Coming Home 1.6

I leave the Mission President’s office as the door shuts behind me.  I just gave a review of my mission.  I look down at my black name tag. 

Was that it?

I stand silent for a few seconds before walking to the lobby. Other missionaries have arrived for their final interview.  I recognize most of them from our time together in the MTC.

The enormity of having been away from home for 2 years starts to set in.  I sit on the couch in the lobby in shock.  Faces of people I have grown to love start passing through my mind.  Companions and other friends I have met bring a smile to my face.  The mission has been the best decision of my entire life.  I start to get emotional as I think about what it has meant to me.

It’s over.

I have a few hours before I have to report to the Mission Home for my last dinner in the mission.  I am assigned a companion for the rest of the day.  My companion will also be leaving the mission tonight.  He is a good Elder, humble and strong.  I remember him from the MTC.  I knew we both could see the change in each other. 

I ask him if we can visit one of the families I helped teach.  He agreed, and off we went.

We opened the door, and the Chilean air hit me with such force, it took my breath away.  I close my eyes and take it all in.  My senses are in overdrive.  I wish I could bottle this up forever, and take it with me.  I feel the tears again, and try to be strong.

We walk down the streets of Osorno in silence.  I can’t help but look at all the houses and buildings.  I am trying to capture each image into  memory.  I know these images will have to last a lifetime.  Every little detail causes an emotional response from me. The grass, trees, pavement, flowers, smell of bread, people smiling as you pass them, the perfect blue sky and the small chill in the air.

The tears start streaming down my face.

My companion puts his arm around me and says nothing.  He doesn’t need to; he is feeling the same thing. 

How can I just leave this all behind?

Was it supposed to be this hard?

We arrive at the house I had become so familiar with.  I was told this house would never accept the missionaries or their message.  I was told it was a “lost cause”.

I love “lost causes”.

The family inside accepted our message, and joined the church with such strong conviction.  The Lord had prepared them, and I was lucky enough to be a part of their conversion.

I knock on the door.

I feel the tears swelling in my eyes.

Carmen opens the door.  Her eyes are red, and I can tell she has been crying. Carmen was a mother of three beautiful children, two who were just baptized one short week ago.

She shakes my hand.

Carmen and I had connected instantly when we first met.  Our spirits recognized and spoke to each other.  It was as if we had known each other from somewhere.  She had listened to hundreds of missionaries, but never did anything about it.  

I was lucky to be used in the Lord’s plans for this incredible woman.

Carmen was baptized a member of the Church, but fell away shortly thereafter.  She married young, and had two children immediately.  She left her husband after many years of sadness, and met a wonderful man.  Because it wasn’t legal to divorce in Chile, the two decided to move in together.  This wonderful man accepted Carmen and her two children as if they were his own.  Six short years later, they welcomed a baby girl to their family.

They were a happy family.  Carmen longed to be married to this man, but her country wouldn’t allow it because she had already been married.  She would have to be patient, and pray for a time when divorce would become legal.  For 14 years, they lived together when I entered their lives.

I remembered knocking on Carmen’s door that first day.

“Hello?” A woman answered the door impatiently. 

“Hi, we are missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” I began.

“I know who you are,” the woman responded rather shortly.

“Oh good,” I reply with a smile.  “We are looking for Sister Carmen, does she live here?” I ask.

“I’m Carmen.”

“Carmen, nice to meet you,” I try to get her to smile, but it’s not working.  “My name is Elder Anderson, and this is my companion.” 

“Nice to meet you both,” Carmen said reaching her hand out to shake our hands.

“We would like to share a quick message with you if you have a couple of minutes,” I announce shaking her hand.  I make eye contact with her, and instantly I feel like I know this woman.  

I know she has felt the same thing.

“I,” Carmen turned and looked inside her house, “I only have 10 minutes.”

She lets us in her home.  

I feel the presence of the Spirit immediately. 

“Please, have a seat,” Carmen says pointing to a red sofa in her living room.  “Let me get my family.”

We sit down.  

Before we know it, we have an audience of three.  I assume the man in the room is Carmen’s husband, but I am not sure.

“You must be Carmen’s husband,” I say standing up, stretching out my hand for a shake.

The man looks at me funny, but shakes my hand anyway.  He says nothing to me.  I can tell he is annoyed that he has been dragged into this meeting in his living room.

“And you are?” I ask offering my hand to the other person in the room, a female about 15 years old. 

She tells me she is Carmen’s daughter, and we all sit down.

The 10 minutes Carmen told us she had, turned into four hours.  My companion and I were able to teach this family in a way I could have only dreamed about.  

It was a miracle.

For the next four months, we returned to that home and taught that special family the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Carmen’s two older children were baptized and Carmen returned to full membership in the church.  Unfortunately, we couldn't do anything for the man she was living with.  Because they were living together unmarried, he wasn’t able to be baptized.  He had the desires to, but it wasn’t allowed.  We promised him that if he remained faithful, and attended church weekly, the day would come when he would be able to marry Carmen legally and join the church.

He promised us he would.

 

I KNEW he would be faithful, and I KNEW he would honor that promise!

Here I was, standing on that same doorstep I stood four months ago.

“Please come in Elders,” Carmen said still holding on to my hand.

I enter her home for the last time.