Missionary work is the same wherever you are

It has been a while since I last wrote on this blog so I am trying to catch up with all that has been going on.  It is always great to hear from Christopher.  He is getting used to missionary life and is doing really well.  In his last few letters he has talked about the people that he is currently teaching and how well some of them are progressing in the gospel.  There aren’t any firm baptismal dates for any of their investigators yet, but some of them are very close.  Christopher told us how he and his companion recently traveled with one of their investigators up to Palmyra and was able to spend the morning before the first session of General Conference in the Sacred Grove.  He told us all about how special it is to be serving as a missionary in a mission that has so much church history.  Having the opportunity to spend time in a place like this, really helps to life his spirit and allows him to do everything he needs to in order to be a good missionary.

After spending several hours in the Sacred Grove, Christopher along with his companion and the investigator that traveled with them, went to a nearby Stake Center to watch the opening session of conference.  After all of these years growing up and watching conference on TV at home, Christopher told us how much more special and spiritual it was to watch conference as a missionary.  There is just something about being on a mission that magnifies the small things in life that so often are taken for granted.

There have been a couple of events that have happened to Christopher recently that has made life as a missionary a little more interesting.  When Christopher first arrived in the Rochester mission and was assigned to the Batavia branch, he and his companion had to spend some time trying to find a place to live.  As it turned out, the place that they found wasn’t so great.  Christopher told us that they had some “not so neighborly” neighbors that would yell profanity constantly and play blaring music 24-7.  He also said that the smell of cigarette smoke was just constant and overwhelming.  Needless to say, they decided that it was time to find a better place to live.  Luckily they were able to find another apartment that was in the same building complex where the senior couple missionaries live.  Christopher told us how this has made such a big difference not only in their environment but the convenience of having other missionaries around.

Christopher also had a little medical mishap while playing basketball on his P-Day recently.  One of Christopher’s favorite things to do is to play basketball and as a missionary on P-Day, that is one of their primary activities.  Apparently this basketball game wasn’t one of his best.  Christopher told us that while playing basketball, one of the other Elders came down on his hand which bent his thumb backwards to the point where he and those around him heard a loud pop.  At that point they decided that it would probably be a good idea to see a doctor. After seeing the doctor and expecting the worst but hoping for the best, things turned out for the better.  Expecting the doctor to tell him that he had broken a thumb or a wrist, it all turned out to be just a serious sprain.  Other than it being painful and swollen, it looks like Christopher’s basketball pride and his wrist will be OK.

Overall Christopher is doing well even through there are some times where he has some struggles.  Missionary work is not always easy and sometimes there are people that are being taught that just don’t quite follow through in the manner that the missionaries would like even though the people are trying.  Christopher mentioned that the Batavia area is a bit difficult because of the down economy and the affected that it has had on so many lives.  There are very few jobs which also contributes to people being more interested in providing for their basic physical necessities in life rather than the religious ones.  Hopefully things will improve and Christopher, his companion and the other missionaries in the area can do their part to move the gospel forward.

Even though this blog is about Christopher and the many experiences that he will have as a missionary over the next couple of years, there will be a few times when I feel that it is appropriate to talk a little bit about Christopher’s family.  This is one of those time where I would l like to share with you an experience that is very much about a mission, missionaries, Christopher and his family.  I am currently writing this blog entry as I sit in the mission home in Quito, Ecuador.  This is significant because I served my mission in Guayaquil, Ecuador thirty years ago.  My wife and I are here because my wife’s cousin and her husband are mission presidents in the Quito, Ecuador mission.  This experience being here in Ecuador has brought back so many memories of my mission and being a missionary.  In our short time here my wife and I have been able to see missionary work take place from a mission president’s perspective.  One of the most significant experiences that we have had in our short time here was a visit to a city on the Ecuador/Columbia boarder called Tulcan.  The reason why this experience is so significant is because of what happened on Saturday night just after we arrived.  This experience allowed both my wife and I to participate in missionary work in exactly the same way as both of our missionary sons, Christopher and Alex. 

