What Are The 24 Hours Of Missionary Life Like?

6:15 AM I wake up and jump to my feet then drop to my knees. I say a prayer and thank my father in heaven for another day to serve. I ask for a blessing to pour out on the people that I have grown to love that live in this forest they call the Washington DC South Mission. I exercise, eat, and get ready for the day. You feel somewhat like a super hero as you dawn your outfit that you've been wearing every day for the past two years. You slide your name tag on that bears the name of what this whole mission experience is about. It is an honor to bear the name of Christ each and every day and to have the opportunity to act as his representative. Now for the hardest decision of the day... What tie should I wear?

8:00 AM It's time to study. I pull out of the old milk crate that holds all my books (no Elders desk is complete without one) a number of resources from scriptures, magazines, notes, talks, manuals, anything that I can get my hands on that will prepare me for what the day ahead holds. I sit at a desk and chair that were probably found outside a dumpster and depending on the day I may take a trip to the couch that we got when one of the neighbors was throwing it out. 

9:00 AM Time to combine forces with my companion. We read, practice, prepare and as long as no one is near to hear we may sing a hymn or two.

10:00 AM Time to get things started! We'll start the rest of our day off usually going to do some work on the computer. I thought being on a mission I would get away from technology but I have found myself using it seemingly more than ever before! I have never spent so much time on Facebook. I see how so many things that are in the world can be used in different ways. What once was a way to waste time now has become a powerful tool that I can use to spread the gospel.

12:00 PM After I'm done on the computer and following up with people it's one of my favorite times of the day. Lunch! After almost two years I have almost mastered cooking. All I have to do is get the timer just right on the microwave and I can say it is finally mastered.

1:00 PM We are out and about. I'm either talking to someone on the street, going into someones house that I've never met to teach them, or getting a door slammed in my face. Either way I'm testifying of the most meaningful thing that there has ever been.It is the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth that I want everyone to know about. The joy that comes from knowing the power and authority of our father in heaven has been brought back to the earth after centuries of being lost and that we now have a living prophet on the earth once more is news that the entire world needs to know. It is news that has forever shaped who I am and who I want to become.

5:00 PM Dinner! I look at the meal calendar that was passed around on Sunday and see all sorts of names of people that want us to come over for dinner. The food ranges from spaghetti, chili, roast, tacos, to anything that you could imagine. No matter what it is it has never been anything less than DELICIOUS! It's a rare opportunity to be in a new persons house for dinner each night. Sometimes you'll get there and there will be kids running, screaming, and falling asleep. Other times there will be four types of forks with a candle lit dinner waiting for the third course of the meal to come out. Or even here's the food, we don't use utensils where I'm from so dish yourself some spaghetti, chicken, rice and anything else you want up with your hands, mush it up into a ball, and you're good to go.  You never know what to expect! After we leave a spiritual thought and a blessing on the home we're on our way to more adventures and life changing moments for ourselves and the people we meet!

6:00 PM Prime Time!  Just as a football season culminates to the Super Bowl the missionary day hits its climax from 6pm to 9pm each night. This is the time to shine! I may be found in a home of a member of the church, teaching someone who is investigating the church, or finding people who have an open mind to listen to the message I share. My purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. I'll do whatever it takes to fulfill that purpose. I will serve, reach out to the weak and helpless, strengthen, build, lift, and inspire the souls that are around me. I bare the name of Christ so I do everything I can to act as he would. Charity is the pure love of Christ. It goes hand in hand with sacrifice. When you combine the two the power to change the world is at your fingertips because it opens the door to bring Christ's Atonement into people's lives.

9:00 PM What are we going to do tomorrow? My missionary companion and I implore the Holy Spirit to guide us to where we need to be tomorrow so we will fulfill our Heavenly Father's will for us and his other children. Names, places, and faces come to our mind and we know who we need to see. We fill our day with meaningful activities that we hope will let us make these two years all they can be.

