"You Use It, You Wash It"

It seems like a simple, straightforward rule; if you use a dish or utensil, then you should wash it.  Yet some missionaries I knew seemed to have a very difficult time following it.  When I had been out about 15 months, I was in a four-man flat; my comp and I always washed the dishes we used, but the other two elders hardly ever did.  One evening my comp, and I got fed up with the status quo.

When we came back to the flat for dinner we found few clean dishes, so we decided to play a joke on the other two elders. We boxed up all the dishes – both clean and dirty – and hid them in the shed behind the apartment building where we kept our bikes. Then we went off to a teaching appointment. 

Later, after we returned to the flat, I sat down in the living room and started studying.  Elder Davis (names have been changed to protect the innocent) came out of his bedroom and went into the kitchen where I  heard him open and close some cabinets. Then he came out to the living room and said, “Did you know the dishes are missing?” I thought for a moment and then said, “Elder Fox stole our dishes?"

Elder Fox was in our zone and had previously lived in this particular apartment.  While living in that flat he apparently discovered a way to break in (maybe he locked himself out one day) and after being transferred he apparently broke into the apartment and took some stuff on a few occasions -- so he was the perfect fall guy.  I do not know how I kept a straight face.  The elder then said, “I know, can you believe it?” After he left the room I went into the bathroom and started laughing. 

The humor continued the next morning when our zone leaders came by with a box of dishes.  At that point my comp and I figured it was time to let the cat out of the bag. So my comp revealed that we had hid the dishes in the shed. Elder Baker got a kick out of the whole thing and he said, “Elder Wells told me you probably hid them in the shed and I said nah they're not stupid enough not to look there!” It was good for a laugh.

I'd like to say that the other two elders always washed their dishes after that, but that is not how things turned out.

It has been said that some companions are blessings while other companions are trials -- when you are with someone 24/7 even small faults can be magnified.  The same could be said of other missionaries in your apartment, district or zone.  The ability to get along with others is a valuable skill.  An important aspect of getting along with others might be to pull your own weight -- in other words, do your dishes!