We traveled to Tulcan with the mission president and his family to attend a district conference in the small Tulcan branch.  Saturday evening before the conference, several of the branch leaders in Tulcan including both the Priesthood as well as the Relief Society, paired up to go out and visit some of the less active members of the church to invite them back.  I had the privilege of going with one of the counselors in the branch presidency as well as the district president.  We traveled to a very humble home of one of the members, not too far from the small chapel in the city.  There we met with a less active member of the church where I was invited to share some of my missionary experiences as well as give the prayer before we left.  This was a very special experience for me for several reasons.  Those reasons include being back among the people who I had served thirty years ago, using my Spanish language which I still remember and because this is exactly the same experience that both our sons Christopher and Alex share with us in their letters home each week. 

My wife had a very similar experience that evening in Tulcan as well.  She accompanied several of the Relief Society sisters on visits and was able to experience what missionary work is like as a full time missionary.  Since she was not able to serve as a full time missionary when she was younger, this has been a new and very exciting experience for her.  Even though she does not speak Spanish, she was able to understand and feel the spirit that was present in each of her visits.  She was even asked to give a prayer, in English, several times during the two days that we were there.  For us, this whole trip to Ecuador has been all about missionary work even though we are not currently called as full time missionaries.  It has been an experience that has brought us very close to our missionary sons even though we are thousands of miles apart.  Our time here, we will never forget.  Whether we will ever be back, I don’t know. But we will follow in Christopher and Alex’s footsteps and serve as full time senior missionaries one day in the future.

New experiences everyday

Christopher's first few weeks in the Rochester, New York mission have been full of new experiences.  One of the common experiences has been knocking on doors.  Since there hasn't been missionaries in the Batavia area for a while, Christopher and his companion have had to build up a new teaching pool.  Of course this is where Christopher really shines.  All of his experience as a salesman in various parts of the country is now coming together to help out in his missionary work.  Over the past several weeks, Christopher and his companion have been able to set teaching appointments with over 30 people.  Christopher told us that tracting has been one of the most effective ways of meeting people.  He said that in about an hour and a half of tracting one Saturday morning, he and his companion were able to set up seven new teaching appointments.  Of course not all of their appointments have followed through which can make missionary work a little frustrating at times. 

Christopher has told us about some of the new people that they are currently teaching.  He told us a funny story about a little girl who is not a member of the Church and likes to watch TV.  In the New York area, the Church has been showing some short TV commercials that simply show various people from around the country.  As part of the commercial, these people will say something like,  "I'm Chris, I'm a Father, I'm a husband, I'm a former NFL player and I'm a Mormon".  Well apparently this little girl had seen several of these commercials on TV and one day announced to her Grandmother,  "I'm [__] and I'm a Mormon!".  I guess that can tell you a lot about the influence of a TV commercial as well as the interest that something like this might spark in a person.  Anyway, they all got a good laugh out of it and thought that it was a pretty cute story.

One experience that missionaries seem to have quite often is the opportunity to speak in church.  Christopher just recently enjoyed this experience as well not long ago.  He told us that a few weeks ago he was asked to speak in church on faith and hope.  Things have been so busy for Christopher and his companion, that Christopher didn't have a lot of time to prepare.  But if you know Christopher, that doesn't seem to stop him from getting up and doing his best anyway.  He told us that when it was his turn to speak, he got up and spoke for about twenty minutes.  Everything went very well and he felt good about his first talk as a missionary.  He also told us a little bit about the branch in Batavia.  Being a small branch, there are only about thirty people who attend church each week.  This is also a new experience for Christopher.  He is used to Utah Wards where there are usually at least a couple hundred people in the congregation.  I'm sure that in a small branch like Batavia, Christopher will probably have quite a few more opportunities to speak in church.