10:30 PM SLEEP!

Life Of A Missionary- The Missionary Training Center (Part 2)

It's finally time. You have packed your life away, said goodbye to your family and friends, and have your suitcases ready and waiting for the adventure of a lifetime. You double check to make sure you have everything. Shoes...check! Pants...check! Toothbrush...check! Shirts...uhhhh... I was on the way to the Missionary Training Center and I don't have any shirts packed!? My parents drive me back and we pick up the shirts. I get one last glimpse of my lifelong home as it fades to a memory as I turn the corner of my street for the last time for two years.

You pull up to the curb at the MTC. In a blur of emotion and confusion you somehow go through a whirlwind of hugs, suitcases, and other missionaries. Once the whirlwind stops you're in the middle of a thousand other people dressed just like you with the same name... Elder. It reminds me of when I watched The Wizard of Oz. From a farm in Kansas carried away in a tornado and dropped in a dream land. You drop your things off in your room and head to your classroom. You get your companion that is assigned to be within sight and sound of you 24/7 for the rest of your time there. Ok now you know what's going on a little...then a fire hose of information knocks you off your feet again! The next three weeks are constant information!

It seems that you're constantly either being taught, teaching, singing, praying, sleeping, or eating. You form a brotherhood bond between your group that you're with for those three weeks. You go through a slight case of withdrawals from the world you just left. You get to go on trips to the temple nearby once a week. You find things to do on the couple hours you have of free time once a week. From playing hacky sack, writing letters, or taking a nap you fill your time. You search your rooms for hidden treasure from past missionaries. You find notes, pictures, candy, and lists of missionaries who have come and gone. The day finally comes where you're to depart to the mission field. You leave your own mark for future missionaries to find and enjoy. Your bags are again packed and you're off to a new adventure and a whole new world! Soon you'll be a master at packing. You'll be able to fit a whole couch in your suit case by the end of your mission!

Your whole life has been preparing you for this moment whether you knew it or not. The times where your mom and dad told you to do the dishes, mow the lawn, or clean the bathroom are put to the test. Not only the mundane chores that you have to do but your gospel knowledge, testimony, attitude, stress level, and every capacity that you have is about to be realized and put to the test. This is your sink or swim moment. To sink or swim is what each and every one of us is here to experience on this earth. I think to myself what am I doing today to prepare myself for tomorrow? I'm given what I need but it's up to me to use what I'm given. Just as I had all my shirts bought and ready to go but had left them unpacked they do me no good if they're sitting at home. The same principle applies to everything in life. I can have exactly what I need but if it's not there when I need it then I might as well not have it.

We are not expected to rely on our own efforts. We have divine help and strength on our side. We may face temptations, challenges, and trials of all kinds. If we properly prepare ourselves then there is nothing to fear. The help is there but if we don't use it and make sure it's always with us then we might as well not have it. We must prepare ourselves for what the future holds.

Life of a missionary- It's finally time (Part 1)

All of my life I have seen and heard about these people who get a mission call to serve in all sorts of far off places. Some would go anywhere from a state away or clear to the other side of the world! I would be there when they gave a final talk in church before they ventured off to wherever they had been called to serve. Two years later they would show up again and tell some of the experiences they had. Other than these moments and some movies I had seen I didn't really know what life was like for these people who left to serve missions.

The time eventually comes for every young man and woman that is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to decide if a mission is the direction they want to take in life. That time came for me and I decided that I was going to go. I had no expectations or ideas of what was going to happen on this adventure that I was going to embark on. If you've never served a mission it's likely that you don't know what it is like either. If you have served then you can relate in some ways and some things will be completely different as each mission has their own things they do.

I thought I'd let you have a glimpse at what life has been like for me the past two years...

FINALLY!

