
A CALL TO RESCUE
MISSIONARY MOMENTS
By Elder Oweka Bob Patrick
Ghana Accra West Mission
When I was a little boy, I spent a
lot of my time with my grandparents. As a tradition in Uganda, if
you want your grandparents to tell
you their stories or help you with
answers to your questions, you have
to collect firewood and kindle fire for
them in the evening to warm themselves due to coldness at evening
times.
As we gathered together as a
family warming ourselves one day,
a question came into my mind that
I should ask my grandfather, “Why
do we have different churches with
different names?” My father was a
pastor, and my grandparents had their
N6 Liahona
own church too, so I wondered: “why
couldn’t we just go to my father’s or
theirs as one family?” This question
made my grandfather ponder for a
moment to have a small boy like me
ask such a question, because I was
only 11 years.
My grandfather then
replied, “Everybody has their own
beliefs, but indeed there is truth out
there—the truth that can answer all
questions in life, the truth that can
open our understanding about the
Savior and His teachings, and the truth
that can set us free, but for me as your
grandfather I can’t tell you which one
is true or not. I will advise you as time
goes by to search for this truth you
shall find it because the Savior taught
us if we seek, we shall find.
So my grandson, as time goes by, search
for this truth. You shall find it.”
This remarkable reply from my
grandfather has helped me to search
for that truth that can answer all my
questions, the truth that can set me
free, bring light into my family, and
most of all the truth that can bind us
together as a family forever for eternity.
With time, I decided to act upon what
my grandfather had told me: if I search
for the truth, I shall indeed find it.
One day a friend from primary
school asked me to join them in going
about showing a movie about the life
of the Savior to win souls for Christ.
At first it was interesting, but later I
started to think about those who were
touched by the movie and how we
could fellowship them to keep their
faith strong in the Savior.
I came to know that I had a zeal to serve God,
but not according to their way of doing things, so I discontinued going for
the cinema.
A few years later I lost my grandparents and my father as well, but still
my grandfather’s words stuck with me
and I knew that one day I would find
the truth I was searching for.
One day my grandfather came to
me in a dream. We were rearing cattle,
and he fell in cow dung and started
sinking and calling for my help.
I wasn’t strong enough to lift him out as
I was about also to sink with him. He
asked me to leave him and call for my
uncle so that both of us could lift him
out, but I told him that my uncle was
in the city. With a loud voice he said,
“Go to the city and call for your uncle
to come and help.”
I was so terrified when I woke
up that I was drenched in sweat.
The next morning I telephoned my uncle
to ask if all was well. He replied in the
affirmative and said he was about to
call me because he had found a job
for me, so I should come to the city.
A few weeks later I journeyed to the
city. I told my uncle about the dream
I had about my grandfather. He dismissed it, saying it was just a dream,
but still the dream was in my mind.
The next morning I went to my
uncle’s library to write an application
for the job. As I sat down, I noticed
two pamphlets: “The Gospel of Jesus
Christ” and “The Restoration of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ.” At first, reading
about the gospel of Jesus Christ wasn’t
clear to me, but when I started reading
about the Restoration, I came to find
out the cause of division among the
believers. I was so interested in the
message of the Restoration, I yearned
for more. I didn’t have my uncle’s support, but I pursued my plans for the
search of happiness, and the Lord was
able to guide me.
I met with the missionaries who
taught me all I needed to know. Most
importantly, I prayed about their message and I came to know that was
the reason I came to the city. I shared
my dream with them, and they told
me my grandfather had found and
accepted the gospel. I had work
to do for my grandparents by being
baptized on their behalf. A few months
later, I was baptized and confirmed on
March 17, 2013, as a member of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
I served as branch clerk and
seminary teacher in my branch. On
April 18, 2014, I was called to labor in
the Ghana Accra West Mission, serving
with my awesome mission president,
President Hill and Sister Hill, who have
helped me to become an instrument
in the hands of the Lord to bring His
children back to His fold.
Before I came to the mission field,
I was able to perform temple ordinance for my grandparents and my
father. What joy and happiness I felt
as I came out of the holy temple of
our God! One day my grandfather
came again to me in a dream where
we had gathered as a family happily
sharing stories. Since then I can’t
stop feeling their love, knowing that
they are happy waiting for the day of
Resurrection.
I know missionary work is not just
two years or 18 months. Just as Elder
M. Russell Ballard points out, “‘RM’”
doesn’t mean ‘retired Mormon!’” (“The
Greatest Generation of Young Adults,”
Liahona, May 2015, 69). I know when
I complete my mission, I will be a
returned soldier, having faced a lot of
trials and challenges, which experience will give me courage to take the
light of the truth to my families and
friends who are perishing in unbelief,
as Lehi did with his family in the Book
of Mormon (see 1 Nephi 8:12).
The Savior taught: “Of him unto
whom much is given much is required”
(D&C 82:3). I bear my witness that
missionary work is divine, that this
is what the Lord has prepared for us
from the foundation of the world.
What a blessing it is for us to labor
under the supervision of the Holy
Ghost! We are here for a reason—to
rescue our brothers and sisters so they
can enjoy the same blessings we have.
Start preparing to serve a mission
today. Remember, the field is white
indeed ready for harvest, the Lord is
waiting for you to labor in His vineyard. Tarry no more!