July 30, 2025 • 47 mins
In this episode we interview Lauren for the first time. Lauren had only been home for a week when we recorded this episode. The episode delves into the transformative nature of a full-time mission, describing it as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" where distractions are set aside to focus solely on the Lord. Lauren emphasizes that there's "literally no other time" in life to dedicate oneself so completely to God's work.
Serving with All Your Heart, Might, Mind, and Strength: Drawing on Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) 4, Shawn and Lauren discuss the scriptural imperative to serve God completely. This commitment is not tied to outward results but to one's personal desire and determination. Lauren recounts how success as a missionary is defined by this commitment and determination to press forward despite challenges and "jump from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm".
The Promises of Serving a Mission: The conversation highlights three main scriptural promises that result from serving in the "right way":
A Marvelous and Wonderful Experience: Just as Isaiah foretold a "marvelous work" in the latter days, serving with full commitment leads to a "marvelous and a wonderful experience".
Personal Joy and Conversion to Christ: Alma's experience of "exceeding joy" after repentance is used to illustrate the profound personal conversion to Christ and the "eternal joy" that comes from understanding the gospel and one's relationship with the Lord. Lauren shares her decision to serve based on President Russell M. Nelson's promise of finding "no greater joy than in serving your brothers and sisters in the Lord," a promise she found to be true.
Eternal Joy with Those You Help: Referencing D&C 18, Shawn explains that "how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth". The episode emphasizes the "great... joy" one experiences when helping even "one soul" come to Christ, forming "tightest, closest bonds... for eternity". This joy is described as "addicting," motivating further service.
Lauren shares a powerful personal story about her mission experience, particularly a challenging period when she was switched to Spanish work after only four months, despite limited Spanish skills, and paired with a difficult companion. She describes feeling a loss of control and "miserable".
A pivotal moment came when Lauren, at her "rock bottom," knelt down and pleaded with the Lord "with all the energy of [her] heart," similar to Enos's wrestle before God. This experience led her to align her will with the Lord's, choosing to be molded into an instrument in His hands. From this point, she woke up with a "quiet confidence" and a renewed spirit, believing the Lord would "provide a way" for her to carry out His work.
This spiritual breakthrough led her to apply the practical principle: "Open your mouth and find listeners". Despite her limited Spanish, she began talking to everyone, making a "fool of [herself]," but recognizing that her desire to talk outweighed any embarrassment. Shawn recounts a similar experience from his mission in Ukraine, where an Apostle promised fluency if missionaries spoke to everyone they met. Lauren attests to rapid language acquisition and finding "prepared" individuals like a man in McDonald's who already had a strong testimony of Joseph Smith.
The episode concludes by highlighting the conversion story of Carlos, a man found through Facebook who was at "rock bottom". Lauren describes how the "gift of tongues" was evident as she taught him, helping him to pray and read the Book of Mormon, which brought him joy and led to his baptism and becoming a devoted disciple. The episode reiterates that a mission is a "marvelous and wonderful experience if you do it right" by
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_03 (00:00):
Like there's literally no other time where
you'd see miracles like themiracles you see on the mission
from hearing stories like yours,stories from other people that
I've been surrounded by.
And just recognizing that ittruly is a once in a lifetime
opportunity where you put asideevery other distraction you have
as a human, as an adult, and youjust focus solely on the Lord.
SPEAKER_00 (00:23):
All right, here we go.
Another episode for Mission Prepseries.
Hey, Lauren.
SPEAKER_03 (00:31):
Hello.
SPEAKER_00 (00:33):
Here with Lauren today.
Today we're going to talk aboutsome really marvelous stuff.
Do you even know, Lauren, whatthe word marvelous means?
SPEAKER_02 (00:40):
Of course.
SPEAKER_00 (00:40):
Yeah?
Because I don't think you dobecause you're a younger person,
much younger than I, and I'venever heard a young person say
the word marvelous.
SPEAKER_03 (00:49):
I'll start using my vocab more.
SPEAKER_00 (00:50):
Yeah?
Yeah.
What would you use instead ofmarvelous?
I've heard you say the word firelike 20 times already.
So maybe that's the word.
SPEAKER_03 (00:57):
Okay.
If I want to be...
more mature, I'd probably go thebreathtaking route.
Like breathtaking, amazing,outstanding.
And
SPEAKER_00 (01:09):
if you want to be less mature?
SPEAKER_03 (01:10):
Fire lit.
No, just
SPEAKER_00 (01:13):
kidding.
You're not kidding though.
SPEAKER_03 (01:15):
Not in the podcast.
Come on now.
SPEAKER_00 (01:17):
Okay.
Okay.
Well, why don't you introduceyourself real quick?
SPEAKER_03 (01:21):
I am Lauren Hendricks.
I, a week ago today, just gotdone serving in the Indiana
Indianapolis mission for 18months.
UNKNOWN (01:29):
Oh,
SPEAKER_03 (01:29):
For the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
SPEAKER_00 (01:32):
Of course.
And in a couple of words, howwould you describe your mission
experience?
SPEAKER_03 (01:36):
Life-changing, discipleship-altering.
SPEAKER_00 (01:40):
Oh, that's cool.
And, you know, I'm not going tosay I'm, I'm not judgmental
about people's missions.
I think that serving a missionat whatever level you're at is
always good.
Yeah.
But it always makes me soexcited to see people come home
from their mission who had thesame experience that I did.
(02:00):
which was life changing, whichwas just absolutely joyful.
Like I've been home for almost30 years and I still, sometimes
I'm kneeling down and prayingand I'll start thinking about my
mission and the experiences andthe people and go, wait, did
that really happen?
Like that was so fire.
(02:22):
I didn't want to say marvelous.
It was, it was just so spiritualand powerful and amazing.
And you know, On this podcast,sorry, I can't shut up about it
because it really was thatgreat.
So you had a good experience,huh?
SPEAKER_03 (02:37):
It was the best thing.
It was the best decision I'veever made going on a mission.
SPEAKER_00 (02:41):
Man, okay, I'm going to ask you a million questions
and invite you to share a bunchof stories today because we want
to hear all about your missionexperience.
But first, let's start withthis.
Do you agree that those of uswho did have this really amazing
experience, do you agree with methat when you look in the broad
perspective, it really is a oncein a lifetime opportunity to
(03:03):
serve a full-time mission.
Because when you really considerwhat opportunity we had, A, it's
only a limited time that you getto be set apart to fully and
full-time commit to one thing,which is be an instrument in
God's hands to lead souls toChrist.
It's really just this one-timeopportunity.
And so part of me always feltlike, don't waste it.
(03:23):
Like you only have a limitedtime here.
Do you feel like that's a truestatement or no?
SPEAKER_03 (03:26):
Yeah, I agree.
SPEAKER_00 (03:27):
Did you feel that during your mission?
Like this is a once in alifetime thing.
Like I felt when I read yourweekly emails, an urgency in
you.
So there must've been someelement of that.
SPEAKER_03 (03:38):
Yeah.
I mean, I remember weighing myoptions, deciding if I even
wanted to serve before Isubmitted my papers.
And as I was talking around,asking people and praying about
it and, you know, looking toreceive revelation, looking to
receive an answer.
I remember thinking like,There's literally no other time
where you'd see miracles likethe miracles you see on the
mission, from hearing storieslike yours, stories from other
(04:01):
people that I've been surroundedby, and just recognizing that it
truly is a once-in-a-lifetimeopportunity where you put aside
every other distraction, everyother like responsibility you
have as a human, as an adult,and you just focus solely on the
Lord.
Like there's literally no othertime for that.
I remember people all the timeon the mission asked me like,
(04:21):
well, how are you paying tolive?
Where do you live?
Do you just like live on thestreet?
And that's not even a worry inmy mind.
Like I'm 110% dedicated to theLord and to his work.
SPEAKER_00 (04:32):
And you get no other chance in life to do that.
So it really is a once in alifetime opportunity that is
life-changing if you do itright.
SPEAKER_02 (04:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:39):
So I've enjoyed it.
I like that there are two orthree things in Scripture.
Well, first I'll say this.
I love D&C 4, and I'll always goback and refer to D&C 4.
Let me just read a snippet.
It says, What is it?
Marvelous?
What was the word you said?
I
SPEAKER_03 (04:56):
said amazing.
An
SPEAKER_00 (04:57):
amazing work.
SPEAKER_03 (04:59):
Outstanding.
Breathtaking.
SPEAKER_00 (05:00):
Breathtaking.
So that reads, now behold, abreathtaking work is about to
come forth among the children ofmen.
Therefore, O ye that embark inthe service of God, see that you
serve him with all your heart,might, mind, and strength, that
ye may stand blameless beforeGod at the last day.
Therefore, if you have desiresto serve, you are called to the
work.
So I love the starting with, ifyou have a desire to serve, I'm
going to set you apart and callyou.
(05:22):
If you want to do it, I'm goingto let you do it.
And I'm going to call you to doit.
And that's that once in alifetime opportunity.
But I love then in D&C 4, itgives us really good guidance
about, okay, there are someright ways to serve and some
wrong ways.
So I'll read in number twoagain.
If you embark on the service ofGod, see that you do it with all
your heart, all your might, andall your strength, which
(05:44):
resonates with me because I tendto be that kind of a personality
that if I'm going to dosomething, I'm going to do it.
And if it's not worth doing,then why even bother?
SPEAKER_03 (05:52):
Yeah, that just reminded me.
of Apart and Preach My Gospel inchapter one.
It talks, it's your purpose as amissionary.
And I think a lot of timesmissionaries get into this
comparison, this game ofcomparison where they think that
their outward results are areflection of their dedication
as a missionary.
And I think that's the biggest,most dangerous trap you can fall
(06:14):
into as a missionary iscomparing yourself with outward
results that maybe othermissionaries have of stories
that you hear but it talksabout, there's literally a part
in chapter one of PMG that talksabout what is the definition of
a successful missionary.
And it says like the very firstparagraph says your success as a
missionary is determinedprimarily by your desire and
(06:35):
commitment to find, teach andbaptize and confirm converts and
to help them become faithfuldisciples of Christ and members
of his church.
So just like DNC four, itdoesn't say, Serve with all your
heart, mind, mind, and strength,and you'll be good if you
baptize weekly.
You'll be good if you helppeople in every single area come
and stay for the rest of theirlives.
(06:55):
It talks about your personalcommitment and determination
to...
jump from failure to failurewithout losing enthusiasm it's
your ability to push forwardwhen all your lessons cancel in
one day it's your ability to getup out of bed after at 6 30
after you had a long night along week maybe of of failure
and failure and failure but youremember why you're there and
(07:19):
your love for the lord and yourdetermination is what pushes you
to be a successful missionary.
It's not outward results, it'snot external factors, but
focusing on what you can controlto, like it says right here,
your success is not determinedby how many people you teach or
help bring to baptism.
I
SPEAKER_00 (07:38):
love it.
And I've noticed that whenmissionaries serve with all
their heart, might, mind, andstrength, the purpose of the
missionary is to lead souls toChrist.
There's lots of ways, there'slots of steps to do that.
It's not just baptism.
In fact, baptism is one-fourthof the real requirement, right?
UNKNOWN (07:53):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00 (07:54):
Faith precedes repentance.
Repentance is what precedesbaptism.
And oftentimes, man, I reallydid try with all my heart, mind,
and strength not to get peoplebaptized.
Ultimately, that is a goal, butit's an outward.
That's kind of what you'retalking about, that outward.
But ultimately, I knew that if Itestified with my whole heart or
I was prepared with scripturesthat would answer their
(08:15):
questions or if I would open mymouth and just talk to everyone,
I was assisting in the processof leading someone hopefully to
faith or to repentance and maybeeventually to baptism.
So yeah, I love that.
SPEAKER_03 (08:26):
And I think too, something that is good to keep
in mind is that, you know,you're called to a people that
doesn't just mean people you'regoing to find, teach and
baptize.
That means members in the wardthat you're serving in the
branch that you're serving.
And it means your companion,other missionaries in your
district or zone and just randomstrangers that maybe you don't
end up finding and teaching orBut, you know, when you're
called to a part of thevineyard, it doesn't mean you
(08:47):
just look for one fruit inspecific.
Obviously, you have a purpose tofind, teach, and baptize, but
you're there for a reason.
And you want to try and touch asmany people as you can while
you're set apart with this powerto do so.
SPEAKER_00 (08:58):
Oh, I love it.
I love it.
