Before they call, I will answer

October 2023

About a year ago, I spent a week in Germany, where I had been a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2006 through 2008.

I arrived in Hamburg on a Sunday, rented a car, and drove straight to the nearest Latter-day Saint meetinghouse. It turned out to be a stake conference — a multi-congregational meeting — including members of a congregation from an area I lived as a missionary.

Congregation inside Wartenau Hamburg LDS Church Building

I was excited to recognize one of the speakers during the conference, and while waiting to talk with her after the meeting, a man approached me and asked “Bist du Elder Duvall?” (Are you Elder Duvall?).

Some Background

As a missionary, I was in Neumünster, Germany from December 2007 – May 2008, and the Torke family was particularly supportive and involved with missionary work, especially Ruben, who was 17 at the time.

After I finished my mission, I was a teacher in the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, when Ruben was called on a mission to Poland a couple years later. We ran into each other at the MTC and had a few minutes to catch up! This was special, because we were able to talk in German, and share some highlights and lowlights of our lives. Ruben was able to share some struggles at the beginning of his mission that we talked through, and we were both uplifted and edified. That was the last time we had seen each other.

Back to October 2023

Ruben and his mother Brigitte had been sitting in the pews and noticed me waiting to talk to Fredericke. Thinking I looked familiar, they took a few moments to try to remember my name. “Duvall” was the first one that to Ruben’s mind, and he came up to me to check if that was me!

The fact that they recognized and remembered me 15 years later was validating and encouraging!

Any given Latter-day Saint congregation typically has 2 or more missionaries serving in their ward at a time, and missionaries switch areas around every 12 – 18 weeks. This means a congregation will likely meet 8 – 10 missionaries every year, and the Neumünster congregation probably had 120 – 150 missionaries since I left. This makes it even more heartening :)

After chatting a little bit, Ruben extended a spontaneous invitation to his home for dinner that night, and I changed my evening plans to join. It was a wonderful time.

While at dinner, Ruben invited me to join the Neumünster ward temple trip that week. One of the main points of my Germany trip was to visit people and places that were special to me, so I changed my plans again so I could join them in the temple that week :)

It was wonderful to spend time in the temple with people I hadn’t seen in 15 years, and great to make new friends.

In his home, and in the temple, Ruben and I had several opportunities to talk, and we ended up connecting in several areas — goals, perspectives, memories, and even doubts and trials. We’ve also both dealt with long periods of waiting somewhat similarly. While Ruben and his wife were waiting to have children, he decided he wouldn’t cut his hair until they did. While I’ve been waiting to be married, I’ve decided I won’t eat desert until I do. Both similarly unconventional ways to express dedication and desire to our Heavenly Parents :)

Overall, Ruben helped me feel welcome and a strong sense of belonging. I’m very grateful for that.

April 2024

Several months later, I was sitting in another stake conference — this time in my own stake in Virginia. My thoughts wandered back to the previous stake conference and experiences in Germany. The feelings of belonging came back, and I felt gratitude again for Ruben helping me feel so welcomed and included. I had a spontaneous urge to thank him for that, so I messaged him :)

A few hours later, Ruben responded. He thanked me for my message, and said the timing was meaningful and profound for him…

Earlier that week, Ruben had visited the temple in Frankfurt (which was coincidentally the last place I had seen him), and he was impressed with the variety of people in the temple as patrons and temple workers — old and young, men and women, different ethnicities and backgrounds. Ruben was impressed with the ability of the temple to be a place of belonging for so many different people.

On the Sunday I messaged, Ruben had participated in a gospel discussion at church about Enos who prayed “in the forests…all the day long” (Enos 1:3-4) seeking God’s hand and guidance in his life.

These two things preceded Ruben deciding to go into the forest near his home after church, where he sought the Lord’s will in prayer. He was impressed that it was the Lord’s will for him to focus on helping create a place of “belonging” in his home, church, and community.

Right as Ruben finished his prayer and was leaving the forest, he received my text, thanking him for creating a place of “belonging” for me. This was a confirmation to him that he was understanding God’s will for him and that He had the ability to act on it.

Before they call, I will answer

Neither Ruben nor I knew he would have this experience in April this year, but God did, and He prepared us to see His hand and to be His hands in these experiences.