"I Need The Missionaries"

30 May 2009
I was just in a study group in the MARB working on a project when all of the sudden a man came in yelling, "I need the missionaries RIGHT NOW!" I was really surprised and thought he was kind of crazy, but I started talking to him to find out why he needed the missionaries. He told me that he was hard of hearing and came all the way from Omaha, Nebraska to see the missionaries. I was surprised that he came out here. I told him that there were probably missionaries out there that he could have met with. He believed them to be "stupid" because they were not at a college and he wanted the "smartest" ones. I showed him where their office was and we knocked. Nobody was there. He started freaking out and I found a note on the door that had their numbers.

I called the Elders, but a Sister answered the phone... maybe they got their numbers mixed up when they wrote it down the paper (I don't know). I talked with the nice Sister and told her the man's story. He wanted to meet with them as soon as possible because he needed them. She told me that she and her companion could meet with him at 11 today. He was really excited. I have never seen someone so excited in my whole life. He looked like he won a million dollars. The Sisters asked for my name and number which I gave them and they politely thanked me for doing what I did. We then got off the phone. He then asked what time it was. I told him it was about 9:30 and that he had a couple of hours to kill. He seemed kind of defeated. I told him that it will be here a lot sooner than he thinks and that he could walk around campus while he was waiting. He decided to do this. I went back to my study group and I haven't been able to stop thinking about him.

It amazes me that he had the drive and courage to come out here from Nebraska because he wanted to meet with the "smartest" missionaries. He has to have a lot of faith to come out here on a whim to probably join the LDS Church. It makes me wonder where mine has gone. I used to fully believe in the LDS Church, but as of late, I have been losing parts of my beliefs. I believe in God and in Jesus. I believe in many of their teachings and morals. There are things, however, that I am having trouble reconciling.

Life is interesting and I love the random people I meet because they teach me new concepts everyday. This man who is hard of hearing and who traveled across the nation taught me today that you can never have too much faith in God. In fact, he taught me that you can never have enough.

PS I ran into two of my readers that I know from my younger years/junior high/high school last night. It was great! This is a shout out to Camille and Drew!

6 comments:

mollie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mollie said...

this story made me smile- i like it a lot. probably for the same reasons you liked it.

anyway- update us if you hear any more about him!

Bravone said...

My faith has evolved over time as well. I once thought I knew it all and believed completely. Now I have questions, and that is not all bad. It keeps me searching and praying for answers. Some things I just have to put on the shelf for a while and concentrate on the basic principles of the gospel.

Drew said...

Thanks for the shout out Sean. It was good to see you. It has been a REALLY long time.

David said...

don't want to burst your bubble, but he sounds schizophrenic to me...harmless, probably, but schizophrenic :)

Valerie Griswold said...

Sean,

Always love your posts... although I am often in a hurry and don't get to leave a comment. Thanks for making my day every time I read though!

It's funny how you can run into a complete stranger and hear about their "story" and gain something from it, even though your faith may be completely different or on another level than their's. I love hearing of your interactions with others... I am sure they are equally fulfilled by meeting you because you have so many interesting things to bring to a conversation and a friendship.

Hope you're enjoying your summer and that applications are coming along well. Lots of love to you!