I was wondering if you could help me out. One thing I still haven't mastered on my mission is companionship unity. I don't have sparring matches with my companions, we actually get along really well, but I feel like We have never been really united in our efforts. I am always either dragging them along at full steam ahead and not letting them do any work, or I am collapsed on the floor begging them to take over because I just need a nap. I am getting better, but some thing is just not clicking in my brain. Do you have any ideas of how I could develop that skill? I am studying th New Testament and Christ's relationship with his apostles right now, but any other stories or talks would be welcome that you think would help.
Love ya😘
Sista Reynolds,
“The only difference between a rut and a grave are the dimensions.” ― Ellen Glasgow
Thoughts on unity:
Just want you to know that this is something on my mind a lot because of the situations in Young Women’s. Girls have decided they are not coming because of negative things other people are saying and doing. Ava who is struggling mightily with feelings of worthlessness says that the young women only talk to her at church and pretend she doesn’t exist at school. Moms of girls are telling me that they tell their girls they don’t have to be friends with the girls at church. I must say I am confused and have been praying about how to change the culture of the Young Women’s group here. I have heard again and again that what we need is Micaela, someone who rallies the girls together, often driving around in a big red suburban to pick them up and drag them there. I am now going to return the favor you have given me and remind you that you are a great uniter. You have the ability to bring people together who are reluctant at first. In this case, I think you literally need to remember who you are. You are a uniter, a gatherer of the lost, the left-out, and the reluctant. Don’t forget that.
Second thought that I have been thinking about. Unity requires a buy-in from everyone. You alone can’t unite you and a companion. Both of you have to want it and work at it. Christ, Heavenly Father, and the Holy Ghost are one because they want to be. Each of them are invested. I have been studying 3 Nephi looking at how Christ built community. Starting in chapter 11 when he appears and invites everyone there to come and witness for themselves. I noted that they were gathered together at the temple (verse 1). They went together but each received a witness for themselves. Verse 16 says, And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord. The first thing Christ says, come see and experience for yourself. Our worship and our discovery is an active process. However, it is an individual process that takes place in a community of believers, of those yearning. We are supposed to be doing this together. While there are no numbers given here, we learn later that there were about 2500 people. What is most interesting to me about this passage is not necessarily what is written, but what is not said, There is no mention of people racing to get to Christ, to be the first there (think Walmart on Black Friday or the check out line at Costco on a Saturday afternoon or a typical evening commute). It doesn’t say people impatiently waited, making quiet and not so quiet judgments about those who took a little longer. Our yearnings for Christ are an individual effort buoyed up by a community of support. He next organized a support system. Let’s look a little closer at that organization. It is not an accident that we are where we are. We are organized into groups of worship through arbitrary property lines. That is not coincidence or laziness or convenience. It is done with intention and has a purpose. Your companionships are designed the same way. when you applied for a roommate at William and Mary, you took a personality test to determine who would be a good fit. There is no eHarmony for missionary companions and I think that is by design not accident. It forces us to look beyond our differences and work together building Zion with a group of people we may feel we have little in common. Imagine how different the institution of the church would be if we could choose our congregations based on preferences of time, friendship or common interests. I could choose a more progressive group to meet with and others would choose a ward that meets at 9 am because we all know that is the best time for church. You get the idea. The fact is the Lord knows that there is no better way to learn to love as Christ loves without having to practice it every day in our families, companionships and church communities. It is against our divine nature and part of our natural nature to gravitate toward things that are similar to us. The Lord is trying to get us out of a rut (that as Ellen Glasgow pointed out can look a lot like a grave!) He then tells us to meet together, pray together oft, talk and teach of Christ. Just for fun, look at 3 Nephi 11 through the end and just count the references to unity. It’s kind of amazing how often he talks about it. Let me leave you with a quote from one of your favorites, Harry Potter:
“I say to you all, once again -- in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.”
Friendship and trust take time. Keep your heart open and remember who you are and those things will come.
Love you. Praying for you, that you will have a remembrance of who you are and a glimpse of the possibilities for you in Ohio. Also praying for your companion and for the people of Urbana that they are prepared for the force known as Sista Reynolds.
xoxoxo
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