"In today's world, simple kindness is a revolutionary act"
--- Byrant McGill (American poet, prose author, aphorist, speaker, & activist; 1969 - Present)
We never know the impact a small and simple act of kindness can have on a person. It can make all the difference in the world!
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RIGHT ON TIME
It was a new morning on Groundhog's Day --- Tuesday, February 2, 2016. A house, that had since been painted a dark forest green since the google earth image on the left was recorded, with a car in its driveway caught our attention—a possible indicator that somebody was home which was more to say than most houses. The screen door is ajar and we can clearly hear somebody shuffling around inside which we took as another good sign. We yell inside to let her know we're at the door. We discover that she's in the process of cooking Chile Rellenos. We briefly explain who we were and what we were doing as missionaries and she explained that she was just heading out and asked that we come back later at 4:00 pm. Sure enough, we're trying to meet some of her neighbors and she takes off 5 minutes later, true to her word. We didn’t really expect to see her again since most people rescheduled just so we’d leave them alone. “Si Dios Quiere.”
In the meantime, we went to visit Anabel, who was only a quarter of a mile more to the Northeast (See "A Stripling Warrior"). For someone who we hadn’t seen much of before taking the discussions herself, she was suddenly home virtually anytime we came by. That particular day we'd come by a bit later because she had to run to the market.
Even though it was barely February, the weather changed quickly and things warmed up. To keep her house temperature controlled, she covers the windows with insulating sheets of Styrofoam. When she insists that they work, she also gave us some to use. Before leaving her house she’d always offer us water. If we said we were okay, she’d still insist on giving us something else like any concerned mother would for two skinny boys far from home. She often claimed we looked sick (which I had been during that time). But something new happened that day. She goes to her fridge and asks if we want to take home some extra fish and cheese that she’d bought at the market (a strange combination in my opinion unless you like McDonald's Fillet O' Fish, which this wasn't). We weren’t sure how we’d keep it fresh until we could get home (which wouldn’t be for a few more hours) but we took it anyway and put it in our backpacks, accepting graciously her kind gesture, much to her relief.
We go back to visit the woman from earlier a little bit later than we'd planned at 4:30 p.m, hoping to give her a little extra time just in case she was running a little late for the anticipated 4:00. She wasn’t home (which wasn’t a surprise since that is usually our luck) so we write her a note on a pass-along card to let her know we’d come by another day. Just as we slide it into the crack of the screen door and turn to walk away, she pulls up. Without hesitation, partially out of breath, she jumps out of the car, and ushers her two little girls (Ada and Ana) into the house. Seeing as she's huffing and puffing, we ask if she was too busy but she insists that we come inside the nice cool house. We were surprised!
She invites us to sit down on her nice leather couch, she quickly pulls up a seat and gives us her full attention. We’re in shock at how perfect this is! We explain the basics of who we are and what we do. She accepts everything in attentive silence. We confess to her just how amazed we are and ask why she seemed so interested. She says her name is Viridiana and she tells us how she'd been praying earlier that day for help. She considered us a direct answer from God. Heaven-sent help. We didn’t doubt that to be the truth either. She must have said that we were there for a reason at least 4 times.
After we finish talking, the thought comes to us, “She’s probably exhausted, and hungry. Why don’t we offer her our fish and cheese?” So we told her we had a gift for her, which she was surprised to hear considering we’d only met. We got the fish and side of cheese out of our backpacks and not surprisingly she's caught off guard. Who carries around fish and cheese in their backpacks?! It was like a magic trick. We explained how Anabel had offered it to us but that we really didn’t have a use for it. We figured that God intended it for her. She accepted it graciously. I'm pretty sure she gave us some cheesecake at some point as well. All these simple acts of kindness were from the heart, not out of necessity.
I thought about that as we went home --- how mindful God is of His children and how much He loves them (See "No Accident"). I truly feel like Anabel was inspired to buy that fish and cheese, not for us but for this woman. We wouldn’t have had it if we didn’t first visit Anabel. We’d been instruments to bless somebody both spiritually and temporarily that day. But like you know, give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. We went back and continued teaching her for a while. We were a pillar of hope and social support that she desperately needed.
The reason why she was so insistent on letting us in and telling us that we were there for a reason was that she had recently separated from her husband, that she had some financial troubles, and that the night before we got there she had tried to commit suicide and it didn't work. To hear that hit me hard! To feel such sorrow and compassion for her, but equal gratitude to God that we had come into her life to give her hope and encourage her to keep going. That alone was well worth coming by, to just be a friend first and a teacher second. We came by multiple times and each visit really did feel like a visit with a friend instead of a class.
During one visit, we taught her the Word of Wisdom and encouraged her to quit smoking. I don't remember if it was Elder Mullin's idea or mine but with his help, I gave Viridiana a priesthood blessing to help her quit (See "Administering to the Sick and Afflicted"). Wouldn't you know it, when we went back to visit, she told us that ever since the priesthood blessing that every cigarette tastes like oil and she doesn't want to smoke anymore! That's the power of God in action.
She came to Church once but for one reason or another, she didn’t get baptized. But just the same, I don't feel in the least like our time was wasted. It was absolutely time well spent! We had a positive impact on her, to lift for a moment some of her worry and loneliness at her lowest point. Of course, we would have hoped to see her receive the blessings that come from covenant-making but I can’t complain about what we accomplished. To love, even to rescue someone walking the edge of death is its own reward.