Along those lines, what I'venoticed is this.
When you do serve with all yourheart, mind, and strength,
there's some promised resultsthat come from Scripture.
There's three that I reallylove.
The first one is along the linesof what D&C 4 says about being a
part of a work that is amarvelous work.
Isaiah says, therefore, behold,I will proceed, and he's talking
(09:20):
about our day, and you, Lauren,I will proceed to do a marvelous
work among this people, even amarvelous work and a wonder.
And I've always loved thatlanguage because what it says to
us is, Lauren, if you do thisright, serve with all your
heart, might, mind, and strengthto lead souls to Christ, you
will have a marvelous and awonderful experience.
And I can say myself, man, myexperience was full of wonder,
(09:43):
full of marvel.
And throughout this podcast, Ishare my stories.
I'm excited to hear yourstories.
But the second thing that I readfrom scripture that is the
result of serving the mission inthe right way and choosing to do
so comes from Alma.
Remember when he talked about, Ithink this is 36?
Yeah.
He says, oh, what joy and whatmarvelous light I did behold.
(10:05):
This is when the angel came tohim, right?
And he suffered for all thosedays.
And then after, and he criedupon the name of the Lord and it
came, forgiveness came.
So he says, what joy and whatmarvelous light I did behold.
Yea, my soul was filled with joyas exceeding as was my pain.
And then he jumped down to 24and it says, and from that time,
(10:26):
even until now, I have laboredwithout ceasing that I might
bring souls into repentance,that I might bring them to taste
of the exceeding joy of which Idid taste.
that they might also be born ofGod and be filled with the Holy
Ghost.
So he's talking about here howhe labored without ceasing.
If that isn't exactly what D&C 4says, serve with all your heart,
(10:46):
mind, and strength, obviouslythis, if we do that, he then is
just annoyingly talking abouthow much joy he has.
And so the second thing in thepromise from Scripture is joy.
Joy in ourselves being forgiven,coming to the Lord,
understanding the gospel, histeachings, his life.
Like what a, I mean, to me, thatwas the most important thing or
(11:08):
result of working really hard ona mission was the personal
conversion to Christ that camefor me.
I
SPEAKER_03 (11:13):
remember talking to you before, I think it's after
I'd gotten my call, but I wastalking to you about how I made
the choice to serve because Ididn't have...
a type of experience where Ijust got an answer right away.
I actually didn't get an answerat all.
I just chose.
And I remember listening to aconference talk, and it was
President Russell M.
(11:34):
Nelson, and he said, you willfind no greater joy than in
serving your brothers andsisters in the Lord.
And I remember hearing that, andyou know at that time, leading
up to my mission, I wasstruggling finding joy, finding
an eternal joy that was enoughto sustain me.
And that promise was held true.
The mission is...
offers you truly a type of joythat you don't experience
(11:57):
anywhere else.
And
SPEAKER_00 (11:59):
that is so powerful.
And I love your story how, yeah,oftentimes people are like, oh,
I'm going on a mission becausethe Lord told me to go on a
mission.
You went because you chose andyou believed in that promise of
joy that comes from Christ.
What a powerful thing.
Like you owned your decision andno other outside influence was
making you, compelling you ortelling you.
You didn't have to do it.
(12:20):
but you did it and you're sayingthat all those promises of just,
the Alma promise of pure joy,that talk you listened to, you
have the joy,
SPEAKER_03 (12:27):
right?
SPEAKER_00 (12:28):
And I like how you called it.
You called it what, eternal joy?
Is that what you
SPEAKER_03 (12:31):
said?
Yeah, eternal joy.
SPEAKER_00 (12:32):
Which is so different.
Like you've never experiencedthat before is what I read from
your emails and from what I knowbefore.
Yeah.
Right?
I
SPEAKER_03 (12:40):
think it's eternal in its offering.
Like it's just the gift thatkeeps on giving, if that's what
you can say.
And...
to still be in contact with likerecent converts and members.
I actually got a text from amember this morning and she just
reached out saying, Oh, like, Ijust want to congratulate you.
Well done on your service.
(13:00):
You are awesome.
Just saying the nicest things.
And it's just
SPEAKER_00 (13:03):
like, how'd that make you feel?
SPEAKER_03 (13:04):
Oh, I'm so excited.
I love her.
SPEAKER_00 (13:07):
So this leads to the third promise that comes from
Scripture when we totally andfully commit to serve with all
our heart, mind, and strength,D&C 18.
And how great is the Lord's joy,God's joy, in the soul that
repenteth.
Wherefore ye are called to cryrepentance to this people.
And if it so be that ye shouldlabor all your days.
Once again, a reference to allyour heart, mind, mind, and
strength.
(13:27):
if you should labor all yourdays in crying repentance to
this people and bring, save it,be one soul unto me, how great
shall be your joy with him inthe kingdom of the father for
eternity.
And that's what you're talkingabout.
You get a little phone call fromsomeone that you worked with or
helped at least along thatcovenant path.
I could see your face.
You're so happy about thatperson.
(13:49):
You love that person.
SPEAKER_01 (13:50):
Yeah.
There's a lot of people that Ilove.
SPEAKER_00 (13:54):
And how does it make you feel that this promise here
is that, in the kingdom of ourfather through eternity, those
will be some of the tightest,closest bonds that we'll have.
SPEAKER_03 (14:04):
I'm so excited.
SPEAKER_00 (14:05):
Isn't that amazing?
SPEAKER_03 (14:06):
I'm like looking forward to it, honestly.
SPEAKER_00 (14:08):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (14:09):
Yeah.
It's, it's crazy to think abouthow someone that you didn't know
is now someone that found thisjoy that's promised in the
gospel because of your decisionto serve.
So it makes you think when youget like a tiny taste of that,
when you see one person truly beconverted, it becomes like
addicting almost.
You're like, I want to keepdoing that because, and not for,
(14:31):
you know, to say that you found,taught and baptized 200 people,
but to see the true conversionin someone is life-changing, not
only for that person that youlove so much, but for yourself.
SPEAKER_00 (14:42):
Have you ever heard of a guy named Lehi?
SPEAKER_03 (14:44):
I think a few times.
A
SPEAKER_00 (14:46):
few times.
Do you remember he had a dreamof some kind?
Like what you just described tome is literally Lehi at the tree
partaking of the fruit.
And what's the first thing hedoes when he says, oh my
goodness, this is brighter,sweeter, more joy than I've ever
felt in my life.
Do you remember the first thingthat he did?
He calls his family over.
Yeah, he looks around and goes,I got to share this with other
people because the joy that I'mexperiencing...
(15:09):
I just have this magical renewedchange of heart towards everyone
in front of me.
I want them to have it too.
Yeah.
See, that's what you just said.
You're freaking Lehigh justright now at the tree.
So that's the beautiful thing,right?
So the formula, just to recapbefore we move on and I want to
hear some of your stories is theLord says, if you have a desire
(15:30):
to serve, I'm going to set youapart and call you for this
opportunity.
And if you do it with all yourheart, mind, and strength...
The promise will be, at leastwhat I found in Scripture, one,
you will have marvelous andjoyful experiences, which we're
about to share.
Two, you will come to Christyourself and partake of the joy
that comes from the atonement ofChrist, repentance, forgiveness.
(15:51):
And three, the joy you'll havewith the people that you are
helping come to Christ is aneternal joy that you will have.
So, I mean...
I want all that.
I love all that.
That makes me so happy.
So I'm glad that you did it,dude.
SPEAKER_02 (16:04):
So
SPEAKER_00 (16:08):
I want to hear some of you.
So in this podcast, we talk alot about, well, what are the
principles, other principlesthat we can apply in order to
have the great, marvelous,joyful experiences on the
mission?
And I want you to tell a coupleof stories you've told me why
don't you start with the onestory?
And then I think let's talkabout how some of these
(16:28):
principles and scriptures applyto that.
That way, because then I thinkother people who are listening
to this, who are preparing fortheir missions, who are looking
for some motivation and maybesome knowledge on how to do it,
these stories are fantastic andthey help us teach these
principles.
So tell me about it.
I know you had a time on yourmission where it was super
(16:49):
tough.
SPEAKER_03 (16:49):
Yeah.
I think also just to prefacethat, One thing that I had to
keep in my mind throughout myentire mission, especially these
couple of transfers of the storythat I'm about to share, is that
Christ is asking for disciples,not admirers.
And when he asks us to be adisciple, we have to be willing
to swim upstream when needed.
So regardless of whatcircumstances we're facing in
(17:12):
our lives, we have to be willingto do that because we love the
Lord.
And I think the success that Iwas able to see, the growth I
was able to see, was because Iplaced my confidence in the
Savior.
I think your success as amissionary really is determined
by where you place yourconfidence.
And so I remember, for context,I was called English-speaking to
the Indiana-Indianapolis missionand going into my fourth
(17:34):
transfer.
So after about four-ish months,I got a call from the assistant
to the president, and he saidthat I was getting switched to
Spanish work.
And...
At that point, I was in a reallysmall town, super just you'd
have no reason to visit likeever and just middle of nowhere,
straight boonies.
And I had started meeting someSpanish speakers there.
(17:58):
And so I tried to startlearning.
I had some high schoolexperience, not too much,
though.
And I tried to start learningbecause I wanted to be able to
teach these people because theywere humble and they were
genuinely interested to change.
And but I didn't know.
really anything.
I could not teach a lesson tosave my life.
And so I got this call, and myfirst thought was kind of just
(18:18):
shock.
And then I was thinking about itmore, and I was like, okay,
well, the Lord placed hisconfidence in me to be here, and
he's going to put me in a placewhere I can touch the lives of
the people that I need to meet.
So I'll just trust him.
Very faithful.
Thank you.
And I remember getting to thatfirst area in Spanish, And it
(18:42):
was so hard.
It hit me like a truck.
Not only because I had to learna new language, I went from
being confident, semi-confidentin teaching to being like, I
can't even teach a singleprinciple.
SPEAKER_00 (18:53):
Which is a fast, it doesn't seem like a unique
experience that you've been, howlong were you out before this
happened?
Four-ish months.
Yeah.
So you had already gotten likereally comfortable with how do I
teach?
Yeah.
So I'm in a groove and then allof a sudden start from scratch.
And most, like I went foreign.
So day one, you're feelinglike...
I don't understand a word.
(19:13):
Like, this is crazy.
But at the same time that you'relearning how to teach, you're
learning the language where youuniquely are like, no, I
already, I'm a veteran here.
Start over.
SPEAKER_03 (19:22):
Yeah, it was quite the humbling experience,
honestly.
Yeah.
And to add on top of that, meand my companion had a really
hard time first getting along.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_00 (19:34):
you said this was not a good mix, right?
SPEAKER_03 (19:36):
Not a great mix.
Not a great mix.
Yeah.
I just remember receivingcomments that just hit me to my
core, man.
It was pretty brutal.
But something that I rememberthat my dad always said is focus
on what you can control.
And so as I'm out
SPEAKER_00 (19:52):
here.
Let me ask you about that realquick.
SPEAKER_03 (19:54):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (19:55):
You did feel at that moment for a while that you had
lost control.
because of the influence thatyour companion was having,
because your inability tounderstand and speak the
language.
Now you can't even teachanything because you don't speak
the language.
So you were feeling like, I haveno control in this situation.
SPEAKER_03 (20:10):
Yeah.
And, you know, when you're in ahard situation, when you are
dealing with difficultcircumstances, you want
everything to get betterautomatically.
But there are some things thatare out of your control, like
the way that my companion was...
treating me or the way that shewas working with me.
Just things where, you know, youcan't control other people.
There are some things that areout of your control.
(20:32):
So really honing in on, youknow, okay, what can I do to
still fulfill my purpose as amissionary despite these
circumstances that I'm in rightnow?
And so we'd go, you know, doingmissionary work.
And I remember there was a lotof times there was a lot of
reluctance to going out anddoing it.
SPEAKER_00 (20:53):
On your end or her
SPEAKER_03 (20:54):
end?
Her end.
And, you know, I wasn't the mosthumble either.
And so there were things whereI'm like, no, no, no, we should
do this.
And we just were butting headsvery often.
SPEAKER_00 (21:04):
Because you had a desire to go do it, even though
you didn't speak and you werelosing control.
You still wanted to work veryhard.
SPEAKER_03 (21:09):
Yeah.
And...
I don't know if it was her wayof training and she was just
helping me because it actuallyturned out to be a blessing.
