An Apostle Visits Liberia

Oh man, I might be just as disappointed as Josh that his mission call hasn't come yet! I'm just waiting to hear that it's the Sierra Leone Freetown mission. ;-) Wherever it is, I'll be so happy for him!

Considering that there isn't a whole lot to answer in neither yours or Dad's email, I'll just send one home this week so we can share some sweet details about Elder Holland's visit.

He arrived Friday in the late afternoon, around four. He was scheduled to come Thursday evening, but there has been a lot of dust blowing in from the Sahara, so planes could neither take off or land in all of Sierra Leone or Liberia. President and Sister Roggia had spent four days trying to get here from Salone, but because of the weather, they were only able to arrive just hours before Elder Holland did. We, the missionaries, were supposed to have a meeting with him Friday morning around nine. As the news passed around that flights were being delayed and things, it was pushed to three, four, five, and so on a so forth. We were even beginning to question if he'd be able to come at all, because the most recent news we had heard was that his plane was in a holding pattern above Roberts International Airport in Liberia. If he wasn't able to land, there would have been no choice but to return to Accra.

Faith, as it always is, was the answer. Elder Holland is an apostle of the Lord. Can he not command the dust to quiet itself to allow him to land his plane and minister to his people? Of course he can, and indeed the dust cleared, though not a moment too soon. Had he spent another ten minutes in the air, the plane would have turned back.

Sister Roggia was already at Sinkor chapel, where the entire weekend was being staged. She announced to all of us anxiously awaiting missionaries that Elder Holland had indeed landed, and was on his way to the chapel. We cheered. We were gathered together in one of the classrooms as we waited for the long-anticipated arrival of that great apostle. Elder Liufau was there too, and he was standing outside the door in the hallway. After some period of time, he slid inside the door with a dazed look on his face. "Uh, Elders... He's here." We all looked, and beheld him as he walked down the hall to where he was to wait before his first meeting with the priesthood and auxiliary leaders of the church. Quickly recovering, we had another moment to also see President Dickson, Elder Snow, Elder Sitati, Elder Mensah, and their wives coming down the hallway towards us. AH! We were like a whole bunch of school children.

We continued to wait in the classroom for the first meeting to conclude. When it was done, we were admitted into the chapel for our missionary devotional with Elder Holland. HOW SWEET!!! We all got to shake his hand, and there were many pictures taken (there were some LDS.org reporters there. They said to wait a week or two and you'll be able to see their reports on Elder Holland's visit to Liberia. You might wanna check it out, since I was in the front! ;-) ).

We heard some brief testimonies from President Dickson and Elder Snow first, which were really wonderful. The program was a lot less structured than it was originally planned to be, considering Elder Holland's delayed arrival. Instead of a Q&A session, he simply talked to us specifically about our mission and things.

He first expressed his gratitude for our diligence as missionaries, and fully acknowledged the brutal nature of this mission in particular. He said that "every other mission in the world is a 2-year holiday from BYU-Idaho." That made me laugh. He narrated how it would be with us "staggering" through the funeral doors of our home chapels, and proclaiming over the pulpit "I'm back from MONROVIA!!!" with wild and bleary eyes. That also made me laugh. Yes indeed, this has to be the hardest mission in the world. Of every mission I've ever heard of in all of the world, even in Africa, this one takes the most guts to complete. We take it as it is; just part of the call.

He then took time to admonish us to be the best missionaries we could be. He started by analyzing the mission numbers, stating that the mission has over 1000 baptismal dates for the month of February. "1000 baptismal dates??" He said, "Most missions can't get 1000 baptismal dates in ten years!! And these are only for the month of February." he concluded with a sarcastic air. He continued by saying that nobody was here to watch us do what we do, so it's up to us to maintain the mission in Liberia. The mission president is in Sierra Leone, so he can't watch over you, and "heck, I represent church headquarters, and I couldn't even get here!" He made a point by saying that "If you want to sleep in, you can sleep in. If you want to loaf, you can loaf. If you want to break mission rules, nobody will know; except for the Lord and the angels in heaven who keep score."

He concluded with talking about what we will need to do as returned missionaries. He related that the thing that makes him "go ballistic" the most is missionaries who serve an honorable two years and then go home and are less-active. "What-in-the-world kind of Latter-Day Saints are those??" He endeared us to internalize our missions; to never forget them, and to live up to those people that we served. As a concluding commentary, he said "If I find you in three or five years and you're less-active, I'll wring your necks!"

That was the majority of what he said to us the Elders and Sisters. I have a few more notes that I took, but I don't have them on me. It was really nice for us to be aknowledged as the toughest of the tough, considering that we serve in one of the most thankless jobs there is. We work and work and work, and not an ounce of "thanks" is given for anything, save when one is baptized, and even that is seldom seen. It doesn't really bother me, but it was wonderful to be praised by an apostle, especially one like Elder Holland.

The meeting concluded in prayer, and we returned home, rather late I might add, arriving home about an hour and a half after curfiew. It's okay, the apostle blessed us. ;-)

The next day, Sunday (yesterday), was kind of a zoo for us. All of the same church dignitaries were there at the church, and we the missionaries had the job of ushering and doing odd jobs for the sake of the district conference. The conference was held in two sessions: Morning session for Monrovia district, and afternoon for Bushrod Island district. We, unfortunately, didn't get to listen to much of the conference because we were counting people, guarding the bathroom so the Liberians won't dirty the place for Elder Holland, and the like (we had 800 in attendance in the first session, and nearly 1000 in the second. Sweet!!). In the end, we were rewarded for our labors with the scraps left over from Elder Holland's catered lunch ("table scraps" makes it sound bad... I've never eaten so good on my whole mission. Ka-peesh.).

We were fortunate to hear a little from the last session of conference from Elder Holland. He said that "If I were looking for a church, there are three things that I would make sure are key in the church doctrines." The first he explained was that the church must teach that God is our loving Heavenly Father, indeed in the form of an exalted man, and that we, as his children, are heirs to such a glory. He talked more on the subject, cross-referencing from various scriptures and other quotes. The second requirement for his church was an organization like that of the primitive church in the days of Christ. He said that he needed apostles, prophets, and continuing revelation, and so on and so forth. The third, unfortunately, was lost from our ears as we were carried away on another assignment elsewhere in the building.

At the conclusion of the second and last session of district conference, Elder Holland made a hasty departure, on his way to catch the plane back to Accra. It truly was a blessing and a miracle that he was able to come here and speak to us. I was sitting right in the very front and center of the pulpit during the missionary devotional, so I even got to feel the breeze of his breath, so to speak. If any pictures show up of that, you will surely see me. The camera guy got quite a few of us Elders in the front. I think that concludes my thoughts on Elder Holland's visit for now... without my book, I can't remember much else.

I DID have an interesting conversation with Elder and Sister Fife, our area doctors while they were here (I guess they're required personelle in Elder Holland's entourage). They are a real young senior couple, so I was curious as to how they landed their call as area doctors. Sister Fife explained that she was a respiratory therapist back home, and her husband was a general physician. She said that they are taking a two year sabbatical in order to serve a year and a half, after which, they will both return and continue their work as medical practicioners. It made me think of you, Mom and Dad. ;-) It won't be long before the two of you can be considering a mission, huh? I'd love that for you two. :-)

Well, that's about all I've got today. I hope it's good for you! Things are as busy as they always are. I love you so much! Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Vaughan