Maravilha

About half way through my mission in Brazil I was transferred deep into the hills of Santa Catarina to a city called Maravilha.  I was ready to do some great things in Maravilha, I was learning the language, and I was learning to follow the spirit.  Our mission goal was for each companionship to have 2 baptisms per month.  We were often a little below that, but I was ready to see if I could make it.

I met my new companion Elder Cunningham and he looked like a serious missionary.  I asked him,
"Elder, how many people are ready in Maravilha to be baptized this month?"
"None Elder Crawford."
"Oh.... um.... well how many are we teaching?"
"None Elder Crawford, and before you ask there aren't any new contacts scheduled for us to meet either."
"Oh"

Well obviously Elder Cunningham is a slacker, but that's what I'm here for.  We'll get the work moving.  Since we had nothing to start with, I decided we should go knock on some doors.  My companion was rolling his eyes and smirking, but I can handle a slacker companion.  We knocked on the first door, the guy that answered said,

Guy: "Hey Elder Cunningham, looks like you've got a new companion, eh?  This another American?"
Me: "Yes, I'm Elder Crawford, I take it you've spoken to missionaries before?  What do you think of our message?"
Guy: "Eh.  This one's a little fireball isn't he?  Talk to you later."

All right.  That one was a little strange, but sometimes you run into people who are already familiar with missionary work.  That's all right, there are 30,000 other people in this city to try. We went a little further. 

Me: "Hello Ma'am, I'm Elder Crawford and we're here from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints..."
Lady: "Oooo Cunningham, what did I tell your companion?"
Cunningham: "You said we weren't to come back ever, but I have a new companion, and I told him to avoid you, but he wanted so desperately to talk to you I couldn't stop him!"
Me: "That's right, you see, I want to share with you what I have learned about Jesus..."
Lady, "Oh shut up Crawford.  If you don't leave right now I'm going to stab you with this broom.  I'm serious, get out and don't you or your companion or any new companions ever come knocking again!"

When we left I looked at my companion.  He apologized and said he could have warned me, but he had hoped having someone new to yell at might be an excuse to try to talk to her again.  Besides if he warned me away from everyone that didn't want us to come back we might as well not go out.  New street, new house.

Me: "Good evening sir, I have a message from God about the purpose of life and what comes after..."
Guy: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, you want that Book of Mormon back?  Let's see, I've got it right here..."
Me: "Oh, no sir!  I mean that was meant to be your copy!  That book has made such as difference in my life I am happy to give out copies for free.  Let me tell you about a prophet in there named..."
Guy: "Here it is.  Look, I don't want a free book.  I already read it, and I read about your prophet in there."
Me: "Oh, what did you think about the story of Brigham Young riding the white stallion?"
Guy: "Oh yeah yeah, one of my favorite parts.  Look, I'm just not into these kinds of things. If you don't want the book back then you'll need to move on."

Finally I was ready to ask the question that Elder Cunningham was waiting for me to ask,
"Elder, how many of the people in this town have you already talked to?"
"Elder Crawford, every single one.  At first we bounced around randomly, but then we made a system, and we have knocked on every single house.  Come up the hill here.   See that house down there?  The guys got a dog that slobbered all over me.  That house over there?  Super nice guy, gives us ice cream when we come, but says he'll die before spends Sunday in a church.  Over there.. That's Lourdes, and she has a testimony of the Book of Mormon but she will never give up cigarettes.  That house clear out by the woods over there?  Nice family until the father came home.  He chased us away with a Bowie knife and slashed a gash in Elder Adams' backpack as we ran away.  The bar over there is run by a guy who said he would join our church if it weren't for the story about Joseph Smith, but I think he knows that it wouldn't be proper for him to own a bar if he joined.  We've tried festivals, activities, booths, contests, and immense amounts of service.  We have three families that are members of the church, but our job isn't to spent all day with them.  I saw the look on your face when I told you we had no investigators, but Elder Crawford I don't know what else I could do.  I am ready to work as long as the Lord wants me to, until I finish my mission or I am transferred to a new city."