But she really just sat back andlet me lead everything.
We'd be piecing in tiendas.
SPEAKER_00 (21:25):
Let you or forced you to?
SPEAKER_03 (21:28):
A mix of the both.
Really just at that point, I wasstill a little uncomfortable
with awkward silence.
And, you know, there's people toteach, so I had to go find them.
But I really just got throwninto the deep end and drowned.
But then it taught me how toswim.
I remember we'd be in PCs, andI'd try to stand next to her and
listen to her talk to someone,and she'd just walk straight
(21:50):
away from me.
But it ended up being such ablessing because I was able to
learn the language so fastbecause
SPEAKER_00 (21:56):
I had no other option.
Well, hang on.
Before you give the light at theend of the tunnel, the epiphany,
the life-changing experience,let's just paint the picture.
You were miserable.
You were low.
The way you explained it to meis you were not...
This was really dark times.
Yeah.
One...
because of the companion, two,because of the lack of control
with language, with teaching.
(22:17):
You explained to me this wasreally, like, really low.
SPEAKER_02 (22:20):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (22:20):
Right?
So you also explained to me,though, the pivotal moment that
started to change everything.
You said that one night youknelt down and started to really
pray.
SPEAKER_02 (22:30):
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00 (22:31):
I mean, tell us more about that.
Because when you told me thestory, you talked about how
focusing on the things you cancontrol, the advice from your
dad.
SPEAKER_02 (22:39):
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00 (22:40):
I don't know if that related to you.
Like I remember a story of mymom and dad who served a mission
in their later years in England.
And my mom, they were likeoffice missionaries.
And my mom looks back and maybeshe had a cushy life or I don't
know what it is, but she saidthis was literally the hardest
thing she's ever done.
And she gave up and gave up andgave up.
(23:01):
And after months and months andmonths of crying and misery, she
for the first time in her lifeknelt down and said, I can't do
this, Lord.
I need you to get me to do this.
And she'd never done thatbefore, she said.
And she said that that waslife-changing because for the
first time, turning herself overto the Lord, she received
revelation back and received thepower to have the best
(23:23):
experience that she's had on hermission.
You shared with me somethingsimilar to that.
SPEAKER_03 (23:27):
Yeah.
I mean, thinking back to thoseprinciples that you shared in
the beginning of this podcast,there is joy in the work, and I
wanted to find that.
But at this point, I could noteven catch a particle of it.
And so I remember one nightspecifically, it was about after
two weeks in the beginning ofthis transition, of this
transfer, and I just waspleading with the Lord.
(23:49):
I remember reading an Alma, andit talked about praying with all
the energy of your heart, and Ihad no idea how to do that.
And there were a couple times inmy mission where I had
experiences praying with all myheart, and this was the first of
many experiences And I rememberjust, you know, like on my
knees, just pleading andpleading and pleading.
And about halfway through...
(24:11):
Sorry,
SPEAKER_00 (24:12):
I interrupted you at like the most pivotal point.
I'm so sorry.
That would have been amazing.
But since I've already done it,let me just add to that real
quick.
So before you tell us whathappened halfway through...
It reminds me of Enos, Enos 1.
SPEAKER_02 (24:25):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (24:26):
Right?
Behold, I cannot pass, knowingmy father was a great and just
man.
I will tell you of the wrestlewhich I had before God, before,
in his case, I received aremission of my sins.
This wrestle relates to D&C 4,this principle of go at it with
all your heart, mind, andstrength.
I think that doesn't just applyto, like you're saying, to
missionary work, but it appliesto our prayers, our fasting, our
(24:50):
repentance, our I think the Lordwants our hearts.
He wants us to commit andfaithfully dive in.
So you're saying that, like, hadyou done, had you had a need in
your life before this point tocry into the Lord, to just plead
with the Lord?
Had you ever done that up tothis point?
SPEAKER_03 (25:06):
I think maybe in the moment there were a couple times
where I thought I did, but mykind of, like, breakthrough
moment of this was probably inthis moment.
SPEAKER_00 (25:15):
Okay, so I interrupted you at the, like,
crucial time.
So you're really, truly...
I love how, was it Enos orElzenus, right?
My soul hungered is what hesaid.
My soul hungered.
I just love it so much becausesometimes that's what it takes
for us to truly humble ourselvesand turn to God with faith.
So at this point, you're sohungered.
SPEAKER_03 (25:36):
And I kind of remember as I was talking to
Heavenly Father, I just said,you know, like, why is this my
situation right now and how canI come out of it?
And it kind of hit me.
As I was there, I thought of allof his disciples when he was
preaching and how he asked themto leave their nets.
(25:57):
And it talks about in thescriptures, it says it so often,
they immediately left their netsand followed him.
And they dropped everything thatthey had and they followed him
regardless of what was on theirpath to come as they followed
him.
And it made me think that, youknow, I signed up for this.
I signed up to be a missionaryand allow the Lord to mold me in
ways that would help me becomean instrument in his hands.
(26:20):
And in that moment, I just pledwith him and I said, I just want
to align my will with his.
I wanted to align my will sothat I could become who he
needed me to be.
And as I thought about thatmore, I thought about, you know,
refiners, fire, there's thingsto go through that teach us
(26:40):
lessons to help us better becomethe people that Heavenly Father
needs us to be, the disciplesthat Christ needs to serve in
his vineyard.
And I just basically toldHeavenly Father, look,
everything that I have is yours.
And I just want to align my willwith yours because I want to be
the best that I can be for theshort period of time that I have
to fully dedicate myself tothee.
(27:01):
Incredible.
And it wasn't easy, but fromthat point on out, I made it a
priority in all my prayers justto, you know, just in case you
forgot to remind him, just say,you know, every good thing I
have comes from me.
Every success I see here, everyperson I find, it all comes from
me.
And so...
Just let me know what I need todo to keep seeing the success
(27:24):
because I know it's his.
And so, you know, it talks aboutin the scriptures glorifying
God.
I just, Ammon talks about inAlma 26, you know, he sees all
the success and he wants toboast as God.
He wants to glorify him.
And truly, I came to find outthat the way to do that is by
aligning your will andcontinuing to do the work.
SPEAKER_00 (27:42):
Isn't it amazing that even on a mission, we are
being formed and molded by ourFather in heaven, by our Savior
Jesus Christ, to become thatwhich they put us on this earth
to become.
They're placing you...
So at first, when you were somiserable in this situation, the
question is, why?
This is terrible.
(28:02):
All I want to do is go out anddo this.
Then you, in humility, face inthe dirt, turn to the Lord,
plead with him, aligned yourwill with his, and all of a
sudden...
things start changing, right?
I remember when you initiallytold me the story, you said
almost like the next day youwoke up with a renewed spirit.
(28:23):
I know you didn't saynecessarily that this revelation
came all at once, clean andpure, and this is what's going
to happen, but I felt like youtold me, I woke up the next day
with a renewed spirit, a newview on life, and then it
started to change, didn't it?
SPEAKER_03 (28:36):
Yeah, I think I woke up with a quiet confidence.
SPEAKER_00 (28:40):
Oh, where else have we heard...
Still small voice, quietconfidence.
These things that come from Godwhen we humble ourselves and
turn to him.
Yeah.
I mean, the Holy Ghost, right?
Uh-huh.
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (28:51):
I think once you have that quiet confidence I had
came in from my calling, I wasliterally set apart to do this
work.
And so just like how Nephi hadto go get the plates, the Lord
wasn't going to just tell me todo it and then say, figure it
out yourself.
He's going to provide a way.
for me to carry out his work.
SPEAKER_00 (29:09):
So what was that way?
What did you do next?
SPEAKER_03 (29:12):
I just put my head down and went to work, honestly.
Okay,
SPEAKER_00 (29:16):
so this is where I'd love to introduce principle
number three in what we teach.
Let's hear
SPEAKER_03 (29:20):
it.
SPEAKER_00 (29:21):
Do you remember what it is?
SPEAKER_03 (29:22):
Open mouths, find listeners.
SPEAKER_00 (29:23):
That's right.
Open your mouth and findlisteners.
So when you say you put yourhead down and went to work, what
kind of things did you do?
SPEAKER_03 (29:29):
Talk to everyone.
SPEAKER_00 (29:30):
But wait a minute.
You don't speak Spanish.
SPEAKER_03 (29:34):
And I fumbled and made a fool of myself
SPEAKER_00 (29:36):
while trying to do it.
How are you supposed to openyour mouth and talk to everyone
if you don't even speak thelanguage?
You don't understand whatthey're saying.
SPEAKER_03 (29:41):
Just pray for the gift of tongues.
SPEAKER_00 (29:45):
And you just do it, right?
SPEAKER_03 (29:46):
Truly.
You
SPEAKER_00 (29:48):
just do it.
SPEAKER_03 (29:49):
I remember by the last transfer of my mission, I
wouldn't consider myself fluent,but I can pretty much
understand.
99% of what people say to me,and they'd always ask me, like,
how did you learn this language?
Like, do you go to a class?
I'm like, you literally justopen your mouth and talk to
people.
SPEAKER_00 (30:04):
So let me give you where this principle kind of
came from.
So I was in the mid-'90s when Iwas in Ukraine on our mission in
the Donetsk area.
We were maybe four months out.
I remember me and Miles, ElderMiles, we went to this.
So it was Elder Porter, supertall, member of the 70, was
visiting.
He spoke Russian, this Americanguy.
UNKNOWN (30:22):
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00 (30:23):
And we were so excited because, oh, a visiting
authority.
So we all met at the Dom Kino,which was just a big old
Russian-Soviet movie theaterthat we rented as the church
there.
And all the missionaries werethere.
Well, it has been to havebuildings.
This is so early on in the 90s.
So we all met in this buildingand Elder Porter's there and
he's preaching.
And this guy's just awesome.
And he speaks Russian.
We're like, oh, this guy'samazing.
(30:44):
Elder Porter started to talkabout, he says, look, if you
guys can't speak the language,you can't.
be as effective in teaching andin bringing people to the Lord.
So he says, look, I haveauthority to give you a promise.
So this huge guy, and I'mlooking up like just, just dumb
eyed and just like humble andready to learn.
He says, I'm going to make you apromise and I have authority to
do so.
So he says, in the name of theLord, I promise you the
(31:05):
following.
I promise that all of you willbe 100% fluent in the Russian
language by your six monthpoint.
If you do the following, gooutside after this meeting and
for the rest of your mission,Open your mouth and not let a
single person go by you withoutopening your mouth and talking
to them.
SPEAKER_03 (31:24):
That came from a member of the 70?
SPEAKER_00 (31:25):
Yeah, Elder Porter, Bruce D.
Porter.
SPEAKER_03 (31:27):
Do you know how many times I told that promise to
missionaries in my mission?
I literally quoted you.
I thought it was from you.
SPEAKER_00 (31:34):
You quoted me, gave me credit?
Yes.
Okay, I'll take it.
I'll
SPEAKER_03 (31:37):
take it.
I'll take
SPEAKER_00 (31:38):
it.
But here's what happened.
Elder Miles and I looked at eachother like, well, that's easier
than studying the language everymorning.
Let's do that.
Like if the Lord is justpromising us that if we just
open our mouth and go do it,then let's do it.
And I swear to you, Lauren, fromthat moment on, me, Elder Miles,
Elder Pack, Elder Barnes, we allcommitted.
If we were in the bread linewaiting for bread, we would talk
(32:00):
to the people in line, person toperson.
If we were stuck on a trolleybus, shoulder to shoulder with
all these stinky Russians, Wewould talk to one person.
No, you don't want to talk.
Okay, next guy.
Like so embarrassingly, likejust turn to the next guy.
Like we would just go fromperson to person to person.
And it was embarrassing andexciting and amazing.
(32:21):
If there was a big group ofpeople coming towards us, stop
them all.
Can I talk to all of you?
That faithful stance of applyingthis principle, just open your
mouth and just talk to everyone,really did get us fluent.
Now here's the trick.
Was it magic?
Or was Elder Porter just reallysmart and said, obviously, the
more you talk to people, thebetter you're going to get at
(32:42):
the language?
I don't know.
It's one of those two.
But we were faithful to hispromise.
And not only did we speakRussian very quickly and learn
the language, but we were moreeffective missionaries.
And that's kind of the principlethat is based in this Unopened
Mouth Finds Listeners is, Itruly believe that when you were
called to go where you were,there are people there waiting
(33:03):
for Lauren to who suits theirpersonalities or their spirits
to find them, to teach them, orto help them along the covenant
path.
