Stephen and Elaine Biddulph

21 JUNE - 1 JULY 2016

On Tuesday, 28 June, we celebrate 48 years of marriage together. We will celebrate by picking up our replacements, Sister Keyser and Lovell, at the airport and spending the day orienting them to their new callings here in Frankfurt. Knowing this situation, we took our anniversary trip a couple of weeks ago when we went to southern Germany and Austria for 5 days. What a blessing it is to have had these years together and to know that we are sealed together by priesthood authority for all eternity - not just until death do us part. How grateful we are for the blessings of the restored gospel and priesthood authority. Great blessings are available to those who believe in Christ and come into his kingdom here on earth through faith, repentance, and baptism by water and the Holy Ghost.
And so our time in Europe comes to an end! Eighteen months of dedicated labor is over. It has been a time of "lasts:" last Sunday in Offenbach, last ward council, last bishopric meeting, last senior devotional, last Book of Mormon class, last medical team meeting, last Gemeinde Essen, and the list goes on. Today was our last Sunday in Offenbach branch. We were both released from our callings: Stephen as 1st counselor in branch presidency and Elaine as branch music chair, sacrament meeting music leader, primary pianist, and counselor in primary (PV). Stephen gave his final talk and testimony in sacrament meeting. The primary presented us a gift of pictures of all the children. It is so choice to have the faces of the little children. The branch gave us a book they put together of all the members of the branch. These are treasures for us. Hard to leave such choice friends.

Neither of us has ever had any feelings of despair or discouragement in this assignment in Europe, only happiness and a sense of being greatly blessed. However, there were many evenings after a long day of dealing with discouraged or anxious missionaries that we felt exhausted and fully drained of emotional, physical, and spiritual energy. Late at night, after we had retired to bed, when the phone buzzed and a concerned mission president or wife apologetically asked Stephen for time to get counsel or help for one of their chargers, he was always filled with renewed love and compassion. Each morning we felt renewed and returned to the field to labor once again. To call a young elder or sister in Belgium, France, Spain, or even faraway Cape Verde, who was feeling lost, uncertain, discouraged, depressed, hopeless, or afraid, and to offer a listening ear, a compassionate and understanding heart, and encouraging words was choice beyond expression.

We take no credit for any good we did in lifting these messengers of truth. The Spirit always gave utterance. No morning began without kneeling and pleading with Heavenly Father, in the name of his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to bless us with discernment, wisdom beyond our own, and strength. Never were we disappointed. These young people are true messengers commissioned by those holding priesthood keys, and sent by the Savior through his living Prophet into the world to invite all to come unto Christ in his ordained way and enter into his Kingdom. Regardless of the circumstances, the Spirit always seemed to make connection with the missionary to whom I spoke.

Stephen was inspired early on in our assignment to write five words on a small piece of paper and tape it to my computer screen. Those words were: LISTEN, LIFT, LOVE, PROMISE, and TESTIFY. These five words became my code and shaped his counseling approach. They made all the difference. He always first sought to listen and understand rather than to judge and give advice. He tried to always lift by the spirit and inspire courage to meet the challenges. We were both filled with compassion and love for them. They could feel this, and it softened them and gave them more of a listening ear. He promised them blessings that the spirit prompted him to give, and he bore testimony many times a day to them of their calling, purpose, and the importance and truthfulness of this great work.

There were several missionaries that had to return home early to receive professional help with depression, anxiety, or other issues. We never saw them as failures or having failed, but as wounded warriors who had willingly come into battle and for one reason or another had been wounded emotionally or physically. We realized that sometimes--not always--their mission was what opened their eyes to problems from the past that needed to be dealt with and resolved for them to have a happier future. A mission is two years, but these young people have their entire life ahead of them. Often the wounds of mortality are not made evident until they enter the mission field, and some wounds cannot be resolved in the field of battle, but at home. Great comparisons exist between the mission field and the field of battle.

Sometimes missionaries will ask, "I'm supposed to be happy on my mission. Why am I not feeling happy?" The answer, of course, is that the joy of this work is a spiritual acquisition, not a temporal one. The physical things and routines of a mission do not produce the deep inner joy to be found in this work. It comes by drawing close to the Savior and the Holy Spirit and receiving of their special gifts. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, former member of the Quorum of the Twelve said, "God does not begin by asking you about your ability, but about your availability, and when you prove to him your dependability, He will increase your capability." By trusting the Lord, instead of one's own abilities, and drawing near to the Lord, one receives the increased gifts of faith and love and charity. These are gifts of the spirit, and they can come from no other source. Missionaries seeking to be happy on their missions must seek the spirit, not temporal things. "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you" (DC 88: 63-64). Joy comes by full consecration to the Savior.

Some missionaries are afraid and feel anxious, inadequate, or overwhelmed. Paul said,"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Tim 1:7). John teaches "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out all fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18). Those missionaries who stopped focusing on the messenger and their own inadequacies, and who focused instead on the message and the author of the message (the Lord), gave up their fear and found peace, joy, faith, and love. These types of conversations have been the happy work that we have done every day for 18 months. What a joy! What a challenge!
We are exhausted, but better people for it for having done the work. Hopefully there are missionaries out there who are better for our efforts. We need to return home and fill our buckets again for our next excursion, but first must come our children, grandchildren, and loved ones. Besides the gospel, they are our great treasures for they will continue with us forever. All we can really do now is be good examples, and hope that they will follow in paths of righteousness. What a grand chapter has been added to the story of our lives together. Who would have guessed that two kids from rural Idaho would have had the opportunities and blessings that we have had? What a ride!!