How My Mission Strengthened My Faith in Christ
Tama ma tina, uso e ma tuagane, talofa! Faafetai lava mo le faatalofa matagofie. Muamua ou te fia faailoa atu lo’u igoa ma le mea sa ou tala’i iai. O lo’u igoa o Leila Wihongi and I served in the beautiful islands of Samoa and American Samoa in the Samoa Apia Mission. For those who don’t know me, no, I’m not Samoan, but Samoa has always been a part of my life somewhat through dance before serving there. But now after serving there for 18 months, I know more intimately about the culture, language, and life of Samoans and the amount of love that our loving Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus Christ has for them after witnessing that love firsthand. The mission has taught me many things, including how much the Savior loves each and every one of God’s children. His love is expressed nicely in Moses 1:39 in which He states, “39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” There’s no doubt that I left my mission with my heart overflowing, not only for the people of Samoa and my fellow missionaries, but for our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. So I will be sharing a few experiences that grew and strengthened my love for Him.
Atonement of Jesus Christ
When I think of the love of Jesus Christ, I think of His Atonement when He suffered and bled in the garden of Gethsemane, was crucified on the cross on Calvary, and rose from death in His Resurrection. Through His Atonement, He knows exactly what each and every single one of us needs to give us hope, comfort, and peace.
Book of Mormon
In the area of Aoloau in American Samoa, I met a man named Roy. He lived alone and had more life wisdom and experience, meaning he was old. As we got to know him, we learned that he was a well educated teacher, was of a different faith, and had a hobby that he enjoyed doing in his free time. But we could also see that he was lonely as his wife and most of his own children had passed away. Following the Spirit, we later shared with him the plan of salvation. At first, he seemed the type to not want to listen or learn more since he believed in different things. But after sharing about God’s plan for us, I could see in his eyes that he wanted to believe. So, during the few visits we had with him, he opened up and was vulnerable with us. We followed the prompting of sharing answers to his questions from the Book of Mormon. And once we did, it always seemed to bring comfort and peace to him. When I shared with him Alma 36 which is when Alma tells his son Helaman how he had went from trying to destroy the church to preaching the gospel, he saw how plainly our Savior’s Atonement applied to an ordinary man’s life who cried for forgiveness of his sins. He felt it to be more personal. Alma said, “My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more.” Through this experience, I began to have a bigger appreciation for the Book of Mormon, as it truly does testify of Jesus Christ so plainly that it’s hard to miss once recognized. The way Alma explained so thoroughly of how he felt when suffering and the incomparable joy after repenting and turning to Jesus makes it more intimate and simple. Our Lord and Savior is in the details of our lives and He knew we'd need this book to better understand His love and plan for us, we just have to look. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and it has helped strengthen my love for the Savior because it has taught me how I can turn to Him and access His atoning power, and I hope it did for Roy as well.
Forgiveness
Although Jesus Christ suffered and died for every single one of us, He was mocked, betrayed, tortured, and murdered by those He loved. 1 Nephi 19:9 - “And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.” But even then, He still chose to forgive them, as He said in Luke 23:34, “... Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Can you imagine that? Having a love so big that you would suffer just as much, but then be treated so badly by the ones you suffered for? The world would teach us to be quick to anger. To riot and to breed contention. But what does Christ teach? Matthew 5:9 - “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”
Now near the end of my mission in an area that I cared deeply for, I loved and trusted someone so much that I would do anything for them, just like most of the people there. But one quick small moment of poor choices acted towards me had me and my companion moved immediately. That meant we didn't get to say goodbye to the people we had come to love and we also couldn't keep the commitments we were so excited for. We weren't able to finish the transfer there and were moved to a different island completely. That definitely wasn't what I had in mind, as I expected to finish in that area. That experience certainly took a toll on who I choose to trust, but it also taught me to trust that Jesus Christ knows exactly how I feel and how to comfort me. I certainly felt betrayed after the incident, but eventually I chose to forgive, not only for the one who did me wrong, but so that I could have peace. I know that's the only way the Lord could comfort me and that through Him I could have peace. The Lord has already been merciful in letting me see the fruits of my labors. Learning to forgive grew my love for the Savior.
Resurrection
A part of Christ's Atonement was His Resurrection. When we think of His resurrection, we can have hope in a new beginning and that nothing is impossible.
When I served closer to town in Apia, I met a faithful woman of the church whose spouse was not a member but of a different faith. She had been together with him a long time and had two kids. They lived with her spouse's family who were of the faith of her spouse. Although much of her newfound family didn't share her faith, she remained faithful to our church and shared her beliefs with her husband through hope. Her husband had many questions that she struggled to answer, so she tried to have him meet with past missionaries, though he didn't adhere to them. That is until she was endowed in the temple that he decided to give the next set of missionaries a chance, which happened to be me and my companion. When his wife was endowed, he could feel and see something different about her which led his heart to be softened because he wanted the same glow that she had. Because of her faithful example, he was led to a new beginning full of hope and peace. I'm not sure how he is doing now, but I can see that the Lord will never give up on him just how He will never give up on us.
Alma 26:37 “Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.”
I know this to be true as I had the chance to speak one on one with a servant of the Lord, Elder Jaggi of the Seventy, during a rough point of my mission. He comforted me in ways only the Lord could have known I needed. And what shocked me most was that only 16 out of 200 something missionaries had the chance to be interviewed by him, and they were picked prayerfully by our mission president. I felt so seen and loved by my Savior that I cried in that interview. He heard me, and I know He hears you too. I know that through His apostles, prophets, and leaders, we can hear messages of hope and strengthen our love for the Savior.
Ou te iloa e moni ma faamaoni le alofa a Iesu Keriso ia tatou uma lava. Ou te iloa foi e ala ia Iesu Keriso ma Lana Togiola e mafai ona tatou maua le filemu, faamoemoe, ma le fiafia. O Ia o le ola ma le malamalama o le lalolagi.
I le suafa o Iesu Keriso, amene.