The first step you take is to send in a packet of information about yourself into mission headquarters. A few weeks later you get an envelope back that gives you a glimpse of what life is going to be like for the next two years. Let the first test begin...waiting...waiting...waiting...checking every day to see if there is an envelope waiting for you in the mail. (It's been at least an hour since they sent my papers in and my call isn't here yet?!)Those few weeks seem longer than the rest of your life combined! The moment you send those papers off it seems someone hits the slow motion button on the universe.

The day finally comes when you open up the mailbox and see that envelope sitting there. It is like every Christmas morning you've ever had combined into one moment. You don't know if you should rip it open right away or take your time and invite everybody over. I decided to invite people over to build the anticipation that much more!

As people file their way into your living room and slowly surround you... you feel the drum of your heart pounding away as the song Called To Serve plays on loudspeakers in your mind. You slowly tear the envelope open as if you're practicing to be a heart surgeon. You inch the papers out and begin.  You read your name that now carries a new title... Elder Ethan Oberhansly... You are hereby called to serve in the... WASHINGTON D.C. SOUTH MISSION!?!? (You pause as the excitement floods the room with echoes of gasps, oooohs, aaahhhs, smiles, and jaw drops) It is estimated that you will serve for the period of two years. You will be serving in the English language. Your pounding heart suddenly switches to a dead stop as a wave of emotion crash lands into you!

Set apart from the world.

Every movie you have ever seen where there is a ticking time bomb becomes your reality! The day that you are to report to the missionary training center (MTC) slowly ticks closer and closer. You have a list of supplies you need and a whole world of things you want to get done before that timer ends. That day finally comes when it's time to take upon you a new responsibility. You are set apart by a stake president to be a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. That setting apart means you are set apart from the world. You give up two years of seeing your family, listening to the radio, watching movies, hanging out with friends, reading books, and any other worldly enjoyments that you have come to love. Mathew 10:39 says "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. When we lose ourselves to bless other's live we often find the strength we need to get through our own challenges. 

What are we willing to give up for our Savior?

I leave my family for two years so that other families can be together for eternity.

HOW HAVE YOUR PRAYERS BEEN ANSWERED? WHAT SACRIFICES HAVE YOU MADE TO BLESS SOMEONE'S LIFE? WHAT GOOD HAVE YOU DONE IN THE WORLD TODAY?

If the things around us could talk what would they say? Perspective of missionary life from an Elder's shoes:

Just the other day it seems I sat hoping to go to a strange new land. 

I'd done everything I could I prepared and I planned. 

I hope to be worn by an Elder with pride. 

I want to be part of it all not just sit to the side. 

Maybe through rain, jungles,desert or snow. 

Who knows where I'll be or where I might go. 

Could it be warm or cold maybe spring or fall? 

Will I live up to the task or fall short of it all?

To the MTC to learn and to train.

The bags are packed and I'm off to the plane.

My arrival is near so there's no time for fear.

I wasn't sure what to expect but now know what to do.

My hopes and dreams finally have come through.

From baby steps to walking to running I go. 

My purpose is firm this much I know. 

I cannot slow down this is my time.  

The entire way it seems an uphill climb.

Two years later worn, torn, ripped, bent, and broken I sit. 

I can finally say I never did quit. 

I know I've done the job I've been sent to do. 

I've accomplished everything I needed to. 

Who knew so much would happen in the life of these two worn out shoes.

What would the world around you be saying?

How A Flat Tire Changed My Life:

