Getting Lost in the Work

Before our mission, Pres. Ostler said he had a feeling our mission would be a different experience than we expected. Other than the first month, when we were sent to American Samoa to help with the tsunami relief effort, our mission has not involved anything particularly unexpected--until the past couple of weeks.

When we arrived at the Institute last October, we discovered there were very few students there. It was a quiet place without much activity. We learned there had been a note on the door advising that no more non-members of the Church were allowed at the Institute. Games (primarily ping pong and pool) were only allowed on Fridays, and there were very few students attending classes. We got permission to allow the games every day, encouraged students to invite all their friends, especially non-members, had more parties, and did everything we could to promote an open, welcoming environment. There were some growing pains and things were difficult. We gradually implemented some rules designed to encourage students, including our non-member friends, to come to class and be active participants in Institute. To play games, print, and use the computers, they had to register and come to classes. We wondered for a long time if we were making a mistake, and enforcing our rules was not fun. As this semester started, I was miserable; I wondered if we were doing any good at all and felt like we were, to some extent, just putting in our time. My attitude stunk and I needed help.

After some very searching prayer and some very real and painful struggle, we felt impressed to start a special class for non-members and to change our attitude about these young people who seemed to be at the Institute just to play games. We have put our arms around them and welcomed them in, literally and figuratively. It has been an overwhelming success and has energized us and the entire Institute. We never expected to do "missionary work" like this while on a CES mission.

We have had some amazing experiences in the past few weeks. We are teaching basic Gospel principles and essentially giving the missionary discussions in our non-member class. This past Thursday, we had 13 non-members come to class. We have had two baptisms (Nora and Togipau; pictures below) at the Institute this semester; we also now have six more who are taking the missionary discussions and several more who are almost ready to meet with the young proselyting missionaries. Several are receiving the missionary discussions from us but just don't know it. The Lord has blessed us in amazing ways recently. Non-members interested in the Church suddenly are coming our of the woodwork.

Nora's Baptism Day

Togipau's Baptism Day

Tender mercies are being felt every day. The other day, one of our non-member friends, a girl named Vanessa, came into our office and asked if she could go to church. I, of course, said yes and asked her if she would also like to meet with the proselyting missionaries and formally take the lessons. She agreed to do so. I then had the task of finding someone here at the Institute to befriend her. I checked the list and found only one student from her village, who, unfortunately, had not been coming to class. I went into my office and said a prayer that someone would be put in Vanessa's path who could help her through this process. A few minutes later, a student asked me, "Elder Tolman, weren't you looking for someone from Motootua?" She then said, "I think those three new boys over there are from Motootua." It turns out they are not students but were on their lunch break from work and decided to drop by the Institute (they had never been here before); they were all from Motootua and one is the ward mission leader. A few minutes later, the student who had not been coming to class showed up to apologize for missing Sister Tolman's class and asked for some makeup work. She just happens to have been called recently as a stake missionary. I have never had a prayer answered so quickly and directly. We took Vanessa to Church on Sunday; she loved it, started the discussions this week, says she already has a testimony, and is excited about every new experience she has with the Gospel and Christ's Church.

A couple of weeks ago, there was an unfamiliar young man named Aolele hanging around the Institute late in the day. I asked him what brought him to Institute, expecting him to say "the games." He said he felt the need to change his life and thought a good way to start would be to be around good kids. He joined our new member class and has been very serious about exploring the Church. Last week, he came in and asked me if I would sign his copy of the Book of Mormon we gave him the week before. He opened it to the back page for me to sign and I noticed he had written something on it. I asked if I could read it, and he consented. He had written in very poetic form essentially that sometimes one has to hit rock bottom before the need to change becomes clear and that the Book of Mormon would change his life. I was privileged to sign his Book of Mormon. He has not started the discussions yet for family reasons but he comes to two of our classes regularly, is reading the Book of Mormon, and says he will join the Church someday.

What an amazing experience a mission is. We will be grateful forever for the Lord's guidance in doing what He wants us to do. We don't always see the big picture as life is unfolding, but He is in control and knows exactly what He is doing. Our task, our privilege, is to patiently and cheerfully do what He guides us to do regardless of what that might be. We truly are blessed; losing ourselves in the work has enriched and energized us.