Sister missionaries received a "heart attack"on the front door of their apartment
How much members like the young full time missionaries serving in a particular ward is sometimes measured by the number of meal appointments the elders and sisters have with Church families during the month, but it is a bonus situation when the members also perform random acts of kindness for their missionaries. Such was the case this week when the Winters Run Relief Society members showed up on Valentines Day unannounced and decorated the front door of the sister missionaries' apartment while they were away performing their Church assignments.
Our experience in The Maryland Baltimore Mission during the past 18 months has been that most of our young missionary friends do very well when it comes to managing their feelings about home, family, and friends most of the time; however, on special days when there night be a family tradition or it is an anniversary of some event that has been important in times past to these young men and women, there can be an occasional twinge of sorrow or loneliness that might affect a missionary with a touch of homesickness.
Sister Lindsay and I remember with a deep sense of gratitude how our eight sons and daughters were so lovingly cared for and loved by Church members around the world while they served full time missions as young adults in various places that were far away from home. We have seen that same type of thoughtful love and compassion given by Church members to the young missionaries who serve here in this part of the Lord's vineyard.
Thomas S. Monson, President of the Church suggests, "Often we live side by side but do not communicate heart to heart . . . I am confident it is the intention of each member of the Church to serve and to help those in need. At baptism we covenanted to “bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light.” How many times has your heart been touched as you have witnessed the need of another? How often have you intended to be the one to help? And yet how often has day-to-day living interfered and you’ve left it for others to help, feeling that “oh, surely someone will take care of that need.”
Missionary service can be difficult, and every elder and sister who is engaged in the work of bringing souls to Christ must learn to deal with rejection. What a blessing it is when good people reach out to sustain the Lord's servants with simple acts of kindness whether it is an unexpected ride to the next appointment, a couple of freshly baked cookies, or a "heart attack" on your front door!
Our experience in The Maryland Baltimore Mission during the past 18 months has been that most of our young missionary friends do very well when it comes to managing their feelings about home, family, and friends most of the time; however, on special days when there night be a family tradition or it is an anniversary of some event that has been important in times past to these young men and women, there can be an occasional twinge of sorrow or loneliness that might affect a missionary with a touch of homesickness.
Sister Lindsay and I remember with a deep sense of gratitude how our eight sons and daughters were so lovingly cared for and loved by Church members around the world while they served full time missions as young adults in various places that were far away from home. We have seen that same type of thoughtful love and compassion given by Church members to the young missionaries who serve here in this part of the Lord's vineyard.
I have wept in the night
For the shortness of sight
That to somebody’s need made me blind;
But I never have yet
Felt a tinge of regret
For being a little too kind.
- Anonymous
Thomas S. Monson, President of the Church suggests, "Often we live side by side but do not communicate heart to heart . . . I am confident it is the intention of each member of the Church to serve and to help those in need. At baptism we covenanted to “bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light.” How many times has your heart been touched as you have witnessed the need of another? How often have you intended to be the one to help? And yet how often has day-to-day living interfered and you’ve left it for others to help, feeling that “oh, surely someone will take care of that need.”
Missionary service can be difficult, and every elder and sister who is engaged in the work of bringing souls to Christ must learn to deal with rejection. What a blessing it is when good people reach out to sustain the Lord's servants with simple acts of kindness whether it is an unexpected ride to the next appointment, a couple of freshly baked cookies, or a "heart attack" on your front door!
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