President Lopez sits behind his desk. He is a kind gentle man. I have only known him for a short time, but I already love him.
“Why don’t we start with a prayer,” he says in Spanish; his Argentine accent was strong.
We bow our heads, and he offers a prayer. It is sweet prayer.
I feel the Spirit instantly.
He finishes his prayer and looks up at me. I can’t believe I am sitting here ready to give an accounting of my mission. I am nervous and sad. Where did all the time go?
“Elder Anderson,” President Lopez began, “please tell me the most important thing you have learned on your mission.”
We sit in silence for a moment as I ponder the question. I could go on for days about what I’ve learned. I finally respond, “Honestly, there has been so much, I don’t think I can pick one thing.”
President Lopez smiles at me and says, “Try and pick one.”
He won’t let me got off that easy.
I think for a moment, and it hits me. I feel tears in my eyes as I respond, “I’ve learned that everything is done in the Lord’s time.”
“How did you come to learn that?” he asked sensing my emotion.
“I think the Lord has been trying to teach me this lesson every day for the last 2 years,” I say wiping my eyes.
“Is there an experience you can share with me?” President Lopez was still smiling.
“One that sticks out to me is the day I met Carlos,” I say picturing Carlos in my mind. “I realized that day that the Lord was in charge.”
“Will you please tell me the story of Carlos?” President Lopez asked kindly.
I smile at my Mission President and say, “I was serving in Puerto Varas. It was one of the most beautiful areas I had the opportunity to serve in.” I take a breath and continue. “I had only been in that area for just under 2 weeks, and was still trying to get used to my surroundings. My companion at that time was Elder Bronson from Idaho.
"Elder Bronson and I had great success the first 2 weeks we were together. We worked hard, and saw great results. Our hard work and success came to a crashing and sudden halt when it started to rain. It didn’t just rain a little bit, it poured. It rained for 3 straight days. We were miserable, and the people could tell. No one was letting us in their homes to share our gospel message.”
President Lopez laughed. He knew about the rain in Southern Chile.
I continued, “Everything came to a head on the third day of the rain. It was in the evening, and we just had the 5th door slammed in our face. Up until this very day, I had never had any doors slammed in my face. It was just a bad day. I was starting to feel the wet rain, and started to lose my patience. I didn’t want to say anything to my companion because I didn’t want to let him down. I figured it would be better to keep quiet and just keep working.
"To my surprise, Elder Bronson had had enough. Without warning he just sat down in the pouring rain. He was tired, wet and hungry, and he wasn’t about to work a second longer like this. I couldn’t have agreed with him more. I was just happy he was the one to say it first.”
President Lopez laughed again. He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms.
I was remembering the story so clearly, it felt like it had happened yesterday.
I continue, “I sat next to my companion on the curb in the pouring rain. We both just needed a break from all of the frustration we were experiencing. We sat there in silence for a long time, letting the rain completely drench us in the process.
"As I sat there, a feeling came over me like never before. The feeling told me to keep working. Knock a few more doors. Don’t give up. I had never in my life felt something so strongly. It took me completely by surprise. I looked over at my wet companion, and he was looking right at me. He had the same look on his face that I did. We had both felt the same thing. We quickly said a prayer of repentance, and told Heavenly Father we would knock one more street before ending our day. We asked for his love and guidance as we embarked on this challenge.”
President Lopez was smiling and listening intently. He was now leaning forward in his chair.
“Together, Elder Bronson and I picked our street. It was a long street half a mile from where we lived. It had about 15 houses on both sides of the street. We both felt the Spirit whisper to our hearts that this was the street.
"We went to work knocking the first door on one side of the street. No luck. We knocked on the second door, still no luck. On and on we went until we were on the last door of that side. We were treated rudely and had the door shut in our faces. I was really starting to feel discouraged. We both knew we had the other side of the street still to knock, and we both weren’t going to end our day until that was done. I said a quick prayer in my heart as we walked across the street.
We knocked the first door, nothing. We knocked the second door, still nothing. On and on we went, door after door with no luck. I started to wonder if what I had felt was really from Heavenly Father, or if I had just convinced myself to feel that way. I was discouraged.”
“I have felt that way many times in my life,” President Lopez interrupted. “So what happened next? He asked.
“We had 3 more houses to knock before the street came to an end. My faith was low. Based on our results so far on this street, we weren’t getting in these last 3. We knocked the 12th door. To our surprise an older looking woman opened the door. She was smiling for a split second until she saw who we were. She asked us if we were Mormons, and we answered in the affirmative. She told us sharply that she was not interested, and to never stop by again. I was devastated. Why were people being so rude to us? Didn’t they know we had an important message for them?
"As the door closed behind us, we started walking up the street. We were about to enter the gate to the next house, when the door the woman had closed opened.”
I feel the tears burning in my eyes.
I take a deep breath and continue, “Standing in the doorway was a young man. He had to be in his early 30’s. He was looking at us, and motioning for us to come in his home. I noticed right away that he couldn’t speak. He was favoring the left side of his body, and had a huge scar from his left ear all the way down his throat.
"There was no way I was going in that house, especially after that older woman had told us to never go back. But of course, Elder Bronson started to walk back.”
President Lopez laughed. He knew what a great missionary Elder Bronson was. That guy wasn’t afraid of anybody.
“I asked what he was doing, and he simply responded that we were being invited in, so we were going in. I reminded him of what the older woman had told us just a few short moments ago, and he didn’t seem to mind. I was worried.”
“So did you go in?” President Lopez asked anxiously.
I laugh a little and say, “We climbed the three steps up to the door where the young man was standing. He had the biggest smile on his face. My companion introduced us, and the young man motioned for us to come in. We were soaking wet, and were a sight to behold. I was so nervous. I didn’t know what we were going to do if that older woman asked us to get out of her house. As we turned the corner in this small home, there sat the older woman. She did not look happy. She had her arms folded, and looked right at me. Why wasn’t she looking at my companion?”
Both the President and I laugh.
I continue, “The young man had us sit on the couch, while he dragged one of the kitchen chairs over to sit on. We sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. I didn’t dare take my eyes off the older woman. I was watching her every move.”
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