I believe that in Ukraine.
So I believe all I got to do isopen my mouth and talk to
everyone.
And one out of 10,000 people iswaiting for me.
It's a powerful, powerful, it isone of these practical
principles as you serve amission that if you'll apply
(33:24):
this, you will have a glorious,marvelous experience.
So tell me more about it.
So you started talking toeveryone, right?
SPEAKER_03 (33:31):
Truly.
And I definitely made a fool ofmyself, but.
SPEAKER_00 (33:34):
Awesome, huh?
SPEAKER_03 (33:35):
It didn't matter to me.
It's awesome.
It didn't matter.
And I think my desire to talk topeople outweighed the, a lot of
Hispanics say like, oh, yo tengopena.
Like, it's just likeembarrassment, like shame.
But like that just all straightout the window.
Like I recognize, you know,Steven Robinson wrote a book
(33:56):
called Believe in Christ.
SPEAKER_00 (33:58):
Oh, wow.
That's my favorite book of alltime.
I think I maybe made you readthat.
SPEAKER_03 (34:02):
Maybe.
I
SPEAKER_00 (34:02):
would have because I tell everyone that is the best
book.
SPEAKER_03 (34:05):
And I just love the principle that he talks about
believing Christ, not believingin him, but believing him that
he can do what he says he does,what he can do.
And, you know, I had that faith.
I had that belief that he wantsto save his lost sheep.
And so I knew that if I openedmy mouth and talked to everyone,
(34:26):
he'd place people in my paththat were ready to be found.
And so.
You know, I'd see people walk byme and sometimes I'd get a
little nervous and whatnot.
And I was like, oh, well, theyjust watched me get rejected by
someone else.
And then they'd walk by andinstantly I just thought, oh my
gosh, what if they were the onethat Christ needed me to find
today?
And I'd run after
SPEAKER_00 (34:47):
them.
Hey, come back here, come backhere.
I love it.
That's exactly what we did.
I love that.
SPEAKER_03 (34:52):
Yeah, but I saw so many miracles come from that,
not only with the language, butalso I was able to find people
that I never would have found.
I remember when you serve in theStates, well, obviously you're
not supposed to be in yourapartment during the day.
And so in the States, a lot oftimes you go to fast food
restaurants to do studies ordaily contact, whatnot.
(35:13):
Holy, I cannot tell you how manytimes I've walked through a door
of McDonald's here.
But we'd be in there and justeveryone in there, just got up
and was talking to everyone andI'd get I'd like get behind the
counter and talk to the workersI'm like hey and I remember like
being able to just find randompeople that I've never found I
(35:34):
remember one day I was I wassitting at McDonald's and in one
of my areas in Lafayette Indianaand I was training at that point
it's my first time training andI really was trying to dig that
principle into my, my greeniethat I was training or monetary.
And I was like, we, we talked toeveryone here because there's
people waiting for us.
And there was this man walked inthat walked in and we were
(35:56):
clearly in the middle ofsomething.
And I just was like, I, I got toset the example.
I got to talk to everyone.
I went up and talked to this manand he was filling up his drink.
I like the soda machine.
And I was like, Oh, and he'slike, Oh, like I've met with
missionaries before.
(36:17):
I was like, really?
He's like, yeah, I met withelders before.
I love the story of JosephSmith.
Oh, I'm like, hello.
And he's like, I have atestimony that he truly is a
prophet.
Oh, yeah he's like he truly is aprophet he restored the true
church of jesus christ i read inthe book of mormon very often
just all this crazy stuff and weended up finding him again and
(36:38):
started teaching him and he justalready had such a strong
testimony of these restoredtruths that we go out preaching
to people and if i never went upand talked to him I wouldn't
have found that out.
We wouldn't have found someonenew to start teaching, but he
already was so prepared.
He just had this belief inJoseph Smith and he had like a
powerful conviction of thetruth.
SPEAKER_00 (36:59):
And that is the principle.
If you wouldn't have opened yourmouth and served and done it
with all your heart, mind, andstrength, you never would have
even, the guy wouldn't eventhought or known or heard,
right?
John 10, 26 to 27.
But ye believe not because yeare not of my sheep, as I said
unto you.
He says this, my sheep hear myvoice and I know them and they
(37:20):
follow me.
You are Christ's representativeas a full-time missionary.
And when you open your mouth andtalk to everyone, it is as if
the Lord is doing it.
And so when you open your mouthand that spirit is there, his
sheep recognize that spirit andthat voice.
And that's what you did.
I'm so proud of you.
SPEAKER_02 (37:39):
Thank
SPEAKER_00 (37:40):
you.
I'm so excited for you.
Now, how did then this new,right?
You hit rock bottom.
SPEAKER_02 (37:46):
You
SPEAKER_00 (37:47):
gave yourself to the Lord for the first time, like
really pleading with him.
You woke up with this refreshedspirit confidence.
You started to just open yourmouth and talk to everyone.
How quickly did things changefor you and your soul and your
happiness and your ability?
SPEAKER_03 (38:01):
Very quickly.
And it wasn't necessarily, I sawa ton of outward results.
We started finding like 30people a week, but there was a
different, I felt that joythat's promised to us when I was
out talking to people.
And even though, you know, Iwasn't finding 50 people a week.
I still knew, like chapter one,I preached my gospel.
(38:21):
I was serving with all my heart,mind, and strength.
And I was doing everythingregardless of the circumstance
that I was in.
SPEAKER_00 (38:27):
It's so powerful because that's the first
principle of the gospel.
Christ's gospel is faith in theLord Jesus Christ.
This, what you're doing, thisopen your mouth and talk to
everyone, is such an expressionof faith.
Why did you receive joy?
Because you were on the paththat moves you on the covenant,
right?
Faith precedes repentance, whichprecedes the covenant of baptism
to give the Holy Ghost.
(38:48):
So as you every day went out, asI every day went out and engaged
in this faithful, I'm servingwith all my heart, mind, and
strength, that faith buildingprocess is what leads us to
Christ and Christ gives us thatjoy.
I love it, dude.
I love it.
You did it.
SPEAKER_03 (39:00):
And that transfer actually ended up being one of
the most crucial transfers in myentire mission for my personal
discipleship.
And...
That same transfer, we met a guynamed Carlos.
And Carlos is awesome.
Carlos Aleman, he's fromHonduras.
He now, April 13th, will hit hisyear mark as a member of the
(39:22):
Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter-day Saints.
And we worked with that man.
We worked with that man.
And...
He is incredible.
He is an incredible disciple ofJesus Christ.
And to think that when I wasmetaphorically at my rock
bottom, I found one of thebiggest miracles in my mission
is just a testament to me thatGod was truly aware of me.
(39:44):
And, you know, there's tendermercies and everything.
And faith truly does precede themiracle.
SPEAKER_00 (39:49):
And you told me about this guy and how he was
like himself at rock bottom.
SPEAKER_03 (39:55):
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (39:56):
When you met him.
SPEAKER_03 (39:57):
Yeah, so...
SPEAKER_00 (39:58):
So you open your mouth, you're opening your
mouth, you're talking toeveryone, you find Carlos, and
you realize this guy's at rockbottom.
SPEAKER_03 (40:04):
So he was actually found through Facebook, which is
one of the craziest things ever,I
SPEAKER_00 (40:08):
think.
SPEAKER_03 (40:09):
There was maybe four people in one year in our
mission that was baptized fromFacebook work, and he was one of
them, which was crazy.
And he saw an ad about the Bookof Mormon, and he didn't really
know, but he just felt promptedby the Spirit to respond to it.
And...
He was actually found the weekbefore I got into the area, but
we started teaching himconsistently when I got there.
And I remember there was onelesbian specifically, and he,
(40:32):
like you said, he was just atrock bottom.
He was sad.
He was alone.
He didn't see any light at theend of the tunnel.
Didn't even believe that therewas one.
And he lived...
Um,
SPEAKER_00 (40:44):
he was, he was poor, meek and downtrodden.
SPEAKER_03 (40:46):
Yeah, pretty much.
SPEAKER_00 (40:47):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (40:47):
And he was at the, um, pretty North up in our area.
And so he lived about 30, 35minutes away from the church
building, made it a sacrifice tocome to church every Sunday.
But during the week when wewanted to meet with him, we just
did video calls.
And I remember there was onenight specific, we're sitting on
a call with him and it was liketwo, three weeks into my, to my
first transfer there.
(41:08):
And, um, I never have seen thegift of tongues be so prevalent
in an experience that I've had.
I remember just talking and Ijust felt the Spirit so
strongly.
And that's something that Ialways have struggled with,
feeling the Spirit.
But I started saying things andit wasn't like someone took over
my body and just startedspitting out Spanish.
(41:28):
But I was able to say thingsthat I wanted to say that I knew
were going to help him.
And so...
I was able to have a lesson.
I remember even my companion,who at the time was not a great
fan of me, had left me a littlenote on my desk, and she was
like, you did amazing in thatlesson.
And that was kind of a hugeturning point, just a
(41:51):
confirmation of my faith type ofthing.
And as we really just both gotto work, because it started
having an effect, so we both gotto work, and by the end of our
second transfer, we...
are great friends now.
That's incredible.
And yeah, but I remember Carloswas just so sad.
And this lesson was also aturning point for him.
(42:13):
I think something that weoverlook as missionaries all the
time is people's ability topray.
So that became one of the firstthings I looked for after our
very first lessons with people.
I'd be like, do you know how topray?
And they'd kind of be like, oh,well, yeah, kind of.
But I made it a priority.
Okay, like this is how we pray.
This is how it's going to helpyou do it.
And he started praying veryfrequently.
(42:35):
And he started reading from theBook of Mormon.
And slowly after time, hestruggled a little bit keeping
commitments.
But we taught him how to pray.
And we...
We taught him about the promisedblessings of the Book of Mormon.
We identified his need, thisdesperation, this loneliness,
this isolation, and we testifiedof the power that the Book of
(42:57):
Mormon has, how it helps us feelthe love of Jesus Christ, how
it's another testament that heloves all his children,
including Carlos.
And so we told him that that'swhat it testifies of.
We gave him specific chapters toread, lots of 3 Nephi to read,
actually.
And He started seeing the powerin the Book of Mormon.
Every day driving to work, he'splaying the Book of Mormon in
his car.
And he was a really shy guy, buthe finally accepted the
(43:20):
invitation to be baptized.
And I remember on his baptismday, he was shaking.
He was so nervous.
He was just, oh, he was poorsoul.
He was so nervous.
And I sat down next to him rightbefore I started.
And I was like, let's say aprayer, Carlos.
Like, I can tell that you'renervous.
But remember, and I kind of toldhim to look back.
I'm like, everyone's here tosupport you.
And we said a prayer.
(43:42):
And it didn't take away all ofhis nerves, but he definitely
felt a lot better.
And he has been to the templecountless number of times.
He leaves work early and he likeanswers his phone during work to
help missionaries with lessons.
He literally sold his car to geta bigger car to drive people to
church.
(44:02):
Like he is a disciple and theLord knows him.
Like the Lord knows who he isand he knows who the Lord is and
he is so willing to serve.
He's been able to baptize quitea few people now into, it was a
branch, now it's actually a wardin Indianapolis.
And it's just crazy to see hisjoy that he feels from serving
(44:24):
and he recognizes where it'scoming from.
He recognizes that this promisein the scriptures of finding
this joy comes from serving theLord.
And he doesn't have any plans onstopping anytime soon.
SPEAKER_00 (44:35):
It's so powerful.
And we'll round off with what westarted with, D&C 18.
Remember, the worth of souls isgreat in the sight of God.
For the Lord, your Redeemer,suffered death in the flesh.
Wherefore?
He suffered the pain of all men,that all men might repent and
come unto him.
And he hath risen again from thedead, that he might bring all
men unto him on conditions ofrepentance.
And how great is his joy in thesoul that repenteth.
(44:57):
Wherefore, you are called to cryrepentance to this people.
And if it so be, you shouldlabor all your days in crying
repentance unto this people.
And bring, save it be, one soulunto him.
How great shall your joy be withhim in the kingdom of my Father.
So you went from rock bottom,turning your soul to God.
You at the end of that...
Oh, and you said that...
when transfers came, you were sostoked to get away from this
(45:19):
companion.
And then the word came through,you're going to stick with his
companion, right?
Like, so you got two wholetransfers with this companion.
