My companion and I had been at our ward's Book of Mormon class. A member stopped me to talk about when we could come by just as another member stopped my companion to talk to her. At the same time our ward mission leader was trying to get our attention to talk about the LDS tools app.
Once we had both finished our conversations, we turned to our ward mission leader and tried to explain again that we had no control over that app or what he was able to see in the online progress records. Our mission president didn't have that control either.
We agreed to call the assistants and left to get back to our apartment on time. My companion had been acting weird, so I asked her what was up. She broke into tears as she explained the conversation she had had with the member that stopped her.
It had been a long, emotionally and physically draining day, and we were both getting fed up. After we called the assistants and left a message asking them to call us so we could clear up the app issue, I decided to text our sister training leaders and see if they could call. They did and tried to help my companion feel better. They got off the phone, and suddenly it rang again.
Twice a week our district leader calls to get our numbers and check in, so we talked for a bit and just explained our whole day. They wished us well and checked to see if there was anything they could do. After hanging up, we got a text from them with a scripture, D&C 121:7-8. We started working on a puzzle we had out as a stress reliever, and the phone rang again.
This time it was the assistants. They confirmed that there was nothing they could do and that Salt Lake controlled the app. After we hung up with them, our sister training leaders called again. We chatted with them and they did all they could to help us feel better. After they hung up, our Bishop called and told us our Mission President had called him and told him to talk to us because a lot had been going on. So we set up an appointment with Bishop.
While we were on that phone call, our Mission President called us twice and told us to call him when we got the chance. We ended our phone call and called President back. He did his best to listen to us and to help us feel that we were loved. He told us how much he appreciated us and tried to help. It was so kind of him. After that our zone leaders called to tell us jokes and help us feel better. We later found out that our district leader had told the zone leaders we might need cheering up and that our sister training leaders had called our Mission President's wife to see what else they could do to help.
We talked that night and the next morning about it all and there was no denying God's hand in all of it. He knew we needed that help. He knew it was hard for us and that we couldn't do much more and that we needed the support being so far away from other missionaries and feeling so alone. I had never felt God's love for me so much on my mission before. It was amazing how He knew exactly what we needed and when.
Sister Stockdale served in the California Bakersfield Mission.