I have frequently thought about running on my mission. I'm not saying that I fantasize about running marathons or leaving the apartment at 6.30 am to go on a morning jog. It's more the spiritual kind of running. It's the "I will keep the commandments with all my heart" (Alma 45.7) and "offer your whole souls as an offering unto Him" (Omni 1.26) kind of running. It is the kind of running that takes blood, sweat, and tears in the form of fasting, prayers, and faith. It is the kind that wears you out at the same time as it gives you energy and life. It is the running that you can't stop doing even when you are exhausted or fatigued or frustrated or don't want to because it is important.
Why do we do this kind of running? As Paul says, "so that [we] can obtain" (1 Cor. 9.24). What are we seeking to obtain? An incorruptible crown. Eternal life with our Heavenly Father and our families.
What did this running look like for us this week? It looked like going out finding for hours and hours all week long and not seeing success and then pushing back weekly planning and studies to go finding again in the few hours before 4.00 on Sunday when we have to report numbers and then talking to person after person who says thanks, but no thanks and then one of us saying we should just send in numbers at 3.58 and the other saying no and then saying a prayer in their heart that Heavenly Father would help us accomplish our goal and lead us to someone willing to set a return appointment and He did in the remaining 2 minutes of the week. It looked like doing all of weekly planning as we walked to the bus stop, waited at the bus stop, and rode the bus on Sunday night because it needed to get done.
Running can be hard. Running can be exacting. It requires effort. But God blesses our efforts. So "let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith" (Heb. 12.1). Let us go and do. Let us live our testimonies out loud. Let us run, that we may obtain.