By Small and Simple Things are Great Things Brought to Pass

Mission Day 3 Mission Training Center

The first three days of our mission, here at the Mission Training Center (hereafter "MTC"),  have been very busy and tiring because we are used to doing nothing less activity. We are enjoying the spirit, classes, teachers and other missionaries.

We had a small experience that taught us a great lesson in listening to the spirit

Every meal we make It a habit to seek out young missionaries to sit with. They are so outgoing and eager to tell us all about their missions. Likewise, they want to know all about us. At breakfast this morning we sat by three sisters who were all by themselves. They didn’t engage us first, as usually happens, and wouldn’t make eye contact. They mostly looked at their plates and ate silently. This was quite different. I asked one of the sisters where she was assigned to serve. In a very French accent, she said, “Montreal.” I said, “You already speak French!” She nodded. With a bit of difficulty, we came to understand that all three sisters are going to the Canada Montreal Mission and had come to the MTC to learn English, which they would also use on their missions. One sister was from France and the other two were from Tahiti (I am an uneducated oaf, who did not realize that French is spoken in Tahiti!). They had two weeks left at the MTC and it was obvious that they were not comfortable with their English conversation skills. Our conversation was punctuated with blank stares and “I am sorry. I don’t understand.” It was a rather quiet and awkward breakfast.

Fast forward to after lunch. We were walking out of the cafeteria and saw these three sisters. They brightened up, smiled and waved at us. We approached them so Elder Cornwell could give them his Savior of the World pictures. They were pleased. As we were getting ready to go our separate ways the sister from France said, “Excuse me. May we ask you a question?” I was pleased because those were the most words they any of them had spoken to us. We turned back and said, “certainly!” They had a question for Sister Martino (MTC President David Martino’s wife) and wanted to know if we thought it was appropriate to speak to her. In our short experience here we have observed that the young missionaries are very excited when Elder and Sister Martino speak to them or are even near them. They are celebrities! We might have erroneously felt that way about those who serve in leadership positions in the past. Our experience as leaders has taught us that none of us are any better than the other. Those in “high” positions are only serving there because of their faithful experience and willingness to do all the Lord asks them to do. I could tell the sisters were anxious about approaching Sister Martino. Since we have no such anxiety, I asked, “would you like us to go with you?” With relief they said, “Yes, please!” I think they thought we would be well-acquainted with the Martinos, since we are equally aged. We are not. I did not know where to find them, but I knew who to ask, so we confidently headed towards the offices. I peeked in a couple of doors to see if someone could direct me to Sister Martino’s office then turned to the left and there she stood, along with President Martino. We saw them about the same time they saw us. “How are the Cornwells!” Elder Martino called to us (Sidebar on Elder Martino: He works very hard to recognize all the senior missionaries and call them by name. He studies the photographs that come with the missionary recommendations so he can personally greet us without seeing our name tags). 

As we approached, Sister Martino came to me with open arms and gave me a loving hug. We motioned the sisters over and told Sister Martino that they had a question for her. She said, “Of course! First I need to give you each a hug!” When Elder Cornwell told President Martino that the sisters spoke French and were in the MTC to learn English, he began to speak to them in French. They all had bright smiles on their faces as we left them in the care of President and Sister Martino.

As we thought about this experience we realized this was a small thing to us, but a big thing to these dear sisters. 

Because we followed the prompting to sit with these sisters and try to communicate with them, they recognized us. Because Elder Cornwell followed to prompting to give them pictures, they trusted us. Because we were prompted to go with them to find Sister Martino, their anxiety to approach her was relieved. Because we followed inspiration, we were able to serve them and that is very rewarding!

Killing time in front of the Provo Temple before entering the MTC.

We are assigned to labor.....right here!

Beautiful flowers everywhere around the campus

View from the 6th floor of one of the new MTC towers.

Illinois Nauvoo Mission President and Sister Lusvardi (Sister Lusvardi and I taught our first year of school together at Greenwood Elementary School in American Fork, Utah)