Lend me your imagination for a moment.
Put yourself in the following place and time.
Date: 1 October 2014
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Cast members: Lance, Teresa, Chick Hislop
Scene: MTC Parking lot, walking towards doors of Missionary Training Center
Chick: “Mom, I’m scared.”
Me: Speechless…………What does one say? A zillion things come to mind--
Ø You’ll be fine
Ø Heavenly Father will take care of you
Ø It will be a great experience
But everything echoed tritely in my head…
“I know son,” I said lamely, “I know.
WHY? Why would my incredibly intelligent, amazingly strong, and wonderfully compassionate son go on a mission?
· He was not comfortable, nor particularly skilled, at chatting with people
· He would much, MUCH rather spend time with a book than with a human
· He had a good job in Roy and a room in the Honors dorm at USU where he could “talk nerd” with people who shared his interests
Why would he do something that was so foreign and frightening?
The answer is described in Joshua
22:5 “But take diligent heed to do the commandments and the law…to love the Lord your God and to walk in all his ways and to keep the commandments and to cleave unto him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Chick is serving a mission because he loves the Lord.
And, because he loves the Lord, he decided to obey the commandment to serve a mission, to serve Him for two years with his heart and soul.
And, how has that turned out for him?
Let me share excerpts from his letters…. (Original spelling and lack of punctuation preserved.)
6 October 2014
for the first time i wAS EXCITED FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE AND NOT AS a time in which i would get to sleep a lot. and perhaps as a consequence I got more out of tyhis general conference than out of any other two.
3 November 2014
I love all of you but I am writing this with one hand because my other had is massively huge and hard to move it happened after I saw my companion get hit by a car his bike is dead he isn't quite yet. I am really worried about him. we have had a lot of problems this week. okay it isn't like I made it sound but it is all true.
right after I wrote you last week I saw my companion ride out in front of a car and his bike got smashed and crushed like a pop can he just stepped of and out of the way and didn't get hurt in the least. we actually got a member present in part because of it.
29 December 2014
I know that I am doing the right thing. I know that god lives I know the book of Mormon is the word of god. andi know that familiies can be together forever.
I love you all , elder hislop
19 January 2015
dear family and friends.
this week has been very interesting. yesterday I had my first major anti-Mormon contact. and surprisingly it was A MASSIVE testimony builder. the lack of the spirit while he was talking was so incredibly apparent. I knew that I never, never wanted to feel like that again. I feels so good to be always have the spirit to be with me. I love it.
26 January 2015
I love the scipures and in particular I love the book of Mormon and in that I love the book of moroni. I love the power that comes and is evident in moroni's never giving up at the very beginning of the book you see what he has gone though and the book of moroni has some of the most powerful; verse and sermon in scripture including moroni's promise and the sacrament prayers and the most powerful sermon on charity that is given. but what I love the most about the book is that he didn't give up though he could of.
love elder hislop
2 March 2015
I have been trying harder than ever to be a open to the spirit. as I try to learn. I am coming to understand faith in a way that I never before understood.
from elder hislop
16 March 2015
on Saturday we were on exchange again. with the zone leaders and during the very first few minutes of our exchange. we had been invited to a party with nothing but non-members….when we knocked on the door someone opened the door and said I don't think we are interested but let me get the man of the house. he showed up and invited us in and we learned that it was basically the entire congregation of another church. we talked with some people and elder cottle, who I was with, and I talked about what we believe. then the pastor of the church came over and started to try and bash with us but in response all we did was testify of Christ and he got frustrated because we didn't engage. it was a great experience.
sincerely elder hislop
4 May 2015
dear family and friends
we had a very slow and frustrating week our appointments all fell though we spent a lot of time looking for less actives and service and paperwork all of which are necessary but I didn't feel productive while doing it. but we had two amazing miracles we found a family while tracting that is both interested and quite excited and we had a less active come into church and say he wants to come back and make more time for god in his life and that he wants his non-member fiance to learn with him. so it is truly an amazing miracle two in a week god blesses his missionaries and i am forever thankful for all that he gave us. I know that he lives and it is amazing.
sincerely elder hislop
11 May 2015
dear family and friends
okay I forgot one more miracle on Sunday. as we were walking to find some one else to help and teach others. we were walking across a bridge when we saw a thre car pile up. naturally we went and tried to help the best we could. and the very first person that we talked to said ( and she had a lot of tattoos) elders and immediately put us to work helping her out…. as we stayed there we learned that she was a member and when we talked to the husband he said Quote " I am not a member of your church
what a incredible blessing to be able to help out a pmf in their hour of need at the exact right time. they even asked us for a prayer. it was a fantastic miracle.
