Our Differences are a Blessing
I have a daughter that worked caring for more than 30 sled dogs for a while in the mountains of Colorado in the USA. She loves dogs, and she learned a lot about their behavior from this experience. She learned that you must be very careful with sled dogs because they are prone to fight violently with one another when they aren’t working pulling a sled together. You cannot put them all in one pen as they rest, or you will have a bloody and deadly brawl. Dog mushers have learned that if you divide dogs into pens with other dogs that have their same coloring and fur patterns, they are more likely to get along better. Who would have thought that dogs seem to be more comfortable with other dogs that look like themselves. Isn’t this interesting?
What makes this so thought-provoking to me, is that I know that this is true and natural for humans as well. We are much like the silly dogs! Elder Uchtdorf said:
“Some believe that the church wants to create every member from a single mold–that each one should look, feel, think, and behave like each other. This would contradict the genius of God, who created each man different from his brother.”
The atonement exists to enable us all to repent and receive God’s grace; It doesn’t exist to make us all the same. Sometimes as missionaries or members of the church, we don’t realize that we expect those around us to act like we do. Sometimes we confuse these differences in personality with sin or not pleasing God, but it really is just a difference from our opinion or culture and has nothing to do with God’s laws.
When I was in the temple earlier this year, I was thinking about our mission call to Peru and about how different I am from the people of Peru. I have had different opportunities and obviously, I have light skin & hair, blue eyes, and I’m considered tall. I don’t even like french fries or a lot of meat (these are a staple here in Peru). Then I thought about our similarities as humans. I have hopes and dreams of better days and of accomplishment. I have questions, and I wonder about my purpose as a missionary and in life. Furthermore, I wonder why some good things just don’t work out. Don’t you sometimes feel the same? Perhaps this is why, in God’s eyes, we are all the same as he watches us gain experience. This does not mean that we look and act the same, but he loves us the same, independently of the specific characteristics.
When President Chipman served as a counselor to the mission presidency in our home state of Colorado, I was asked to come with him to some of the conferences. During one of the first conferences, I noticed a senior couple serving in our mission who spoke only Spanish. They used a young missionary to interpret for them during the meeting. When I met them, I was so surprised to learn that they were actually from Peru! (This was 2 years before our call here) Peru seemed so far away, and I wondered why would someone from Peru come to Colorado to serve a mission? I had never seen this before. Didn’t they have plenty of missionary work that they could do there? Then I remembered some of the struggles that our mission had with baptizing very many people! I thought of this and realized that we needed all the help that we could get! I was then humbled that they would come from Peru to help us in Colorado serve my people. This moment had a big impact on me and I thought a lot about it. I also wondered why God would mix us up as missionaries and send us all over the world to help one another.
I have since come to realize that God wants us to unite our efforts, share our experiences and talents to gather all of God’s children on the Earth. Now it is my turn to come help you gather Israel here in Peru. This is so much bigger than only saving our friends and families, because He wants all to have the opportunity to follow Him on a path to salvation. God desires my talents and experiences as well as yours. He wants us to truly be united as His children under one God, and that really brings new meaning to the words that we are brothers and sisters. Because of this, all members of the church need to treat one another as children of God, disciples of Christ, healers of our fellow beings, and heirs of God’s love.
A great scripture found in the Book of Mormon is:
“…they all returned again diligently unto their labors; and the priest, not esteeming himself above his hearers, for the preacher was no better than the hearer, neither was the teacher any better than the learner; and thus they were all equal, and they did all labor, every man according to his strength.”
Since coming to Peru, I have discovered that we are indeed very much alike, and I'm grateful to live in this beautiful place with such good people. Thank you for your kind acceptance and your love. I am truly blessed to be here and to learn from you, and it is my hope that you experience those same blessings from watching and knowing me, for I believe that this is what God intended.
