Stories: The First Time is Always the Hardest
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| The First Time is Always the Hardest | 15 Aug 2005 |
| I have been meaning to write some of my experiences for a long time now. I hope you don’t mind, but this one has been on my mind now for awhile. For all of you that remember me from our mission days, I was certainly not what you would call a "gifted" speaker of the Russian language. I think that President Merrill recognized that when he paired me up with Elder Harris, at that time one of the best speakers in the area. Elder Harris was gifted; I was not, however much I tried. Elder Harris even drew a cartoon for the front of the monthly newsletter depicting a very patient senior companion trying desperately to teach his greenie the language, to no avail. I will have to try and dig my copy of that up and post it. Well, after some very awkward discussions (meaning my Russian) with a terrific family we were ready for the baptism, and I was to baptize the father. I had (at that time) never been more frightened because I knew that I was going to mess up the prayer. We practiced and practiced, and practiced so much that it was the only thing that went through my head all day for an entire week. (Try singing it to yourself with Enya - it works). Finally the day came, and as with all baptisms everything was terrific - even if I did mess up a little. So, why do I bring up this story after I have been home for so long? Well, unfortunately, just as you think you have put those "greeie days" behind you and think that you are really in control, life seems to know just when to remind you that the first time is always hard. On the 4th of this month I was able to baptize my oldest child Rachel. What an awesome experience that was to work with her in the weeks preceding it and help her to understand exactly what was to happen, and watch how excited she was to be joining the Lord's Church. Well, I was no longer a greeie, so there was no need to practice...after all I had performed a number of baptisms before and knew exactly what to expect - in RUSSIAN... Yep, that’s right! All of that practice and hard work Elder Harris did to help me remember it in Russian, well this was the first time that I had done it in English. I just stood there in the water for about a minute with the word "Budachi" stuck in my head and I could not remember the English translation for it. Luckily I have a great Bishop who was anticipating some problems, and whispered the first words to me to get me started. Yes, "The first time is always hard" I sure hope you all still have flashbacks like I did with this experience. The Ukraine is such an awesome place. I marvel from time to time all of the things that I learned while serving there. There were lots of first times out in the field and most were hard. But with each one we grow more and more. Each of these situations gave me a ton of heartburn ... but I wouldn't trade them in for the world. Someday I WILL make it back, and when I do I hope I can take Rachel and introduce her to the man that started it all back in Jan. 1994. So all of you go and listen to your Enya CDs and try to find the song that matches the prayer. And when you do, remember that first time you were able to do it … and never forget it. Lafe, you Rock !! Будьте Здоровы everyone !!!!! | |
| Michael Cox | Send Email |