And in the end, marvelous andwonder.
SPEAKER_03 (45:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (45:32):
As opposed to in the beginning, which was the worst
thing of your life, right?
SPEAKER_03 (45:34):
Yeah.
And I recognize too in thattransfer, the Lord calls you to
people, including yourcompanion, right?
I needed her.
I could confidently say kind ofmaybe that she needed me too.
SPEAKER_00 (45:46):
But that's interesting though from just to
end up here now.
You needed her, A, so that youwould have an opportunity to
open your mouth and talk toeverybody and learn the language
and find people.
You needed her, B, to, I guess,not compel you, but to influence
(46:07):
you to kneel down with suchhumility and and turn your life
over to the Lord for salvation.
She was essential
SPEAKER_03 (46:14):
in my conversion process.
SPEAKER_00 (46:15):
Incredible.
I love it so much, dude.
It's such a great, perfectstory.
It really is.
And to all those listening, themission is a marvelous and
wonderful experience if you doit right.
And I'll just emphasize that thedoing it right from this episode
is this.
A, serve with all your heart,mind, and strength.
B, open your mouth and talk toeveryone.
(46:38):
That practical principle works.
is life-changing on yourmission.
It will be the greatest sourceof joy.
It is how you do the work.
You open your mouth and you talkto everyone.
Yeah.
So those two principles, I thinkwhat we'll kind of emphasize and
end on with this episode, we'regoing to have you back because
you've got lots more stories.
Right?
SPEAKER_03 (46:58):
Lots.
Like there's literally no other time where
you'd see miracles like themiracles you see on the mission
from hearing stories like yours,stories from other people that
I've been surrounded by.
And just recognizing that ittruly is a once in a lifetime
opportunity where you put asideevery other distraction you have
as a human, as an adult, and youjust focus solely on the Lord.
SPEAKER_00 (00:23):
All right, here we go.
Another episode for Mission Prepseries.
Hey, Lauren.
SPEAKER_03 (00:31):
Hello.
SPEAKER_00 (00:33):
Here with Lauren today.
Today we're going to talk aboutsome really marvelous stuff.
Do you even know, Lauren, whatthe word marvelous means?
SPEAKER_02 (00:40):
Of course.
SPEAKER_00 (00:40):
Yeah?
Because I don't think you dobecause you're a younger person,
much younger than I, and I'venever heard a young person say
the word marvelous.
SPEAKER_03 (00:49):
I'll start using my vocab more.
SPEAKER_00 (00:50):
Yeah?
Yeah.
What would you use instead ofmarvelous?
I've heard you say the word firelike 20 times already.
So maybe that's the word.
SPEAKER_03 (00:57):
Okay.
If I want to be...
more mature, I'd probably go thebreathtaking route.
Like breathtaking, amazing,outstanding.
And
SPEAKER_00 (01:09):
if you want to be less mature?
SPEAKER_03 (01:10):
Fire lit.
No, just
SPEAKER_00 (01:13):
kidding.
You're not kidding though.
SPEAKER_03 (01:15):
Not in the podcast.
Come on now.
SPEAKER_00 (01:17):
Okay.
Okay.
Well, why don't you introduceyourself real quick?
SPEAKER_03 (01:21):
I am Lauren Hendricks.
I, a week ago today, just gotdone serving in the Indiana
Indianapolis mission for 18months.
UNKNOWN (01:29):
Oh,
SPEAKER_03 (01:29):
For the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
SPEAKER_00 (01:32):
Of course.
And in a couple of words, howwould you describe your mission
experience?
SPEAKER_03 (01:36):
Life-changing, discipleship-altering.
SPEAKER_00 (01:40):
Oh, that's cool.
And, you know, I'm not going tosay I'm, I'm not judgmental
about people's missions.
I think that serving a missionat whatever level you're at is
always good.
Yeah.
But it always makes me soexcited to see people come home
from their mission who had thesame experience that I did.
(02:00):
which was life changing, whichwas just absolutely joyful.
Like I've been home for almost30 years and I still, sometimes
I'm kneeling down and prayingand I'll start thinking about my
mission and the experiences andthe people and go, wait, did
that really happen?
Like that was so fire.
(02:22):
I didn't want to say marvelous.
It was, it was just so spiritualand powerful and amazing.
And you know, On this podcast,sorry, I can't shut up about it
because it really was thatgreat.
So you had a good experience,huh?
SPEAKER_03 (02:37):
It was the best thing.
It was the best decision I'veever made going on a mission.
SPEAKER_00 (02:41):
Man, okay, I'm going to ask you a million questions
and invite you to share a bunchof stories today because we want
to hear all about your missionexperience.
But first, let's start withthis.
Do you agree that those of uswho did have this really amazing
experience, do you agree with methat when you look in the broad
perspective, it really is a oncein a lifetime opportunity to
(03:03):
serve a full-time mission.
Because when you really considerwhat opportunity we had, A, it's
only a limited time that you getto be set apart to fully and
full-time commit to one thing,which is be an instrument in
God's hands to lead souls toChrist.
It's really just this one-timeopportunity.
And so part of me always feltlike, don't waste it.
(03:23):
Like you only have a limitedtime here.
Do you feel like that's a truestatement or no?
SPEAKER_03 (03:26):
Yeah, I agree.
SPEAKER_00 (03:27):
Did you feel that during your mission?
Like this is a once in alifetime thing.
Like I felt when I read yourweekly emails, an urgency in
you.
So there must've been someelement of that.
SPEAKER_03 (03:38):
Yeah.
I mean, I remember weighing myoptions, deciding if I even
wanted to serve before Isubmitted my papers.
And as I was talking around,asking people and praying about
it and, you know, looking toreceive revelation, looking to
receive an answer.
I remember thinking like,There's literally no other time
where you'd see miracles likethe miracles you see on the
mission, from hearing storieslike yours, stories from other
(04:01):
people that I've been surroundedby, and just recognizing that it
truly is a once-in-a-lifetimeopportunity where you put aside
every other distraction, everyother like responsibility you
have as a human, as an adult,and you just focus solely on the
Lord.
Like there's literally no othertime for that.
I remember people all the timeon the mission asked me like,
(04:21):
well, how are you paying tolive?
Where do you live?
Do you just like live on thestreet?
And that's not even a worry inmy mind.
Like I'm 110% dedicated to theLord and to his work.
SPEAKER_00 (04:32):
And you get no other chance in life to do that.
So it really is a once in alifetime opportunity that is
life-changing if you do itright.
SPEAKER_02 (04:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:39):
So I've enjoyed it.
I like that there are two orthree things in Scripture.
Well, first I'll say this.
I love D&C 4, and I'll always goback and refer to D&C 4.
Let me just read a snippet.
It says, What is it?
Marvelous?
What was the word you said?
I
SPEAKER_03 (04:56):
said amazing.
An
SPEAKER_00 (04:57):
amazing work.
SPEAKER_03 (04:59):
Outstanding.
Breathtaking.
SPEAKER_00 (05:00):
Breathtaking.
So that reads, now behold, abreathtaking work is about to
come forth among the children ofmen.
Therefore, O ye that embark inthe service of God, see that you
serve him with all your heart,might, mind, and strength, that
ye may stand blameless beforeGod at the last day.
Therefore, if you have desiresto serve, you are called to the
work.
So I love the starting with, ifyou have a desire to serve, I'm
going to set you apart and callyou.
(05:22):
If you want to do it, I'm goingto let you do it.
And I'm going to call you to doit.
And that's that once in alifetime opportunity.
But I love then in D&C 4, itgives us really good guidance
about, okay, there are someright ways to serve and some
wrong ways.
So I'll read in number twoagain.
If you embark on the service ofGod, see that you do it with all
your heart, all your might, andall your strength, which
(05:44):
resonates with me because I tendto be that kind of a personality
that if I'm going to dosomething, I'm going to do it.
And if it's not worth doing,then why even bother?
SPEAKER_03 (05:52):
Yeah, that just reminded me.
of Apart and Preach My Gospel inchapter one.
It talks, it's your purpose as amissionary.
And I think a lot of timesmissionaries get into this
comparison, this game ofcomparison where they think that
their outward results are areflection of their dedication
as a missionary.
And I think that's the biggest,most dangerous trap you can fall
(06:14):
into as a missionary iscomparing yourself with outward
results that maybe othermissionaries have of stories
that you hear but it talksabout, there's literally a part
in chapter one of PMG that talksabout what is the definition of
a successful missionary.
And it says like the very firstparagraph says your success as a
missionary is determinedprimarily by your desire and
(06:35):
commitment to find, teach andbaptize and confirm converts and
to help them become faithfuldisciples of Christ and members
of his church.
So just like DNC four, itdoesn't say, Serve with all your
heart, mind, mind, and strength,and you'll be good if you
baptize weekly.
You'll be good if you helppeople in every single area come
and stay for the rest of theirlives.
(06:55):
It talks about your personalcommitment and determination
to...
jump from failure to failurewithout losing enthusiasm it's
your ability to push forwardwhen all your lessons cancel in
one day it's your ability to getup out of bed after at 6 30
after you had a long night along week maybe of of failure
and failure and failure but youremember why you're there and
(07:19):
your love for the lord and yourdetermination is what pushes you
to be a successful missionary.
It's not outward results, it'snot external factors, but
focusing on what you can controlto, like it says right here,
your success is not determinedby how many people you teach or
help bring to baptism.
I
SPEAKER_00 (07:38):
love it.
And I've noticed that whenmissionaries serve with all
their heart, might, mind, andstrength, the purpose of the
missionary is to lead souls toChrist.
There's lots of ways, there'slots of steps to do that.
It's not just baptism.
In fact, baptism is one-fourthof the real requirement, right?
UNKNOWN (07:53):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00 (07:54):
Faith precedes repentance.
Repentance is what precedesbaptism.
And oftentimes, man, I reallydid try with all my heart, mind,
and strength not to get peoplebaptized.
Ultimately, that is a goal, butit's an outward.
That's kind of what you'retalking about, that outward.
But ultimately, I knew that if Itestified with my whole heart or
I was prepared with scripturesthat would answer their
(08:15):
questions or if I would open mymouth and just talk to everyone,
I was assisting in the processof leading someone hopefully to
faith or to repentance and maybeeventually to baptism.
So yeah, I love that.
SPEAKER_03 (08:26):
And I think too, something that is good to keep
in mind is that, you know,you're called to a people that
doesn't just mean people you'regoing to find, teach and
baptize.
That means members in the wardthat you're serving in the
branch that you're serving.
And it means your companion,other missionaries in your
district or zone and just randomstrangers that maybe you don't
end up finding and teaching orBut, you know, when you're
called to a part of thevineyard, it doesn't mean you
(08:47):
just look for one fruit inspecific.
Obviously, you have a purpose tofind, teach, and baptize, but
you're there for a reason.
And you want to try and touch asmany people as you can while
you're set apart with this powerto do so.
SPEAKER_00 (08:58):
Oh, I love it.
I love it.
Along those lines, what I'venoticed is this.
When you do serve with all yourheart, mind, and strength,
there's some promised resultsthat come from Scripture.
There's three that I reallylove.
The first one is along the linesof what D&C 4 says about being a
part of a work that is amarvelous work.
Isaiah says, therefore, behold,I will proceed, and he's talking
(09:20):
about our day, and you, Lauren,I will proceed to do a marvelous
work among this people, even amarvelous work and a wonder.
And I've always loved thatlanguage because what it says to
us is, Lauren, if you do thisright, serve with all your
heart, might, mind, and strengthto lead souls to Christ, you
will have a marvelous and awonderful experience.
And I can say myself, man, myexperience was full of wonder,
(09:43):
full of marvel.
And throughout this podcast, Ishare my stories.
I'm excited to hear yourstories.
But the second thing that I readfrom scripture that is the
result of serving the mission inthe right way and choosing to do
so comes from Alma.
Remember when he talked about, Ithink this is 36?
Yeah.
He says, oh, what joy and whatmarvelous light I did behold.
(10:05):
This is when the angel came tohim, right?
And he suffered for all thosedays.
And then after, and he criedupon the name of the Lord and it
came, forgiveness came.
So he says, what joy and whatmarvelous light I did behold.
Yea, my soul was filled with joyas exceeding as was my pain.
And then he jumped down to 24and it says, and from that time,
(10:26):
even until now, I have laboredwithout ceasing that I might
bring souls into repentance,that I might bring them to taste
of the exceeding joy of which Idid taste.
that they might also be born ofGod and be filled with the Holy
Ghost.
