Mission Phases

8/31/15

Brothers and Sisters,

Hard to believe it has been an entire three weeks since I've been in the mission field! In the MTC, Brother Stephen B Allen gave a devotional in which he described the four phases to adjusting to a big change: the Honeymoon Phase, where you are just happy-go-lucky and have all the energy and motivation in the world because you are excited for the new experience; the Hostile Phase, where you just get down on yourself and get irritable because you feel you aren't adjusting to the change very well; the Grin-and-Bear-It Phase, where you smile because you know you have to even though you don't fell it, and you just keep moving forward even though you don't like it; and finally the Successful Adjustment Phase, where you gain the peace and comfort from a set routine and become effective and efficient. Yep, I'll be honest, I think I would consider myself around the Hostile Phase. I'm not exactly a roller-coaster kind of Elder though so my 'hostility' is very mild. 

We all share that roller-coaster kind of adjustment in our lives, my hope is that we can all understand a greater perspective. In my Gospel Essentials class yesterday, we discussed the Atonement. One of the most comforting things about the Atonement is that Christ suffered our sins and can see the end result. We each go through the refiners fire--big changes and trials--in order to become better individuals. The challenge is gaining that perspective that Christ and Heavenly Father have in seeing that end purpose: that person He wants us to become. As Elder Joseph B Wirthlin says, "We see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today. Our Heavenly Father sees us in terms of forever."

Two days ago, Elder Shepherd and I drove to an appointment that cancelled out on us because they 'forgot'. Classic right? Anyways, we were driving away when Elder Shepherd says, "I can't do it anymore!" and flips the car around and starts driving back. He parks the car a good ways away from the house we just left and I'm thinking to myself "what on earth is he doing?" We got out and I practically have to chase him as he Olympic-speed-walks towards a young man, his sister, and his dog in the back of a pickup truck listening to some music. Elder Shepherd loves dogs so he went straight to the dog, but we started asking him about his interests and he said he had anger issues so he got into MMA. Uh oh. So I ask him if he as any other interests, and he says, "right now actually I am really into religion. It has helped me cope with my anger." It turns out that he goes to the House, a non-denominational Christian church that even they occasionally unknowingly refer to as the 'great and spacious building', and is training to become a pastor. But he said he would love to meet with us!! So we are stopping by sometime this week to tell him a little about our church! Galatians 5:25, sent to me by my mom, says: "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Let us all strive to have the influence of the Spirit in our lives and to find the purpose in each of our refiner's fires.

--Elder Jordan Hawkes