Here, Have an Analogy. Or That Other Word I Can't--ALLEGORY! I've been trying to think of that word all day.

So I was sick this week. Probably just a bad cold but I'm a wimp and the mission president's wife had us stay home in case it was the flu. (Or the Grippe. How's that for dramatic sounding.) So after spending ALL day planning, I came to the realization that a missionary's area is like a novel. I'm gonna need Shelby to fine tune this analogy but I think it holds up. (Shelby writes novels btw. You should go read her book cuz it's awesome also she's getting married and I hope she WROTE ME.)

So there's a whole world out there of millions of people going about their daily lives: that's the setting. Then we have this Area Book, and it's full of character backstories: people who were converted, who could have been, who fell away, who are in the process, who are full of potential. There's a map and a member list and all sorts of character research.

Then there's my planner, where the story plays out. We only have so many hours and so many people--some have to be contacted daily as they approach a climax in their character development, and some are a bit more in the background at the moment. The local church members are the supporting cast.

There's an awful lot of prayer and thought and preparation that goes into persuading just one character to develop: to grow and learn and reach their potential, the hero of their own story. Of course there's only so much we can do, because their decisions are always their own. Will they keep meeting with us? Will they do the tasks we ask of them? All up to them. We provide them with a map and invitations to help them overcome their own personal challenges and then we sit back and watch what they do.

I think any author will tell you it's heartbreaking to watch a character he created fade away, fail, die off, be rejected, whatever the story is. Yet a good author knows to let the story run its course.

God, who is all of our creator, allows us to write our own stories. He create an environment for us to interact with and in, and then he watches to see what we'll do and allows us to choose our own character development. He celebrates our triumphs and mourns our missed opportunities for growth. Don't let's become side characters in our own epics. Face challenges head on. Push through fear. Allow yourself to grow into the wonderful person God knows you can become.

Love you!

-- Sister Teusch