Jones Falls District is one of four districts in the Baltimore Zone
As Sister Lindsay and I near the completion of our mission for the Church, we now find ourselves doing many things for the very last time. Recently, we participated in our final training session with the other missionaries in the Baltimore Zone. Looking around the room during this instructional meeting, I reflected upon the many people changes we have observed during the past 18 months in this part of the Maryland Baltimore Mission.
As a senior missionary couple, we have been assigned to the Chesapeake Ward in east Baltimore for our entire mission; however, the young elders and sisters with whom we serve in this area have come and gone many times during this same year-and-a-half. On average, missionary transfers occur every six weeks; and with each transfer, there have been several elders and sisters arriving and departing. As a result, we have been blessed to meet and work with a significant number of wonderful young adults who are fully committed to bringing the message of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ into the lives of those individuals who are seeking truth but don't know where to find it.
The missionaries of the Church are earnestly seeking to be totally obedient to both the letter and spirit of God's commandments. In effect, proselyting elders and sisters try their best to live the principles of truth that they know to be true. It is not possible to teach that which we have not already learned; and yet, even the Lord's servants are imperfect people who are seeking to become more Christ-like each day.
President James E. Faust (1920-2007), a former member of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has said that all who seek to rise above themselves must make a humble and honest inquiry to determine where truth lies: an inquiry in their hearts as well as in their minds and in their lives. May each of us consciously seek to know the truths of God and to courageously live those truths in love and thanksgiving.
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:32
The freedom that most assuredly comes to anyone who seeks to live the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not just found in the words written in the holy scriptures but also by the supportive association with fellow Church members who help sustain and encourage their fellow believers in times of trial and hardship. Some of the sweetest memories we will retain from our being missionaries will be the recollection of the unselfish love and kindness shown by missionaries to members and total strangers while we served here in Baltimore.
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