Departing Missionaries
February 23, 2015
It is always hard to say good-bye to our missionaries. This group is no exception. They have served the Lord with all their heart, might, mind and strength. We are so proud of them. We miss them already. This mission will miss them!
One of the Elders left us a letter and I want to share a portion of it.
" Although the growth of the Church has been impressive, the real miracles occur inside of every missionary who truly dedicated himself to the work. I have grown so much spiritually? ..... Throughout my Mission I have always asked myself, "What is the key to success.... and to be a successful Missionary? I thought if I worked twice has hard ..I would have twice the baptisms. Finally it occurred to me 2 weeks ago that a successful missionary and the greatest baptizer aren't always the same person. A successful missionary is a missionary who changes his heart, or, who repents" "The Lord wants us to prepare ourselves for a lifetime of dedicated service to him" . "All the hard work has refined me so that I might be a useful instrument in his hands the rest of my life. That is the real success of a Mission". 3 Nephi 5:13 "I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have
another Elder wrote this:
A mission is not unlike our lives here on earth. It is a very short time when compared to the rest of our lives, but has a huge influence on who we are and who we become. The choices we make now will have eternal consequences in the life to come. If we can't give our all for these short two years,(or for these short few we have on this earth) how will we be able to give our all during our eternal life?
2 Nephi 31:19-20
" And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into the strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay! for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.
Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men, wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."
We are so proud and pleased with our missionaries! I know that the Lord is too. They are great ym, yw, leaders and have served valiantly! Before they leave the Mission I ask them to write their testimony. I will bring home binders full of the testimonies of our missionaries. It is a treasure. We hope someday we see many of them again and wish them all the best!
l-r back row Elders Watchman, Payne, Mayolo, Rasmussen, Santana, Jackson and Bonaro. Sister Thedell sitting in front