About a week or so ago, Christopher told us about another very exciting and unique experience that he and his companion had.  This time they were at a mission conference at the Palmyra Stake center.  There were several general authorities visiting the mission at this time including Elder Richard G Scott, Jay E Jensen and David Cook of the seventy.  During the meeting Elder Scott invited a missionary companionship to come forward to do some teaching role playing.  Christopher and his companion couldn't let this kind of an opportunity go by, so they both immediately volunteered.  Once they were up in front of everybody, they were asked to teach the first lesson as if they were at a regular teaching appointment.  As Christopher described it:

"So.... we taught the first lesson in front of 2 mission presidents(the Utica, NY mission pres was there too) 4 stake presidents, the Palmyra temple president, a member of the 70, member of the presidency of the 70, and an Apostle and 120 missionaries!!!! Very intense! We did really well though. The best part was that afterwards Elder Scott,Jensen, and everyone else all critiqued us on our teaching! It was pretty fun and definitely a once in a lifetime experience!"

All in all Christopher seems to be getting into the swing of missionary work.  He is a little upset about BYU basketball though.  Out of all of the years of being a big BYU basketball fan, the year he decides to go on a mission is the year that BYU is expected to perform their best in the NCAA tournament.  As Christopher put it, "Ohhh the sacrifices of a mission!!  ha ha"

Even the cold and snow doesn't stop missionary work

We received Christopher's first letter from the Rochester, New York mission.  He has been assigned to a town called Batavia which Christopher says is kind of out in the middle of nowhere.  From what Christopher told us, this is an area that hasn't seen a lot of missionary work in the last couple of years.  Since there hasn't been any missionaries there for a while, the first order of business for Christopher and his companion was to find a place to live.  I guess it took them a little while to not only find a place but to have the apartment approved by Church headquarters as well.  But after a week and a half of commuting from Rochester, they are finally settled into their new apartment and really ready to get the work done.  Christopher told us that when the day came for them to finally move it, they had to make the move in a foot of snow.

Building up a new teaching pool in a new area can be a hard thing to do.  But Christopher and his companion have really been working hard and their work has been paying off.  Christopher told us all about many of the people that they have recently met and even about some of the teaching experiences that they have had in their short time together.  Christopher's companion has been out in the Rochester mission for almost two years and like Christopher, he became a missionary a few years later than usual.  Christopher told us about many of the other similarities that he and his companion have and just how well they have been working together.  Many of the experiences that Christopher shared with us are very personal so for that reason I won't be sharing them in this kind of forum.  But feel free to drop by or call if you would like to hear more about them.

Christopher started out his next letter home by telling us all about the harsh winters in upstate New York.  Utah gets quite a lot of snow every year but even after growing up in a snowy climate, Christopher told us that there is much more snow in New York than Utah.  It seems that every truck they see has a snow plow on it just to be able to keep up with clearing the streets and parking lots.  They even have small snow cats that drive up and down the sidewalks to keep them clear.  I guess one fortunate thing, or maybe not so fortunate depending on how you look at it, is that they don't have a car.  With all of the snow in the area, driving around in anything other than a 4x4 might be a little difficult.  So they are doing a lot of walking which also serves to keep these missionaries in shape.

One interesting experience that Christopher told us about was when his companion need to trade off with another missionary in a nearby city.  This paired Christopher up with a temporary companion who had also only been in the Rochester mission for two weeks as well.  Of course just because they are both brand new missionaries doesn't mean that the work has to slow down.  Both of them picked right up and headed out to do a little tracting and try to meet a few more people.  The efforts were successful and they were able to meet and teach lessons to several people.  After a full day of tracting and teaching, Christopher told us that they had a very successful day.  It is always a good thing when you can look back on your day and feel good about what you have accomplished.

Christopher's competitive spirit has already taken hold in his missionary work.  His mission president hold Christopher that his companion is one of the best at meeting new people and teaching them the gospel.  During one transfer he was able to meet and teach a certain number of new people.  Christopher has taken that as a new challenge which has motivated him to want to beat that number.  Whether that happens or not really isn't the most important thing.  What is important is that these missionaries work hard and allow themselves to be guided by the spirit to the right people.  Christopher has already told us about several great teaching experiences that he has had and I am sure that there will be a lot more to come.

