Testimonies on Facebook

I had been home from my mission a few months, and post-mission life had proved more difficult than I had thought.

Coming home, I thought I would conquer the world. I thought I was hot stuff and every girl at BYU would jump at a chance to go on a date with me. I thought I was so smart, school would be a breeze. I thought I was so competent I would easily find a high-paying job.

Months later, I found myself still single, working at a gas station, failing my organic chemistry class and not exactly conquering anything.

I noticed that many of my friends and acquaintances who had chosen not to serve missions seemed to have much better lives then I did. Many of them were dating exclusively or married and seemed to be having loads of fun with their significant others; at least that's what their Facebook posts made it look like. Many of them had rewarding jobs with good pay. One of them had started a business and was making six figures. The more I looked, the more it appeared that my mission had been a huge waste of time.

How to Save a Life

During my time in Kamakura, in order to strengthen the relationship between the members and missionaries, Elder Rollins and I decided to make a card to every member for their birthdays.  If we had time during our daily proselyting activities, we would deliver these cards to each member's house directly on the day of their birthday; if not, we would give it to the member the following Sunday at church.  Little did we know that this practice would literally save someone's life.

Exact Obedience Brings Miracles

Who knew that I would learn a life-changing lesson about obedience from a lost watch, and a humble companion?

I never wore a watch before my mission.  I never felt like I needed one.  I would use the clocks around my house, around my high school, on my car dashboard.  If I went to a meeting or athletic training I didn't check the time throughout; it was over when it was over.

But my Grandpa Chuckles insisted that I needed a watch as a missionary.  Of course, he was right.  Having never been a missionary, I had no idea.

Elder Piland's Blessing

The experience I would like to share today is from when I was in Kunitachi ward, and Elder Piland was my companion.

I had been in Kamakura for 7 months, and I had worked hard.  I had just transferred into Kunitachi.  I had never been in Musashino Zone, and had heard very little about it.  I had some anticipation about being a Zone Leader over a zone I did not know, and over so many missionaries that I did not know; but I knew that God would help me to figure things out.

Elder Piland taught me so much that transfer, and I will never forget him.  He taught me more about patience, and about just having fun, even when all the odds are stacked against you.  He had so much faith, even when things looked tough.  He knew the Lord would pull us through.  He always trusted that God would bless him if he did everything God asked him to do, and he always did what God asked.

But the biggest lesson he taught me was when I asked him for a priesthood blessing.

The Two-Tone Tie

The Orange and Yellow Two-toned Tie

I first developed a sense of fashion on my mission to Tokyo, Japan.  It seemed that all of the Japanese businessmen had the latest and greatest fashion.

I felt that in order to better relate with those I was trying to teach, and for them to better accept me as their teacher, I needed to up my fashion.  I didn't have much money, but I was able to buy two cheap (yet fashionable) pairs of slacks,  a few cheap dress shirts, and several nice ties.

At that time in Tokyo, two-toned ties were the big fad.  The blade of the necktie would be one color, the tail another.  Those were the kind of ties I bought.

Most ties have what's called a "keeper loop": an extra piece of fabric that is sewn onto the backside of the blade of the necktie.  When the tail of the necktie is placed through the keeper loop after knotting, it helps to keep the tail out of sight.

Well, I never used the keeper loop.  I didn't want to keep the tail hidden.  I wanted people to see the tail of my ties, to notice they were a different color from the blade, to know that I had two-tone ties and that I was fashionable.

I will never forget the lesson Sister Wada, my mission president's wife (affectionately known as the "mission mom") taught me with regards to one of those ties.