Elder Robert Flint Fillmore — 1971
— ELDER FILLMORE — 1971 —
Missionary work with Elder Robert Flint Fillmore was anything but dull. He was an extremely hard worker, but he also knew how to have fun. As long afternoons of tracting would drag on, he would liven things up at doorsteps by introducing himself as “Elder Ado” and myself as “Elder Berry”, or numerous other frivolous pseudonyms. One day, an elderly Catholic woman answered our knock. Seeing who we were, she retrieved a framed picture of the Virgin Mary which showed Mary’s heart laying externally on her chest. Pointing to the picture, she boldly declared, “I have been saved by the holy blood and the holy heart of the Blessed Virgin!” Elder Fillmore retorted, “I do believe you are right, madam. I think I just saw that heart start beating!” Judging by the speed with which she slammed the door, she apparently didn’t appreciate Elder Fillmore’s humor nearly as much as I did.
Elder Fillmore’s faith, diligence, and dedication were legendary in our mission. Unbeknownst to most of the mission, he fasted every other day during his mission. This incredible practice was not done out of arrogance or pride, but as an extreme expression of his love for the Lord and gratitude for the weekly blessings that occurred therefrom. I fasted right along with him, thinking this was standard practice in the New Zealand South Mission, and I reaped the accompanying blessings right along with him.
Elder Fillmore certainly knew how to commit investigators for baptism. He had baptized at least one person every week for several months in a row when I became his companion, and his streak continued while we served together. One week in New Plymouth, Thursday had arrived and we still didn’t have a person committed for baptism that week. Elder Fillmore scoured our records for any part-member families in our area that we hadn’t visited, and he located the Skipworth family. They lived quite a distance from New Plymouth, out in the outback. We drove to their farm on Friday morning, and lo and behold, this family had a young son who hadn’t been baptized, and the parents were willing for him to join the church. Two problems existed, however. No one could be baptized unless they had attended a church service at least once. The mother had a vague memory that perhaps Lance had come to church with them years before as a small child. Elder Fillmore quickly helped turn that vague memory into a firm and verifiable fact. The second problem was more ominous. None of the family (including the boy himself) knew exactly how old he was. In order for his baptism to count as a convert baptism for us as missionaries, he had to be at least 12 years old. The mother thought the boy was only 11, but the father was quite sure that he was 12. Elder Fillmore quickly cast the deciding vote, siding with the father. An appropriate date of birth was selected and recorded on the baptismal interview form, and young Lance Skipworth was baptized the next day as a 12-year old convert baptism.
I couldn’t have been blessed with a better companion that Elder Fillmore. I learned so much from him, and he helped set the tone for the rest of my mission. His exploits were legendary, and they remain so even now, years later. I look forward to the day in the future when I will be able to personally thank President Ludwig for assigning me to Elder Fillmore as my mission began. However grateful Amulon was to have Alma as a companion would be a fair representation of how I felt about my trainer.
Click here to return to the Personal Life Journal index