MORMON MISSIONARIES
STUCK IN THE MIDDLE
SIPALAY
CITY, Philippines—A 20-year-old sister missionary for The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints and her companion were caught up to their knees in
trouble while traveling to the nearby island, Nauhang, last Wednesday night.
Megan Wallace, and her companion,
Philippine native 23-year-old, Lorna Vargas, were headed to the island on what
natives refer to as a “baroto” or a small wooden boat that carries them across
the river that flows into the ocean, in order to teach families there about
Jesus Christ. Once on the water they realized that the low-tide had already
come in, therefore revealing the small patch of land that peaked through the
water. “Even as a normal sized American, I am still a lot larger than these
Filipinos, these things are not made for larger body structures like mine,”
Wallace explained, “I knew that I needed to get out of the boat and help push.
There was no way I was going to let these tiny people use all their force just
to push me across.”
And that is exactly what she did.
Wallace told her companion, Vargas, to stay inside the boat as she helped the
rower, Virginia Pelinggon, Nauhang native, lift up the boat over the patch of
land in order to return once again to deeper waters. Vargas said of this
experience, “Sister Wallace was fearless. She didn’t care that she was wearing
a skirt, that she would get soaking wet, or that I wasn’t helping. She just
went for it and helped Virginia get us back on the water.”
“It was an unbelievable experience! I
mean for sure nothing you would ever see me doing in Arizona,” Wallace said
with a chuckle, “I believe in once-in-a-lifetime experiences and that’s exactly
what happened to me. I may have been soaking wet from not jumping into the boat
as soon as we hit water, but I was still just giddy thinking of how I was going
to tell my family about it!”
Wallace and Vargas voluntarily leave
home for a period of 18 months to serve in a certain mission, or place,
wherever they are assigned in the world to teach others about Jesus Christ and
His gospel. Wallace, originally from Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A. and Vargas, from
Bataan, Luzon, both shared their excitement and enthusiasm for helping others
come closer to Christ and feel of His love. They stated that, “being a
missionary is unlike anything else. We wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
Wallace and Vargas will both be
returning home after their 18 months in August 2014. If interested in learning
more about the LDS or Mormon Church, visit Mormon.org or visit the chapel on
Mambaroto heading to Hinoba-an.
----
----
The Nametag
In July
of this year, on a normal preparation day as a full-time missionary in the
Philippines, my companion and I were bringing our laundry to a member that
washed it for us, since they hand wash clothes here, before we went to email.
It was a rainy day, which created a problem for us to walk with our laundry
bags as we normally did, so we rode a few tricycles (a form of public
transportation that is a motorcycle attached to a metal sidecar) to the
member’s house and then from their house, before we finally showed up at the
internet shop. The only problem was that when we finally showed up I came to
the startling realization that my nametag was gone! The magnet had fallen off
my shirt onto the tile and made a clink sort of sound which attracted my
attention and as I reached for where the front part of my nametag should have
been on my shirt, I realized that the black part of my nametag with my name on
it was nowhere to be found! I freaked out and tried to control my emotions, but
it was admittedly hard considering that I had worn that nametag since day one
of the mission and now suddenly it was gone.
I couldn't find it so finally we just resolved
to go all the way back to our apartment to get my other nametag that the MTC
had provided. I really did have to hold myself back from crying because of the
sentimental value that had come through months of hard work while wearing it.
My initially white engraved name had turned slightly yellow from the hours
walking in the sun and from all the dirt, a small chip had been taken out of
the upper right hand corner when it had accidently smacked against the ground,
the name of the Church was slowly beginning to fade and if you held the nametag
up in different angles to the light you could see hairspray spots from when I
could actually style my hair and use hairspray to make it stay curly or
straight, all evidence to me of the many moments, experiences and trials I had
been through in the 16 months I had been in the service of God. This was more
than a just a normal black nametag.
So of
course I resorted to the only possible and probable thing to do at that time. I
prayed. I prayed that it would be found and properly returned to me. But I also
prayed that for whatever reason, if it was not to be given back to me, that I
would be able to accept it and be ok with His will. Probably about a week and
half to two weeks went by and still, nothing. I just resolved to the fact that
it wasn't going to be found after all and that I just needed to move on.