I have had many people in my life change who I am. One of these experiences happened early on in my mission. This was the summer that you had to change your shirt three times a day if you didn't want to be soaking wet with sweat all day long. I was with my missionary companion and we had just got out of an appointment and we were driving to another when I noticed that we had a flat tire! I pulled over in front of a house in a neighborhood to change it. A woman came outside and saw what had happened. She went and got us glasses of the MOST refreshing ice water that I had ever had. This is a woman that I had never met before but she was instantly doing what she could to help us the very best she could. She said she had a neighbor who was a mechanic. Before we knew what was happening she went and told him what had happened. We could have easily changed the tire. It wasn't an overwhelming task by any means but this woman saw someone in need and immediately acted. Two other guys came out of their house and within moments they had taken the tire off and we were walking up to their garage so that the woman's mechanic friend could fix our tire for us. As they were plugging the tire they gave us bottles of ice cold fruit punch gatorade to drink. Soon we were on our way with a fixed tire, gatorade, and a change of heart. There is something about reaching out to others that is contagious. When it happens to you it makes you want to help someone else so much more. That was a defining moment in my life that changed who I am. We can be the reason someone else smiles today. Change is a good thing. It allows us to become something that we haven't been. If we don't fight it and let it in then that is when the miracles happen in our own lives and we help others to have their own life changing experiences.

I think of the life of Jesus Christ when I think of change. When Jesus Christ was on the earth people would come from miles to simply touch the hem of his clothing or even just get a glimpse of him. Jesus Christ changed people. Some he changed who they were on the inside by changing their heart. Some of them he changed on the outside by performing miracles such as making the blind see, healing the leppers, making the lame walk and many more. This change has found me. It's turned me into someone that I never knew I could be. It's made me into something that I couldn't be on my own. He has asked us all to show that love he had to those around us. "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." (John 13:34)

You're driving down the street and you see someone with a flat tire.

You're walking in the parking lot and pass a mother with three kids screaming and trying to load groceries in her car. You're passing someone who is holding tissues with tears running down their face. These moments are moments of decisions. You don't have an expectation to do anything but it might change this person's world if you did. You can pass by and think oh the next person will help. Or you can start the chain reaction of reaching out to that one person and watch the world change around you.

When has someone changed your life?

The Sure Way to Conquer Any Fear

When I was younger I would take family vacations every year. This particular vacation we had gone to South Dakota. We had seen Mt. Rushmore, went to Reptile Gardens (where we saw the largest snakes I have ever seen in my life!), climbed and hiked through the hills, and bought a snake of my own. No, I wish it was one of the giant anacondas that we had seen but for some reason my mom didn't want to ride home with one in the car back to Utah... so I bought a rubber one. I thought that this has been a great vacation! I had seen some amazing things. After our time in South Dakota we decided to return home. Little did we know that our peaceful ride back to our own mountains, blue skies, and home sweet home would be interrupted by the craziest experience of the vacation.

We decided that on the way home we would go through Yellowstone National Park. We had been driving for quite a while so we decided to stop, stretch out a bit and get some fresh air. There was a big open field that was full of prairie dogs running around and popping in and out of holes in the ground. Surrounding the field were rolling hills that led up higher to the mountains. There were trees about a mile away that continued up the hillside. This seemed like a good spot to enjoy some open space outside of the mini van. My brother was playing checkers, my parents were talking, and I was experiencing the long needed stretch after a several hour car drive.

As I was watching the prairie dogs run around and jump in and out of their homes in the open field floor I noticed that more and more didn't come back out. Eventually they stopped all together. I didn't think a whole lot of it. Maybe it's lunch time or maybe they're all heading to a big party for Prairie Dog Independence Day. Who knows, I don't know what prairie dogs do. What I do know is that shortly after they had all disappeared there began to be something new besides the trees that continued up the hillside.

Across the field cascading down from the hillside was a mass of what looked like a brown avalanche. The first thought that came to my mind was that it was mud or dirt. As it continued down into the field I recognized that it was something much more alive! Running down the hillside out of the trees was countless number of buffalo! I don't know if you've ever seen Lion King where there is a stampede that surrounds the young lion Simba but that is just about what life was like for me at that moment. My brother dropped the checkers set and was attempting to pick them up. My mom is screaming for him to get into the car! I was in the back panicking not knowing what is going on. My dad is making sure my brother is OK.

