Townsend

As of today, I have been home from my mission for exactly one month.

Hope you can forgive what may seem like random interjections and haphazardly strewn together thoughts. I'm reminiscing here for the benefit of those who know Townsend, Montana, and who I know and love. I would appreciate any memories or thoughts you have to share, long or short...if you would post them as comments below.
If you are not from Townsend, and if you don't know me, please read on. 

This is the first post about an area of my mission that I will write post-mission. I've waited for awhile to continue writing because it's hard to look back during such a huge transition. I must have sat down to write at least fifteen times, and just couldn't bring my mind to focus.

I've already written much about Townsend, in pieces here and there, in other posts. Some of those posts include Homecoming Talk, Art's Conversion, Erin's Conversion, Sheri's Conversion, Leah's Conversion, and The Reason I Came. These can all be found under the My Montana Mission tab at the top of this blog.

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My transfer to Townsend came as a huge surprise. I was serving in Miles City, on the other side of Montana, with Elder Anderson. I had only been in Miles City one transfer (a transfer is 6 weeks); Elder Anderson had been there for three. The typical pattern would be for the elder who had been in the area the longest to transfer out. But that was not the plan. I still remember President Gardner's voice on the phone. He explained that they had just opened up a new area called Townsend, and he wanted me to go in with Elder Roerdanz. Both of us would be new to the area. He said there were people who had been prepared for years by the sister missionaries, and that we had big shoes to fill because the sisters had always done amazing work there.

I met up with Elder Roerdanz in Billings and worked with him for a day there, getting to know him a little bit. We set out together the next day, on my birthday. October 26, 2009. I turned 20 that day, but spent the day on a bus. 

Spiral Staircase

I wrote this little poem in Billings on my mission. It just came out this way.

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Life's a spiral staircase
You never get off
Will you sit at the bottom
Or rise to the top?

You may face the same problems
Again and again
But with each step you're stronger
As you ascend.

He built the Staircase
And He waits for you
Just one step ahead.
Now what will you do?
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Coming home from a mission, I've found that life has changed very little since I left. And I'm still the same person I was, but I can see the growth in myself and in those around me, even as we display the same weaknesses we've had our whole lives.
The day will come when we will be able to look back and see perfectly where we have come, and how we have arrived.
I didn't want the imagery of a spiral staircase to imply that life is a boring, endless cycle either. Just to say that we often struggle with the same issues over an extended period of time, but become stronger and rise higher with each round.

The Message of the Restoration

This is the central message I shared with people as a missionary.  In order to have a fulness of faith in Christ, we have to understand His doctrine. He provided a way to obtain that fulness of doctirne and faith through His restored church.
I know that Jesus Christ is real, that He lives today, that He suffered for our sins, and that He loves us all. I know this because I've learned of Him, prayed to know the truth, and have felt the Spirit testify to me directly. I've seen the promises He makes fulfilled in my life over and over again. I've read the Bible and the Book of Mormon, two witnesses of Christ. Both testify of Him and both have brought great joy into my life as I've read them.
My challenge to all who read this post is to read the Book of Mormon seriously to find out for yourself if the fulness of Christ's doctrine and gospel exist on the earth today. I promise that as you do, you will know it is true.