“I did not realize the full impact of what we were doing. I just knew it was changing me. It was letting me stand in the shoes of those with a disability.'
- Elder Spencer Watkins
About a year ago, Elder Spencer Watkins left his home in Okotoks, Alberta to serve a full-time mission in Sydney, Australia. As part of that mission, he helped to create a wheelchair-accessible path at Greystanes as a service for people with severe disabilities. The ongoing project will allow clients to enjoy the beauties of nature. It also gave twenty missionaries an experience with compassion.
Missionaries come to their assigned field of labour not only to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ but also to serve the communities in which they live. So when the President of the Australia Sydney Mission heard that the long-hoped-for pathway at the Greystanes Disability Services facility was cost prohibitive, he volunteered all the missionaries in the surrounding communities to do it for the cost of lunch.
One of the missionaries was Elder Watkins. “At first, he said about the Greystanes work, “I did not realize the full impact of what we were doing. I just knew it was changing me. It was letting me stand in the shoes of those with a disability—to see who they are and what they experience. That is something I have never felt before, and I hope never to forget. I have been a wrestler from the time I was eight. I took movement for granted, but I never will again.”
“The nurses, the caregivers, and the people with disabilities who use the service thanked us—over and over,” he said. “They say what we are doing will improve the quality of life for the friends we have made. I hope so.”
“The staff say they can’t believe how hard we work and how happy we are,” continued Elder Watkins, “but I think the work makes us happy. I did not think I would ever feel this happy so far away from my home and family.”
Leila Wright, Communications and Service Development Manager, said, “The project was envisioned many years ago, but funding and time constraints meant it would remain a dream for many years to come—that is until the Mormon Mission President got in touch with us. People who use wheelchairs will be able to access more of the land and utilize a wheelchair-accessible garden swing,” she said. “Greystanes hopes to enhance the sensory aspects of the garden with scented and tactile plants and features such as water fountains and wind chimes.”
Elder Watkins’ new acquaintances at Greystanes may not be the only beneficiaries of the missionaries’ labours. Plans are underway to include the site in the local Leura Gardens Festival in 2013 as a wheelchair-accessible space for the general public to visit.
Elder Watkins always thought that a mission was his obligation. “I felt it was my duty as a priesthood holder, and I wanted to see what it would be like to commit 100% of my time to the Lord for two years. As it turns out, my mission has been the most incredible experience of my life—and serving people has been a big part of that. I was pretty self-reliant before, and I didn’t think a mission would change me much”, he says. “However, I have grown in ways I did not expect. I am more able to understand and love people, and I have grown closer to the Lord.”