Short time in the MTC and off to Rochester

It was a quick 2 and a half weeks in the MTC and Christopher is now in Rochester, New York.  We finally got a letter from him after he had been at the MTC for about a week and a half.  Not a really long letter, but then Christopher isn't much for long letters anyway.  He told us that for the first few days in the MTC, he didn't really know how he was going to handle the next two years.  But after the shock of entering the MTC wore off, things got much better and he really started to enjoy his time there.  From what Christopher said, he and his companion really worked well together and were able to accomplish a lot in the short time that they were there.  Christopher mentioned in his letter that it was kind of weird to be around a bunch of missionaries that were several years younger than him.  But that is just something that you have to get used to and I am sure that after a while, it didn't really matter anymore.

We really only heard from Christopher twice while he was in the MTC.  His second letter really wasn't much longer than the first but then he really didn't have a lot of time to write due to everything else going on.  He told us again in his second letter that things in the MTC just kept getting better and better.  But at the same time he was really excited to leave the MTC and get out to Rochester.  Christopher commented that all of the experience that he has gained over the last several years in the various jobs that he has held, has really come in handy in his preparation to be a missionary.  But he still felt like there is still a lot more that he can learn about the scriptures and the gospel.  Actually, that is feeling that will never go away and is a true statement for everybody.  Learning the scriptures and gospel principles is an on going process that doesn't end with just missionary work. 

Christopher left the MTC last Monday on a fairly early morning flight.  He was able to call home and talk to us for a few minutes before he had to board his flight.  There really wasn't much time to talk a lot but it was good to hear his voice.  He was very excited to be heading out to Rochester and get started on doing actual missionary work.  Christopher may not know this, but later on that evening we got a call from the mission President's wife.  She called to tell us that Christopher had arrived safely and just wanted to let us know that all was going well.  The mission President's wife talked to Christopher's Mom for a little while all about Christopher and what his talents are.  Of course his Mom talked all about Christopher's musical abilities and let her know that doing missionary work through music might be one way that Christopher can share his talents.

We are really looking forward to hearing from Christopher on a regular basis and learning all about the wonderful experiences that he is having.  We are excited to hear about his first assignment, companion and everything else that could happen during his first week.

A whirlwind mission call

Elder Christopher Nicholes entered the MTC on January 5th 2011.  That statement sounds rather normal for any missionary called to serve an LDS mission, right?  However this time it was anything but normal and here is the reason why.  Christopher actually received his mission call only three weeks earlier, which if you do the math, just happened to be about a week and a half before Christmas.  So combining the usual hectic pace of the holiday season with the stress of getting a missionary out the door, you can already see just how out of the ordinary Christopher's mission call was. 

This all started about a week and a half or so after Christopher turned in his mission papers.  Of course as the next Wednesday rolled around, which is normally when you would expect a big brown envelope in the mail, we got a phone call instead.  Our Stake President was on the other end of the phone call and after a few common pleasantries, asked the question, "could your son be ready to leave on his mission by January 5th?".  Given that the date that day was the 15th of December, you can imagine the rush of emotion and urgency that suddenly came across his mother.  The answer to that question was of course "Yes".  The Stake President then informed Christopher's mother that he was not at liberty to say where Christopher was being called but he could say that Christopher would be serving under one of the finest mission presidents among all of missions of the church.  [Just a small side note at this point, if you are wondering who that is, just go look up the New York, Rochester mission and see for yourself.  If you have lived around Utah Valley for any amount of time, you have probably heard of Christopher's mission president.  And if you haven't, I am sure that somebody you know has and they will go on and on telling you just what a great man he is.  At least that has been our experience.]