So he's talking about here howhe labored without ceasing.
If that isn't exactly what D&C 4says, serve with all your heart,
(10:46):
mind, and strength, obviouslythis, if we do that, he then is
just annoyingly talking abouthow much joy he has.
And so the second thing in thepromise from Scripture is joy.
Joy in ourselves being forgiven,coming to the Lord,
understanding the gospel, histeachings, his life.
Like what a, I mean, to me, thatwas the most important thing or
(11:08):
result of working really hard ona mission was the personal
conversion to Christ that camefor me.
I
SPEAKER_03 (11:13):
remember talking to you before, I think it's after
I'd gotten my call, but I wastalking to you about how I made
the choice to serve because Ididn't have...
a type of experience where Ijust got an answer right away.
I actually didn't get an answerat all.
I just chose.
And I remember listening to aconference talk, and it was
President Russell M.
(11:34):
Nelson, and he said, you willfind no greater joy than in
serving your brothers andsisters in the Lord.
And I remember hearing that, andyou know at that time, leading
up to my mission, I wasstruggling finding joy, finding
an eternal joy that was enoughto sustain me.
And that promise was held true.
The mission is...
offers you truly a type of joythat you don't experience
(11:57):
anywhere else.
And
SPEAKER_00 (11:59):
that is so powerful.
And I love your story how, yeah,oftentimes people are like, oh,
I'm going on a mission becausethe Lord told me to go on a
mission.
You went because you chose andyou believed in that promise of
joy that comes from Christ.
What a powerful thing.
Like you owned your decision andno other outside influence was
making you, compelling you ortelling you.
You didn't have to do it.
(12:20):
but you did it and you're sayingthat all those promises of just,
the Alma promise of pure joy,that talk you listened to, you
have the joy,
SPEAKER_03 (12:27):
right?
SPEAKER_00 (12:28):
And I like how you called it.
You called it what, eternal joy?
Is that what you
SPEAKER_03 (12:31):
said?
Yeah, eternal joy.
SPEAKER_00 (12:32):
Which is so different.
Like you've never experiencedthat before is what I read from
your emails and from what I knowbefore.
Yeah.
Right?
I
SPEAKER_03 (12:40):
think it's eternal in its offering.
Like it's just the gift thatkeeps on giving, if that's what
you can say.
And...
to still be in contact with likerecent converts and members.
I actually got a text from amember this morning and she just
reached out saying, Oh, like, Ijust want to congratulate you.
Well done on your service.
(13:00):
You are awesome.
Just saying the nicest things.
And it's just
SPEAKER_00 (13:03):
like, how'd that make you feel?
SPEAKER_03 (13:04):
Oh, I'm so excited.
I love her.
SPEAKER_00 (13:07):
So this leads to the third promise that comes from
Scripture when we totally andfully commit to serve with all
our heart, mind, and strength,D&C 18.
And how great is the Lord's joy,God's joy, in the soul that
repenteth.
Wherefore ye are called to cryrepentance to this people.
And if it so be that ye shouldlabor all your days.
Once again, a reference to allyour heart, mind, mind, and
strength.
(13:27):
if you should labor all yourdays in crying repentance to
this people and bring, save it,be one soul unto me, how great
shall be your joy with him inthe kingdom of the father for
eternity.
And that's what you're talkingabout.
You get a little phone call fromsomeone that you worked with or
helped at least along thatcovenant path.
I could see your face.
You're so happy about thatperson.
(13:49):
You love that person.
SPEAKER_01 (13:50):
Yeah.
There's a lot of people that Ilove.
SPEAKER_00 (13:54):
And how does it make you feel that this promise here
is that, in the kingdom of ourfather through eternity, those
will be some of the tightest,closest bonds that we'll have.
SPEAKER_03 (14:04):
I'm so excited.
SPEAKER_00 (14:05):
Isn't that amazing?
SPEAKER_03 (14:06):
I'm like looking forward to it, honestly.
SPEAKER_00 (14:08):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (14:09):
Yeah.
It's, it's crazy to think abouthow someone that you didn't know
is now someone that found thisjoy that's promised in the
gospel because of your decisionto serve.
So it makes you think when youget like a tiny taste of that,
when you see one person truly beconverted, it becomes like
addicting almost.
You're like, I want to keepdoing that because, and not for,
(14:31):
you know, to say that you found,taught and baptized 200 people,
but to see the true conversionin someone is life-changing, not
only for that person that youlove so much, but for yourself.
SPEAKER_00 (14:42):
Have you ever heard of a guy named Lehi?
SPEAKER_03 (14:44):
I think a few times.
A
SPEAKER_00 (14:46):
few times.
Do you remember he had a dreamof some kind?
Like what you just described tome is literally Lehi at the tree
partaking of the fruit.
And what's the first thing hedoes when he says, oh my
goodness, this is brighter,sweeter, more joy than I've ever
felt in my life.
Do you remember the first thingthat he did?
He calls his family over.
Yeah, he looks around and goes,I got to share this with other
people because the joy that I'mexperiencing...
(15:09):
I just have this magical renewedchange of heart towards everyone
in front of me.
I want them to have it too.
Yeah.
See, that's what you just said.
You're freaking Lehigh justright now at the tree.
So that's the beautiful thing,right?
So the formula, just to recapbefore we move on and I want to
hear some of your stories is theLord says, if you have a desire
(15:30):
to serve, I'm going to set youapart and call you for this
opportunity.
And if you do it with all yourheart, mind, and strength...
The promise will be, at leastwhat I found in Scripture, one,
you will have marvelous andjoyful experiences, which we're
about to share.
Two, you will come to Christyourself and partake of the joy
that comes from the atonement ofChrist, repentance, forgiveness.
(15:51):
And three, the joy you'll havewith the people that you are
helping come to Christ is aneternal joy that you will have.
So, I mean...
I want all that.
I love all that.
That makes me so happy.
So I'm glad that you did it,dude.
SPEAKER_02 (16:04):
So
SPEAKER_00 (16:08):
I want to hear some of you.
So in this podcast, we talk alot about, well, what are the
principles, other principlesthat we can apply in order to
have the great, marvelous,joyful experiences on the
mission?
And I want you to tell a coupleof stories you've told me why
don't you start with the onestory?
And then I think let's talkabout how some of these
(16:28):
principles and scriptures applyto that.
That way, because then I thinkother people who are listening
to this, who are preparing fortheir missions, who are looking
for some motivation and maybesome knowledge on how to do it,
these stories are fantastic andthey help us teach these
principles.
So tell me about it.
I know you had a time on yourmission where it was super
(16:49):
tough.
SPEAKER_03 (16:49):
Yeah.
I think also just to prefacethat, One thing that I had to
keep in my mind throughout myentire mission, especially these
couple of transfers of the storythat I'm about to share, is that
Christ is asking for disciples,not admirers.
And when he asks us to be adisciple, we have to be willing
to swim upstream when needed.
So regardless of whatcircumstances we're facing in
(17:12):
our lives, we have to be willingto do that because we love the
Lord.
And I think the success that Iwas able to see, the growth I
was able to see, was because Iplaced my confidence in the
Savior.
I think your success as amissionary really is determined
by where you place yourconfidence.
And so I remember, for context,I was called English-speaking to
the Indiana-Indianapolis missionand going into my fourth
(17:34):
transfer.
So after about four-ish months,I got a call from the assistant
to the president, and he saidthat I was getting switched to
Spanish work.
And...
At that point, I was in a reallysmall town, super just you'd
have no reason to visit likeever and just middle of nowhere,
straight boonies.
And I had started meeting someSpanish speakers there.
(17:58):
And so I tried to startlearning.
I had some high schoolexperience, not too much,
though.
And I tried to start learningbecause I wanted to be able to
teach these people because theywere humble and they were
genuinely interested to change.
And but I didn't know.
really anything.
I could not teach a lesson tosave my life.
And so I got this call, and myfirst thought was kind of just
(18:18):
shock.
And then I was thinking about itmore, and I was like, okay,
well, the Lord placed hisconfidence in me to be here, and
he's going to put me in a placewhere I can touch the lives of
the people that I need to meet.
So I'll just trust him.
Very faithful.
Thank you.
And I remember getting to thatfirst area in Spanish, And it
(18:42):
was so hard.
It hit me like a truck.
Not only because I had to learna new language, I went from
being confident, semi-confidentin teaching to being like, I
can't even teach a singleprinciple.
SPEAKER_00 (18:53):
Which is a fast, it doesn't seem like a unique
experience that you've been, howlong were you out before this
happened?
Four-ish months.
Yeah.
So you had already gotten likereally comfortable with how do I
teach?
Yeah.
So I'm in a groove and then allof a sudden start from scratch.
And most, like I went foreign.
So day one, you're feelinglike...
I don't understand a word.
(19:13):
Like, this is crazy.
But at the same time that you'relearning how to teach, you're
learning the language where youuniquely are like, no, I
already, I'm a veteran here.
Start over.
SPEAKER_03 (19:22):
Yeah, it was quite the humbling experience,
honestly.
Yeah.
And to add on top of that, meand my companion had a really
hard time first getting along.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_00 (19:34):
you said this was not a good mix, right?
SPEAKER_03 (19:36):
Not a great mix.
Not a great mix.
Yeah.
I just remember receivingcomments that just hit me to my
core, man.
It was pretty brutal.
But something that I rememberthat my dad always said is focus
on what you can control.
And so as I'm out
SPEAKER_00 (19:52):
here.
Let me ask you about that realquick.
SPEAKER_03 (19:54):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (19:55):
You did feel at that moment for a while that you had
lost control.
because of the influence thatyour companion was having,
because your inability tounderstand and speak the
language.
Now you can't even teachanything because you don't speak
the language.
So you were feeling like, I haveno control in this situation.
SPEAKER_03 (20:10):
Yeah.
And, you know, when you're in ahard situation, when you are
dealing with difficultcircumstances, you want
everything to get betterautomatically.
But there are some things thatare out of your control, like
the way that my companion was...
treating me or the way that shewas working with me.
Just things where, you know, youcan't control other people.
There are some things that areout of your control.
(20:32):
So really honing in on, youknow, okay, what can I do to
still fulfill my purpose as amissionary despite these
circumstances that I'm in rightnow?
And so we'd go, you know, doingmissionary work.
And I remember there was a lotof times there was a lot of
reluctance to going out anddoing it.
SPEAKER_00 (20:53):
On your end or her
SPEAKER_03 (20:54):
end?
Her end.
And, you know, I wasn't the mosthumble either.
And so there were things whereI'm like, no, no, no, we should
do this.
And we just were butting headsvery often.
SPEAKER_00 (21:04):
Because you had a desire to go do it, even though
you didn't speak and you werelosing control.
You still wanted to work veryhard.
SPEAKER_03 (21:09):
Yeah.
And...
I don't know if it was her wayof training and she was just
helping me because it actuallyturned out to be a blessing.
But she really just sat back andlet me lead everything.
We'd be piecing in tiendas.
SPEAKER_00 (21:25):
Let you or forced you to?
SPEAKER_03 (21:28):
A mix of the both.
Really just at that point, I wasstill a little uncomfortable
with awkward silence.
And, you know, there's people toteach, so I had to go find them.
But I really just got throwninto the deep end and drowned.
But then it taught me how toswim.
I remember we'd be in PCs, andI'd try to stand next to her and
listen to her talk to someone,and she'd just walk straight
(21:50):
away from me.
But it ended up being such ablessing because I was able to
learn the language so fastbecause
SPEAKER_00 (21:56):
I had no other option.
Well, hang on.
Before you give the light at theend of the tunnel, the epiphany,
the life-changing experience,let's just paint the picture.
You were miserable.
You were low.
The way you explained it to meis you were not...
This was really dark times.
Yeah.
One...
because of the companion, two,because of the lack of control
with language, with teaching.
(22:17):
You explained to me this wasreally, like, really low.
SPEAKER_02 (22:20):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (22:20):
Right?
So you also explained to me,though, the pivotal moment that
started to change everything.
You said that one night youknelt down and started to really
pray.
SPEAKER_02 (22:30):
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00 (22:31):
I mean, tell us more about that.
Because when you told me thestory, you talked about how
focusing on the things you cancontrol, the advice from your
dad.
SPEAKER_02 (22:39):
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00 (22:40):
I don't know if that related to you.