Ok, so not a slacker.  But the poor guy has worked hard.  He admitted secretly that he wouldn't mind if he was transferred next month, and secretly I didn't blame him.  Now I remember the assistants in the main office snickering when I told them I was being sent to Maravilha.   WELL! I'll show them. Elder Cunningham showed me the map, and we divided it up into what sections we would knock each day.  For a month we knocked the whole south and west of Maravilha.  On the day of transfers, nothing.

The next month we knocked all the north, from the rich mansions of the town to the back alley huts (yes, that dog slobbers).  We put articles in the newspapers, taught English classes, held activities and even a church sponsored dance (where we didn't dance).  Made pictures and handouts and cards.  We knocked the East side and the little huts outside of town.  One day we woke up and hiked as fast as we could down a road.  We knocked every house we could find, and finally found a tiny village and talked to everyone there.   On the day of transfers, Elder Cunningham was sent to Florianopolis. He shook my hand.  We knew we had worked hard for two months and done the best we could.  We had served the Lord as He had asked.

My new companion was Elder Harris.  He asked,
"Elder, how many people are ready in Maravilha to be baptized this month?"
"None Elder Harris."
"Oh.... um.... well how many are we teaching?"
"None Elder Harris, and before you ask there aren't any new contacts scheduled for us to meet either."
"Oh.  Well, I can see you guys have been enjoying your vacation here, but now it's time to work."

I smiled.  It was funny the second time through.  He said we should go knock doors.  I knew just the one.

Elder Harris: "Good morning ma'am, we're going around today..."
Lady: "Oooo - Crawford, What did I say to you last time you came?"
Me: "You said not to come back, and I have tried to honor that but my new companion Elder Harris has something I think you'll want to hear."
Elder Harris: "That's right, see I decided to become a missionary because..."
She then slammed the door and turned the radio on as loud as it could go.
Me: "Sorry Elder Harris, I guess I figured it was a nice excuse to try her again."

To make a rather long and repetitive story short it didn't take Elder Harris long to understand that I had literally knocked on every door.  I showed him the map and how we had scheduled every street for specific days.  He realized that with the schedule we could try knocking the doors at a different time of day.  The doors we knocked in the morning we would do at night and the doors we did at night we would try in the morning.

Two months later I have knocked every door in Maravilha twice: once in the morning, and once in the evening.  I met a lot of nice people, a lot of interesting people, and even some rude ones.  After 4 months I felt good - I knew I had served in a tough area and done what the Lord asked.  The day of transfers came.  
The day of transfers left.

To be funny Elder Harris said,

"Elder Crawford, I'm Elder Harris, how many people are ready in Maravilha to be baptized this month?"
"C'mon, let's get to work."
It wasn't funny the third time.

I have decided I can handle any trial in the world.  For a day.  The temptations and problems that really get me are the ones that are hard day after day with no end in sight.  I think everyone is meant to face this in their life.  God doesn't want someone in His kingdom that can't handle a long trial.  That's why the Savior said, "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."  (Matthew 24:13)

We knocked door after door.  We started to remember what houses had no one home and stake them out.  We sang hymns until it ruined Elder Harris' voice.  We worked with kids, volunteered at schools, volunteered at the fire department, and made friends with the few bar owners we didn't know.  We visited the three member families regularly and got to know their friends.  We found a member who was inactive and hiding, before she moved away.  We headed up intensive "stop smoking" programs, "how to be a parent" programs (with help from the mission couple) and showed church movies.  Most everyone was very nice, but no one wanted to come to church.

After the fourth month with Elder Harris I was exhausted.  Six months in Maravilha, and there was only so much we could do.  Transfers came.  Transfers left.

At this point Elder Harris and I had to make a tough decision.  We had been obedient in every way we knew how, and now we had less than we started with.  We couldn't pretend we didn't remember the people we had met 4 times before.  Perhaps it was time to stay home and sleep and wait until the Mission President remembered that we were here.

Harris: "What do we do?  Unless you've got an idea all I can think of is to go knock doors"
Me: "What is the point?  Were we called to get exercise?  Maybe it would be most good to stay home and read scriptures! I just don't know if I can work knowing I won't find success."
Harris: "No, we were called to preach.  It doesn't matter if anyone listens.  We serve the Lord, not ourselves.  We have to believe we will be successful, and then be ok even if we aren't."
Me: "Elder, you're right, I can feel it, there is work to be done here.  Let's have faith and pray that the Lord will do a miracle!"

