Missionary

Unlike young missionaries who are often transferred as often as every six weeks, senior missionaries sometimes stay in their new home their full mission. That would be the case for us as we arrived in Puerto Rico, with too many bags to carry, too little sleep, and a lot of hope in our hearts.

We were met at the airport by the mission leaders, President Paul and Sister Karryl Horstmeier, and since they are such dear friends of ours and had recruited us to come, their smiles were truly welcome. That night we stayed in the mission home, ready to see our new home the next day.

Sister Horstmeier had sent a single photo of the new place we would live, and when we showed it to our daughter-in-law, Angie, she helped us give it a name. Since the word for house in Spanish is casa, we thought a little house must be a casita. Then we realized that casita rhymed well with chiquita meaning a little girl and also bonita, meaning beautiful. So, we were endeared to living in la casita, chiquita, bonita long before we came.

We also knew it was through a gate and half a block walk to the temple.

But Sister Horstmeier had her concerns about whether we’d like the place. The hall to the office is so narrow, you’ll touch a shoulder on either side when you walk through it. “Oh, you’ll see,” she laughed. The walls are concrete and there are many holes where people have tried to hang pictures in the past. “Oh, you’ll see.” They tore out all the tile on the driveway because it got slick since it rains almost every day. What’s left behind is…”Oh, you’ll see.”

When we arrived at the place the next day, Sister Horstmeier showed us around. It was a short tour. Yet, what I saw in every corner is the love that Sister Horstmeier and Sister Marilee Larsen had given so we could live here. Food filled our cupboards and refrigerator. New towels and dishcloths were folded in the cupboard. The kitchen table had a new cloth. If there was a way to make us comfortable and unworried in our first moments in a new island country, they had found it, seeking to serve our needs.

I observe other people to seek to learn how to be more Christlike, and this was one of those moments for me. “Ah, so this is how you take care of the needs of others and see who they are in a situation that is tenuous because it is new.”

Scot and I thought the house was fun.  We each think the house is painted a different color. He thinks it is gray and I think it is a shade of purple. He thinks the couch is black and I think it is navy blue. (Honestly, I am probably right on the color of the house and he is probably right on the color of the couch.) Nonetheless we told Sister Horstmeier to be at ease because we loved the house—especially the dolphin mailbox.

But there was one little thing that everyone forgot to ask. They forgot because it is an assumption of those who come from the states. The question is this: “Is there any hot water?”

The answer was no—and to add to that the toilets ran incessantly. We had only been here a night before we had to leave again. One helpful neighbor said as we were heading out, “You didn’t get hot water because it was cloudy.” Unfortunately, it was sunny just then, and the water was still cold. The solar system wasn’t working.

So, we were out for a few nights while we found someone to solve and then fix the problem.

A Surprise Blessing

It turned out to be a blessing, but let me back up first.

The island of Puerto Rico has five stakes and only one ward that is a completely English-speaking ward. Though we were called to an English-speaking mission, it is already clear that the majority of this island speaks mostly or mainly Spanish. Our hours of Duolingo just aren’t cutting it, and if we are to enjoy the fulness of this mission, we are going to have to dive in further and deeper into language study.

That sounds like great fun to us, because we have truly enjoyed the spark of learning Spanish so far, but will we have time? We don’t have the advantage of a Spanish-speaking companion who could help immerse us. We have just us. We can say little with confidence. Our Spanish is only good enough to make each other laugh.

So, we are attending the English ward. Only hours into Puerto Rico, we went to the church and met a young friend who had grown up in Utah and not had a single missionary contact or been inside a Latter-day Saint chapel. But she had become interested. One day some time ago, she had passed three sister missionaries in a store and then, out of the blue, had the thought she should go back and ask them if any of them were from Utah. That was a beginning.

We had a sweet experience together at the meeting where she felt the Spirit and asked us if we could be like grandparents to her, but she added quickly, “not that you’re elderly or anything.” We so appreciated that last sentence!

Our Server who Loves God

Our next missionary moment occurred the next day. Because we were staying temporarily at a hotel, we went to a Puerto Rican restaurant across the street and our server was named Robert. He saw our tags and said, “I love Jesus, too.” That was a good way to meet. He began to tell his story as he brought us lunch and water. “Things work out for me. Even when they don’t work out, I feel the Lord with me. I trust Him.” On and on he went, with even a bit of relief to be able to share his witness.

We asked him if he’d like to talk with us about the Lord, and it was, “Of course.” So, these are days one and two in Puerto Rico. What could be sweeter?

