow, The Lord continues the training experience at His discretion by doing whatever He knows to be best. In my experience, what He most often deems as best after my head hits the pillow is that I rest myself so that I'm ready to go for the upcoming day. But occasionally I have had the opportunity to wake up (be it in the middle of the night, or in the morning right before the alarm goes off) with a clear and distinct thought/impression that is divinely pertinent to whatever the situation at hand may be. And these experiences always aid me in my continual progression process in the Training House of The Lord.
It is an amazing privilege to serve a mission!
I have come to a realization of why The Lord might devote so much time and energy to train with His missionaries in such a concentrated way. He trusts and is hopeful that we will utilize all training/progression opportunities he has given us to be a better servants in His hands (both now as one of His full time missionaries and for the rest of our lives).
I think a lot of times we can trap ourselves into thinking that when a "training", or in this case "the mission", is over that our ability to learn and progress is over as well. I have noted the idea voiced indirectly on several occasions that when the mission is over one just makes do with whatever he learned during the process of the mission as he continues the course of his life in the hopes that he doesn't forget or lose any of the traits that he developed on the mission. But I know The Lord doesn't want it to be that way. He still wants us to continue progressing and becoming better servants in His hands forever more. I look forward to figuring out how to do that fully in the future. I imagine it will be more challenging, due to the plentiful distractions of the world that I will face as the safety-net/shield from these distractions (the Lord's mission rules) are removed; but I believe it will be possible as I find ways to ensure that everything I do is pointed to the Lord's goal and purpose of bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
But even this learning and progression process will, I imagine, be an on-the-job experience. So I'll figure it out more fully when I get there.
For now, I'm still loading up on full time missionary experiences!
This past week, we were approached by someone who told us, "I have a lot of questions that I need help with. I work for CR England (it's a trucking company out of Salt Lake City) and I was told by Mr. England that I should get in touch with you guys because you can help me out. I just want you guys to know though that even though I have a ton of questions, that I will be the easiest sell you guys ever have. I want to be a member of your church so so bad!"
So why is he so interested in becoming a member of the church? Well, according to him, EVERY Mormon he has ever met is always glowing with what he has determined to be the light of Christ. He says he knows that it is the real light of Christ because it doesn't go dim when we walk out of the church doors and Monday morning arrives. He wants to have that same lasting light of Christ in His life. He explains to us constantly that in all his pursuits for the light of Christ he has never found a people as close to it as he imagines Christ to be as the Mormons. Even in that very first conversation with him he mentioned, "I guess it must be because you guys have the right doctrine. Actually it has to be the right doctrine! It must be being taught the same here as it is on the other side of the world because EVERY Mormon I have ever met has that same comfortable and welcoming glow about them!"
This man is amazingly humble. It is an absolute blessing to visit with him because he is so focused on his end goal of obtaining the glow that he sees in those who have accepted and are living the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. He literally looks for anything and everything that will prepare him better to be a member of what he has already recognized for himself to be the Lord's church. He has even been preparing himself from before the day when he approached us by beginning a tediously lengthy court process necessary to allow him to be married to his girlfriend with whom he is currently living. And in the meantime while they wait to be married, they have been doing everything they can to live the law of chastity by sleeping in different rooms! So he is one of the Lord's elect. He was at church yesterday and to everyone whom he introduced himself he explained how excited and happy he is to someday soon become a member.
Another fun experience I had this past week occurred at 9 o clock at night while we were on our way home from our last visit of the night. We were passing by this big apartment complex when I heard someone call out, "Hey, are you guys Mormon missionaries?"
I glanced around but didn't see anything. The street was empty. My companions obviously hadn't heard or seen anything either because they had kept riding. But they ended up stopping to look back at me pretty quick when they heard me shout out, "Hello? Where are you?!? I can't see you."
The voice responded, "I'm up here!" She was 4 stories up on her apartment balcony and was waving like crazy to catch our attention.
"Oh! There you are! How are you doing?"
She responded, "Well, I was doing great but now that I know I have the Mormon missionaries in my area I'm doing even better! Where are you guys from?"
In the course of our 5 minute conversation we learned that she had attended BYU for 2 years and that she absolutely LOVES the church but was never baptized for two reasons: 1)because her family is catholic 2) she didn't know if she could give up her tea to live the word of wisdom. She also explained that she misses going to church because she LOVES studying the LDS faith so much. She said on several occasions, "The church is just so amazing!"
She wanted to get together another time to study and learn again like she was doing in Provo so she explained her schedule to us and gave us her number. The first 3 numbers were 360. When I asked her about it I learned that she had lived in Lacey Washington for several years while she attended Saint Martins University! Crazy huh? She btw is the first person I have met on the mission from Lacey. So that was fun.
But I think the best part was where she said, "Hey before you guys go, could we sing I Am a Child of God together? I have a ton of the songs memorized. I love the hymns!" I remember thinking, "Ok...where is the hidden camera....when this video ends up on facebook/youtube, what is the video title going to be?" I was honestly skeptical for a second that she would even know the song and thought that maybe she was just trying to have some missionaries serenade her from her 4th story balcony. I guess we were all thinking something similar because we all waited for her to start singing first. It was pretty funny. We just kinda shrugged our shoulders and looked at each other in awe that she was actually singing the song before we joined her. But it was so awesome. Then, she requested that we sing to start and end our visits in the future as well. We got a text from her about a half an hour later in which she said, "Thank you so much for singing my favorite primary song with me! It is such a beautiful song. I look forward to getting to study with you elders again soon." Pretty cool huh?
I think I have mentioned this before, but the thought has been re-impressed upon my mind because of these experiences that we really are lights on a hill. What and How we say or do really is noted. People both watch, and recognize us for who we are. While this is a big responsibility, it isn't one that we need to be afraid of. When we are living the Lord's gospel, our light will shine through, and The Lord will be able to touch those who are around us in His way. And His way could be anything from helping someone feel warmly welcome through our kind words and conversations to singing a primary song. The possibilities are limitless.
Well,
That's it!
Love you guys!
Hasta Luego!
Yours Truly,
Elder Ostler
P.S. Oh and tell Jackson that I really enjoy his letters. Sometimes I wonder if he is trunkier than me, but then I remember that I too can't wait to see him face to face. I love that guy! I'd like to think I will get to write him myself before coming home, but chances of that are probably pretty slim. So if you could send him a text on my behalf, that would be perfect!
