Lessons I learned serving in the Washington Yakima Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Today I am taking a page out of Mormon’s book: And I Elise, make a record of the things which I have seen, heard, and felt.
I loved every moment of my mission, at least when looking at it in retrospect. But every single moment was worth it. All that I have seen, heard, and testified of as a missionary has made me grow.
There is a poem that has meant a lot to me on my mission. It is called: “The Carpenter,” by Julia Hanna. The poem tells the story of an ordinary block of wood, that resisted his carpenter’s touch at the fear of the painful process of being carved into something beautiful. But later, as he watches other blocks of wood transformed by the carpenter, he decides, if it is not too late, to submit to the carpenter.
During the painful process of being carved, the block of wood notices the wounds in the carpenter’s hands, which were sustained in the act of carving. The block realizes that the carpenter sacrificed more to make him into something greater than he could have been on his own.
I love this poem. It is important to remember it is not I who did the most, but Him on whom I relied. I could tell you about all the people I met and the things I did but this is not a travelogue of my mission but my testimony of my Savior and the lessons I’ve learned.
Pride is one of the greatest roadblocks in doing missionary work – believing it’s all because of you, or that your effort is what made this whole thing work. God can do His work without us, but He loves us enough to let us be a part of it. This was a lesson I learned over and over again.
Going and being a missionary in the region around Yakima, Washington was a gift from God. God can work miracles with humble missionaries. I spent most of my mission in difficult areas where people said we couldn’t make a difference. I feel God put me in these places so I would rely on Him.
No matter the amount of work, hours, blood, sweat and tears, if I did it all by myself nothing would happen. I saw this a lot in Naches, White Salmon, Ahtanum Creek, Goldendale, and Moses Lake. The times I let my life glorify my Savior and let His light shine are when I saw miracles happen.
While serving in Naches, I made an amazing friend out of a companion I thought I would never talk to again. We tried tirelessly to serve in the area. I had personally felt as though we weren’t doing enough but I was trying to do it without the Savior. Because of my feelings and thoughts, my companion and I didn’t exactly get along but then I let the Savior work.
I came to love her and I would room with her again any day. I would work with her and her efforts are beautiful. We were not there to see any fruits but now that I am home one of the people we were teaching has been baptized and another is working her way toward baptism. I don’t know if our efforts really helped in that, but in my mind that is one more miracle that came from the love of the Savior each missionary brought there.
The Savior can perfect all of our efforts.
While serving in White Salmon I found that God doesn’t follow my human logic. He works on His time and His ways. I like to think I know a lot, that I understand a lot. For instance, logic says I shouldn’t talk to strangers after dark. In spite of our own reasoning, sometimes God will tell you how to reach the hearts of His children.
That is how we ran into a man named Jacob. Jacob liked to read well into the night but he didn’t want to waste electricity at home so he came to the park because the street lights are always on after sunset. He had never heard of the Book of Mormon and we had the chance to invite him to read the word of God.
God doesn’t need logic to bring a miracle.
Serving in Ahtanum Creek, Sister Leavitt and I worked so hard. Every day we worked till we dropped, with nothing to show for it. On top of that, we both had conflicts with how the other worked. I learned so much during my time with her. It wasn’t how we wanted to work, it was how the Lord wanted us to work. Realizing that, our personal issues no longer were a problem that stood between us.
I cherish my time in Ahtanum Creek. Sister Leavitt and I were there together for two transfers. During our first time, nothing changed. During our second, we found eight people receptive to the gospel, which was more people found in that area than have been during the whole past year. There, we met and helped baptize our friend Michael.
Every single one of these conversions are miracles. We didn’t find them in the ways we expected. We just strove to be diligent and humble and tried to serve the Lord every chance we had.
God just needs diligent and humble disciples, and with them, small and simple things can bring to pass great things.
Serving in Goldendale, sometimes it was hard to work all day. There were physical and mental trials on both sides of the companionship that meant taking time out of our day just to reset. I am someone who goes stir crazy and I hate wasting time. I think that’s why God put my trials in this order to teach me something.
I had just had a companion who had been sick for four weeks out of our six weeks together. I had been taught the difference between wasting time, lost time and God’s time. It had prepared me for my transfer in Goldendale. It helped me to forgo my pride of thinking this time was lost or wasted. It helped me see that this time was God’s.
God could make more out of our area than we could. He understood our trials and our area was in His hands. We gave Him our 110% but it looked different every day. I loved my time in Goldendale, just me and my companion 45 minutes away from the next closest missionary. I got to see how the Lord communicated to her and helped the people we were teaching.
God sees us all. Our situations, our struggles and trials and our joys.
My last transfer was to serve in Moses Lake this spring. Moses tested all that I had learned as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Moses tests your diligence, obedience and your care for the work.
It was easy to let those slip in Moses. Moses had a lot of church members living there. Most people said that Moses felt like home, and that’s why missionaries got so comfortable there, at the expense of obedience and diligence.
To grow, you have to step out of your comfort zone. I had heard this and was so worried about being the best I could be that I forgot it wasn’t all about me. My mission wasn’t about me or what I did. It was about the companions I served with, the people I met and most importantly the gospel testimonies that grew. It was about learning to let the Carpenter work in my life, to learn how to let my life glorify the Savior. No matter the situation I’m in.
So what have I seen, heard and felt on my mission? The Savior can perfect all of our efforts. God doesn’t need logic to bring a miracle. God just needs diligent and humble disciples. Out of small and simple things are great things brought to pass. God sees us all – our situations, our struggles and trials and our joys.
Let your life glorify the Savior. Let Him be your carpenter. You can’t do it all by yourself and you don’t have to.
“For you to be perfect” he gently replied, “Here, my hands must stay,” the Carpenter said in Hanna’s poem.
Let the Savior’s hands stay in your life as He shapes and figures you. My mission was just a small part of the figuring process for me and I loved it. It doesn’t mean it was easy or painless. But it was worth it.
“I looked in the mirror and saw myself,
So different than before.
What he had made me was so beautiful.
I could never ask for more!”
– by Elise Sarles
Feature image caption: Elise served in the Washington Yakima Mission. She served from January 2023 – June 2024. Courtesy of Elise Sarles/Facebook.
Read the testimonies of other missionaries like Elise in Called to Serve Him by Nadia Griffin and Discovering Your Faith by AJ Martel.