Andrew's e-mail this week was so great! It even brought a tear to his sister's and mother's eyes. He seems to really be loving the work, and it is wonderful to hear him wanting to work so hard. Please continue to pray for him - he really can tell when you do.
Yesterday morning and this morning, all the elders and sisters from the three older districts in our zone left for the field. As you read this, most of them will be either on long flights or long layovers. They're going everywhere; Novosbirsk, Samara, Donetsk, Npropitrosk, Vladivostok, Baltic States, Moscow, Moscow West, Ykaterinburg, St. Petersburg, you name it. The Russian-speaking missions are about to get a HUGE boost in awesomeness. I'm so grateful for all the awesomeness they showed us when we got here, and even though I likely won't see many of them again in this life, I'm pretty excited for the giant party we'll have after the second coming. Two elders have stayed behind; Elder Shannon, who is had a biopsy for some kidney issues today, and Elder Zhalkovsky, one of the native elders who just had a surgery on a cleft palate. Both of them will be leaving within two weeks. Elder Shannon goes to Vladivostok, and Edler Zhalkovsky is going to the Salt Lake mission.
During gym this week, I was playing basketball and twisted my ankle. I didn't think it was a big deal at all until the next morning when it was a little swollen and wouldn't hold any weight. So I headed down to the sports clinic and they took care of it. I had a couple of days of strengthening exercises and ice and limping everywhere, but I'm about 99% back now. Played basketball yesterday. The purpose of this story though, is to explain the roughly $30 debit to my card: because my ankle is now apparently at much greater risk for being injured again, I had to buy a brace and wear it every day in gym if I want to participate, and it was kind of ridiculously expensive. Sorry.
On Wednesday or Thursday I think, one of my teachers, Brother Rutter, shared a story from his mission. Short version, he was on the plane home at the end of his two years. He was flying from Seoul to LA, and got some pretty nasty food poisoning that made his trip less than enjoyable. By the time he disembarked at LA, he had literally puked out anything that was left inside his body and didn't have enough strength to stand. Two other elders returning with him had to carry him to his connecting flight back to Salt Lake City. On the plane, he was feeling a little better but still couldn't hold anything down and had no energy. He was sitting in the seat and thought something like "What a great opportunity to sit back and rest after two years of giving my all every day." Then he realized, "No. I'm not released yet. I'm still wearing the tag, and I'm still a missionary, and I still have work to do." So even though he could barely move, he turned to the person next to him and talked to him throughout the plane ride. The person was receptive of the gospel, and accepted a Book of Mormon. As they landed, Brother Rutter found he had strength to get up and get off the plane on his own. He literally spent it all getting to the escalator. While he rode down the escalator and his family came into view, he used his last modicum of energy to put his fist in the air. He had done it. He recalled thinking how wonderful it was that the Lord blessed his family so much while he was gone. Two of his siblings who had fallen away from the church just before he left had come back and been married in the temple. He knew that this was only because he gave his all every single day, even when he didn't have the energy to get between two flights on his own.
Hearing this story inspired me to be that kind of missionary. Anything less than 110% of what I have every single day is not enough. Wasting my own time is stupid, but wasting the Lord's time is awful. I want to be the missionary who wears himself out in the work. Who seeks not his own life in serving others, but finds it again because of that service. Who realizes he is just an instrument in the Lord's hand to do what He wills. And when I get back, I want to look back on my mission and be unable to think of a time when I could have given more effort or tried harder.
This church is the true church. Jesus Christ is our Savior. How could I even think about serving any kind of mission besides the one he wants me to? Two years isn't enough to pay back even a fraction of the debt I owe him. All I can do is give my all, every single day of the mission.
I love this work. I love what the mission is transforming me into. But that's just a nice bonus on the side. I'm here to serve the Lord how He wants me to serve, and to bring the gospel to the people in Samara, so they too can know of the wonderful plan that God has for each of us.
Your prayers are much appreicated. I feel them every day. I'm going to need them every day. Tomorrow marks the first day when all the teaching I do for the rest of my mission will be in Russian. It's going to be interesting. But I know I can do it with the Lord on my side. There is nothing in the world that two people cannot accomplish, as long as one of those people is the Lord.
One week from tomorrow, we get new missionaries. My goal is to befriend them just like the older missionaries befriended me. The first week of the MTC is ridiculous and so hard. Anything I can do to soften that blow, I will do.
I love you all. Thanks for helping me get where I am, and thanks for helping me to keep going.
Love,
Elder Andrew Broekhuijsen
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