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Stories: They were written upon the table and countenance of my heart
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| The rain was pouring down, visibility was poor, and for two missionaries on bicycles, the unpaved streets resembled more of a network of muddy canals. It was my 5th week “in-country” in my first city of Olavarría, Argentina. When we arrived at the apartment, we discovered that my scriptures we no longer bundled on the back of my companion Elder Whitlock’s bicycle. After the tense moment of discovery, we decided we would again venture into the watery wonderland in hopes of retrieving those scriptures. They were important to me because they had been given to me by my parents when I was baptized. They were full of my red-penciled scriptures, comments and correlations from my personal study of the gospel and between the pages were archived a few of my personal treasures, including several 4 leaf clovers gathered during my young life at stake conferences, gathered while eating a boxed lunch between sessions of stake conference on the church lawn. I knew I could easily replace those scriptures, but the thought that so many of my personal effects would be lost or destroyed overwhelmed me at that moment. How could my companion have been so careless?, I asked myself. I prayed silently I would find them and they were still salvageable. The hand of the Lord lead us to the lost scriptures, unfortunately, they were badly soaked and damaged by the rain and mud. When we returned home I decided to pray for peace and to allow myself to forgive both myself and my companion. I must have fallen asleep at some point; because when I awoke in the morning I was still on my knees. I still felt sad about what had happened to my scriptures. During the next few weeks I tied with varying degrees of success to restore my damaged scriptures. The process was humbling and I came to realize that even though they were badly damaged they were still usable…and it was time to leave behind the past and focus on the work of the Lord at hand. They did not matter as much as I had once thought, because they were already written upon the table and countenance of my heart (Proverbs 3:3 Alma 5:19) I still have that set of scriptures, albeit the pages are still mud stained and water damaged, but now I have peace and realize that through the course of my mortal journey, I too have become mud stained, damaged and wrinkled, but through the redeeming love and actions of our Savior there is always hope and the possibility of a complete physical and spiritual restoration. My faith and my hope are a most precious gift. What seemed to be Elder Whitlock’s careless act was actually a call to be more dedicated and focused in the service of my fellow man (Mosiah2:17). The Lord taught me several cherished lessons in a way I least expected them. It took me a while to grasp the idea, that the loss was exactly what I needed and when I needed it. I am grateful for those long ago lessons, those scriptures were already written upon the table and countenance of my heart and even in my loss, I rejoice and marvel at the wisdom the Lord shared with me that day.
Copyright Mel Borup 2010, Use granted with permission. Bs.As. Argentina South Mission 1977-79
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"You are a great army of returned missionaries. Go forward with new zeal and determination, and through your example shine the light of the gospel in this troubled world. This is the Lord's work in which we are engaged. God lives. Jesus is the Christ. We belong to His Church. This is my witness to you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."
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