Stories: Did you ever think that the Lord had abandoned you?
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| Did you ever think that the Lord had abandoned you when you felt you had done everything he asked of you? Well that is how Elder Boland and I felt in Sinait, Ilocos Sur. I was training a new missionary at the time, Elder Boland from Brisbane, Australia. I had not even been a year out yet and this was my first time as the senior companion. The thought of pushing the work forward in this little town and helping a new missionary seemed very overwhelming. I am sure Elder Boland felt the same way.
Knowing we would need all the help we could get we both committed to be extra obedient to all mission rules and policies and bind the Lord.
For a month we worked hard everyday getting lots of contacts and many teaching appointments, but despite all the hard work we weren’t seeing the results we wanted, more baptisms! Instead we began to notice something else about the area, Sinait branch had membership records for nearly 900 members, but only 12 – 20 people were showing up to church every Sunday and (we did the research) only about 4 of the 900 had left town. In church, leaders and members seemed lost as to what to do, and at times about what doctrines to teach, and what doctrines were right. Some Sunday’s members would scream and shout at each other while arguing about some doctrine that was taught. My companion and I found ourselves refereeing relationships between the members, and researching duties and responsibilities the leaders did not know existed.
I began to write letters to my mission president about the problems and asking if he could get help from the stake president for training for our members, but no help ever came. Soon contention grew stronger and stronger among the members, and the fighting in church became more and more consistent. One Sunday only 6 people came to church. Things even got worse in our missionary work. Our numbers dropped because I felt it was useless trying to bring investigators to church if they were only going to witness all this contention over doctrines from the gospel of “Love”. We spent more and more time trying to help the members organize and unite instead of finding people to teach. My companion and I even began to argue. Then the mission president called to talk to me, and he said, “Elder, you were called to teach and baptize so that is what you need to focus on” and so we did.
I felt abandoned and I felt like I was abandoning the members too. We went on with the work but every minute I asked the Lord why these things had happened. We were “extra” obedient, and we worked so hard and why weren’t we blessed with baptisms? We tried so hard to listen to the spirit and why did it seem like we were doing all the wrong things? I had tried so hard to do what was right and yet it seemed like everything around us was crumbling to the ground. Then came the week I will always remember.
Thursday we were riding home from a far out baranggay in a bus going about 70 mph. A dump truck skipped us then slammed on its breaks when it got in front of us and our bus collided with its steel rear totaling itself.
Friday we went to home teach a very inactive live-in couple and we walked right into a 4th Watch trap. The Sinait pastor and his 3 missionaries came out from a back room with bibles in hand, fingers wagging, and screaming insults and accusations.
Saturday while crossing an overflowing dam to an appointment I almost fell off.
After all that, I would have thought I would be on the next flight home, but that week opened my eyes to things I had not noticed for the past 3 months since Elder Boland had arrived, “The Lord was with us through it all”. After the bus crash many passengers were cut, broken, and bruised and yet we walked away from it without a scratch. The 4th Watch ambush ended with in peace and the Holy Ghost testifying of the truthfulness of what we had shared. I caught myself on the dam, and despite the strong currents hitting me I was able to pull myself to safety. Also my companion’s screams had alerted the neighborhood and our investigators (the Concepcion’s) we were visiting, and soon I had many people laughing at me and cheering me on (thanks a lot Elder Boland). After Sister Annie Concepcion and her family were baptized she said seeing that 2 young boys would risk their lives for this message brought her to consult with the Lord as to whether we taught the truth.
Months after I left Sinait, I heard the Stake President who never came to help us, nor sent anyone to help us was excommunicated. When Elder Dallin H. Oaks came to the Philippines I heard leadership trainings became more frequent in Sinait. We didn’t have lots of baptisms, we only had 3 but at least I knew in my heart that they were 3 strong additions to the branch. I heard Annie became a scriptorian. My companion and I settled our differences, and the members still had their arguments, but now it sounded like a family arguing rather than sworn enemies. My heart never left Sinait.
I never fully realized why we were led to do what we did for the members but I knew that that experience happened to teach us something very important. Even now, 7 years after Sinait, I still refer back to my experiences there and realize why the Lord let those things happen to us. |
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