For those of you that don't know, Anna and
I recently were blessed to have the opportunity to visit my parents in
Serbia and tour Croatia, and Slovenia which are both a part of their
mission as well. In reflecting on
this trip I realized that I learned three valuable and eternal lessons
while I
was there.
Lesson #1: This one happened right out of the gate as I saw my parents and they saw us and we embraced at the airport. In that moment I was amazed at how familiar this felt and throughout the remainder of our trip this feeling kept coming back to me. I never thought that I would have an “aha” moment in an airport in Belgrade Serbia of all places but that is exactly what happened. It was then that I understood what the Lord meant by Eternal Families and how familiar it will feel one day as we cross through the veil and embrace our Heavenly Mother and Heavenly Father.
Lesson #1: This one happened right out of the gate as I saw my parents and they saw us and we embraced at the airport. In that moment I was amazed at how familiar this felt and throughout the remainder of our trip this feeling kept coming back to me. I never thought that I would have an “aha” moment in an airport in Belgrade Serbia of all places but that is exactly what happened. It was then that I understood what the Lord meant by Eternal Families and how familiar it will feel one day as we cross through the veil and embrace our Heavenly Mother and Heavenly Father.
As we traveled into the countryside of Serbia, which looks
very much like Idaho Falls area (very flat with a lot of farm land and rivers),
we began to understand a little more about what the people of Serbia face on a
daily basis. As my parents introduced us
to various members or friends in the community we saw the truth of the
situation in Serbia and I learned Lesson #2.
Lesson #2: Let me start by relating a quote I try and
keep close to my heart which states “Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting
a hard battle”. In Serbia this was
reconfirmed and I learned that everyone has trials in their life some more
visible than others but the Lord has not left us alone to fight them. In fact the Savior himself in some of his
last comforting words to his disciples in his mortal life stated “These things
I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but
be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). We witnessed this in Serbia and my parents
have had front row seats as they have seen people’s lives changed as they have
accepted the gospel and let Christ into their lives.
One man we met named Giovanni showed up on the steps of the
church one Sunday morning. He told my
dad that he was from a town 9 miles away…well my dad looked around for a car or
a bike of some sort as surely he had to have some way of getting there only to
learn that this man had set out in the predawn morning and walked to their
church because he had heard of the good this church had done through
humanitarian work and through the example of the Branch President who lived in
his town. Now think about that…9
miles…if you were to set out and walk nine miles from our church steps south on
400 west you would keep going until you reached Beck Street in Salt Lake… and
he walked it. After the meeting my dad
asked what he thought and he said “I want to be baptized…it is so peaceful here
I want that peace”. Well I’m happy to
say that the week after we left my parents in Serbia he got his wish and was
baptized. My mom said she had never
witnessed “Such JOY” and others commented that his smile was too big for his
face. He now has a bike but still
travels 9 miles without fail each Sunday for his meetings and was recently made
a Priest.
My parents have also had a unique experience in the fact
that their mission covers 5 countries and in Serbia where there are only 64
members of the church they are seen as mini Mission Presidents and deal with
all that entails. Their days are spent
firming up Visas for missionaries and shuttling sick missionaries to doctors
across the country and organizing youth groups to visit temples. One thing that has been both a challenge and
a blessing is helping young men prepare to go on missions. They have sent out one Elder now serving in
Ukraine and are working with two more to prepare them. The difficulty is that although the Church
provides a Missionary Fund to help pay for their mission there is no funds to
help set these missionaries up with suits, white shirts, scriptures and
everything else it takes to get ready to serve including doctor’s visits and
where the unemployment rate is at 45% and annual incomes range between 2 to
5,000 dollars annually this can be a barrier that keeps many from the field. But again, the Lord provides his own ways and
in some cases missionaries who go home leave behind their used gear for these
young men and women to use on their mission or in the case of the Elder serving
in Ukraine the missionaries families
back home in America are willing to help and outfit these good young men and
women.
Lesson #3: This all leads me to the third lesson that I
learned in Serbia and I shouldn’t be surprised being raised by these two great
people. The third lesson is the power
of unconditional love. My parents have
always believed in this principal and have showed it in so many ways to us as
their children and to anyone they come in contact with causing many to adopt
them as “parents” in some form or another.
As my parents prepared to leave we were blessed as sons to be able to
give them blessings and in one blessing my mom was blessed that the people of
Serbia needed my parents simply because they needed to know what unconditional
love was and the power that it held.
When my parents arrived they were assigned an area that
hadn’t had missionaries in years because of wars and before that the Iron
Curtain. They entered a town where
people wouldn’t look you in the eyes let alone let you into their hearts. Slowly my parents have reached out and are serving
these good people and have seen the ice beginning to melt. In one instance they visited a family with
grown children who wanted their names removed from the Church’s records. Upon being greeted at the door the father
told them to leave and take the names off the list. My parents agreed but said “we just need to
do a little paperwork can we visit with you so we make sure we have everything
right.” The mother let them in and they
were introduced to Alexander who was 23 years old and their youngest child who
again confirmed that they wanted their names removed from the records. My parents agreed and left and invitation to
come to church on Sunday and that they were missed, not thinking much about
it. To their astonishment on Sunday
Alexander showed up for church and told my parents that after they left he felt
something and it made him remember what Christ had said about searching for the
lost sheep and how he was a lost sheep and my parents had searched him
out. Alexander is now one of those two young
men my parents are helping prepare to serve a mission and doesn’t go a week
that he doesn’t pay his tithing. He is
now working with the Elders to teach his older brother and sister.
Serbia is very Orthodox and our church isn’t very respected
in Serbia, in fact many see it as a cult.
My parents in an effort to help change the image of the Church put
together, with their small branch, Humanitarian Kits for a school in the area
with the basics because many children don’t have the things we take for granted
everyday like toothbrushes and soap.
They presented these to the school along with some used desks the Church
arranged for them to donate. They said
they have seen a difference almost immediately as people, recognizing the white
shirt and badge, will now look my parents in the eyes and tell them hello or to
have a good day. It may not seem like
much but to a defeated people this simple gift of love to their children is
melting down walls.
My parents are much too humble and feel that they aren’t doing
enough to make a difference but in visiting them and their branch you see the
love the people have for these two senior missionaries and you see the love my
parents have in return. They have now
been asked to visit with other senior couples in their mission to teach them
how to make a difference in the area you serve this in addition to serving in a
branch presidency and as Branch president in another Branch an hour away. Of course they feel unprepared and
unqualified to do this but after spending two weeks with them on this vacation
I can say that I can’t think of better people for the job.
