God be with you, Elder R

I am furious. And sad. And grateful.

While making arrangements for one of our returning missionaries to travel from the airport in Lima to his home eight hours away in the mountains of Peru, Elder Katzenbach discovered that Elder R's parents did not want him back.

Without depicting him monolithically as a "noble savage," I suspect that before coming on his mission, Elder R lived a much simpler life than that to which we are accustomed. I got my first clue that some of our missionaries live very different lives than we do when the DeHoyoses asked a group of incoming missionaries if everyone knew how to use an ATM machine. To us, the idea of putting a card in a machine and receiving cash back is like driving a car--it's part of everyday life. I doubt that Elder R ever did either--used an ATM machine, or drove a car--before his mission.

President Sloan says 25% of our missionaries have not completed high school. He hasn't told us which 25%, but if I had to guess, I would guess that Elder R was maybe in that 25%. Some of those 25% have shaky literacy skills. Can you imagine serving a mission without knowing how to read or write well? How do you read the scriptures and teach out of them? How do you study Preach My Gospel? How do you read the Missionary Handbook so you know what the rules are? How do you record your work in the Area Book? And how do you write a journal? I have seen Elder R's area book; whether he could read or write before his mission began, he could do so by the time it was finished.

Elder R was a humble missionary. He wasn't a district leader or a zone leader. I don't think he was ever a trainer. But he knew how to speak Quichua, a language spoken by the indigenous people, and therefore served much of his mission in Otavalo where church meetings are often conducted in Quichua. His companions says he was without guile, that he lived a simple life, ate simple foods, and served the Lord.

When he came to the office yesterday for his final interviews, he had on a beautiful new white shirt, new olive green pants and a belt with a silver and gold belt buckle. Everything was a little big for him--I suspect they were gifts from someone. He had served an honorable mission and was ready to return home.

As Elder Katzenbach telephoned Elder R's local authorities, and discovered that his parents did not want him to come home, he also discovered that Elder R's bishop had offered to take him in. I rejoiced that there was such a good family in Elder R's life--someone willing to honor his tremendous accomplishment as a missionary and be his family.

I spent some time thinking about what Elder R's own family has lost. I don't know why they decided as they did. But they lost so many opportunities. Elder R could have taught them how to read and write better. Who knows what he learned while in Otavalo? Perhaps he learned about better methods of agriculture or commerce. As a result of his missionary labors, he could have taught them how to have faith, how to pray, how to petition Heavenly Father for help with their daily needs. They would have been edified as a family by what Elder R could have taught them about the gospel. After serving for two years, Elder R did not deserve to have his own family slam the door on him and on their own eternal progress. It must have been a heavy blow for him. I am only an uninvolved bystander, and it broke me.

I am furious at Elder R's family. I am sad for him and for what they have lost. I am grateful to his bishop and the bishop's family.

I pray that what Elder R learned on his mission will elevate and edify him for the rest of his life. I pray that Heavenly Father will continue to surround him with angels.