I am touched by the description in a longer email sent from a friend serving 474 days in Afghanistan. We worked closely together when I was director of the Jacobsen Center for Service and Learning. He was my counterpart at BYU-Idaho working closely with then President Bednar in setting up the various internship and education gateway programs BYU-Idaho sponsors all over the US and in some foreign countries like Ghana. He is an exceptional person named Guy Hollingsworth. He serves as commander of a special intelligence unit in Afghanistan. He gives me much to consider in Remembering the Covenants of our Mothers and Fathers. His image of the Lamanite Warriors under Helaman in the Book of Mormon is especially on point:
" The specialized Reservists hold down jobs back home that are as follows: a fireman, a policeman, an airline pilot, a Wall Street broker, a CPA, a mechanic, several DEA agents, a Harvard graduate, an Oxford graduate, a Rhodes Scholar, and the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, (my one chance to tell a Notre Dame fan what to do without any repercussions--and still have the assurance that I have tickets to any football game there I wish in the future. He knows I do his final evaluation!). Truly, it is a bit of a “baker, butcher, and candlestick maker” conglomerate--just one that has people with very specific skills.
I have been serving as the Bagram Branch President and have been blessed to find the time to do what is necessary in that position. I have good counselors who willingly give of their time when possible, as we are responsible for about 1/3 or the members of the Church in country. There are about 400-ish members in Afghanistan right now (shrinking as I write), almost all servicemen and women, diplomats, government personnel, and contractors. There is one native Afghan who is a member in the country.
I am always touched by the good members here who do whatever it takes to get to the Sacrament on Sundays. Many have just come off 12-16 hour shifts— dirty, stinky, tired, wearing body armor and a wide array of weapons of war strapped to their weary souls—struggling to stay awake but glad for the opportunity to take the Sacrament, to fellowship with members, and feel the spirit from our little congregation. And then despite their exhausted bodies, wanting to linger just a few extra minutes afterwards--just to bask in the spirit a bit longer, all after what has undoubtedly been a difficult day and week to put it mildly. It is an emotional sight for me each week and one like no other imaginable. I try to envision the worship services the Lamanite Warriors in the Book of Mormon held when they could, and compare this Bagram group of warriors to being a modern day version of the same. All here are valiant volunteers for their country and for the Lord. I’m teaching one good brother the gospel as he prepares for baptism and working on helping three others get the priesthood either restored or preparing to advance. We have one session in the morning and another one in the evening in an effort to accommodate those here at Bagram—which is the largest FOB in country. It is all a humbling experience for me.
The nastiness of the work here continues to keep me on my toes, and I continue to appreciate the opportunity to serve, and am hopeful that my efforts make a small difference in the big picture here. I have seen mankind at their worst and best in the last year—in a setting that simply cannot be like any other. The lessons learned for me have been immense, and although most of the work is classified in nature, my journal fills up every day. I’m running the Boston Marathon-Afghanistan this week inside the wire of the Bagram Air Base (sponsored by the folks in Boston and run three days before that marathon). Although most likely the slow, old guy in the back of the pack, it has given me something to look forward to for the last couple months. Simply put, it has been a bucket list item for a number of years—and may be the only time I do such a thing."
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