This week was… relatively uneventful. The main thing of note this week was Zone Conference. My trainer and the other set of Elders here in Mansfield drove for an hour South to a town called Dublin, where our Zone Conference was. It was great to go and meet some of the missionaries I’ve heard some pretty funny stories about. It was also great to receive further training from President Horgesheimer and the AP’s.
After the Zone Conference us and the other Elders went to a restaurant called Cane’s. Everyone in Ohio raves about Canes. It’s essentially just an Ohio-specific Chick-Fil-A. I was very skeptical about how good it could be, but it was probably the best meal I’ve had since I left home. This week we also drove to Dublin again to pick up some things from the mission office like a shower rod! And now we have to go again this Wednesday for interviews with president… that’s a lot of driving.
Today when us Elders went into a Krogers (Smiths but in Ohio) to buy some mountain dewskis for some chugging activities, a funny little incident happened that made me think a lot. As us 4 Elders were walking up, a woman saw us and said, “Oh look, it’s the marmons.” It made us all chuckle and we went inside not thinking much of it. When we went out of the store, mountain dewskis in hand, the woman was sitting on a bench. She sat up and happily said, “You wanna know how I knew you boys were some of them marmons? You was wearing them name tags.” As a missionary, you are instantly identified as a member and emissary of the church. That’s either a good thing or a bad thing depending on who you are talking to, but it struck me for some reason. Before my mission, what would I do if I was instantly recognized as a member of the church? How would I react?
It reminded me of a morningside at Bingham where BYU Football Head Coach Kalani Sitake came to speak to us. He told us of a story where he was sitting next to a young man on a flight. The young man was sitting next to a woman who he thought was rather attractive. After conversing with her for a bit an interesting question was raised. Knowing the young man was from Utah she asked, “So are you a mormon?” The young man hesitated, knowing that there would be a possibility of her losing interest if he said he was. The young man replied, “Well I was raised in it.” After he finished conversing with her, coach Sitake spoke to the young man and said, “Come on man, who are you representing?” These two stories correlate to me in this thought. Whether we have the name of Jesus Christ emboldened on our missionary nametags, or if we are just walking around a mall looking like an average Joe, we always need to remember that we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. People pay attention to our actions weather we are wearing a name tag or not. It’s more important now than ever, where it seems camaraderie and politeness has been thrown out the window, and ‘the love of men has waxed cold’, to display Christlike attributes to all those who we come across. I know that as we go about doing good, whether we are being seen or not, the Lord will bless us and help us bless the lives of others.
Stay safe everyone, and be of good cheer!
Love,
Elder Watson