Soon our open field turned into us completely surrounded by buffalo on all sides! They were all different sizes from baby ones running around to full grown ones that were bashing back and forth into each other. I had never seen any thing like this in my life! I loved to watch the discovery channel as a kid but it is a completely different world from watching on t.v. to being engulfed by a group of furry brown giants that were as big as your car! My parents thought it was the greatest thing they had ever seen, my brother is staring in awe, and I am screaming in the back telling my parents to get me out of here!

We slowly started to move through the buffalo as they bashed back and forth into each other. Minutes that seemed like hours we inched our way through the mountains of brown fur, snorts, grunts, and all sorts of other sounds that I didn't know an animal could even make. We eventually made it out of the park and talked to the park ranger. He didn't believe a word that we said. He told us that the buffalo are far up in the hills at this time of year. Before we started our journey through the the wall of buffalo before us my parents took a video of everything that was going on. Thank goodness for video cameras... I am forever captured screaming in the back of a mini van scared for my life! We showed the park ranger and he was amazed at what had happened!

At some point in each one of our lives we will be faced with an unexpected turn of events. It most likely won't be a stampede of buffalo, lets hope not, but those times will come. At that time I felt like I had no control over what was happening and felt like the world was closing in around me. I felt completely vulnerable to anything that could happen. At the time I was afraid, you could even say terrified. Eventually that fear passed when I was far away from the source of my terror. The best way that I have ever fought fear is with faith. Faith is the complete opposite of fear. The two can not exist together. What was a scary experience for me was one of joy for the rest of my family. As they trusted that they would be fine they were able to enjoy their surroundings. Our attitude about life is what it turns into. 

Another important aspect in faith is that it is believing in things that aren't always seen but that are there. We can not be like the park ranger in our lives, unbelieving and unwilling to accept something until we have the proof that it is there. We must take a step into the darkness at times. As we do our path will be lit up bit by bit until a larger picture is in view. I made a promise to myself that I would never let myself miss out on opportunities because I was scared to do something. I can't say that I have always lived up one hundred percent to that promise but it is something that I continue to strive for. As I chose to take control of my life I continue to overcome fears and my faith continues to grow.

As we live by faith we will see a new light come into our lives. We will feel a brighter hope. We will be able to get through any challenge that ever falls in our path, or runs down a mountain into our path. We will see ourselves as who we truly are and what our potential to be really is. There is so much waiting for us in this life and all we have to do is reach out and take advantage of what is waiting for us in the dark. Don't let fear hold you back from having faith. Be believing, have an attitude that you will enjoy anything that comes your way, and don't let fear stop you from achieving what you want! 

For me there is nothing stronger than the desire to be more like Jesus Christ. Having faith in Jesus Christ means that you will act upon the example that he has set for each one of us. I believe that I can have any sorrow, guilt, pain, or any burden lifted as I put my faith in him. This never meant more to me than when I let myself actually experience what it means to follow Jesus Christ. My attitude changed everything. As I put faith in him all other fears were drowned out. Whether your fears are more on the spiritual side or more on the worldly side either way they are drowned out as you choose FAITH over FEAR. Even if you don't need a burden lifted at the moment or to fight a fear putting your faith in Jesus Christ will bless your own life as well as the lives around you. 

What has faith done for you in your life?

What fears have you conquered? 

What if you could change the world?

I've wondered can one person change anything? Do the decisions I make today change what tomorrow will hold? Why does it matter what I decide to do with my life today when tomorrow will be here in only a matter of moments? Does my effort make a difference? Does it really matter if I take that one extra step?

 

Yes! A simple answer but I'll explain why.  There is a song that asks us the questions "Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need? Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad? If not, I have failed indeed." Every day is an opportunity of a lifetime. Some days we think to ourselves "that can wait until tomorrow" or "I should probably do that". These moments often get postponed to when it is too late and it doesn't matter anymore.  "There is a danger in thinking the words someday I will, when all it means is not this day. " Decisions determine our destiny! By making a choice you are saying to the universe that I am in control of my future and I will decide what happens. These are the moments that change the world!