HELLO AMAZING FRIENDS AND FAMILY! So much as happened this week I can’t even begin to describe the miracles, cool experiences, and amazing memories, BUT FIRST, spiritual thought time with Elder McMullin-yay. This week was finally the week where I realized I was concluding my mission in less than a month. I cannot even begin to describe the wide array of emotions surrounding this including, excitement, nervousness, and even fatigue. I pondered in my personal study and prayed in all my personal prayers asking God if I did all I could as a His servant. My answer was extremely disheartening. I wasn’t the best missionary, there were times I could have been better and situations I could have handled better. I was very upset with myself, frustrated with all my missed opportunities and short comings. These feelings stayed with me until through Church, but as I was walking out of the building a car horn went off and I heard someone yelling “Elder McMullin! Elder McMullin! McMuffin!!” . I turned and looked to see Lynda McCary, someone I found last year in Rapid City and taught for almost five months. She waved me over with the biggest smile on her face and pulled out a piece of paper. She handed me the paper and I looked and read “limited use temple recommend”. Lynda was baptized seven weeks before I arrived for round two in Rapid City and was interviewed that day for her temple recommend. With tears in her eyes she said she has never been this happy, and that if it wasn’t for me messaging her over Facebook and stopping by her house every other day to read scriptures with her she wouldn’t be alive. “You’re the best missionary Elder McMullin, you brought me something no one else could with the same level of love as Christ himself”. I bawled in that parking lot and on the drive back to our apartment as I reflected on probably one of the most profound lesson I’ve learned on my mission. None of us are the best missionaries or members. . Even our heroes in the Book of Mormon were imperfect and had their off-days. But through the atonement of Jesus Christ our efforts are magnified to celestial proportions and miracles occur. Don’t get down on yourself Brothers and Sisters do your best each and every single day and miracles will exhibit themselves in both your life and the lives of others.
Switching topics, on Sunday we had the crazy experience of driving Elder Mecarellio from Rapid City to Bismarck where he would be able to fly out to His original assignment in Fuji. We were only given two hours notice of the drive and had to quickly help pack his bags and load them into our car as we prepared for the 6 hour drive ahead of us. As we were driving through Sturgis all of our phones in unison screamed a extreme weather alert, with predicted baseball sized hail and 40mph winds and rain. Thinking that it was just a joke we continued driving until we saw this blue abyss of swirling clouds and hail. It looked kind of like the eye of a hurricane. Rain immediately began pounding our windshield and we started hydroplaning. We turned around and back tracked our way out of the storm while storm chaser vehicles and national weather service trucks raced into the eye of the storm. After back tracking 45 mins we stopped at a gas station with around 75 other tourists or locals. Everyone was watching the storm and trying to huddle under the gas station awning. Oddly enough, nothing seemed to come and people started pulling out and making there way back up to North Dakota. We were about to follow the other cars to North Dakota when we had a prompting to stay at the gas station for twenty more minutes. Frustrated that it was Sunday and we could’t even by snacks or drinks for the trip we waited till we were the only ones in the gas station. Suddenly the winds shifted and cars came streaking back to the gas station, MISSING their front and back windshield, massive dents all over, and broken head and tail lights. If we would have left earlier we would have been caught in that wind change and totaled our mission vehicle, or worse gotten injured like many other passengers and driver. We drove to a freeway underpass and parked our vehicle as tightly as we could with the concrete. We waited for three hours as golf ball sized hail fell like rain drops. It was a surreal experience once the hail was over to see that every vehicle but ours was damaged by the hail. We knew that we were protected by the Lord and would continue to be as we resumed our six hour journey with a 3 1/2 hour delay.
When we arrived in Bowman around 10:30pm we were all exhausted and anxious to start heading home until we got word from President Camp that the assistants were an hour outside of the exchange location and we would have to sit tight in Bowman. It was pouring rain with lightning dancing all over as we all tried to sleep in our little Nissan Rouge. We shared stories and toured the 1,000 populated town and even tried to give a Book of Mormon to the gas station lady (she was not having it). Finally at 11:45 pm the assistants arrived and Elder Macarellio was passed off to the Bismarck Elders to catch his flight that was leaving for Fiji in less than 8hrs. We were told to drive home and make as little as stops as possible and if needed sleep in our car until sunrise. After saying a prayer we left Bowman around Midnight to make it back to Rapid city by 2am. We had a great time driving and singing until we saw a sign on the road. At this point in time it was still pouring rain and lightning was everywhere. I got out and looked thinking I was hallucinating to see “Welcome to Montana” on the side of the road. We had been driving west for a hour when we should have been driving south resulting in us ending up in the wrong state at 1 in the morning. Laughing but also frustrated we back tracked back to Bowman and got on the correct freeway to Rapid City arriving at 3:45 in the morning. Needless to say I slept really well that night.
My sweet brothers and sisters it has been an amazing week finding 13 new people to find this week and seeing a direct fruit of missionary labors. The Lord protects and loves His members if they choose to follow his council and instruction. I know that I would not have made it back to Rapid City safetly if we had not listened to the Holy Ghost. I am so grateful for this Church and grateful for my mission and who it has helped me become. Love you all and see you in three weeks!
Love your favorite McM in the NDBM
Elder Adam McMullin
