San Jose California- Time to Reflect

Well is has now been 1 month since I got home from serving my 18th month LDS mission in San Jose California. I have had a some time to reflect on what I saw and learned in those 18 months and so I decided to write about a few of those things before I move on to "reality".  So for those of you who don't know what I spent the last 18 months doing here is a quick recap. I accepted a call to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in San Jose California. While there I would be separated from the world, I wouldn't have access to social media, my family, my friends, tv or any of the modern day technology except a mission cell phone. I would be able to communicate with family only on Mondays through email for 1 hr. Rough life right? But the point of this would to be able to devote my time entirely to helping those around me learn more about my beliefs and also to help the community through service, basically to focus on everyone but myself. However I discovered that while I forgot about myself I also was about to learn more about who I could become. During these 18 months I was able to see peoples lives change and it was an amazing experience. In this post I want to talk about some of the people I got to meet and the things I learn from them. So lets get going!

President Watkins, his wife Rebecca and me shortly
before they finished their mission and returned home.

First, missions have whats called a "Mission President" This is a man that is called to lead the mission for 3 years. He gives up everything and often times takes his whole family away from their home to live in a new place. Now thats what you call a sacrifice. I was lucky enough to have 2 amazing Mission presidents. The first of which was Lincoln Watkins. President Watkins is an amazing and caring man. He worked on Wall Street as an investment trader for his career and was very successful. From him I was able to learn a lot. (unfortunately how to invest was not on that list, but maybe one day) He had a very strong belief in being professional. In San Jose you work among some very wealthy people, so being professional was key if you were to be taken seriously. I learned not only how to dress, but how to act and how to think professionally. However even with all of his professionalism he also taught us how to love and respect one another. My second mission president was Glen Mella. President Mella came in to the mission when I had about 6 months left. I was fortunate enough to work closely with him as I served on a leadership council the last 3 months of my mission. His example impacted me greatly as well. He taught me how to also be professional but also to have confidence in myself and how to be a true leader. He taught me that leaders are often not the wisest or the smartest, but those that need to learn something and therefore we can't put ourselves above those we lead. He also taught me how to have patience and love those around me. My time with President Mella was short, but in that time I learned a great deal.

President Mella, his wife Elizabeth and me shortly before my
parents picked me up

Another opportunity I had was to work with many different cultures. Being called to California I figured life wouldn't be much different than Utah but I had the chance to witness more cultures and learn from them. One such culture was that of the middle east. I was able to teach a man from Jordan named Nael. He and his family had lived in Jordan and Afghanistan and had to flee for their lives because of the persecution of the government. While teaching him I was able to try different middle eastern food but also learn the true meaning of freedom and the right of free speech. I was also able to meet many others, another lady was Diane. She was from Rwanda and we were teaching her English. She had also fled to America amongst the genocide that was happening in Rwanda. She had to leave her 3 children behind, something I couldn't imagine doing. I learn so much from her, she was in a new country where she barely spoke the language and yet she had such a positive attitude. She knew she would speak English one day and then she could get a job so that she could bring her kids over to America as well. The determination she had inspired me greatly. Nael and Diane were just a couple of the amazing people I got to meet as there were many others from India, China, and even Cameroon.

Diane! Shes from Rwanda and her positive
attidute is amazing!

Nael along with one of my companions Sister Neff.

The last aspect of my mission that I wanted to reflect on was the service aspect. My mission was a pilot mission for a program called Just Serve. (Justserve.org) With this program we would spend 10 to 14 hrs a week volunteering in the community. We would do anything from picking up trash on the streets to feeding the homeless to gardening. Whatever we could find that would help we did. I loved doing service. I came to find a real love for helping those around me. The joy I saw in others as they we helped filled me with joy.  I also loved getting to know different people in the community and how they also enjoyed serving those around them.

My companion and one of the Elders moping the floor, we helped
at another senior center by helping serve them lunch, we then
would clean up the kitchen afterwards.

Michele, she worked at the community Senior Center and
I along with other missionaries were able to gain a
good relationship with her and even helped her move!

In the end I have discovered that as I forgot myself I was able to learn about other and therefore learn how to be a better me. The people I met, the service I preformed changed me little by little. The mission was the most amazing thing I have ever done. I wish I could explain fully all the things I learned but I just can't. I'm also sad its over, but I am glad that that I can still take the things I have learned and put them to use in my daily life now.  So its been a month since I returned home, now heres to many more months of putting my new found skills to use!