Like I remember a story of mymom and dad who served a mission
in their later years in England.
And my mom, they were likeoffice missionaries.
And my mom looks back and maybeshe had a cushy life or I don't
know what it is, but she saidthis was literally the hardest
thing she's ever done.
And she gave up and gave up andgave up.
(23:01):
And after months and months andmonths of crying and misery, she
for the first time in her lifeknelt down and said, I can't do
this, Lord.
I need you to get me to do this.
And she'd never done thatbefore, she said.
And she said that that waslife-changing because for the
first time, turning herself overto the Lord, she received
revelation back and received thepower to have the best
(23:23):
experience that she's had on hermission.
You shared with me somethingsimilar to that.
SPEAKER_03 (23:27):
Yeah.
I mean, thinking back to thoseprinciples that you shared in
the beginning of this podcast,there is joy in the work, and I
wanted to find that.
But at this point, I could noteven catch a particle of it.
And so I remember one nightspecifically, it was about after
two weeks in the beginning ofthis transition, of this
transfer, and I just waspleading with the Lord.
(23:49):
I remember reading an Alma, andit talked about praying with all
the energy of your heart, and Ihad no idea how to do that.
And there were a couple times inmy mission where I had
experiences praying with all myheart, and this was the first of
many experiences And I rememberjust, you know, like on my
knees, just pleading andpleading and pleading.
And about halfway through...
(24:11):
Sorry,
SPEAKER_00 (24:12):
I interrupted you at like the most pivotal point.
I'm so sorry.
That would have been amazing.
But since I've already done it,let me just add to that real
quick.
So before you tell us whathappened halfway through...
It reminds me of Enos, Enos 1.
SPEAKER_02 (24:25):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (24:26):
Right?
Behold, I cannot pass, knowingmy father was a great and just
man.
I will tell you of the wrestlewhich I had before God, before,
in his case, I received aremission of my sins.
This wrestle relates to D&C 4,this principle of go at it with
all your heart, mind, andstrength.
I think that doesn't just applyto, like you're saying, to
missionary work, but it appliesto our prayers, our fasting, our
(24:50):
repentance, our I think the Lordwants our hearts.
He wants us to commit andfaithfully dive in.
So you're saying that, like, hadyou done, had you had a need in
your life before this point tocry into the Lord, to just plead
with the Lord?
Had you ever done that up tothis point?
SPEAKER_03 (25:06):
I think maybe in the moment there were a couple times
where I thought I did, but mykind of, like, breakthrough
moment of this was probably inthis moment.
SPEAKER_00 (25:15):
Okay, so I interrupted you at the, like,
crucial time.
So you're really, truly...
I love how, was it Enos orElzenus, right?
My soul hungered is what hesaid.
My soul hungered.
I just love it so much becausesometimes that's what it takes
for us to truly humble ourselvesand turn to God with faith.
So at this point, you're sohungered.
SPEAKER_03 (25:36):
And I kind of remember as I was talking to
Heavenly Father, I just said,you know, like, why is this my
situation right now and how canI come out of it?
And it kind of hit me.
As I was there, I thought of allof his disciples when he was
preaching and how he asked themto leave their nets.
(25:57):
And it talks about in thescriptures, it says it so often,
they immediately left their netsand followed him.
And they dropped everything thatthey had and they followed him
regardless of what was on theirpath to come as they followed
him.
And it made me think that, youknow, I signed up for this.
I signed up to be a missionaryand allow the Lord to mold me in
ways that would help me becomean instrument in his hands.
(26:20):
And in that moment, I just pledwith him and I said, I just want
to align my will with his.
I wanted to align my will sothat I could become who he
needed me to be.
And as I thought about thatmore, I thought about, you know,
refiners, fire, there's thingsto go through that teach us
(26:40):
lessons to help us better becomethe people that Heavenly Father
needs us to be, the disciplesthat Christ needs to serve in
his vineyard.
And I just basically toldHeavenly Father, look,
everything that I have is yours.
And I just want to align my willwith yours because I want to be
the best that I can be for theshort period of time that I have
to fully dedicate myself tothee.
(27:01):
Incredible.
And it wasn't easy, but fromthat point on out, I made it a
priority in all my prayers justto, you know, just in case you
forgot to remind him, just say,you know, every good thing I
have comes from me.
Every success I see here, everyperson I find, it all comes from
me.
And so...
Just let me know what I need todo to keep seeing the success
(27:24):
because I know it's his.
And so, you know, it talks aboutin the scriptures glorifying
God.
I just, Ammon talks about inAlma 26, you know, he sees all
the success and he wants toboast as God.
He wants to glorify him.
And truly, I came to find outthat the way to do that is by
aligning your will andcontinuing to do the work.
SPEAKER_00 (27:42):
Isn't it amazing that even on a mission, we are
being formed and molded by ourFather in heaven, by our Savior
Jesus Christ, to become thatwhich they put us on this earth
to become.
They're placing you...
So at first, when you were somiserable in this situation, the
question is, why?
This is terrible.
(28:02):
All I want to do is go out anddo this.
Then you, in humility, face inthe dirt, turn to the Lord,
plead with him, aligned yourwill with his, and all of a
sudden...
things start changing, right?
I remember when you initiallytold me the story, you said
almost like the next day youwoke up with a renewed spirit.
(28:23):
I know you didn't saynecessarily that this revelation
came all at once, clean andpure, and this is what's going
to happen, but I felt like youtold me, I woke up the next day
with a renewed spirit, a newview on life, and then it
started to change, didn't it?
SPEAKER_03 (28:36):
Yeah, I think I woke up with a quiet confidence.
SPEAKER_00 (28:40):
Oh, where else have we heard...
Still small voice, quietconfidence.
These things that come from Godwhen we humble ourselves and
turn to him.
Yeah.
I mean, the Holy Ghost, right?
Uh-huh.
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (28:51):
I think once you have that quiet confidence I had
came in from my calling, I wasliterally set apart to do this
work.
And so just like how Nephi hadto go get the plates, the Lord
wasn't going to just tell me todo it and then say, figure it
out yourself.
He's going to provide a way.
for me to carry out his work.
SPEAKER_00 (29:09):
So what was that way?
What did you do next?
SPEAKER_03 (29:12):
I just put my head down and went to work, honestly.
Okay,
SPEAKER_00 (29:16):
so this is where I'd love to introduce principle
number three in what we teach.
Let's hear
SPEAKER_03 (29:20):
it.
SPEAKER_00 (29:21):
Do you remember what it is?
SPEAKER_03 (29:22):
Open mouths, find listeners.
SPEAKER_00 (29:23):
That's right.
Open your mouth and findlisteners.
So when you say you put yourhead down and went to work, what
kind of things did you do?
SPEAKER_03 (29:29):
Talk to everyone.
SPEAKER_00 (29:30):
But wait a minute.
You don't speak Spanish.
SPEAKER_03 (29:34):
And I fumbled and made a fool of myself
SPEAKER_00 (29:36):
while trying to do it.
How are you supposed to openyour mouth and talk to everyone
if you don't even speak thelanguage?
You don't understand whatthey're saying.
SPEAKER_03 (29:41):
Just pray for the gift of tongues.
SPEAKER_00 (29:45):
And you just do it, right?
SPEAKER_03 (29:46):
Truly.
You
SPEAKER_00 (29:48):
just do it.
SPEAKER_03 (29:49):
I remember by the last transfer of my mission, I
wouldn't consider myself fluent,but I can pretty much
understand.
99% of what people say to me,and they'd always ask me, like,
how did you learn this language?
Like, do you go to a class?
I'm like, you literally justopen your mouth and talk to
people.
SPEAKER_00 (30:04):
So let me give you where this principle kind of
came from.
So I was in the mid-'90s when Iwas in Ukraine on our mission in
the Donetsk area.
We were maybe four months out.
I remember me and Miles, ElderMiles, we went to this.
So it was Elder Porter, supertall, member of the 70, was
visiting.
He spoke Russian, this Americanguy.
UNKNOWN (30:22):
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00 (30:23):
And we were so excited because, oh, a visiting
authority.
So we all met at the Dom Kino,which was just a big old
Russian-Soviet movie theaterthat we rented as the church
there.
And all the missionaries werethere.
Well, it has been to havebuildings.
This is so early on in the 90s.
So we all met in this buildingand Elder Porter's there and
he's preaching.
And this guy's just awesome.
And he speaks Russian.
We're like, oh, this guy'samazing.
(30:44):
Elder Porter started to talkabout, he says, look, if you
guys can't speak the language,you can't.
be as effective in teaching andin bringing people to the Lord.
So he says, look, I haveauthority to give you a promise.
So this huge guy, and I'mlooking up like just, just dumb
eyed and just like humble andready to learn.
He says, I'm going to make you apromise and I have authority to
do so.
So he says, in the name of theLord, I promise you the
(31:05):
following.
I promise that all of you willbe 100% fluent in the Russian
language by your six monthpoint.
If you do the following, gooutside after this meeting and
for the rest of your mission,Open your mouth and not let a
single person go by you withoutopening your mouth and talking
to them.
SPEAKER_03 (31:24):
That came from a member of the 70?
SPEAKER_00 (31:25):
Yeah, Elder Porter, Bruce D.
Porter.
SPEAKER_03 (31:27):
Do you know how many times I told that promise to
missionaries in my mission?
I literally quoted you.
I thought it was from you.
SPEAKER_00 (31:34):
You quoted me, gave me credit?
Yes.
Okay, I'll take it.
I'll
SPEAKER_03 (31:37):
take it.
I'll take
SPEAKER_00 (31:38):
it.
But here's what happened.
Elder Miles and I looked at eachother like, well, that's easier
than studying the language everymorning.
Let's do that.
Like if the Lord is justpromising us that if we just
open our mouth and go do it,then let's do it.
And I swear to you, Lauren, fromthat moment on, me, Elder Miles,
Elder Pack, Elder Barnes, we allcommitted.
If we were in the bread linewaiting for bread, we would talk
(32:00):
to the people in line, person toperson.
If we were stuck on a trolleybus, shoulder to shoulder with
all these stinky Russians, Wewould talk to one person.
No, you don't want to talk.
Okay, next guy.
Like so embarrassingly, likejust turn to the next guy.
Like we would just go fromperson to person to person.
And it was embarrassing andexciting and amazing.
(32:21):
If there was a big group ofpeople coming towards us, stop
them all.
Can I talk to all of you?
That faithful stance of applyingthis principle, just open your
mouth and just talk to everyone,really did get us fluent.
Now here's the trick.
Was it magic?
Or was Elder Porter just reallysmart and said, obviously, the
more you talk to people, thebetter you're going to get at
(32:42):
the language?
I don't know.
It's one of those two.
But we were faithful to hispromise.
And not only did we speakRussian very quickly and learn
the language, but we were moreeffective missionaries.
And that's kind of the principlethat is based in this Unopened
Mouth Finds Listeners is, Itruly believe that when you were
called to go where you were,there are people there waiting
(33:03):
for Lauren to who suits theirpersonalities or their spirits
to find them, to teach them, orto help them along the covenant
path.
I believe that in Ukraine.
So I believe all I got to do isopen my mouth and talk to
everyone.
And one out of 10,000 people iswaiting for me.
It's a powerful, powerful, it isone of these practical
principles as you serve amission that if you'll apply
(33:24):
this, you will have a glorious,marvelous experience.
So tell me more about it.
So you started talking toeveryone, right?
SPEAKER_03 (33:31):
Truly.
And I definitely made a fool ofmyself, but.
SPEAKER_00 (33:34):
Awesome, huh?
SPEAKER_03 (33:35):
It didn't matter to me.
It's awesome.
It didn't matter.
And I think my desire to talk topeople outweighed the, a lot of
Hispanics say like, oh, yo tengopena.
Like, it's just likeembarrassment, like shame.
But like that just all straightout the window.
Like I recognize, you know,Steven Robinson wrote a book
(33:56):
called Believe in Christ.
SPEAKER_00 (33:58):
Oh, wow.
That's my favorite book of alltime.
I think I maybe made you readthat.
SPEAKER_03 (34:02):
Maybe.
I
SPEAKER_00 (34:02):
would have because I tell everyone that is the best
book.
SPEAKER_03 (34:05):
And I just love the principle that he talks about
believing Christ, not believingin him, but believing him that
he can do what he says he does,what he can do.
And, you know, I had that faith.
I had that belief that he wantsto save his lost sheep.
