2020 - Gratitude Day #25 - Missionaries

 Gratitude Day #25

Today I am grateful for missionaries.

Missionaries do hard work. and I am grateful for those who have had a direct impact on the course of my life. There is much sacrifice on their part, and on the part of their families.

In the 1940s, my parents and sisters were living in Logan County, West Virginia when Mom opened the door to two missionaries.

Accepting their call as a missionary to West Virginia, they came ready to preach the gospel. My parents' house was one of the doors they knocked on. When Mom answered the door, she wasn't looking for any church at all; but there was something that resonated in their message.

And, after listening to their teachings over a number of lessons, she made the decision to be baptized, along with my three sisters. Dad wasn't interested at all, so don't bother him with it.

This was in 1948, when women often did the bidding of her husband. Mom was going to do it with or without him. I believe she recognized truth, and saw a way to better her family.

So, in September of that year, she and Fern, Jean, and Betty were baptized. And, it began to change our family forever.

A couple of years later, Dad had moved the family to Ohio for three reasons:

1. To find a better job.
2. To secure better education for my sisters.
3. To make sure there was no Mormon church. (The missionaries had gotten a little too pushy for Dad. Dad would not be pushed in anything.)

Two years later, Dad was baptized. Three years later, I was born.

Mom had her door opened to missionaries all of the years that she could. There were "cottage meetings" in our home, along with great meals.

Years later, another missionary would make an impact in our family - Mr. Kerry. He left his home in 1971 to serve two years in the Delaware/Maryland Mission. It was during that time that the Washington DC temple was under construction. He fell in love with that part of the country, and returned a few months after his release from his mission.

Washington, DC Temple - Kensington, Maryland

Just two years later, I would meet this young man who had remained true to everything he ever taught on his mission. We married eight months later.

Two of our four children also decided to serve missions. Peter answered the call to serve in the Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission 1998-2000. I was nervous, for he was our oldest and the first to leave home.

It was a beautiful area, but it was also difficult. After his return, we learned of some of the abuses that go along with missionary work - doors slammed in their faces, beer cans thrown at the spokes of their bicycles, etc. But, he also fell in love with the area, and returned there to live after his return home.

At the  Columbus, Ohio airport - shortly before leaving for the Missionary Training Center.

Son Erik also decided to make application to be a missionary. And when his call came, we rejoiced and danced around!

And then, it hit me hard, and I cried. And, I cried.

He was going to the Russia Samara Mission.

Russia.

When I was growing up, Russia was the enemy. We all knew they were going to "get us", and often did the duck-and-dives under our desks at school. I didn't know how I was going to handle this.

It took pure trust and confidence on my own part to be happy for his call, and to send him off with a cheerful heart. But, we did. And, we were able to join him at the end of his mission to tour throughout some of the cities where he served.

We joined him at the end of his mission in December 2005. It was cold.

Kerry's father served a mission in the Southern States, as well as several of Kerry's siblings, aunts and uncles, and other ancestors. Their service has made a great impact on our family.

So today, I am grateful for the missionary army that has served around the world to bring good news to families. Though things have changed a bit due to the pandemic, there are still ways to serve. And, they are doing it.

So, the next time two young missionaries, male or female, knock on your door, be kind. They are someone's son or daughter. They are someone's brother or sister, or a grandchild.

And, of all of the things they could have chosen to be doing at their young age, they chose to serve.

Oh, and me? Yes, I served one, too! I served two years (2014-2016) as a missionary for the FamilySearch Wiki. I was over the Library and Archives for all 50 states, checking to make sure the information provided was good and credible. Anyone with a desire to do the work can find a place to serve.

Anyone.

Christmas beauty of the day - Kerry's Christmas star

Christmas beauty of the day.

Elder Kerry Lauritzen's Christmas star.

Of all of the posts I've written this December, this one is my favorite, for it is filled with a deep Christmas memory.

Kerry served his mission in the Delaware/Maryland area from 1971-1973. He was 19 years old, and it was his first real long time away from home. He had left to enter the Mission Home in Salt Lake City in September (where the Conference Center now stands), and this Christmas would be spent away from his large family back in Utah while he served in Catonsville, MD.

Missionaries don't have much money. They didn't have it then and they don't have it now. A kind man man on a Christmas tree lot sold them a 4' tree for about $4, and they brought it home.

Now, for the ornaments. Missionaries are pretty limited in what they're able to bring on their missions. Christmas ornaments are not on the list.

So, Kerry cut out a cardboard star, glued some paper onto it, and with either a crayon or a yellow highlighter colored it yellow.

The two missionaries pooled their money and bought a string of lights and ornaments.

And, it's been on our tree every year for forty years, and on his own tree six years before that.

This 46-year old cardboard star represents to many things to me. It shows the sacrifice of a young man who left home to teach the world about the message and the hope of Christ.

It helped him to recall the legend of the tree his own mother told him about the Christmas tree:

That the star at the top represents the star of Bethlehem.

The twinkling lights represent the stars in heaven that night.

Angels on the tree represent the angels who announced and sang that night.

The presents under the tree represent the great gift He brought to each of us.

So, even though it's just the two of us, the star adorns one of our little trees. In my mind, it's the most treasured ornament we own. It was created when he was sacrificing two years of his life in dedication to God, and helped him to evolve into the man I would someday marry.

I believe when we take it down this year, I will frame it and keep it on display for my own memorable treasure.

It's another example that meaningful things don't always equate to fancy things. Sometimes, it might be something as simple as a cardboard star created 46 years ago.

You can faintly see some of the yellow crayon or highlighting marks.

Kerry in front of the tree holding one of his journals.

Kerry's missionary journal - Vol. 1 of 3

The page mentioning the tree.

A closeup of the page mentioning the tree.