Allison

I am overwhelmed right now, like in a good way, like in a my-face-is-wet-but-these-are-supremely-joyful-and-also-repentant-tears way.

I just got an email from a mission companion telling me that Allison was baptised last month. (I hereby use Australian spelling in this entry. Baptised will be spelled with an s.)

This news about Allison relieves me of SO MUCH of the anxiety I've been feeling lately about my mission. I feel regrets so keenly and always wonder whether I did well enough.

Here's the story:

I felt that each proselyting area had a unique character that needed to be considered when deciding what kind of activities to do to find people. My desire to identify and then do just what was appropriate was so intense that it was painful. (In one of my areas this involved going on the weekly walk down the river that the recovering addicts went on and then going to their crafty class after.) When I arrived in Frankston North, I could feel that there was something VERY specific we needed to do. I fasted and prayed and agonized and the unmistakable answer was Doctrine and Covenants 111:2-3.

2 I have much treasure in this city for you, for the benefit of Zion, and many people in this city, whom I will gather out in due time for the benefit of Zion, through your instrumentality.

3 Therefore, it is expedient that you should form acquaintance with men in this city, as you shall be led, and as it shall be given you.

For some reason I took this to mean that we needed to focus on becoming more visible through obvious service. The day after we talked about this, and without planning to, Sister Mesake and I went to contact a media referral whom we'd tried to call unsuccessfully a dozen times. Peta. This time we actually stopped by her house. It was Thursday. We found her outside. She was moving to Adelaide on Monday. DING DING DING DING SERVICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They desperately needed us because she and her friends were few and all had various ailments that meant they weren't going to be able to get it done without a LOT of help. We promised them the help of six valiant young men (the zone leaders, district leader and district members) and they promised sandwiches. Both the lovely sister missionaries and the ladies we'd just met recognized the providential significance of the mere fact that we were there when they needed help.

So we helped pack, move, and clean Peta's house. This was a monumental moving job. She had SO MUCH STUFF. The kind of stuff most people wouldn't want to keep. The house was covered with birdseed from her pet sulphur-crested cockatoo...what was his name? Sweet Pea. The elders sure earned their share of cucumber sandwiches.

So we got the house packed. Peta drove off in her moving van with her pet parrot. We didn't finish cleaning the house.

CUE IN ALLISON!

Allison was Peta's best friend. She had the responsibility of the loyal friend to clean the house after Peta's departure. She had some nerve problems in her leg. We offered to come back the next day and help her get the place ready for move-out inspection.

CUE IN TJ, KIRSTIE, AND CHRIS!

Other best friends of Peta's. TJ was the mother. She was in a wheelchair. Kirstie and Chris were her kids. They helped too.

We cleaned the house alllllllllllllllllll day. It was hot hot hot hot hot. There was no getting rid of the birdseed. There was some ambitious cleaning to be done...oh I don't want to think of it.

At the end of the day, we found ourselves all sitting on the kitchen floor and the topic "naturally" turned to religion. It was Sister Nilsen, Sister Mesake, Allison, her daughter, TJ, Kirstie, and Chris. We found out the kids knew very little about Christ and asked them if they wanted to learn more. They did. We taught TJ, Kirstie, and Chris a few times. They had us over for dinner, even in their disadvantaged circumstances. It was frozen lasagne and trifle and they were so proud of it. They loved having us and I had some powerful experiences teaching them. We tried so hard to get them to church but it never happened.

Allison came for dinner too. We taught something, I don't remember. She invited us over for a Christmas barbecue. She said to consider ourselves family and come over whenever, but that it doesn't have to be about work and to come watch movies. (ha, movies...) She said she respected our beliefs but had her own. That's all I knew because I got transferred and different missionaries went to her Christmas barbecue and I never saw Frankston again.

This is what I heard from Sister Mesake tonight: "Allison got baptised in August. We went to a musical fireside in Frankston. She read her diary and her conversion story. She mentioned our names. I was crying looking back to that hot day packing and cleaning the house..."

Me too, Sister Mesake. It's been nearly a year since we all met. I would have never guessed that out of all those people we met through that service project, Allison would have continued to learn from the missionaries and join the church. These people are engraved on my heart. I feel such release from knowing that the work I put into getting the answer of what to do actually means a changed life. In other words, I feel like I did something right. I feel increased confidence in the process of personal revelation and that I can get the answers I need. The only word I can say about the arrival of this confidence is timely.