Then two Saturdays after the incident we were
sitting at a baptism for the elders and one of the members asked me,
"Sister Wallace, is that a new nametag?" I told him that sadly it was,
since my other one was lost. He then quite shockingly said to me that he knew,
because the old one was at his house! According to him, a tricycle driver found
it in his tricycle the same day that I lost it. He knew a guy that was a member
so he gave it to him. That member happened to be the one that talked to me the
day of the baptism and informed me of the good news.
He hadn’t
brought it to the baptism that day, but promised that the following morning at
church, he would bring it. Sure enough, as promised, when the member saw my
companion and I upon entering the chapel, he reminded his daughter that she had
my nametag and told her to give it to me. I felt so relieved and happy as I
finally received once again, something that had become so valuable to me. I was
happy beyond words and felt again that Heavenly Father truly had heard and
answered my prayers. I expressed my gratitude to them and told them that I felt
like I was going to cry. They laughed at me, but I was literally almost in
tears because of the excitement I felt. My nametag had become a treasured
possession and a sentimental part of my mission experience, one that I still
have displayed today to remind me all of the wonderful lessons I learned and
the trials and blessings I received to learn them.
-----
Creations
As
I stepped outside I noticed the gentle breeze moving swiftly and fluidly
without interruption or interference. Stronger gusts of wind would rise and hit
me with a gentle force and then return to its calm nature again. It was late
afternoon, mid-evening and I had just finished work. The 30 minute walk back
and forth from campus to work and then from work to my apartment was always a
calming experience for me as I truly experienced the serenity and peacefulness
of the calm and quiet movements of God’s creations. I was often drawn to think
about other things only to have a whiff of some familiar or unfamiliar smell,
or a bird’s cawing catch my attention again and bring me back into reality.
Cars filled with people whizzed past
me, some noticing me and others not taking the time. I pitied them. For as I
was beholding the remarkableness of a universe and earth that day by day simply
moved through the motions seemingly without a master to do everything for them,
they just simply moved along. Unaffected by the soft singing in the trees, the
light that caught the fields making it appear as if honey was being spread all
over the land, the leaves that were falling, sure evidence that the seasons
were changing and another season of pumpkins and leaves changing from a forest
green to auburn reds, sunset yellows, and burnt oranges.
The swiftness of the wind caught my
attention again once again pulling me from my thoughts. This time the wind had
a slight crisp to it. As if it knew what I was thinking and was reassuring me,
that indeed, the shortened fall of Rexburg would soon turn into a blizzardy,
winter solstice in such a short amount of time. Although there was a slight
crisp it was only evident as the end of the gusts caught hold of my arms, as if
reaching its fidgeting fingers to grasp me, not wanting to continue on its way.
As it drifted from me I was again felt the familiar warmth return to the
hanging air around me and felt the familiarness of what I had been soaking in
since arriving.
As I neared the temple grounds my
focus and attention shifted. I was used to looking for opportunities to capture
its natural beauty with God’s perfect landscape of design in the background. I
was not disappointed as I stepped closer and closer, searching for the perfect
moment, and then something caught my eye.
I noticed the sky seemed different
today. The sun wasn’t quite setting yet, as it had been in other days past, so
the vivid pinks, oranges, and purples were not amidst. But the sky was
radiating a cobalt lighting blue peeking through the contrasting white and gray
clouds that seemed to envelop the entirety of the atmosphere. It was as if the
gods were having a pillow fight, scattering the goose feathers across the heavens
as the atmosphere here on earth so gently caught them and placed them in our
view.
As much as the colors seemed to
dance in front of my vision, I saw something else peeking through the clouds.
They gradually departed as I saw golden beams stretching forth, as if waking up
from a restful sleep. These beams stretched farther than I could see, but
filled the sky as if God was stretching forth His arms out to me. As the golden
honey sunbeams peaked more and more from their hiding place I was witnessing a beautiful
testament and a reassurance that God was there. The clouds continued to move,
as if in formation, as I reached my destination filled with hope and a new
sense of appreciation for the creations from God’s hands.
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