Lessons on Missionary Service
Lesson No. Twenty-Four

Patience by Jeff Jackman

While living in Michigan, we would, on occasion, venture to Detroit for short get away excursions. Among the deserted and desolate, I remember enjoying simple rides on the downtown People Mover. The People Mover is an elevated train that stops at high traffic locations. All of the People Mover stops greet passengers with various types of art, including mosaics made from painted tile. I really enjoyed some of these colorful murals, and have thought about them off and on over the years.

The memories of my mission in Barcelona Spain, I think, are best articulated as a ride on the People Mover with occasional stops reflecting poignant colorful memories. I don’t recall many of the details of my day-to-day missionary life, just like I can’t recall many aspects of the actual train ride in Detroit. However, specific events or tile filled murals stand out in my mind. One such event took place in a busy city located adjacent to Barcelona called L’Hospitalet. I had been serving for over a year and was powerfully taught much about the principle of patience.

It was a hot summer afternoon and lunch was drawing near. My companion Elder Wiggins and I had been struggling to find investigators. On this particular day, we had experienced a rather long and unsuccessful morning of street contacting. While determined to reach our goal of finding one person to teach, we were a little concerned because Siesta was fast approaching. Siesta meant that stores close, shops are abandoned and the streets are totally emptied. How would we meet our goal if everyone were gone? We believed in our purpose, and sincerely felt a strong desire to teach someone the gospel of Jesus Christ. We simply had to press forward exercising faith and patience. Patience, Elder Maxwell taught, is not shoulder shrugging indifference, but is caring and caring very deeply. On this day, and at this moment, I believe that the Lord wanted to see how much Elder Wiggins and I cared. He was testing the level of our commitment, seeing if we would patiently wait upon the Lord.

We pressed on for another hour, well past our time to return for lunch. Finally, we stood in the middle of what earlier represented a bustling metro plaza, and yet not a single person was in sight. My companion was tired, hungry, and anxious to return to our apartment. I refused. I led my companion through a few random side streets when out of nowhere a woman of about 50 years of age appeared. We approached her, and she stopped to talk. She was the first person to stop in over four hours of proselyting. Maria had been prepared by the Lord to listen to our message. Over the course of a few short weeks we taught Maria the missionary discussions, which culminated into a beautiful baptismal service.

When I think back on that mission mural of patience, I am reminded how oftentimes we engage in activities that are good and righteous, only too often to abandon our efforts. Perhaps we let other activities crowd out our purpose, or we begin to question once things becomes difficult, or perhaps we even become unduly impatient. We, as Elder Maxwell taught, “pull up the daisies to see how the roots are growing”. The Lord, who honors our agency, will also test our commitment and stretch our patience. The mission field provided a perfect opportunity for me to learn this valuable principle. While I’m not perfectly patient, I do draw strength from my missionary experience, especially as I strive to improve and develop this principle of patience.