18 May 2015
dear mom
mission has been one of the , if not the greatest experience of my my life I will be foreever greatful that I was able to come. from the fond memories of my first companion's bike getting run over by a car and never being able to get to this one house without getting a flat to this time when I write you to tracting into families that are incredibly anti-Mormon. i am grateful for the opportunity to come. the members who feed us and treat us like family the investigators who want to stay as investigators and not progress. to those that truly do wnat to change and wish to come closer to god. and of course those people. who when they drive past yell out their widows "hey satan"
Because our darling son is not a prolific writer and because I have often have questions that are unanswered in the text of his emails, I send him a weekly set of questions that he has been very faithful about answering. Here is a sampling of some of my questions and his answers.
QUESTIONS and ANSWERS
§ Are you brushing your teeth every day?
§ yes often twice or three times a day I want my breath to be fresh.
§ Would you rather clean the bathroom or your bedroom?
§ no prefernece they would both be enjoyable.
§ Do you still dislike pizza? And how often does members feed you pizza?
§ yes about on average twice a week sometimes as much as three times a week.
§ Have you ever been scared on your mission? If so, when and why?
§ yes i don't like to takl to people
§ What characteristic of Christ have you best emulated this week?
$ patience.
§ What has caused you to exercise patience? (See answer to above question)
§ nothing in partivcular but I feelt less likely to push and to resist and to trust though trials. just feelt it grow in side.
§ What three things are great about being on a mission?
§ one the poeple I see so much of teh best of humanity. the time to study. two I have so much time to study I learn so much more about the scriptures than I ever have before three the joy that such little thing bring into my life.
§ If you could trade places with anyone for a day, with whom would you trade places?
§ no one I don't want to be any body else
Finish these sentences please.
1) The thing most people do not know about me as a missionary is how much I struggle to express emotion
2) The best smell in Washington state is bacon( kinda in the world to).
3) Four words I love to hear are 7 O'clock sounds good.
4) The thing that frustrates me most in the mission is flakey investigators( darn agency)
5) . The best thing I did to prepare for my mission was decide i was going to go.
Chick (Elder Hislop) went on a mission because he loves and trusts God. He believed the promises found in Joshua
· 1:5 I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee
· 1:7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou may observe to do according to all the law…turn not from the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whthersoever though goest.
· 1:8 … and then thou shalt have good success.
“Thou shalt have good success"
Elder Hislop has had “good success”
It has not been without trials….
· He had a companion who was as fanatic about sports as Chick is about “nerd” stuff and who was as disinterested in “nerd” stuff as Chick is in sports.
· To the best of my knowledge, he has yet to have an investigator that he taught get baptized.
· Talking to people is still a struggle for him
Nonetheless, and UNQUESTIONABLY, he has had good success.
But his success is not the only success that has come as a result of his mission service.
We, his family, have also been blessed.
I find that with our boy gone, God is taking care of me. And He is doing a great job. There is an increased measure of peace in our home and, perhaps most significantly, in my heart; less angst, more tranquility. Peace is priceless.
God is doing a great job of taking care of me. He is also doing a great job of taking care of our missionary. My son—the young man who was largely unfamiliar with the working end of a toothbrush, who spent as much time in fantasy worlds as he did the real world, who would much rather be reading than working—is becoming a man. He is firmly planted in the physical world and completely committed to helping others understand the spiritual world. And he is working hard—really hard—and loving it.
He is in God’s hands and I trust those hands. Nightly, in my prayers, I thank my Father in Heaven for taking my son, for allowing him to serve, for giving him experience, opportunities, and challenges. God is doing a much better job with my boy than I ever could. Thank you, dear Heavenly Father, thank you!
So, what is the take home message from all this?
NOT that Chick is doing great, which he i
· NOT that being a Missionary Mom is wonderful, which it is
· NOT EVEN that going on a mission is the right thing to do, which it is
The message is that we follow Joshua’s council
Joshua 22:5 “But take diligent heed to do the commandments and the law…to love the Lord your God and to walk in all his ways and to keep the commandments and to cleave unto him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
And, if we do, the Lord promises
· 1:5 I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee
· 1:7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou may observe to do according to all the law…turn not from the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whthersoever though goest.
· 1:8 … and then thou shalt have good success.
The Lord’s promises are real. Of this I testify in Christ's name.
