Missionary Experience - A video

One of my friends from work/church posted this link on Facebook:

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1-in-8-million/index.html#naisi_zhao

Basically, her friend created the video of a Mormon missionary in Chinatown, New York.

It brought back a lot of memories.

Right now my job is mentally tough. Really, really mentally tough. I'll write about it more at a later date since it is not appropriate right now. And, I'm not so stupid to think that no one from work is reading this blog.

Anyway, besides this job, the mission was one of the most mentally tough portions of my life. The first few months were so hard that I was sure it was time for the end of the world to come because I was confident "the end" would be less painful.

Why was it tough? It is hard to even remember because the good experiences overshadowed the actual challenges of every day.

Perhaps it was the fact that people hated you for at least 12 hours every day. Every where we would go people who had never spoken to us would ridicule us, lie to us, throw food at us (from school buses), curse us (swearing and literal witch types), and try to prove to us how horrible we were and how we were brainwashed. That was mentally tough. I still remember a moment where someone kicked us out of their house after we had become friends and threatened to burn our books right in front of us. It was one of those piercing feelings that went deep into the soul, but from it came powerful convictions. I needed to make a choice to stand for something because the opposition was strong.

Then, there were the people with the "trained to kill" dogs protecting their homes hidden in the country. And, the big spiders that jumped at us as we made our way through webs to unused front doors. Oh, and there was the commune with the strange tall thin lady at the door that informed us she was an "emissary of the divine light." We watched our backs and prayed for confidence in that dark, foresty, grey and rainy obscure neighborhood in the hills of Oregon...and hit the road quickly. Oh, and then there were the 5-6 pit bulls that ran around me as I tried to teach a family a lesson while getting whipped by their rapidly moving tails. Or, the ladies that didn't let us in during a horrible thunderstorm and we had to walk home with lightening and rain flashing on all sides.

Did I mention that both of my arches fell one week and I had to get orthodics which hurt my feet even more for a few months? But, we kept walking day in and day out, sometimes losing hope in what we were trying to accomplish.

By the end of the mission, we were so immune to abusive people and experiences that most moments weren't even written in the journal even though they had been earth shattering at the first few months of the 1.5 year stint.

Like the woman in the video link above, I too came home feeling like it helped me more than I helped other people. I'm sure it is the same for all that go. We go thinking we will help others and it ends up helping ourselves.

As many people told me then - "the sorrows will outnumber the joys, but the joys will outweigh the sorrows."

Yes, there were trials, and yes, there were miracles. The pit bulls, dobermans and rottweilers went whimpering away most of the time and never bit me or my companion. People would be touched by the Spirit and make life changing decisions over a single weekend. We were protected from those that had originally intended to cause us harm. Others sincerely told us how we had brought them a gift that changed their lives.

My job right now is tough. Politics, favoritism, rewarded mediocrity, and emperors with no clothes prevail. Quiet firmness is often mistaken for weakness or timidness. Shared lessons learned are often viewed as complaining. Unlike the mission, this opposition isn't producing life changing experiences?

Or, is it?

Time will tell.

One thing I do know - the mission forces one to give of themselves heart, mind, and soul during the time of life that is typically the most selfish (college years). It tests one beyond what they think they are capable and most emerge more mature, talented, focused and committed than before they entered the experience.

So, perhaps this means that I will emerge as a great CEO at some point in the future?

Haaaaa.

Like I said - time will tell.