Waiting for a miracle is extremely hard, but the Lord's promise is very clear: he said he would help us "and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me" (Isaiah 49:23).  Elder Harris and I would show the Lord that we were willing to wait until his appointed time.


So for month seven Elder Harris and I mapped out the city and began to knock doors.  We prayed that for our faith and our work the Lord would bless us to find someone who was ready to accept the gospel.  We felt inside that there were people in Maravilha who wanted to follow Christ.  We even joked about how it's always the last house.  The third time through the city it was faster, and finally we came to the last street.  Knocked every door until the last door.  Elder Harris and I stood outside the door a little afraid to knock since all our hopes rested on this door.

A woman came to the door, and told us that she would love to talk about America, but if we wanted to talk about religion we were not welcome inside.

After an ice cream Elder Harris and I climbed the big hill overlooking Maravilha.  We debated whether to call down fire from heaven, but eventually decided that wasn't funny.  As Elder Harris overlooked the city he said,

"Well Elder Crawford, what now?"
"I don't know.  I really felt like if we kept going there would be some good we could do."
"Maybe the good we did was to ourselves.  To look at the city it's pretty impressive that we've knocked every door - me twice, you three times.  Remember that guy in the yellow house?  Tried to pretend he didn't speak Portuguese?"

We laughed about some of our adventures, and then tried to encourage each other to get up and try again.  They say winners never quit, and quitters never win, but gosh darn it to never win and never quit just seems stupid!  We tried one last time, we knocked the last street, and we knocked the last house.  All those stupid stories of missionaries that found the golden investigator after some long trial were lies.  There was nothing left to believe in, nothing to hope for.

When Job lost everything, and I mean everything, his friends could not see any reason for Job to continue.  It made sense for him to "curse God, and die" (Job 2:9).  Job had a bigger vision.  His reaction was "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:   And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:" (Job 19:25-26).  We decided that when we met God we wanted to tell him we didn't give up in Maravilha.

As we stood up to pick a new street Elder Harris said,

"Oh, hey, Bro. Crawford, see that little shack there?  How come we've never gone there?"

"Oh, that's a guy that chased the last pair of Elders out with a knife.  Apparently he cut open one of the missionary's backpack."

"Cool!  Let's go there!"

We approached the shack with our backpack straps tightened in case we needed to run.  The woman of the house came out before we got to the door, and with tears streaming down her eyes she said, "You came.  I knew you would come."

The woman had gone to police to talk about her husband.  She feared for her and her four daughters.  Her husband was now going to be in prison for a long time.  This family felt like they had been torn apart, and they were filled with hopelessness and despair.  The mother asked, "Can you teach us the way the other Elders did?  They brought us hope when there was none."

The spirit told us to sing.  After three hymns the mother with her four daughters were smiling.  We said, 

"We would like to share a message from the Book of Mormon, have you heard of that book?"

"Oh yes!  My husband burnt our copy, but the Elders secretly gave us another, and we have it hidden"
"Is it the story of Ammon?  I love that one!"
"Or the story of Christ?  3 Nephi is good."
"I think Alma 32 is good."

Elder Harris and I were stunned.  They hadn't just hidden a Book of Mormon, they had devoured it.  The previous missionaries had left a few recommended passages, and they had gone well beyond.  We decided to risk a rather bold question:
"Would you be willing to prepare yourselves for baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?"
"Oh, of course!  We expected you to ask!"

When the 7 year old daughter was told she needed to be 8 before she could be baptized there was a fight.  Finally we had to run home to avoid being late.  The feelings when we got home are hard to describe, but perhaps if you've ever been pushed to your limit, pushed past that limit, and still sought the Lord you understand.  The mother and two oldest daughters were baptized and the ward members were thrilled to have a new family. I learned the Lord will bless me, usually not in the way I expect, but if I serve without expectations the Lord will always bless me after I have endured the trial by fire.