.....and then over 16 years later....

WARNING

This is very long and about my mission.  Skip if you don't want to hear a middle age man reminiscing about his younger years.

Kathleen almost exclusively blogs for our family now.  I actually really like it, I love seeing how creative she is and reading her take on things that are going on with our family.  I think she does an excellent job. This is my story, however, and I feel the need to put it out on our blog, since this has kind of morphed into our family history.  So here goes.

Yesterday, April 6, 2013, about an hour into the first session of General Conference, I saw a text that I had received from my sister Tiffany asking if I was super excited about the new temple that was just announced for Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.  I had no idea.   We must have missed it in the mad rush to get the broadcast going.  I spent the next 30 minutes getting all the information that was out there about the announcement.  You see, this is a really big deal to me.

I served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Rio de Janeiro from February 1996-October 1997.  I was actually a missionary for longer than that, but I had a visa issue that kept me state side from October 1995 until February when I finally got that visa and made my way to Brasil.  I learned to love Rio, to love Brasil and to love the Brazilians, but I have to be honest that it was not the place I wanted to be when I sent out my mission papers originally.

I had grown up knowing I was going to serve a mission, and absolutely sure that I would serve that mission in Norway.  I knew that I would go and teach my grandparents and my uncles and aunts and cousins the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I knew that I would get the opportunity to, as a missionary, bear testimony to these people that meant so much to me.  I even took Norwegian classes in preparation for my eventual mission call to Norway.....the call which did not come.

I still remember the call, the day that I opened it up.  I had fasted in preparation for receiving the call.  All I wanted was to go to my  people.  I remember opening the call, and being very sad.  I was still excited to serve, but I was a little disappointed.  Why didn't I get to go?  Wasn't it a righteous desire to want to teach my family?  I didn't get it, and was sad and disappointed.  Nevertheless, I accepted my mission call to Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, and entered the MTC in October 1995.

I worked really hard while I was there.  The language came pretty quickly, but always in the back of my mind was the fact that I didn't get tapped to go to Norway.  In fact, my MTC zone even had a group of missionaries that were going to Norway, who entered the MTC the same day as me.  I was so confused, but I kept working.

At the end of our 2 month MTC time, we received some bad news.  Our visas were not yet approved, and as such we (all 12 of us) would be sent to state side missions where we would wait until our visas were finally approved.  Elder Merrill and I left together and went to the Roseville California mission.  The mission president, President Hoyberg, decided to send us to live in the same apartment so we could study our language each morning.  The next day, however we received a phone call from him that our visas had been approved.  Or at least we thought, an hour later he called back to inform me that my visa was still not approved.  I proceeded to stay in the Roseville Mission for three months, 1 month in an English speaking ward in Redding and 2 months in a Spanish branch in Griddley, CA.  It turns out that my visa had actually been completely lost, and that thanks to some detective work by my parents and some Brazilian friends, they began the entire process over again.  

Each day I would awake not knowing if I would be leaving for Brazil or staying permanently.  It affected me deeply.  I feel this time was necessary for me.  It convinced me that I was called to go to Rio for some reason, even though I didn't know what it was.  As I think back on the experience, I feel this was a Jonah-type experience for me.  I knew where I wanted to go, and I knew where Heavenly Father wanted me to go, now I just needed to know that I wanted to go there too.  The day that I finally received the visa, I probably had the best day of my whole time as a Spanish missionary.  I decided that day to call President Hoyberg and ask for a permanent transfer to the mission, just so I could at least completely dedicate myself to what I was doing.  Once again, however, I found that my plans were not the same as His plans.  I arrived home to a hug from Elder Judson, an elder who lived with us who I had gone to high school with and who had begun his mission in Japan before getting sick and being reassigned to Roseville.  He told me President was on the phone and wanted to speak to me.  I then learned that I was leaving for Brazil the next day.