After finally picking herself up off the floor and giving herself a little time to recover from the bomb shell that had just gone off, Christopher's mother immediately called Christopher to let him know what had just happened.  Not knowing when the big brown envelope would actually arrive, we certainly hoped that it wouldn't be long and it wasn't.  The very next day Christopher's mother was driving down the street when she happened to see the mailman driving up the street in the opposite direction.  Just on a hunch she stopped and began to ask the mailman if he had anything...  But before she could get the words out of her mouth, the mailman pulled out a big envelope and handed it to her.  Again, she immediately called Christopher to tell him what was going on for a second time.

Later that night, which was the earliest that everybody could get together, Christopher came over to the house with his grandparents and several of his friends.  Keep in mind that up to this point Christopher still hadn't actually opened his mission call and because of that, his mother started asking everybody where they thought Christopher would be going.  Everybody made their guesses and surprisingly enough both his mother and one of this friends picked the same place.  Christopher opened the envelope, pulled out the letter and began to read it silently at first.  Then when he got to the point where it stated exactly where he would be serving, it read, "New York, Rochester Mission" which was exactly where both his mother and his friend had guessed.  This was one of the few times that we have ever seen Christopher cry.  At least one of the few times after having outgrown the "terrible two's".  Once Christopher had let things sink in for just a few minutes, he finally commented that this was the perfect mission for him.  He couldn't think of anywhere else that he would rather be serving.  Remember how I told you that either you or somebody you know would know Christopher's mission president?  Well as soon as Christopher announced to everyone who his mission president would be, his friend who also happened to be the same friend that guess right, immediately jumped to his feet in total surprise and started telling everybody in the room all about this mission president and just how wonderful he is.  Ever since then, every time we tell anybody who the mission president is, we have gotten the exact same reaction. 

The next few weeks flew by quickly.  There was still a lot of Christmas shopping to do, a lot of missionary clothes shopping to do and a lot of loose ends to tie up before Christopher would be ready to go.  Just to give you an idea of how quickly time flew by, that very next Sunday Christopher stood up at the pulpit in Sacrament meeting to announce his mission call.  The following Sunday he stood at the pulpit again to give his farewell talk and just over a week after that, all of the shopping was done, the most critical loose ends were tied up and Christopher entered the MTC.

When the day finally arrived for Christopher to enter the MTC, he was still running around trying to make sure that everything was in place and ready to go.  He had asked his mother the night before if it would be OK for him to invite some of his friends over for breakfast before going to the MTC.  Of course she said yes and that morning several of the friends and roommates dropped by the house.  Most of Christopher's friends had already served and returned home from their missions so they were all talking about their mission experiences during breakfast that morning.  It was great to hear all of the stories mixed in with many of the other experiences that they had all shared together since then.  Finally after spending time talking and laughing, they all said their goodbyes and Christopher was back to running through the last minute checklist. 

One of the things that still needed to be checked off the list was selling his nice car that he had bought almost a year earlier.  Of course that wasn't going to happen before he left but when it came time to actually load up his luggage and go to the MTC, it worked out that his car was the one we took.  Christopher has always loved driving nice cars and it was just like him to be able to drive his car for one last time as he drove himself to the MTC.  That last statement almost sounds like we sent him off by himself, but that was obviously not the case.  No, we were all right there with him in the car but yes, he did drive himself to the MTC.  From where we live, it isn't a very long drive and when we finally arrived, we pulled in the parking lot, parked and all got out to take a few pictures and say our goodbyes.  It was a nice sunny day but still a little code with snow on the ground all round where we parked.  After a few minutes of snapping pictures and talking, we all got back in his car, drove across the street to the MTC, parked again at the curb, unloaded his luggage and gave him one last big hug that would have to last for the next two years.

So this is where it all begins.  Hopefully over the next two years, we will be able to share through this blog, all of the wonderful experiences that Christopher is guaranteed to have.  This is just our way of not only being part of Christopher's mission, but allowing all of you to be part of it as well.