To complain that she didn’t get baptized while with us is a small-minded and selfish thought. Although baptisms bring many blessings, they do not on their own eliminate every challenge of life which is why, as part of our Baptismal Covenant, God commands us to minister to one another and to "Mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that stand in need of comfort" (Mos. 18:9; See also "Ministering to the One"). Some missionaries would have left when they couldn't get a baptismal date commitment, but it would have been amiss to leave her without strengthening her resolution to live first. Hopefully, she makes the full turn one day but until then, I am at peace knowing that I did all I could do. No kind act goes unrewarded in heaven (Matt. 25:34-40). If your only goal as a missionary is to baptize, then your Mission is only partially-realized. Christ's mission was to "Preach the gospel to the poor...to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised..." (Luke 4:18-19). At the end of the day, the two great commandments are to love (Matt. 22:37-39). No matter how big or small our actions may seem, they can have big repercussions in the lives of those we serve, especially if that service is sincere.
THE SLOW BURN GIRL
As I have mentioned many times already, I had the privilege of meeting and inviting hundreds if not thousands of individuals to learn about the restored gospel (See "Apostasy and Restoration"). I’d given out countless pamphlets, and copies of the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Whenever possible, I’d write my name and my companion’s names on the back of everything with a cartoony sketch of my companion and me (which changed depending on my companion at the time) and our missionary phone number in case the person ended up being interested in the future and wanted to get in touch with missionaries again. Even now, I marvel at the idea of the names of young missionaries still floating around in Mexico years later.
During one of our P-days at the Riveras chapel, while the others were playing basketball, I was off on the grass nearby doodling in my planner or playing with my Rubik’s cube (See "Eurus"). One of the APs came over and gave me some unexpected good news (See "Mission Administration"). He told me that there was a young girl that he’d had the opportunity to baptize recently. And he told me that this girl knew me. I inquired who it was! From the details of what he told me, a memory of a girl came to mind although I wasn’t sure if it was her. Nevertheless, I had to believe him because my name is so uncommon, even in America let alone in Mexico, that I wouldn’t be mistaken for anyone else. This girl remembered “Robertshaw”. This was significant! Either I made a very good impression on her to remember by unusual last name, or I had written it down on something I gave her.
I want to say that it was a young lady who worked at the local Oxxo. We’d visit it often in Riveras since it was across the street from us. I’d seen the same girl mopping the floor or stocking the shelves whenever we’d walk in and I always had the thought to invite her to learn about the gospel; I just don't remember if I did or not. I suppose I’d given her or somebody else a pamphlet, sticking my foot “in the door” so to speak. Then again, I did things like that so often, I don't feel too bad not remembering every single person I met of the hundreds maybe thousands, if only in passing.
I hadn’t been in the area long at all. It may have even been my first Sunday at church in the San José ward, or it was more likely some activity going on at the chapel where I was treated to a wonderful surprise. I happened to pass by a group of young women. One of them came over and asked if I remembered her. I thought I’d seen her face before although I couldn't remember her name, much to my embarrassment. She told me she'd met me in a previous Area and that she'd just been baptized a member of the church, which I assume is the girl that the AP had told me about. Needless to say, I was very happy.
Some people join the gospel sooner than others. Those who join quickly are usually called "Golden Investigators" or the term we used in Spanish was "Escogidos" meaning "Chosen Ones". Of course, we love it when people are excited to jump into the restored gospel. But sometimes, it takes people a little longer. Of all the many countless people I invited, most didn't join the Church when I was there. Statistically, most of them wouldn't join the Church during my time in Mexico, and it might take them years, even a lifetime, to come around if they ever did. But it didn't cross my mind too often that they sometimes came around within months after we'd moved on. Some people are slow burners and others faster but at the end of the day, all who come unto Christ will get the same blessed reward.
You see, we don’t always know the impact we have and we often underestimate it! Who would have thought that a small impression, the twelve seconds of courage to approach a stranger and give them something would have any effect in their lives? But it does and it did! By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. (Alma 37:6)
So many people in the world are looking for the miraculous to manifest itself in nothing less than grandeur. By looking for nuggets of gold they often overlook the flecks of gold in the riverbed of life. But please, consider for a few minutes in what ways you see small and simple things lead to great things in your life? I testify that there is no shortage of seemingly small things that happen on a daily basis that are of great worth and can have great consequences. Because God often works through us, we can understand that God does not always have to work through noteworthy, unexplained means; He can just as well work through small, simple, even scientific, and comprehensible means. (See "What is Truth? Faith and Science")
Again, I pay tribute to the humble sower. Every missionary dreams of reaping the fruits of his labors, but there is joy yet in being a sower (Matt. 13:3-8). In fact, in many cases, it is through later missionaries that many investigators become members of the church. Everyone is a bit different. Sometimes all it takes is time for testimony to grow to the point of conversion although the invitation is a constant along the journey. Am I upset that someone else baptized this girl? Of course not! That would be absurd and selfish. I rejoice in the fact that a child of God had her life changed, and I am humbled that I could play a small part in her journey.
It is said that the gate of history turns on small hinges, and so do people's lives. Decisions determine destiny. Just as a matter of a few degrees off-course can end us miles away from our destination, do not underestimate the significant impact a seemingly small and insignificant thing can have down the road, like a mustard seed, for better or for worse.
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