The One Day Mission Companion

Recently my daughter received an emergency transfer on her mission with only three weeks to go.  It was a bit surprising since she was only transferred three weeks ago.  On Sunday in my local South Carolina ward a member related in his talk about an unusual practice being conducted in the South Carolina Columbia Mission by Stephen Lowell McConkie, the son of Elder Bruce R. McConkie where he doesn't inform missionaries who their companions will be prior to the transfer. The rationale behind the practice is that people have a tendency to make judgmental opinions about others based on what people tell them.

Advice to Senior Companions

I had a couple of senior companions from the South Carolina Columbia Mission over for dinner the other night. I told the Elders that they had to earn their supper by giving me five things that I could share on my blog with other missionaries that would make them a good senior companion.

One of the Elders gave me things that came directly from the Preach My Gospel Guide:

1. Be Obedient.
2. Lead and be led by the Spirit.
3. Know the lesson principles.
4. Bear pure testimony.
5. Resolve concerns.

The other missionary was more in to interpersonal relations and gave what I thought were exceptional suggestions:

1. Contact like crazy, nothing happens unless you have someone to teach.
2. Be obedient.
3. Involve your companion in planning and other activities.
4. Don't bash, arguing gets you nowhere.
5. Remember to have fun, missionary work is always better when you're happy!

The two elders come from a mission where their mission president Stephen L. McConkie, son of Bruce R. McConkie and their former mission president Kenneth Brailsford stress the importance of obedience.  Being a former M. Russell Ballard missionary I have to agree that it is better to be an obedient missionary and adhere to the missionary rules.

Missionaries Say the Darnest Things

I had the missionaries over for dinner and one of the elders turned to me and told me that someone did a poor job patching and repairing the living room wall. I looked to see what he was talking about and sure enough there were a few uneven places that were noticeable when you looked closely. I told him that he was very observant but since I was renting it wasn't a big deal to me but it wouldn't take much effort to paint it. He agreed. I then said I bet your dad is a contractor. He said how do you know. I said you remind me of a companion I had in the mission field whose dad was a contractor. He then told me about how his dad had a small company and how he had worked in it before his mission.



Then I told him the story of my companion who had special permission to call his finacee every P-Day. We discussed how he had a tough mission president named President Kenneth Brailsford who gave every missionary the talk lock your heart. He said his mission president was a tough dude and the missionaries really followed him. He had 116 baptisms right before he went home in June which was a record in the Southern and Eastern States Missions. When he started they had 30 or 40 tops. I said I bet he will be an area Seventy in no time. I said he sounds just like my mission president M. Russell Ballard I bet he is a Ballard man. They said how did you know he was close friends with Elder Ballard. The told me he was on Forbes list of the most wealthiest people in the world. They said he could look you in the eyes and see in your soul.

I laughed I said he learned that one from Elder Ballard also. I asked them if he made a point when looking in their eyes of poking them in the sternum when making a point. I made the missionary stand up and demonstrated the Ballard technique for keeping or getting attention. I asked them if he had a hot seat where he put them so they could improve. He didn't do that but they said he was best friends with Elder Ballard.

At dinner one of the missionaries brought up the darndest thing. I told him I had taught missionary preparation 130 at BYU-Hawaii. He said I have a doctrinal question for you that someone asked him recently "How would you respond to a woman who said that Satan had sex with Eve." I told him that image actually grossed me out. My wife who reads a bunch of blogs said "I have heard it said that Satan might have been the father of Cain but the Bible says his father was Adam." I told the Elder I doubted Satan was the father of any of Adam's children. His companion and I both thought he couldn't have had sex with her before they came to earth since Adam and Eve were in a state of innocence.