Fast forward to September 2006.  I have now been a missionary for almost a year.  I have been in Brazil for about 7 months.  I have also not seen a single person that I taught join the church.  I had a testimony that Heavenly Father wanted me in Rio, but for what?  I saw nothing changing, I felt (as I wrote in my journal) "I am spinning my wheels".  I had heard the stories of missionaries going to Brazil and seeing thousands of baptisms, why was I not having this experience.  

Well, it turns out none of us were.  At least at this time, Rio de Janeiro was the lowest baptizing mission in South America.  The number of converts that we saw in a month was lower than many places in the United States.  It was discouraging, but we were working so very hard.  I remember coming home every night, exhausted, to our little apartments.  The apartments had two beds, two fans and a blender.  No fridge, no stove, no phone.  We ate lunch with members, drank a smoothie made of powdered milk, oats and fruit for breakfast, and if we had dinner we would generally buy some bread and a guarana at the local bar.  We didn't have much at all, but we did work very hard trying to find people to teach. With all of that, I felt like a failure as a missionary.

It was about this time, September 2, 1996, that we had a mission conference with our new mission president and his wife, President Grant and Margaret Worth.  We were informed that this was going to be a special mission conference, in fact they were bringing together all of the missionaries from the two mission that covered the Rio de Janeiro because Elder Dallas N. Archibald of the quorum of the 70 would be visiting Rio.  I was looking forward to this.  I was currently serving in a small town in the far edge of the state of Rio de Janeiro called Barra Mansa, about 100 miles away.  My companion, a wonderful Gaucho from Parana (Elder M. Souza) and I got on the bus early in the morning and traveled down the Dutra Highway to Rio de Janeiro.  

The Barra Mansa 9 de Abril Area were Elder M. Souza and I were serving.  You can see the Usina metalurgy plant in the background.

The Four Elders in Barra Mansa-Elder Rogrigues, Elder C. Cutler, Elder M. Souza and myself 

Beginning our trip on the travel bus to Rio.  Elder M. Souza liked to sit in the front seat so he could watch the bus driver.

I remember the day was very warm.  I watched as we passed tons of green vegetation and little settlements.  It was just starting into Summer, and as the Northern Hemisphere started to dip into fall, Rio was now coming into its spring/summer time.  We continued to Rio for what felt like quite a long trip, and finally arrived in the Meier neighborhood (where the chapel was) just before the meeting began at 1:30 in the afternoon.  I remember that I was starving.  I hadn't eaten since before getting on the bus.

We sat in that large chapel and listened while President and Sister Worth talked to us.  I didn't record in my journal what they said, just that "it was really good".  President Worth spoke about a promise he made us missionaries, and about how he felt prompted by the spirit to make it.  

Next we heard from Elder Dallas N. Archibald.  In my journal I stated that he spoke for about 5 hours.  My journal says that he "talked about transfers, how to work better, and that we need to "walk on the water". " I remember that he also told us that we could save a lot of money by buying a whole stalk of broccoli and using the florets and the stalk to make a cold soup in our blenders.  That little recipe did not make it into my journal, but it is something that I have frequently mentioned to Kathleen.  I also remember that this was the day that no missionary was able to drive a car any longer in the mission, since the Assistants wrecked the Volkswagen they were driving when they went to get him from the airport....

My journal entry goes on as follows: " The spirit was very strong, he said that he knew the promise was from God, we also heard that two more stakes will be formed in our mission, and he also gave an apostolic blessing as a prophet of God, that Rio will grow, that stakes will be formed, branches and wards increased and that it would go until a temple was found in Rio.  The spirit was extremely strong, the things that he promised."  I remember very vividly that he stated "until the day that will be necessary to place a temple in Rio de Janeiro."  This was an amazing experience for me. As a missionary, you have daily experiences that can be uplifting. I frequently am reminded of random events that occurred which I had not remembered for a while.  The way I felt at this moment, however, has never left my recollection.  I still remember sitting in the chapel, hearing his words, and thinking "he just promised a temple".

