I served a Church Mission to the
Mississippi Jackson Mission in 1984-86.
I was called to an 18-month mission.
It was an experiment the church ran in the 80’s to see if it would
improve the mission work. I was called
in October of 1984. In December the missions changed
back to the 2 years standard. I was
given the option to finish the 18 months or extend up to 24 months. In consultation with my parents I extended my
call to 22 months. This would leave time
to work through the summer and start college in the fall. These four months were the hardest part of my
mission.
I was serving in Vidalia
Louisiana. It is a very small town
across the Mississippi River from a small town called Natchez Mississippi. At one point my companion and I were not getting
along. He refused to keep any of the
mission rules. Not that I was a sterling
example of be a hard-working effective missionary.
One morning when it was about the
time I should have gone home and I was starting my extension, I had enough of
my companion. He was using my Walkman to
play non-church music and refused to go proselyting with me. I called the Mission President up and yelled
at him. Unhappy that I had extended my mission for this experience. I was unhappy with my performance and was
just generally very angry.
My mission president asked me to
calm down and he would find a solution, to my problem. He asked the Zone Leaders to come and take
us on splits for a weekend. This was
about an hour drive for them from Alexandra La.
This experience helped me to refocus and recommit to keeping the mission
rules. My companion recommitted to
keeping the mission rules and improving his proselyting.
The Alexandria Stake President ask
to meet with my companion and I. This
was really unusual thing for a Stake President to do. We normally did not have any meetings with
the Stake Presidents in our areas. He
shared with us some of the problems the Stake was experiencing and why the Vidalia
Branch was so important to the Stake. He
ask the Mission President to devote more resources the Vidalia Area including
assigning us a car so we could extend the reach of our proselyting.
The next 30 days became one of the
best times in my mission. We worked hard
and my companion and I got along a great deal better. I learned the blessing of hard work. When we departed my companion and I loved
each other. My next companion was a real
joy and the best one I experienced on my entire mission.
The next part is the sweetest
memory of my mission. After I received
my new companion, we had Zone Conference in Alexandria. I was a little apprehensive about my one on
one with the Mission President. When he
saw me in the chapel, he put his arms around me and cried. He said Elder Bassett I understand. That is all he said” I understand”
I now know what the final judgement
with be like with Jesus Christ and I have no fear. I know the Savior because I knew someone
like him. My Mission President.