And so I knew that if I openedmy mouth and talked to everyone,
(34:26):
he'd place people in my paththat were ready to be found.
And so.
You know, I'd see people walk byme and sometimes I'd get a
little nervous and whatnot.
And I was like, oh, well, theyjust watched me get rejected by
someone else.
And then they'd walk by andinstantly I just thought, oh my
gosh, what if they were the onethat Christ needed me to find
today?
And I'd run after
SPEAKER_00 (34:47):
them.
Hey, come back here, come backhere.
I love it.
That's exactly what we did.
I love that.
SPEAKER_03 (34:52):
Yeah, but I saw so many miracles come from that,
not only with the language, butalso I was able to find people
that I never would have found.
I remember when you serve in theStates, well, obviously you're
not supposed to be in yourapartment during the day.
And so in the States, a lot oftimes you go to fast food
restaurants to do studies ordaily contact, whatnot.
(35:13):
Holy, I cannot tell you how manytimes I've walked through a door
of McDonald's here.
But we'd be in there and justeveryone in there, just got up
and was talking to everyone andI'd get I'd like get behind the
counter and talk to the workersI'm like hey and I remember like
being able to just find randompeople that I've never found I
(35:34):
remember one day I was I wassitting at McDonald's and in one
of my areas in Lafayette Indianaand I was training at that point
it's my first time training andI really was trying to dig that
principle into my, my greeniethat I was training or monetary.
And I was like, we, we talked toeveryone here because there's
people waiting for us.
And there was this man walked inthat walked in and we were
(35:56):
clearly in the middle ofsomething.
And I just was like, I, I got toset the example.
I got to talk to everyone.
I went up and talked to this manand he was filling up his drink.
I like the soda machine.
And I was like, Oh, and he'slike, Oh, like I've met with
missionaries before.
(36:17):
I was like, really?
He's like, yeah, I met withelders before.
I love the story of JosephSmith.
Oh, I'm like, hello.
And he's like, I have atestimony that he truly is a
prophet.
Oh, yeah he's like he truly is aprophet he restored the true
church of jesus christ i read inthe book of mormon very often
just all this crazy stuff and weended up finding him again and
(36:38):
started teaching him and he justalready had such a strong
testimony of these restoredtruths that we go out preaching
to people and if i never went upand talked to him I wouldn't
have found that out.
We wouldn't have found someonenew to start teaching, but he
already was so prepared.
He just had this belief inJoseph Smith and he had like a
powerful conviction of thetruth.
SPEAKER_00 (36:59):
And that is the principle.
If you wouldn't have opened yourmouth and served and done it
with all your heart, mind, andstrength, you never would have
even, the guy wouldn't eventhought or known or heard,
right?
John 10, 26 to 27.
But ye believe not because yeare not of my sheep, as I said
unto you.
He says this, my sheep hear myvoice and I know them and they
(37:20):
follow me.
You are Christ's representativeas a full-time missionary.
And when you open your mouth andtalk to everyone, it is as if
the Lord is doing it.
And so when you open your mouthand that spirit is there, his
sheep recognize that spirit andthat voice.
And that's what you did.
I'm so proud of you.
SPEAKER_02 (37:39):
Thank
SPEAKER_00 (37:40):
you.
I'm so excited for you.
Now, how did then this new,right?
You hit rock bottom.
SPEAKER_02 (37:46):
You
SPEAKER_00 (37:47):
gave yourself to the Lord for the first time, like
really pleading with him.
You woke up with this refreshedspirit confidence.
You started to just open yourmouth and talk to everyone.
How quickly did things changefor you and your soul and your
happiness and your ability?
SPEAKER_03 (38:01):
Very quickly.
And it wasn't necessarily, I sawa ton of outward results.
We started finding like 30people a week, but there was a
different, I felt that joythat's promised to us when I was
out talking to people.
And even though, you know, Iwasn't finding 50 people a week.
I still knew, like chapter one,I preached my gospel.
(38:21):
I was serving with all my heart,mind, and strength.
And I was doing everythingregardless of the circumstance
that I was in.
SPEAKER_00 (38:27):
It's so powerful because that's the first
principle of the gospel.
Christ's gospel is faith in theLord Jesus Christ.
This, what you're doing, thisopen your mouth and talk to
everyone, is such an expressionof faith.
Why did you receive joy?
Because you were on the paththat moves you on the covenant,
right?
Faith precedes repentance, whichprecedes the covenant of baptism
to give the Holy Ghost.
(38:48):
So as you every day went out, asI every day went out and engaged
in this faithful, I'm servingwith all my heart, mind, and
strength, that faith buildingprocess is what leads us to
Christ and Christ gives us thatjoy.
I love it, dude.
I love it.
You did it.
SPEAKER_03 (39:00):
And that transfer actually ended up being one of
the most crucial transfers in myentire mission for my personal
discipleship.
And...
That same transfer, we met a guynamed Carlos.
And Carlos is awesome.
Carlos Aleman, he's fromHonduras.
He now, April 13th, will hit hisyear mark as a member of the
(39:22):
Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter-day Saints.
And we worked with that man.
We worked with that man.
And...
He is incredible.
He is an incredible disciple ofJesus Christ.
And to think that when I wasmetaphorically at my rock
bottom, I found one of thebiggest miracles in my mission
is just a testament to me thatGod was truly aware of me.
(39:44):
And, you know, there's tendermercies and everything.
And faith truly does precede themiracle.
SPEAKER_00 (39:49):
And you told me about this guy and how he was
like himself at rock bottom.
SPEAKER_03 (39:55):
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (39:56):
When you met him.
SPEAKER_03 (39:57):
Yeah, so...
SPEAKER_00 (39:58):
So you open your mouth, you're opening your
mouth, you're talking toeveryone, you find Carlos, and
you realize this guy's at rockbottom.
SPEAKER_03 (40:04):
So he was actually found through Facebook, which is
one of the craziest things ever,I
SPEAKER_00 (40:08):
think.
SPEAKER_03 (40:09):
There was maybe four people in one year in our
mission that was baptized fromFacebook work, and he was one of
them, which was crazy.
And he saw an ad about the Bookof Mormon, and he didn't really
know, but he just felt promptedby the Spirit to respond to it.
And...
He was actually found the weekbefore I got into the area, but
we started teaching himconsistently when I got there.
And I remember there was onelesbian specifically, and he,
(40:32):
like you said, he was just atrock bottom.
He was sad.
He was alone.
He didn't see any light at theend of the tunnel.
Didn't even believe that therewas one.
And he lived...
Um,
SPEAKER_00 (40:44):
he was, he was poor, meek and downtrodden.
SPEAKER_03 (40:46):
Yeah, pretty much.
SPEAKER_00 (40:47):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (40:47):
And he was at the, um, pretty North up in our area.
And so he lived about 30, 35minutes away from the church
building, made it a sacrifice tocome to church every Sunday.
But during the week when wewanted to meet with him, we just
did video calls.
And I remember there was onenight specific, we're sitting on
a call with him and it was liketwo, three weeks into my, to my
first transfer there.
(41:08):
And, um, I never have seen thegift of tongues be so prevalent
in an experience that I've had.
I remember just talking and Ijust felt the Spirit so
strongly.
And that's something that Ialways have struggled with,
feeling the Spirit.
But I started saying things andit wasn't like someone took over
my body and just startedspitting out Spanish.
(41:28):
But I was able to say thingsthat I wanted to say that I knew
were going to help him.
And so...
I was able to have a lesson.
I remember even my companion,who at the time was not a great
fan of me, had left me a littlenote on my desk, and she was
like, you did amazing in thatlesson.
And that was kind of a hugeturning point, just a
(41:51):
confirmation of my faith type ofthing.
And as we really just both gotto work, because it started
having an effect, so we both gotto work, and by the end of our
second transfer, we...
are great friends now.
That's incredible.
And yeah, but I remember Carloswas just so sad.
And this lesson was also aturning point for him.
(42:13):
I think something that weoverlook as missionaries all the
time is people's ability topray.
So that became one of the firstthings I looked for after our
very first lessons with people.
I'd be like, do you know how topray?
And they'd kind of be like, oh,well, yeah, kind of.
But I made it a priority.
Okay, like this is how we pray.
This is how it's going to helpyou do it.
And he started praying veryfrequently.
(42:35):
And he started reading from theBook of Mormon.
And slowly after time, hestruggled a little bit keeping
commitments.
But we taught him how to pray.
And we...
We taught him about the promisedblessings of the Book of Mormon.
We identified his need, thisdesperation, this loneliness,
this isolation, and we testifiedof the power that the Book of
(42:57):
Mormon has, how it helps us feelthe love of Jesus Christ, how
it's another testament that heloves all his children,
including Carlos.
And so we told him that that'swhat it testifies of.
We gave him specific chapters toread, lots of 3 Nephi to read,
actually.
And He started seeing the powerin the Book of Mormon.
Every day driving to work, he'splaying the Book of Mormon in
his car.
And he was a really shy guy, buthe finally accepted the
(43:20):
invitation to be baptized.
And I remember on his baptismday, he was shaking.
He was so nervous.
He was just, oh, he was poorsoul.
He was so nervous.
And I sat down next to him rightbefore I started.
And I was like, let's say aprayer, Carlos.
Like, I can tell that you'renervous.
But remember, and I kind of toldhim to look back.
I'm like, everyone's here tosupport you.
And we said a prayer.
(43:42):
And it didn't take away all ofhis nerves, but he definitely
felt a lot better.
And he has been to the templecountless number of times.
He leaves work early and he likeanswers his phone during work to
help missionaries with lessons.
He literally sold his car to geta bigger car to drive people to
church.
(44:02):
Like he is a disciple and theLord knows him.
Like the Lord knows who he isand he knows who the Lord is and
he is so willing to serve.
He's been able to baptize quitea few people now into, it was a
branch, now it's actually a wardin Indianapolis.
And it's just crazy to see hisjoy that he feels from serving
(44:24):
and he recognizes where it'scoming from.
He recognizes that this promisein the scriptures of finding
this joy comes from serving theLord.
And he doesn't have any plans onstopping anytime soon.
SPEAKER_00 (44:35):
It's so powerful.
And we'll round off with what westarted with, D&C 18.
Remember, the worth of souls isgreat in the sight of God.
For the Lord, your Redeemer,suffered death in the flesh.
Wherefore?
He suffered the pain of all men,that all men might repent and
come unto him.
And he hath risen again from thedead, that he might bring all
men unto him on conditions ofrepentance.
And how great is his joy in thesoul that repenteth.
(44:57):
Wherefore, you are called to cryrepentance to this people.
And if it so be, you shouldlabor all your days in crying
repentance unto this people.
And bring, save it be, one soulunto him.
How great shall your joy be withhim in the kingdom of my Father.
So you went from rock bottom,turning your soul to God.
You at the end of that...
Oh, and you said that...
when transfers came, you were sostoked to get away from this
(45:19):
companion.
And then the word came through,you're going to stick with his
companion, right?
Like, so you got two wholetransfers with this companion.
And in the end, marvelous andwonder.
SPEAKER_03 (45:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (45:32):
As opposed to in the beginning, which was the worst
thing of your life, right?
SPEAKER_03 (45:34):
Yeah.
And I recognize too in thattransfer, the Lord calls you to
people, including yourcompanion, right?
I needed her.
I could confidently say kind ofmaybe that she needed me too.
SPEAKER_00 (45:46):
But that's interesting though from just to
end up here now.
You needed her, A, so that youwould have an opportunity to
open your mouth and talk toeverybody and learn the language
and find people.
You needed her, B, to, I guess,not compel you, but to influence
(46:07):
you to kneel down with suchhumility and and turn your life
over to the Lord for salvation.
She was essential
SPEAKER_03 (46:14):
in my conversion process.
SPEAKER_00 (46:15):
Incredible.
I love it so much, dude.
It's such a great, perfectstory.
It really is.
And to all those listening, themission is a marvelous and
wonderful experience if you doit right.
And I'll just emphasize that thedoing it right from this episode
is this.
A, serve with all your heart,mind, and strength.
B, open your mouth and talk toeveryone.
(46:38):
That practical principle works.
is life-changing on yourmission.
It will be the greatest sourceof joy.
It is how you do the work.
You open your mouth and you talkto everyone.
Yeah.
So those two principles, I thinkwhat we'll kind of emphasize and
end on with this episode, we'regoing to have you back because
you've got lots more stories.
Right?
SPEAKER_03 (46:58):
Lots.
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