The missionaries arrive absolutely lost and helpless. They can’t speak the language, they can’t change money, they can’t buy a bottle of wáter. They don’t know the bus routes. They don’t know how to get to their apartment. They don’t have cell phones, no GPS, no internet. If they get sick it’s their companion who takes care of them. They are totally dependent on their companion. They come to us scared, homesick, and insecure.
Then the most miraculous thing happens. Their companions take care of them. 19-20 year boys become their saviors. Their companions take them shopping, cook for them they shine their shoes, teach them the language. It’s the ultimate experience in humility for both the new missionary and for his trainer. The new missionary must humble himself to learn from his companion, and the companion must be patient and loving and tender with the new missionary.
Their is a “nickname” in the mission for the relationship between a new missionary and his trainer: they call each other “my dad” and “my kid.” The experienced missionary becomes possessive of his “kid,” rooting for him to succeed for his whole mission. It is utterly selfless love. The “kid” is full of gratitude and he wants to make his “dad” proud and it gives him confidence to tell people I am “Elder Monson’s kid.”
Before you know it, this new missionary, who was terrified to open his mouth, and whose Spanish was laughable, is teaching the restored góspel to natives in their own language, teaching with power, with enough power to get them to change their lives entirely: to marry if they are living together, to give up cigarettes or coffee if they have addictions. These young men and women--right out of high school--overcome obstacles, gain confidence and before you know it become trainers themselves.
The whole experience is a tremendous Faith builder. The trainers remember how helpless they once were, and they know there is no way they could accomplish such amazing things without the help of the Lord. They are living proof that God is a god of miracles because they see such tremendous changes in their own lives. In addition, they witness miracles every day in the lives of the people they teach, changes that would never in million years happen without the power of the priesthood and the hand of the Lord.
There are a lot of amazing blessings about presiding over a mission, but one of the most satisfying is seeing our missionaries become such outstanding human beings, full of love, selflessness, humble, teachable, full of faith and focused on what’s most important.