Love,
Teresa
Put yourself in the following place and time.
Date: 1 October 2014
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Cast members: Lance, Teresa, Chick Hislop
Scene: MTC Parking lot, walking towards doors of Missionary Training Center
Chick: “Mom, I’m scared.”
Me: Speechless…………What does one say? A zillion things come to mind--
Ø You’ll be fine
Ø Heavenly Father will take care of you
Ø It will be a great experience
But everything echoed tritely in my head…
“I know son,” I said lamely, “I know.
WHY? Why would my incredibly intelligent, amazingly strong, and wonderfully compassionate son go on a mission?
· He was not comfortable, nor particularly skilled, at chatting with people
· He would much, MUCH rather spend time with a book than with a human
· He had a good job in Roy and a room in the Honors dorm at USU where he could “talk nerd” with people who shared his interests
Why would he do something that was so foreign and frightening?
The answer is described in Joshua
22:5 “But take diligent heed to do the commandments and the law…to love the Lord your God and to walk in all his ways and to keep the commandments and to cleave unto him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Chick is serving a mission because he loves the Lord.
And, because he loves the Lord, he decided to obey the commandment to serve a mission, to serve Him for two years with his heart and soul.
And, how has that turned out for him?
Let me share excerpts from his letters…. (Original spelling and lack of punctuation preserved.)
6 October 2014
for the first time i wAS EXCITED FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE AND NOT AS a time in which i would get to sleep a lot. and perhaps as a consequence I got more out of tyhis general conference than out of any other two.
3 November 2014
I love all of you but I am writing this with one hand because my other had is massively huge and hard to move it happened after I saw my companion get hit by a car his bike is dead he isn't quite yet. I am really worried about him. we have had a lot of problems this week. okay it isn't like I made it sound but it is all true.
right after I wrote you last week I saw my companion ride out in front of a car and his bike got smashed and crushed like a pop can he just stepped of and out of the way and didn't get hurt in the least. we actually got a member present in part because of it.
29 December 2014
I know that I am doing the right thing. I know that god lives I know the book of Mormon is the word of god. andi know that familiies can be together forever.
I love you all , elder hislop
19 January 2015
dear family and friends.
this week has been very interesting. yesterday I had my first major anti-Mormon contact. and surprisingly it was A MASSIVE testimony builder. the lack of the spirit while he was talking was so incredibly apparent. I knew that I never, never wanted to feel like that again. I feels so good to be always have the spirit to be with me. I love it.
26 January 2015
I love the scipures and in particular I love the book of Mormon and in that I love the book of moroni. I love the power that comes and is evident in moroni's never giving up at the very beginning of the book you see what he has gone though and the book of moroni has some of the most powerful; verse and sermon in scripture including moroni's promise and the sacrament prayers and the most powerful sermon on charity that is given. but what I love the most about the book is that he didn't give up though he could of.
love elder hislop
2 March 2015
I have been trying harder than ever to be a open to the spirit. as I try to learn. I am coming to understand faith in a way that I never before understood.
from elder hislop
16 March 2015
on Saturday we were on exchange again. with the zone leaders and during the very first few minutes of our exchange. we had been invited to a party with nothing but non-members….when we knocked on the door someone opened the door and said I don't think we are interested but let me get the man of the house. he showed up and invited us in and we learned that it was basically the entire congregation of another church. we talked with some people and elder cottle, who I was with, and I talked about what we believe. then the pastor of the church came over and started to try and bash with us but in response all we did was testify of Christ and he got frustrated because we didn't engage. it was a great experience.
sincerely elder hislop
4 May 2015
dear family and friends
we had a very slow and frustrating week our appointments all fell though we spent a lot of time looking for less actives and service and paperwork all of which are necessary but I didn't feel productive while doing it. but we had two amazing miracles we found a family while tracting that is both interested and quite excited and we had a less active come into church and say he wants to come back and make more time for god in his life and that he wants his non-member fiance to learn with him. so it is truly an amazing miracle two in a week god blesses his missionaries and i am forever thankful for all that he gave us. I know that he lives and it is amazing.
sincerely elder hislop
11 May 2015
dear family and friends
okay I forgot one more miracle on Sunday. as we were walking to find some one else to help and teach others. we were walking across a bridge when we saw a thre car pile up. naturally we went and tried to help the best we could. and the very first person that we talked to said ( and she had a lot of tattoos) elders and immediately put us to work helping her out…. as we stayed there we learned that she was a member and when we talked to the husband he said Quote " I am not a member of your church
what a incredible blessing to be able to help out a pmf in their hour of need at the exact right time. they even asked us for a prayer. it was a fantastic miracle.
