The Best Two Years

Hello Y'All!                                                                                                     

Elder Barney, Elder Roderick & Elder Johnson

It was another great week here in good old Canton, Georgia! I can't even tell you how much I love this place. Every week I get closer and closer to the people I'm working with and I love them even more. On top of that, seeing the Hickory Flat Ward every week just makes me feel more and more at home and at this point I feel like I'm more part of the ward family than anything else! I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing but I just love them all so much!

Our week was filled with meetings, which made it go by really fast. Basically, every single day we had a meeting that was held near the mission office.  The meetings took up most of our time, so the little time we had left was spent with Julius getting him ready for his baptism on Saturday. His baptism was, without a doubt, the highlight of my week! June 27th will be a day I will always remember as one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. I wish each of you could have been at the baptism to feel the Spirit that was there. Even before he was baptized, Julius had a light about him that I had never seen before. When he came out of the water I literally saw a different man: one with a whole new countenance and a new life. I can honestly say that Julius is not the same man he was three months ago! It has been absolutely amazing to see him change from someone plagued with addiction and sadness to someone who is happy, peaceful, and clean.

During the baptismal service, while Julius was changing out of his wet clothes, I decided to have Elder Bacon, who was the Spanish Elder who initially met Julius, stand and share the experience of meeting him from his point of view. He told about meeting Julius, late on a Sunday night, while Julius was walking home with a beer in his hand. Julius approached him and his companion and asked if he could pray with them, and expressed his desire to make some changes in his life. By the time they were done talking, Julius had poured out his entire beer and thrown it away. Elder Bacon said he had never seen someone with so much desire to repent. Then Elder Bennett, who was here in Canton right before me, stood and shared his experience of beginning to teach Julius, Joyce, and Angel. He talked about the changes they made and the progress he watched them make. When he was done, I got up to end the program and before I began speaking I noticed there wasn't a dry eye in the room. The spirit was so strong! I shared my experience of being able to finish teaching Julius before his baptism, and the courage and bravery he showed as he abanodoned his addictions and turned his life over to Jesus Christ. I know that hearing it from the point of few of the missionaries really helped Julius and Joyce, because it helped them see how far they both have come and how much potential they still have to grow.

Elder Roderick & Sister Craig

To top it all off, when I arrived at church yesterday I saw one of my favorite ladies ever, Sister Craig from the Hickory Flat Ward! Then, I walked into the chapel and guess who was sitting in there on the back row? My Georgia grandmother, Opal!! I love that sweet lady so much!! She heard I was back in Canton so she came to church for the first time ever, just to see me! After church we were talking and she gave me a little wooden cross, then she said, "You know, Matthew, I mean Elder Roderick, I don't know if I'll ever change religions. I think I'm too old for that. But, I hope you know that you missionaries literally saved my life two years ago when I was in the deepest sorrow I have ever experienced, and for that I'll always love each of you." She is doing really well now and she is so much happier!

I'm so grateful that the Lord has given me this opportunity to work with people like the Mays family and be an instrument in His hands to bring eternal happiness to others. I wish I could express how much happiness it brings me to be a missionary. It is the hardest thing I've ever done, so it makes it that much better when I see miracles happen and work being done. It just makes me that much more grateful, because I know that if I weren't a missionary then I wouldn’t be able to have some of these experiences that I've had and meet the people I've met.  As I watch others change, it has changed me. I now know why serving a mission is often called, “the best two years of your life!”

Well I hope y'all have a great week! Love you ALL!

Elder Roderick