Charlie Wardle: Mission to Sapporo

This is a story I wrote for school while my younger brother, Charlie was on his mission, so probably about 1980.  I wrote it for an English writing class.

My Brother

My brother, Charlie, has now been on a mission for about a year.  He left in June of last year, less than a month after he graduated from high school.  He is in the Japan, Sapporo Mission.  He has had some interesting experiences on his mission, including being able to go to Tokyo for the dedication of the temple where he was able to meet President Kimball.  He also has been able to enjoy missionary experiences, being able to baptize people into the church, live closer to God, and get to know a new people as if they were his own.  Also a great challenge that has come to him is being able to learn a new language.

My brother is three years younger than I am, but he is an Inch or two taller than me.  Not only is my brother taller than I am, but he is also much more muscular and has a much better build than I do.  He played football in high school (which I didn’t) and consequently lifted weights much of the time, resulting in his muscular physique.

I have long respected my brother, not for his physical size, but for his spiritual size.  One day I ran across his journal.  The things my brother wrote impressed me and gave me some insight in how close my brother is to the Lord and how hard he tries to follow his religion.  His journal indicated that he prayed every day.  It also gave some indication as to the strong beliefs my brother has as well as his strong desire to do good. 

This strong desire to do good was evidenced to me by his entire personality in the months before he went on his mission.  It seemed like religion became the focal point of his life.  He was always trying to act, or talk like a religious person. 

Even the friends Charlie went around with were an evidence of his religious conviction.  In his sophomore and junior years of high school he ran around with a slightly unruly crowd, but his last year of high school his best friends were Marty Smith and Jon Thomas—two of the most religious people (in the sense of going to church and trying to live good Christian lives) his age who lived close to him.

Whether Charlie’s change came truly form his heart, or just from his appearances, I’m not totally sure; but if I were question on the matter I would say it was truly a change of heart.