Sheltons in the Sun: Blog #14 "Washing the Feet"

Blog #14 “Washing the Feet”

Last week we closed the apartment of our one MLS (member leadership support) missionary couple. John and Barbara Rawlins completed their mission in Bishop, CA. We met them our first week in the mission and were impressed with the help they gave the young missionaries. MLS missionaries are called to strengthen an area. My sister Linda and her husband, Lyle, are serving as MLS missionaries in Florida. MLS is different than our mission because we are assigned specific tasks, whereas MLS missionaries define much of their own agendas (such as: reactivate members, run the addiction recovery groups, help with family history, and whatever else the local priesthood leader asks). We’ve been hoping another couple would be assigned here to replace the Rawlins, but that is not happening.

I think when many adults contemplate serving a senior mission, they imagine themselves teaching the gospel and bringing souls to Christ. They remember the rigorous schedule of our young missionaries teaching and preaching, and imagine the joy of that kind of exhaustion. Seniors have some say in the type, length. and location of missions they serve, but their callings are rarely to proselyte (though that might happen on occasion.)

Instead, we support the young missionaries, the Mission President, Branch President, and/or Bishops to whom we are assigned. When I served as a Guest Service Missionary at Temple Square, I remember a missionary who was working in the family history center who said she was disappointed when she received that call. Weeks after she started, the brother who worked next to her reminded her how the Savior served others by washing their feet. This man felt their calling was “washing the feet.” The sister missionary gained a new perspective on the value of her mission.

The couple we replaced, came to stay with us for six days. We would have loved to work with them longer; but, even though we have the same assignment they had, our mission has been very different. They spent their whole mission finding and opening apartment, and they also handled the finances. They were the only missionaries in the ward (there were 12 of us when we first arrived.)

The past two weeks Mike and I have closed eight apartments in 104˚ heat, made several trips to Good Will, loaded and unloaded the trailer, taken beds to transferred missionaries (as well as bug spray, and other necessary items), and received dozens of calls to help with apartment issues. Mike has become quite skilled at driving the truck and trailer from Mammoth lakes to Palmdale, and all other areas of the mission. The majority of our days don’t resemble the memory of our former lives, our career skills, nor our church callings. And sometimes we miss the things we used to do. We find ourselves wishing we still had the strength and energy of our 30-year-old bodies. (It is pretty funny when Mike has me on the other end to lift a dresser or bookcase up a flight of stairs.)

The other day when I was thinking how much fun it would be to do something like another flash mob on Temple Square or to plan a ward progressive dinner, I read in Elder Holland’s new book, To My Friends, the chapter “Remember Lot’s Wife.” If you recall, the Lord told Lot’s wife not to look back. In other words, do not dwell on days now gone, nor yearn for yesterdays. Elder Holland talks of how faith is always pointed toward the future. If we yearn for the past, we might miss the here and now.

Of course, the chapter had much more to it, but I was thinking how great (and challenging) it is that we are here serving in a calling that requires us to rely on our faith in a different way. Our days aren’t stressful, but we continually pray that we are “washing the feet” in a way that shows the Lord how much we love Him. We must have the faith that these aging bodies will have the physical strength to accomplish our tasks. We must have the faith to be receptive to promptings of the Spirit as we meet and greet people. And we must have the faith to lose ourselves in this great work.

We find much joy in the opportunities we have to serve our missionaries. We love the people with whom we work, and we love the missionaries. When one missionary asked how we could love them so much when we barely know them, I told her that our love for them is almost like when a mother loves her newborn child before it is born. We love these missionaries the minute we meet them. In fact, the best part of our job is when we enlist the missionaries to help us with our moves, when we share lunches and learn about their lives, when we take them to the temple, and when we talk about this eternal journey we are all on.

We also love the people in our ward. The last two weeks we had the privilege to go to the temple with two different members to receive their endowments. We went to Pioneer Days and saw how the California members celebrate. Tonight we had dinner with Kaylie, our newest convert, and was so touched by her challenging life story that prepared her to embrace the gospel.

But, as I’ve mentioned before, the days blend together. Sometimes we don’t even know what day it is. For some reason I thought last week, the14th, was Father’s Day. We had a ;

million things to do all week and I was anxious to get home on Saturday night so we could pick up Mike’s Father’s Day gift. We planned his favorite dinner for Sunday. I was so surprised when no one even mentioned fathers in church -– no children singing, no talks, no treats for the dads. Then, in relief society the President said that “Next week, on father’s day we . . . .” I thought today was Father’s Day, and everyone laughed. And, Mike didn’t know either, but he did like celebrating two weeks in a row.

Mike has felt especially blessed this month. Wes came for a short visit two weeks ago, and Ryan, Liz (his fiancé), and Reese came this Saturday. We had a wonderful visit with each of them. The gospel offers so many wonderful blessings, but the privilege to live as eternal families is one of the greatest of them all.

We feel the Lord’s hand in the work here. We daily see miracles both large and small. A young woman who stole her grandmother’s car, t-boned a car with two of our missionaries, plus hit three other cars yesterday. Although the driver of one of the other cars mentioned in her 911 call that she thought the missionaries were dead, they walked out of the wreck a bit in shock, with only sore muscles. I believe the Lord is in our lives much more than we can imagine. He doesn’t take away the challenges, nor the heartaches, but He certainly sustains us and gives us strength if we will let Him. I’m so grateful for this gospel and the opportunity we have to learn and understand the Lord’s plan for us.

We love you, miss you, and pray that all is well for you.