We met with President Horstmeier about the duties he wanted us to perform. He began the meeting with, “Are you ready to be overwhelmed?” We were ready.

Certainly part of what gives the young missionaries courage is both their testimony and pure youthful joy. I have rarely been told how much I am loved more often than by the sister missionaries who are brimming with good feeling.

On Friday morning, we met a group of five new missionaries—straight off the plane– who came to the temple on their first full day in Puerto Rico. We went to the baptismal font where the temple president spoke to us. We could feel the Spirit as soon as we walked in and we took it as yet another testimony of the importance of the missionary work that ultimately leads to this place where we can receive our highest ordinances and do redeeming work for our dead.

President and Sister Horstmeier truly are remarkable leaders. They know how to make the missionaries feel welcome, how to feel safe, how to feel involved, how to feel like they are all on the most amazing team—the team of Jesus Christ. They are master teachers. They are kind and affectionate and the missionaries all love them.

Later we returned to the church, where the missionaries were in a double line up the stairs and down the hall, shouting and clapping and smiling their welcome to the new missionaries. Then we realized that we, too, were new missionaries and we got the same treatment. We show this in the film below, because these are the moments that happen once in life and not again.

The group went on to sing a resounding Called to Serve in Spanish with some additional sounds found in no hymnbook.

Since this is transfer day, the new missionaries sit on one side of a parallel line of chairs while the new trainers sit across from them. There should be a drum roll between each announcement of the new pairing, for all the excitement of the moment and hugs for a new companion.

Our Social Media Responsibilities

Among the first responsibility we were given was to work with the social media sisters as they traverse the island to get and film stories. Sister Lilian Koch and Sister Mya Harbach are the creative, skilled, resourceful young women who have been called to work on stories for the mission’s Facebook page called Venir a Cristo (or Come unto Christ). Their job is to create the stories that draw in viewers and they carefully chart who they are.

For a Facebook page that has only been going since September, they have developed some reach and their stories often have many shares. Their viewers come from Spanish-speaking countries in many areas as well as Puerto Rico and are seen by members and their friends as well. Many write in with questions and want to know more and missionaries answer these queries. It’s a great thing.

Since the social media sisters go all over the island, so will we, while we are shadowing them. That means Friday night we took a two+ hour drive to the west of the island to Aguavilla to join a ward in a family history activity. The idea was to bring a grandmother’s recipe to share and we had some remarkable food. Puerto Rican hot chocolate is made with cheese in your cup, and a dark, hot chocolate poured over the top with just a touch of cinnamon. Yum.

We had avocados and plantains and other fare. We were also called upon to speak to the entire ward when we heard the name “Proctor” from the Spanish-speaking bishop. An interpreter quickly jumped up and we told them how important the work of getting to know our ancestors really was and that the secret sauce of holding a family together was knowing the stories of our forebearers.

Saturday morning, we drove an hour east to capture a baptism in the ocean in film and photo. This was really our first time away from the crowds of San Juan to see the countryside in the light. Suddenly we saw where we are. This place is stunning, with rolling, tree-covered mountains, deep jungles, aqua seas that spread in every direction and, we thought, this is surely the American jewel of the Atlantic, just as Hawaii is the American jewel of the Pacific.

I suppose we should not be surprised that so many Americans have moved here for at least part of the year. Many people in our ward have done that. Some of them are from our own home town.

It was a moment never to be forgotten as we met Luis Miguel who was about to be baptized. He fit the story we hear so often, that a best friend brought him in. Missionaries can knock on hundreds of doors without success, but one out of ten people, referred by a member, actually joins the church.

Luis was a neighbor to Elliot Collins and brought him over some fish one day. Since fish is Eliot’s favorite interest, a conversation that turned to a friendship was struck. Amy and Elliot Collins had many hours together discussing life’s meaning and religion. Because Luis’ trusted friend introduced the gospel to him, he was open to listen and what he found there made him so happy.

I don’t think we begin to realize the gift we have to give to others.

Some members of the ward walked down the sandy beach together and then found the place where Elliot and Luis would walk through the crashing waves to find a relatively still place for Luis’s baptism. It was touching. It was a moment never to be forgotten.

That night we drove yet another hour to the boutique that our friend Robert’s wife was opening. We sat in chairs talking about family history with anyone who would listen. Many did. I came away happy and hopeful.

That night, as every night, we went to bed satisfied, listening to the sweet call of birds and frogs just outside our window. We can hear the rusty swing bird and the coqui frog that says its own name as if it were bold, but hides so well it’s hard to find. It is like the sound of a most exotic jungle, yet it is the sound of the neighborhood of our casita chiquita bonita.