Missionary Work as a Family Tradition By Laura Leavitt Hauck
A great satisfaction in this life comes in establishing good traditions. There are fun traditions that help bind a family together, but there are also serious traditions that seem to build themselves when we are obedient and follow the counsel of the prophets. One that has evolved in our family centers around missionary work. It has taken years to become apparent, but like many other families, we look back and realize what a wonderful tradition the Lord has allowed to become established in our family.
As a child, I had been taught great respect for Zera Pulsipher in my father’s family line who had been privileged to convert Wilford Woodruff, and I even gave talks in Primary about this great event. My husband, Ric, was the first on both sides of his family to serve a mission. He served in the Southern States when all of those states were in one great mission. Then his parents, Forrest and Lois Hauck served a senior couple’s mission in 1979 to the Mesa, Arizona Visitor’s Center.
My parents, Theron and Fawn Leavitt, followed a few years later to serve in the New York City Visitor’s Center. Having all of our children serve missions was the answer to many heartfelt prayers, and finally, Ric and I were able to serve a senior couple mission in Africa. This legacy will now be handed down to the next generation, our grandchildren.
As our children served, there were many joyful, faith-inspiring, difficult, heart-rending and sometimes dangerous experiences that were eventually communicated to us, sometimes during the mission and sometimes afterwards.
Certain experiences stand out in my mind with each child; they may differ from those that our children themselves value.
Stephen, married to Melene’, with three children, was called in 1997 to Oaxaca, Mexico. He had told me privately that he did not care where he was called except that he would prefer not to go to Central or South America where other brothers had gone. When he read his call to the room full of friends and family, the first thing that his archeologist father exclaimed was, “Oaxaca! The Land of Desolation in the Book of Mormon!” Stephen looked across the room, met my eyes and said in complete sincerity, “This is just where I want to go!”
Surrounded by a Gang
Stephen’s mission validated our knowledge that the Book of Mormon is powerful in many different ways. When his visa for Mexico was delayed, he was sent temporarily to New Jersey in a high-profile crime area. One day he was proselyting with his companion in a ghetto neighborhood in Patterson when a gang materialized and surrounded them.
The gang was rowdy, dangerous, wearing big baggy pants and baggy loose coats where they hid various types of knives and other implements for fighting. The leader grabbed Stephen’s scriptures, hefted them, tossing them up and down and asked what these two white boys were doing there.
The missionaries explained that they were there to testify of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and that the book that the gang leader held was a special one, bearing another witness that Jesus was the Christ. The leader questioned this and opened the Book of Mormon to a random page, reading a scripture that basically said that a follower of the Savior shall be saved, but he who tries to stop the work shall be condemned.
This made the leader of the gang angrier and after taunting the missionaries further, he said, “Tell you what we’re gonna do. If this book is so special, let’s see it get you outta here and away from us.” He then threw the book to our son. Stephen tucked the scriptures under his arm like a football and ran straight toward the leader. To his amazement the gang leader fell back and Stephen ran straight out of the circle!
Astoundingly, everyone remained where they were in the circle. As Stephen stopped to look behind him, the leader told the other members to stay where they were, then walked to Stephen, took him aside and said, “I have never felt anything like that in my life! I have never felt power like that!” He kept repeating, “You’re for real, you’re for real.” He asked Stephen not to tell the other members of the gang, but set up an appointment for the following day because he wanted to know how he could find power like that.
The end of the story will never be known because fortunately, our son received a call from the mission that night and was transferred the next day to Oaxaca.
A wonderful witness had been given that not only does the Book of Mormon bear a mighty spiritual witness, but that it has a powerful physical presence as well, that when needed, can be and had been, felt by others.
In D&C 18:10 it says, “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.” And in verse 13: “And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!” Conversely, when a soul falls, it can bring great godly sorrow. Our son, Chris, married to Deborah is a father of two. He was called in 1993 to labor in Caracas Venezuela.
Crying for a Convert
Chris was blessed to bring several entire families into the Gospel, including strong priesthood leaders. One man was a special friend to him and he often wrote us of this convert expressing his love for this man. But some time after the conversion and baptism of this family, the father committed serious sin and was dropped from the membership records of the Church.
Our son climbed to the top of a building and sat there for several hours crying to the Lord in sorrow for this beloved friend who had transgressed and lost his blessings. We as parents also shed tears and mourned when we learned of this incident. As we come to love our fellow men and become part of their lives, their joys are our joys and their sorrows become our sorrows.
Protecting Power of the Priesthood
Chris was also blessed with the protecting power of the priesthood on his mission. He was visiting a family whose home was built and backed against a tall hill directly behind it. Chris was seated near the back wall of the home when a rainstorm outside became torrential. The torrents of rain caused a violent landslide which wiped out the back wall as well as much of the rest of the home, and swept Chris and the others about 50 feet away.
After Chris came to his senses and saw the carnage that had befallen the flimsy home as well as the huge volume of dirt that had been deposited, he could not imagine how any of them had survived this disaster. Bloody and unable to function properly, the missionaries were taken to a local clinic. The pictures that he sent home showed his body as a solid block of black and blue and yet for him and his companion, there were no broken bones, nor internal injuries. How we felt the tender mercy of the Lord as Chris’ life had been spared on this occasion!
Spiritually Born of God
Alma 5:14 states, “And now behold. . . have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this might change in your hearts?” A powerful blessing that comes to missionaries and their parents is the change that is wrought in these young people.
Our son Michael, married to Melinda and father of three, was called in 1990 to serve in Houston, Texas. After serving for a few months, he called us on Christmas day, indicating that he needed to talk about a problem. The problem turned out to be that he was changing and felt that he was losing his identity. He was fearful that some of his more liberal friends were not going to recognize nor like him when he returned home. (My husband and I exchanged a high five!)
When questioned more closely, he admitted that the changes were all positive, his values were focused on the values of the Gospel, that he was becoming increasingly obedient and working very hard. But he again said, “I don’t know who I’m becoming.” His older sister strongly told him, “Michael, you are finding your true identity.”
We all emphasized that he was now becoming who he was meant to be when he was sent down to earth. He was being “born again” unto Jesus Christ and while the process was somewhat traumatic, it was the most wonderful thing that can happen to an individual, along with enduring to the end.
His ultimate satisfaction with this process was expressed in being able to extend the time served on his mission a little beyond the usual two years, even though it caused him to miss three Christmas times at home. His time was well used in baptizing converts into the church and in leading and instructing other missionaries.
What a joy to see the fulfillment of D&C 133:37-38: “And this gospel shall be preached unto every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. . . Fear God and give glory to him . . .”
Laura Leavitt Hauck and her husband Richard (Ric) recently returned from the Nigeria Uyo Mission, which was an adventurous spiritual experience! Laura has shared many other adventures with her archeologist husband as they lived in Istanbul, Turkey for 3 years, explored the ruins of ancient Anatolia, Greece, Italy, rode camels and sailed down the Nile in Egypt and explored potential Book of Mormon localities in Mexico and Guatemala. She is a musician and teacher, and the mother of seven children and grandmother of 24.
