A Missionary Poem

He's Been There Before

The alarm rings at 6:30; I stumble to my feet.

Grab my companion's bedding and pull off his sheet.

A groan fills the room, is it already time to arise?

It seems like just a second ago I was able to shut my eyes.

The morning activities follow with study, prayer and such.

When it's time to leave the apartment, you feel you haven't done too much.

"We have a super day planned." my companion says with a grin.

I lowly utter a faithless breath, "Yeah, if anyone lets us in."

With the word of God and my faithful Schwinn, we ride off in the street.

Prpared to face another day of humidity and heat.

It's 9:30 in the evening, the day is almost through;

My companion and I are riding home, not accomplishing what we thought to do.

We ride up to get the mail, hoping to receive a lot,

Only to look inside and hear my echo reverberate "air box"

We go up to our apartment, the day is now complete.

The only thing to show for our work, a case of blistery feet.

It's past 10:30 pm, my companion is fast asleep.

Silence engulfs me all about and I begin to weep.

In the midst of sadness, I kneel down to pray;

I need to talk to Father, but I'm not sure what to say.

"Oh, Father," I begin, "What happened to us today?

I thought we'd teach somebody, but everyone was away.

My hands, my aching hands - worn, hurt, and beat;

If our area was any smaller, we'd have tracked every street."

"Why on missions are the days all so much alike?

The only difference about today was the flat tire on my bike.

Will you send some cooler weather? The heat is killing me.

I sweat so bad, it gets in my eyes. It's very hard to see."

"Why do I have to wear a helmet, isn't Your protection enough?

People always laugh at me and call me stupid stuff.

Please send us investigators so I may give them what they lack;

I want to give them Book of Mormons, the weight of them hurts my back"

"And what about my family? They don't have much to say.

I'm sick of not hearing from home, day after day, after day.

My companion, Heavenly Father, what are you giving me?

The way he rides his bicycle, I don't think he can see."

"Oh Father, why am I here, am I just wasting time?

Sometimes I want to go home, I'm sorry that's on my mind.

Now you have it, I can't go on, I don't know what to do;

That, my Father in Heaven, is the prayer I have for you."

My prayer now finished I get up and jump right into bed.

I need my rest for tomorrow; we have another long day ahead.

Sleep starts to overtake me, I almost drift off.

Then it seems a vision takes me to another time and another day.

I'm standing alone on a hill, the view is very nice;

A man walks toward me and says, "My name is Jesus Christ."

Tears of joy well up inside, I fall down to His feet.

"Arise," He states, "follow me to the shade - you and I need to speak."

My attention's towards my Savior, total and complete.

He says, "Your mission is similar of what happened to me,

I understand how you feel, I know what you're going through;

In fact, it would be fair to say I felt the same as you."

"I even know how you felt when no one listened to you,

At times I felt not quite sure what else that I could do.

I know you don't like to bike, for you a car would be sweet;

Just remember the donkey I rode wasn't equipped with 21 speeds."

"I understand you don't like sweating. In fact it's something you hate;

When I sweat blood from every pore, oh the agony was great!

I see you don't like your companion - you'd rather have someone else;

I remember my companion Judas, he sold my life for wealth."

"It's hard to wear a helmet and have people make fun of you,

Much like when they put thorns on my head and called me King of the Jews.

So you feel burdened down by the weight of your pack,

I recall how heavy the cross was when they slammed it on my back."

"Your hands hurt from tracking and knocking on doors all day,

I guess when they pounded nails into mine, I ached in a similar way.

It's hard not to hear from home when your family's not there to see;

I lost communication on the cross and cried, "Father, why hast thou forsaken me?"

"We have a lot in common, but there's a difference between us you see,

I endured to the end and finished my mission, so follow and do like me."

He embraced me with his arms, His light filled me with His love,

With tears in my eyes I watched as He ascended back to the Father above.

I stood with awe and wonder when a beep rang in my head,

Listening I heard the alarm, and realized I was in my bed.

My companion let out a grumble, "It's 6:30 already, no way!"

I sat up and said, "Come on, I'll even carry your scriptures today."

No matter what we go through, when we feel we can't take no more,

Just stop and think about Jesus Christ, He's been there before.