As I looked back at my journal, I recognized that a couple of really cool things also happened on this date.  I was able to see all but one of my companions that I had had since the MTC  at this conference.  This was

probably the largest collection of my companions at one time.  I finished my mission with a total of 24 companions, but to have five of my eventual seven senior companions in one place was a great opportunity for me.

In addition, on this date I received a special letter from my parents.  I need to preface this with two important points.  First, I didn't get mail every day.  My mail came once a month when we had conference or when someone went to the office.  It was pretty sporadic.  Second, when I got my call to Brasil,  my Dad pleaded with me to write a letter to my grandparents in Norway and let them know what I was doing as a missionary.  I was concerned that my written Norwegian was not good enough to convey my testimony, but with prompting from my Dad, I wrote to my Bestefar and Bestemor.  I took the opportunity to explain why I was a missionary, and to bear my testimony of Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, the Priesthood and the plan of salvation.  I wrote this all in English, and hoped that one of my Uncles or Aunts would be willing at some point to translate it, and that my feelings of love and desire for them to have the truth would be conveyed to them, even if through a family member who did not believe in what I was doing.

The letter I received from my mother had two letters in it.  The first was the normal letter which I received frequently from her.  The second was a letter written to a young lady in my parents ward.  This girl had dated one of my high school friends, Richard Donaldsen, who had gone to Norway on his mission.  From the letter I learned that Richard had tracted into my grandparents and was asked by them to translate the letter which I wrote.  He stated in his letter that the spirit was very strong, and that because of this he was able to teach them for a time.  What a wonderful experience.  Heavenly Father had provided a way that my desire of sharing my testimony with my family was fulfilled.  This fulfillment didn't come just because of my letter, but because a missionary translated that letter for them, and not any missionary but a missionary that knew me personally.  While my plan was to be a missionary there, Heavenly Father had a better way.

My mission continued.  I had the opportunity to work with many wonderful missionaries and serve in many amazing areas.  I ultimately was able to see some of Heavenly Fathers children join His church.  I found success through working with inactive members. We observed the changes occurring in our mission.  The stakes increased from the two in existence when I arrived in Brasil to 7 by the time I left Brasil (and now 10 within the mission boundaries).  The numbers of baptisms began to double and then doubled again.  The most amazing people were joining the church.  Towards the end of my mission, at the end of a zone conference, President Worth called a handful of missionaries into a room with the Stake President of the Madureira Stake.  He told us that we were going to split the stake and form the new Jacarepagua stake.  We were told how many priesthood holders we needed to bring to activity or baptize.  As we stood there in a circle listening to him speak, he told us "You are our Stake Builders".  It was an honor to stand there with those men, and it was amazing to see it happen, when a few months later the new Jacarepagua Stake was formed from the Rio de Janeiro Madureira Stake.  

And now, 16 years later, there will be a temple in my Cidade Maravilhosa.  I was told that I would never have a day after my mission when I wouldn't remember Brasil or the Brazilian people.  This is true.  I have also learned that "my ways are not His ways".  He wanted me in Brasil, even though I felt I new differently.  I am grateful that He knows best.  I am glad that I got to be a small part of this.  

Often as I walked as a missionary I wondered where the temple should be placed, in the day that it was built.  Having observed the loving statue of Cristo Redentor high above Rio for so much of my mission, I have always been partial to it being in a high spot.

This is the hill that I saw everyday for the last two months of my mission. I often dreamed that it would be placed on top of this beautiful mount, for all to see it.

Thank you for letting me tell my rambling story.  I know I was in the place where Heavenly Father wanted me to be at that point of my life.  I know I learned so much from my time in Rio de Janeiro.  I also have learned and am learning to trust Him.  This was a very good thing for me to remember at this point with our family.  If we trust our Heavenly Father, He will be able to use us for His needs.  And it always is a privilege to serve.