Adventure and Opportunity

My father served his mission in South Africa, including both Johannesburg and Cape Town.  My older brother served his mission in England, the London South Mission, which included everything south of the Thames, plus Oxford.  When I put my papers in for my mission, I was thinking "Australia" -- it is part of the Commonwealth.  Instead, I was called to the California San Jose Mission, the Bay Area.  Instead of going overseas, I went just some 750 miles from home.

I was not the only elder in the San Jose mission to have wished for a call to somewhere more exotic.  One of my companions had wanted to go to Japan.  Elder Friend was from Toronto, Canada -- so at least he went to a foreign country -- and he was fascinated by many aspects of Asian culture.  We served together for two months in Seaside, California, which was then sandwiched between Monterey and the U.S. Army's Fort Ord (long since closed).

At least a few days a week, Friend and I would pass by a sushi bar, and this naturally interested my companion.  One day, about lunch time, he suddenly said, "I want to try that sushi bar."  Sushi?  You mean, raw fish?  But after thinking about it for a moment, I decided that I was game enough to try it.  When we told our server that we had never tried sushi before, she suggested a few "conservative" options, probably salmon and/or tuna, which were served to us on a bed of rice.

There may be some confusion regarding the word sushi, which is often used interchangeably with the word sashimi, at least in some countries.  Sashimi is thinly sliced raw meat and served without rice; sushi is not raw fish, but actually vinegared rice that is mixed with other ingredients, which may or may not include raw fish.  Common types of sushi include norimaki or "sushi roll" of which the "California roll" is quite popular.  Fair warning for those who haven't tried sushi or sashimi, be careful of the green spread which is called Wasabi, it is very hot, and a very small amount can go a very long way.

In California in the late 1980s, sushi was a trendy food item that Elder Friend and I could try.  For many missionaries, serving around the world, there will be opportunities to try different, even bizarre foods.  For some those bizarre foods may even be the primary source of nutrition available in the areas in which they serve.

I spoke once with a missionary who had served in Japan; according to him the mission president became concerned that his missionaries were becoming malnourished.  The solution the president came up with was to teach the missionaries how to mix fruits and other ingredients with tofu in order to get the nutrition they needed.

A few weeks after we went to the sushi bar, we tracted into a Buddhist who invited us to a meeting that night to be held in their home.  Elder Friend quickly agreed, but it wasn't just because of his fascination with Asian culture, he had been wanting to visit a meeting at another Christian church as well.

With my previous companion, I had attended the meeting of another church at the invitation of one of our investigator.  For the first half hour I thought I was at a concert instead of at church as the congregation stood and sang along with tapes of gospel music -- they didn't have any musicians that day, but the tapes had been "blessed."  When I later told the story to Elder Friend, he wanted a similar experience, and one evening we walked into one of the churches near our apartment; but when we heard the commotion inside we changed our minds.

If I thought that church with the "blessed" tapes was strange, it had nothing on the Buddhist meeting.  I do not say that to bash or criticize these churches and religions, it was just culture shock.  For the first half hour or so, the people at this meeting chanted out of a small book; this was followed by a testimonial, where participants got up to speak about the benefits of chanting.  After the testimonials, there was a question and answer session, and Elder Friend asked several questions.

After the meeting we stayed for another hour socializing while refreshments were served. My companion and I split up and I chatted with Linda on the topic of prayer versus chanting. She told her story and I related mine. We alternated back and forth, and as we talked I taught her a first discussion.  Back then the first discussion started with a few thoughts about God and Jesus Christ, before introducing Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon; each principle seemed to fit naturally as a counterpoint in my conversation with Linda

Linda invited us back for another meeting on Monday and I invited her to church on Sunday. It was an interesting evening. There are a lot of things about Buddhism that are similar to Christianity, except for one very important difference.

By the night of the Buddhist meeting, I had been out for six and a half months, but thanks to the missionary prep program I attended before leaving on my mission, I had been teaching the first discussion for over a year -- to members and non members.  As a result of my experience, I could tailor the principles of the first discussion to fit the conversation I was having with Linda.  I also had experience in relying on and teaching with the spirit, and I had just enough boldness to go for it.