Christ Comes to America--A story from my mission

Entering the mission home in Salt Lake City, Utah in September of 1973, was exciting and terrifying.  My parents dropped me off for what would be a three day experience.  Saying good bye was difficult. We were given our missionary discussions in a small black 3 ring binder.  And some of us were asked to go get a haircut after the first assembly was over.  I was soon introduced to the other missionaries who were going to the Navajo mission with me.  I could not imagine how I could learn such a strange language.

I remember we met in a large room.  I would say about 200 chairs were set up. The mission home president stood to welcome us and give us our first assignment.  He had us open our missionary discussions.  He showed us how there were seven discussions and each discussion was divided into concepts.  He told us that each of us was to memorize one of these concepts before we went to bed and prepare ourselves to “pass it off” in front of all the other missionaries the following day at our second big assembly.

The terror of passing off a discussion in front of all the other missionaries sunk deep into my chest.  Not only was I terrified; now I was petrified.  That evening I scanned through the various concepts, unable to settle on one to read through, let alone to try to memorize.  I went to bed without being able to memorize a single word.  I wondered what they would do to elders who couldn’t do their very first assignment in the mission field.  Do they chastise you in front of everyone?  Do they send you to the corner of shame and make you wear a “dork dot” on your lapel?  Even if there wasn’t any special punishment, the embarrassment alone would be hard to overcome.

I couldn’t sleep.  I wrestled with the Lord in desperate prayer through the night.  At four in the morning I went down to the men’s restroom with my discussion book in hand and sat on the cool blue tiles with my back against the wall.  I begged the Lord for help as I scanned the pages. 

Finally, I came to the discussion about my relationship to Christ.  I saw a heading that caught my eye.  It read something like this:  After Christ was resurrected he came to America and visited with the Nephites.  He taught them his doctrine, ordained disciples, and set up his church, just as he had done in Jerusalem.  I was directed to read 3Nephi chapter 11 which I did.  While I was reading, the Spirit of the Lord testified to my soul of the truthfulness of this event. Never before had any scripture impacted me like this.  I was reborn in that moment.  My testimony was anchored forever.

I had no problem memorizing the concept, although it wasn’t word perfect.  But my soul was comforted and I knew the Lord loved me and would allow me to tell the Navajo people many times that the Lord had come to their ancestors here in America.  And I did!