Farewell, Brendan

Last night I had the chance to hang out with a good friend of mine from this past school year, Brendan Owens. We sang in Concert Choir together, and his brother is a good friend of mine from some years past. Today he has just started probably the most influential period of his life. He entered the Missionary Training Center here in Provo, UT at 12:30 PM, for a three week training period.. He watched a short little movie with his family about the importance of missionary service, said goodbye, and then began the next two years of his life as a servant of the Lord. Wow, that sounds really poetic...and it kinda is.

Many (if not most) of the young men (and plenty of women)of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints serve a mission of two years somewhere away from home in order to spread the Gospel. This experience is not only good for the Church (200,000+ converts a year) but is also a major factor in shaping the character and integrity of the young man or woman. Granted, everyone gets out of the experience exactly what they put into it...so if you put your all into it, you get all of it back and that much more. If you don't put anything into it, then you get nothing back at all. Many times you can tell just what kind of missionary somebody was by how he/she acts after the mission experience.

It's a difficult thing when others are going on their missions to not reflect heavily on your own experience. I miss it a lot! There's nothing quite like the feeling of dedication and focus that you have during that time: every day you do exactly the same thing, and you soon become quite good at it. It's hard at first to get into the swing of things, especially since we as a society are so used to so many sources of entertainment in our lives. Being a missionary, though, is all about getting in tune with the Spirit and keeping hold of that focus. Once you do that, you can be put through almost anything and still look back at it later and smile. :-D It's truly a miracle what the Lord does with these young people who give up so much of their lives to serve Him. There are many times when I wish that I could be out there again, knowing exactly what I can and should be doing. *sigh* I really feel a cheesy moment coming on, so I'll wrap this up.

Brendan is a terrific young man who's excited to share the Gospel with the people of Washington (Kennewick area). I know that he'll have a terrific time out there (missions are so much fun!!) and that he'll have the chance not only to grow immensely, but he will have the chance to help other people grow just as much. Good luck Brendan! And may God bless you in your efforts.