18 May 2015
dear mom
mission has been one of the , if not the greatest experience of my my life I will be foreever greatful that I was able to come. from the fond memories of my first companion's bike getting run over by a car and never being able to get to this one house without getting a flat to this time when I write you to tracting into families that are incredibly anti-Mormon. i am grateful for the opportunity to come. the members who feed us and treat us like family the investigators who want to stay as investigators and not progress. to those that truly do wnat to change and wish to come closer to god. and of course those people. who when they drive past yell out their widows "hey satan"
Because our darling son is not a prolific writer and because I have often have questions that are unanswered in the text of his emails, I send him a weekly set of questions that he has been very faithful about answering. Here is a sampling of some of my questions and his answers.
QUESTIONS and ANSWERS
§ Are you brushing your teeth every day?
§ yes often twice or three times a day I want my breath to be fresh.
§ Would you rather clean the bathroom or your bedroom?
§ no prefernece they would both be enjoyable.
§ Do you still dislike pizza? And how often does members feed you pizza?
§ yes about on average twice a week sometimes as much as three times a week.
§ Have you ever been scared on your mission? If so, when and why?
§ yes i don't like to takl to people
§ What characteristic of Christ have you best emulated this week?
$ patience.
§ What has caused you to exercise patience? (See answer to above question)
§ nothing in partivcular but I feelt less likely to push and to resist and to trust though trials. just feelt it grow in side.
§ What three things are great about being on a mission?
§ one the poeple I see so much of teh best of humanity. the time to study. two I have so much time to study I learn so much more about the scriptures than I ever have before three the joy that such little thing bring into my life.
§ If you could trade places with anyone for a day, with whom would you trade places?
§ no one I don't want to be any body else
Finish these sentences please.
1) The thing most people do not know about me as a missionary is how much I struggle to express emotion
2) The best smell in Washington state is bacon( kinda in the world to).
3) Four words I love to hear are 7 O'clock sounds good.
4) The thing that frustrates me most in the mission is flakey investigators( darn agency)
5) . The best thing I did to prepare for my mission was decide i was going to go.
Chick (Elder Hislop) went on a mission because he loves and trusts God. He believed the promises found in Joshua
· 1:5 I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee
· 1:7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou may observe to do according to all the law…turn not from the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whthersoever though goest.
· 1:8 … and then thou shalt have good success.
“Thou shalt have good success"
Elder Hislop has had “good success”
It has not been without trials….
· He had a companion who was as fanatic about sports as Chick is about “nerd” stuff and who was as disinterested in “nerd” stuff as Chick is in sports.
· To the best of my knowledge, he has yet to have an investigator that he taught get baptized.
· Talking to people is still a struggle for him
Nonetheless, and UNQUESTIONABLY, he has had good success.
But his success is not the only success that has come as a result of his mission service.
We, his family, have also been blessed.
I find that with our boy gone, God is taking care of me. And He is doing a great job. There is an increased measure of peace in our home and, perhaps most significantly, in my heart; less angst, more tranquility. Peace is priceless.
God is doing a great job of taking care of me. He is also doing a great job of taking care of our missionary. My son—the young man who was largely unfamiliar with the working end of a toothbrush, who spent as much time in fantasy worlds as he did the real world, who would much rather be reading than working—is becoming a man. He is firmly planted in the physical world and completely committed to helping others understand the spiritual world. And he is working hard—really hard—and loving it.
He is in God’s hands and I trust those hands. Nightly, in my prayers, I thank my Father in Heaven for taking my son, for allowing him to serve, for giving him experience, opportunities, and challenges. God is doing a much better job with my boy than I ever could. Thank you, dear Heavenly Father, thank you!
So, what is the take home message from all this?
NOT that Chick is doing great, which he i
· NOT that being a Missionary Mom is wonderful, which it is
· NOT EVEN that going on a mission is the right thing to do, which it is
The message is that we follow Joshua’s council
Joshua 22:5 “But take diligent heed to do the commandments and the law…to love the Lord your God and to walk in all his ways and to keep the commandments and to cleave unto him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
And, if we do, the Lord promises
· 1:5 I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee
· 1:7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou may observe to do according to all the law…turn not from the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whthersoever though goest.
· 1:8 … and then thou shalt have good success.
The Lord’s promises are real. Of this I testify in Christ's name.
Love,
Teresa
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