By Daniel Garvin

When I was preparing for a mission, I knew that every worthy young man was supposed to serve, but I had not had a personal confirmation of that. I prayed and prayed to ask the Lord if I should serve, but got no answer. I didn’t want to go on a mission. But the thought of NOT serving a mission haunted me even more. I knew that my life would never be what the Lord wanted it to be if I didn’t serve Him. But why should I serve?

During a semester at college, I failed a mid-term. I was depressed and began to question my life. I remember thinking, “Why? Why am I going to school? Why am I even following the commandments? Why should I go on a mission? I pondered on this for the next few days.

I picked up my scriptures and read about how Adam was offering a sacrifice and an angel of the Lord came to him and asked him, Why? “Why are you offering a sacrifice?” Adam’s next words seemed to jump off the page at me.

“I know not, save the Lord commanded me.”

Wow! Even Adam didn’t understand why he was asked to serve the Lord? Now I felt like I was in good company. The question came to my mind again. “Why should I serve the Lord on a mission?”

This time the answer came with clarity. Obedience! I know not, save the Lord has commanded me. It’s all about obedience and about putting God first in our lives. If we put Him first, then when we need Him, he will put us first. For the next two years I was going to be obedient to the Lord’s commandment and put this promise to the test.

When I got my mission call to the Guatemala, Guatemala City North Mission, I felt an immediate love for those people, even though I had never met them. I knew there would be challenges ahead, but I never knew to what extremes my faith, commitment and love of the Lord would be tested by serving in the jungles of Guatemala.

One Saturday night, I was in the jungles of Polochic. I had been attacked by insects called scabies that bite and then defecate causing the area of contact to get infected, and puffy and swollen. After dealing with it for a couple of days (not able to scratch it because it makes it worse) it started to break open and bleed and ooze. Sweating, or even moving, caused great pain. But putting my faith in the Lord and trying to forget myself, I kept working, despite the rash coving my whole upper body.

On Tuesday my companion and I headed out in the back of a truck to a tiny village called San Francisco to do a baptismal interview. After the interview, we found out that we had just missed the last truck back to our area. We were in the jungle, two mountain ranges from home.

The day before, I had eaten some bad food and was suffering its effects. We had two hours until dark with a five hour walk ahead of us. So having an infected rash, pains in my stomach, and unrelenting fatigue we began to quickly walk towards home.

After walking for about 45 minutes, my boots broke! The entire sole came completely disassembled from the shoe, making it impossible to walk. I thought to myself: “What else could possibly happen to make this worse?” As I completed that thought, a drop of rain landed on my arm. It then began to pour.

I remembered that I had brought some string with me and so I used it to tie the sole back onto the boot. We continued walking for about two hours through the pouring rain. I was so cold and so hot all at the same time. I was soaked, and was fighting back the fatigue.
We saw a truck coming down the road, and stuck our thumbs out for a hitchhike. It slowed down, but only to tease us. As we ran to get in, it took off down the road at full speed.

Three and a half hours of walking later, it was pitch black, cold, and wet. Our spirits were predictably low when we arrived at the hardest, most dreaded place; a two-hour walk straight up the side of a mountain range! We continued walking as I fought my nausea.

I looked up into the dark, rain-filled sky, and offered a prayer for help and strength to be able to make the last part of the journey. As I finished, my companion looked over at me and said, “Hey elder, do you hear that?”

I looked back to see headlights appear in the dark path. This truck stopped and told us to hop in! We were so ecstatic! As we hopped into the back of the truck, I told my companion that I had just prayed for help, and right when I finished my prayer, the truck came to our rescue! Talk about answers to prayers!

But to me the best part of this experience was that I had actually felt the presence of the Holy Ghost the whole time. It made me feel comforted and safe, despite all the adversity that we had faced. Not once, during the entire “adventure” had I become angry or complained. It was because the Holy Ghost had been with me, helping me, strengthening me, comforting me and directing me the entire time!

As we rode in the back of the truck, I thought about the good we had accomplished by helping a young man prepare to enter the Church. I wasn’t thinking about the pain in my stomach or the bitter cold any longer, or even the fact that I was soaking wet, and covered in mud. I had concentrated on the good that had been accomplished that day.

That day I experienced a miracle. By loving God and putting Him first in my life, He had indeed guided and protected me through the comforting companionship of the Holy Ghost.
Why serve God? I will never ask that question again, because I have FELT the answer through His love and protection.

Elder Daniel Benjamin Garvin, from the Mountain Crest Ward, Las Vegas West Stake, is currently serving in the Guatemala, Guatemala City North Mission.