Hello My Mane is Brandon Lott, I am currently a Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. My Mission has been the hardest thing I have ever gone through, a
little over 2 years I started filling out my mission papers with the hopes to
turn them in the middle of June I had some medical things come up and ended up
needing foot surgery before my doctors would even fill out my papers, this was
expected to be a 3 month recovery, well it ended up being about a 6 month
recovery, that was really difficult for me, it was hard to keep my desire, I
was finally able to turn in my papers, after a couple weeks I got my papers
back and was told I needed to give more information about my heath, along with
my foot being messed up I also have rheumatoid arthritis, this causes my joints
to be very week and have pain all of the time and I can not walk long
distances, I went to more doctors and then sent my papers in, this happened two
more times, after the third time of sending in my papers Salt lake called my
Stake President and told him that I would need to find another way to serve, I
was devastated, after what I had already been through I now was just told I
couldn't serve a "normal" mission. I lost desire for a short time. A
few weeks went by and I was miserable, My bishop came to me with a service
mission opportunity, I was not very excited about the thought of a service
mission, after he had called the man in charge of the mission, he asked me to
call him. A few days went by and I finally softened my heart and called the man, as
we talked I knew that this is where the Lord wanted me, it was a very emotional
conversation for me and the man. I served in the technology Building in Riverton Utah, I was the 2nd young missionary called and our purpose was to help increase positive Gospel Content on the internet. I learned a lot from doing this. I was called to be a Zone Leader as well as one of the 4 District leaders we had. I had some amazing experiences with the missionaries I served with and I found myself learning more and more everyday, as we all tried to serve God the best way we could. I had been out about 10 months and I made a
trip to the MTC for a meeting. As I was in the MTC I met a man who helps with
an online mission based out of the MTC, the mission answers the chats over Mormon.org/chat, They then teach people over Facebook Skype or the Phone. We began to talk and he asked if I
would be interested in serving there, I was very interested in the mission, but, I was only called to my service mission
for 1 year and was happy with the thought of almost being done, I had plans for
school and work I told him that if he wanted to try then we could but I don't
think it will happen. I explained to him that I had tried turning my papers in
3 times. we sent them in, a few weeks went by and I hadn't heard anything, my
dad received a phone call one day and was asked if he was my father, it was the Man
from the MTC, they talked and the man told my dad that I have been approved for
the MTC mission but it would be a 2 year call, my dad explained to him that I
had already been out 11 months, and that would put me at 3 years, and with my
health that wouldn't be right, the man said there is no other way then I am
sorry, My dad responded to the man "this is the Lords church, if the Lord
wants Brandon there it will happen" the man said you are right I will let
you know what I can do, a couple weeks went by and the man called back he said
that my call had been approved for 13 months in the MTC, as they talked the man
shared some information with my dad that was very humbling, he told us that the
missionary department couldn't look at this call because it wasn't for 2 years
so this call went to the 12, they sat down and looked at it and talked about it
and even prayed about it and all 12 of them agreed to extend a call for a 13
month period, the amazing part of this was that in the last 4 years this was
only the second time this has ever happened. I was very humbled. I moved home
and about a week later my family dropped me off at the MTC, I was very happy,
it was a hard choice to leave after I had already been out a year and honestly
didn’t need to do this mission, But I knew that if I was in the Service of my
God He would take care of me. I did 3 weeks of MTC training before I started my assignment in the Field, I was called to be a District Leader in my MTC District and had great experiences with them every day. I was in the MTC a total of about 3 months and my shoulder
started bothering me because of my arthritis, I saw many doctors and was told
the best thing for me was to return home for surgery, I fought it for a few
weeks, and thought how could I go home, the 12 sat down and issued me this
special call how can I walk away from this. It was hard for me to return home
to have surgery, I felt alone, I felt ashamed, I was embarrassed, I was worried
about what people would think, many thoughts went through my mind, but I found
comfort knowing that I was trying to do the right thing and I planned to return
to the mission a.s.a.p. I was told it would be a 3 month recovery and my
mission president didn't want to release me so the time I was home counted towards my Time as a missionary. During this time I started working,
started thinking about school, and just getting involved in life all of these
thoughts took me away from the mission, I hit my 3 month mark and was told by
my doctor I could return in a couple weeks if I chose, I had decided I was not
going to return, I met with my Stake president and told him my plans and what I
wanted to do instead of go back, he told me that work would be there when I
finish my service as a missionary and encouraged me to return. I still was set in not returning, He asked me to pray about
it one more time, that night I got on my knees and I said in my prayer "I
have decided I am not going back, I feel good about this choice, but if I am
making the wrong choice I need to know, my desire is not there to return, so I
need a bold answer", it was a simple prayer, but I meant it, I had an
appointment for 2 weeks with my Stake president and I had to let him know what
I was going to do, the Saturday night before I was to meet with my stake
president I had still not felt anything that pointed me to go back, I had told
me dad (who is also my bishop) that I was not going to return and that I would
be released tomorrow afternoon when I met with the Stake president. My Dad had
received a phone call earlier that afternoon and was told that Elder Clark of
the 70 was in town and would like to come to our ward to talk to the youth,
when I told my dad that I would not be returning he asked If I was going to be
at church tomorrow and then told me who was going to be there, I was excited to
hear a member of the 70 but I didn't think anything about him coming really.
The next day I went to church, Elder Clark spoke in sacrament meeting it was
amazing, it was powerful, but I still felt good about getting released, after
the meeting he walked up to me (I was still wearing my name tag not being
released yet) he asked me "where are you from Elder" I responded
"I am from here" he looked at my tag then looked at my dad who was
behind him and said "Bishop is this your boy" Then he looked at me
and asked "what are you doing here" I told him about the surgery and
how I needed to return home, he then asked me "when do you return" I
got emotional and said " I have lost all desire to go back" he then
looked at me and said "Elder you must go back" my dad jumped in the
conversation and asked if we could talk during Sunday School, he looked at his
wife and they both agreed that they could do that, the three of us sat and
talked about my whole mission experience, I shared the story I have just shared
with you, soon my dad was asked to join the meeting, is was an amazing
conversation and one that i will never forget, and the end of the conversation
he said to me "Elder Lott, you have been through so much, just go finish
this" I knew then that the Lord had answered my prayer in a very humbling
way. I met with my stake president a few hours later and told him of the
experience, and three weeks later I returned to the mission. I have been back
now just under 3 months and it has been the best thing I have ever done, the
day after I returned my mission president came to me and asked me to learn
Spanish and spend my last little bit of time in the mission teaching people in Spanish. It has been amazing. I don't know why the Lord has asked me to go through so
much during my whole mission experience, but looking back on it I wouldn't have
it any other way. I have learned that The Lord gives us chances to gain His
trust, when I was sent home it was not only a teaching experience for me, but a
chance to see how teachable I was and how much I trusted the Lord and give him
a reason to trust Him. The Gospel is so true, but just because it is true
doesn’t mean we won’t have to work hard to have it in our lives, Think about
Joseph Smith an all he went through just to have the Gospel in his life and in
the Lives of so many people. I promise it will all be worth it.
