Lessons from my Mission

12/31/2011 9:05 a.m.

Over the last month or two, I've been reading from Elder John H. Groberg's memoir In the Eye of the Storm about his time as a missionary in Tonga as a  young man. I've been thinking for years that I would like to write about my mission in Southern Germany. I kept a pretty decent journal. I would like to go back and revisit my mission experiences. I would like to learn and gain more from the many experiences I had, and the companions I worked with. So, without further ado . . . Episodes from the Life of Bryce: My Mission.

Take-home lessons from my mission:
1) Understanding and doing what God wants is all that matters. This is the summary take-home message I got from my mission.

When I went out into the mission field, I had clear ideas of what I wanted to happen. Shortly before embarking on my mission, my family and I read together in Alma 17 in the Book of Mormon. I read that the sons of Mosiah were going to preach the gospel to a wicked, hardened, and ferocious people. I thought that with my obedience and labor, I would have experiences similar to those had by Ammon. I believed I would find success. Few things could be further from the truth. In spite of my very best efforts, all of my labors seemed to fall flat.

In retrospect, some of the most important experiences I had on my mission were those I shared with mission companions, church members, and a few investigators who eventually embraced the gospel, repented and were baptized. To this day, some of my most significant and lasting relationships are with those who were already members of the church before I met them.

At this end of the spectrum, I am grateful. It has taken me quite a while to feel comfortable with what my mission was. I went on my mission in August of 1998. I returned near the end of July of 2000. In the 11 1/2 years since I have returned, I have thought of my mission nearly every day. As Elder W. Christopher Waddell of the Seventy taught at the last General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "your mission is a training ground for life," and, "there is no returned missionary for whom it is too late to consider the lessons obtained through faithful service" (Ensign November 2011, p. 50-51).

So, between Elder Waddell's words, Elder Groberg's memoir, and my own desire to treasure more deeply the experience I had a s a missionary, I am starting this section of my blog.