Friday, June 16, 2006
Fruits Bearing Fruits
I received word a few days ago that one of the people I taught and baptized while I was a missionary in Brazil has left on a mission of her own. The news was immensely gratifying to me, partially because I know that the work I did and the seeds I planted are still growing, but partially just as another reassurance that this particular person and her family have progressed so far from where they were when I met them.
The family was a referral from a missionary in the next-door ward, who told us that this woman had shown up in their ward one Sunday, and told them that she was a long-inactive member of the church, now married with two daughters, who had decided it was time to get back on the right track. We immediately met with Angela and her daughters Nathalia and Dryele. Angela had been baptized as a teenager but had stopped going to church about a year later, as I recall. Nath was 12 and Dry was 9.* The girls were anxious to learn about the gospel, either from true sincerity or just a good-hearted desire to do what their mom thought was best for them. Probably a little of both. Their father, Getulio, worked downtown 6 days a week, leaving at about 6 or 7 in the morning and never getting home till 10 or 11 at night. As our proselyting day only ran from 9:30 to 9:30, that meant the only time we could see him was Sundays.
The girls were baptized quickly, but Getulio took a lot longer, both because it was hard to get a hold of him, and because when he was home, he was working on an addition to their house. Of course, that to him was more important than going to church. But we eventually got through to Getulio and he was baptized just before I went home. The family hasn't looked back since. They've held high-level ward and stake callings, and were sealed in the temple as soon as they were able.
Well, now Nath is headed off to the Belo Horizonte Mission to do just what I did to her. I got the news in an email from Dry, who is preparing for college, but I wouldn't be surprised if in three years she goes too.
Actually, when I think about it, I think the most important thing to me about all this isn't so much that woo-hoo the girl I helped convert will now convert more people, and so more people will be brought into the gospel through my efforts (though I do think that's an important thing).
Rather, in a way, Nath's missionary service represents a shining light in contrast to the majority of the people I taught and baptized. Most of the people I baptized went inactive somewhat soon afterwards--some even before I was transferred out of the area. In some cases, I wasn't surprised, but in other cases, I've been truly crushed by the news that this perfect wonderful happy family has rejected the principles I know they knew.
Nath and her family have not done that. I know that they're not the only remaining active converts from my missionary service, but they're the ones I am in closest touch with (thanks to girls who know how to email!). And the fact that Nath is going to go try to bring even more people to Christ gratifies me because to a large extent, I feel that while I was pretty successful in baptizing people, I was far less successful in truly bringing people to Christ.
It's almost like she represents a second chance. Like she can make up for the people I taught but truly didn't get through to (including those who never made the commitment of baptism, despite being ohsoclose). I know that's not really the way things are--Nath will certainly have her share of disappointments and ohsoclose investigators and baptizees who never set foot in the church building after their baptism. But she's still out there, fighting the battle that I fought, and, in the case of her family, won. She may not have been truly converted at age 12, but she is now, and she'll be a wonderful missionary.
She's leaving the MTC this week, and Dry will get me her address. I can't wait to write to her and cheer her on.
* Don't worry, I'll do the math for you. If Nath is now a missionary, I must have baptized her 9 years ago. Yeah, that's right. This was July 1997. Boy am I old.
The family was a referral from a missionary in the next-door ward, who told us that this woman had shown up in their ward one Sunday, and told them that she was a long-inactive member of the church, now married with two daughters, who had decided it was time to get back on the right track. We immediately met with Angela and her daughters Nathalia and Dryele. Angela had been baptized as a teenager but had stopped going to church about a year later, as I recall. Nath was 12 and Dry was 9.* The girls were anxious to learn about the gospel, either from true sincerity or just a good-hearted desire to do what their mom thought was best for them. Probably a little of both. Their father, Getulio, worked downtown 6 days a week, leaving at about 6 or 7 in the morning and never getting home till 10 or 11 at night. As our proselyting day only ran from 9:30 to 9:30, that meant the only time we could see him was Sundays.
The girls were baptized quickly, but Getulio took a lot longer, both because it was hard to get a hold of him, and because when he was home, he was working on an addition to their house. Of course, that to him was more important than going to church. But we eventually got through to Getulio and he was baptized just before I went home. The family hasn't looked back since. They've held high-level ward and stake callings, and were sealed in the temple as soon as they were able.
Well, now Nath is headed off to the Belo Horizonte Mission to do just what I did to her. I got the news in an email from Dry, who is preparing for college, but I wouldn't be surprised if in three years she goes too.
Actually, when I think about it, I think the most important thing to me about all this isn't so much that woo-hoo the girl I helped convert will now convert more people, and so more people will be brought into the gospel through my efforts (though I do think that's an important thing).
Rather, in a way, Nath's missionary service represents a shining light in contrast to the majority of the people I taught and baptized. Most of the people I baptized went inactive somewhat soon afterwards--some even before I was transferred out of the area. In some cases, I wasn't surprised, but in other cases, I've been truly crushed by the news that this perfect wonderful happy family has rejected the principles I know they knew.
Nath and her family have not done that. I know that they're not the only remaining active converts from my missionary service, but they're the ones I am in closest touch with (thanks to girls who know how to email!). And the fact that Nath is going to go try to bring even more people to Christ gratifies me because to a large extent, I feel that while I was pretty successful in baptizing people, I was far less successful in truly bringing people to Christ.
It's almost like she represents a second chance. Like she can make up for the people I taught but truly didn't get through to (including those who never made the commitment of baptism, despite being ohsoclose). I know that's not really the way things are--Nath will certainly have her share of disappointments and ohsoclose investigators and baptizees who never set foot in the church building after their baptism. But she's still out there, fighting the battle that I fought, and, in the case of her family, won. She may not have been truly converted at age 12, but she is now, and she'll be a wonderful missionary.
She's leaving the MTC this week, and Dry will get me her address. I can't wait to write to her and cheer her on.
* Don't worry, I'll do the math for you. If Nath is now a missionary, I must have baptized her 9 years ago. Yeah, that's right. This was July 1997. Boy am I old.
Comments:
Matt-- Remember girl that you Elders baptized from the orphanage in our area in Taboao? :-) I'm embarrassed, but her name has slipped my mind. Anyway, a girl from our ward here came back from the North mission a year or two ago and said that she'd run into her in one of her areas-- she'd gone inactive for a while, but is going strong now and helps the missionaries a lot. Looks like you've got a few good fruits out there still...
Her name was Andrea. I was in contact with her for a few years after I got home, but we've lost touch now. I always thought she'd serve a mission, but I don't think she ever did. She was just a missionary's dream--baptized less than a month after we met her, and, in your words, "going strong" ten years later.
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