This is it! I am now starting my last week as a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Many people lately have been asking me, both from home and here in the mission, "Elder, como se siente? ya está listo y preparado para irse a la casa?" Umm...I don't know. No. I don't know. Haha. I feel as though I am ready to go home, but not ready to leave behind all these people and all these wonderful memories that I've made here in the mission. Panama without a doubt is my home. So when people ask me if I'm ready to "go home", I wonder rather, "am I ready to leave my home?"
Overall though I am excited for this next stage in my life, many, many goals that I have for post-mission life: education, college, marriage and family, etc. I'm excited also for all the talks that I'll be giving back home, I think I have 5 planned as of now, haha. You all need to come see them, if only my homecoming one on the 24th, that'd be great. But I think it'd be really cool if some of you decided to come hear the Spanish talks I'm giving too, on the 17th. Those talks are going to be so much easier for me, because speaking about the Gospel in English is really tough for me right now. I make it sound somewhat easy here in my emails, but in reality, it's different when it's spoken out loud. The words just don't run out of my mouth correctly anymore, but that'll be a work in progress.
As I've been thinking about these talks; what I'm to speak about, I've been searching the scriptures. Here in the mission I've begun to understand the "amazingness" of the topical guide, which is way better in English than the Spanish "guía para el estudio de las escrituras." Both are good, but English has WAY more references that aren't even mentioned in the Spanish one surprisingly. I think for my talks, English and Spanish, I'll be using both sets of scriptures, side by side, seeing which scriptures are more powerful and direct in which language. It's cool knowing 2 languages pretty well, takes studying to a whole other level. If you would like to know when and where I'll be giving all these talks, ask my mom for my itinerary, haha :P
I'm getting ready for all that God has in store for me back home, changes that have happened since being in the mission. For example, I'll be going to BYU Idaho for my first semester back in college! WOOT! I had been hoping for Provo, but wasn't accepted, but I was from Idaho. I'm really excited for that as well, it's just going to be really, really cold there and quite the shock for my body that's been in 95 degree jungle weather for 2 years, rain, heat, more rain, more heat, shifting to dry bitter bone chilling cold haha :)
Yesterday we went off to a different part of Tocumen to a birthday party of a member that invited my comp and I. I was there for like a half hour or so, when it hit me..."I've been in this house before." I was so confused trying to think of when the heck I'd been there. Then it hit me...BOOM! I was there almost exactly 2 years ago, for one day, with my trainer, Elder Jarquin. He came to say goodbye to that same family of the daughter whose birthday it was. I was so shocked that I remembered that, so weird. I walked back outside to their porch and looked around, and then it all came back to me. My last week with Jarquin we went around visiting his old areas saying goodbye to people. We had gone by another lady's house before that and had gotten a few mola ties and I remember putting on one of them with Jarquin and taking pics with that family, 2 years ago almost to the date. Strange deja vu, now being MY last week and going to the same house. Brought a lot into perspective.
I want you all to know how much I love you, and have really missed you. I wasn't one to say how much I miss my family, but I really have. Scriptures this week are good ones, Helaman 4:23-25 that shows us that without God, we are literally nothing. When people reject Him, they are left to fight their own battles without God's divine intervention. Lastly, one of my favorites, suitable for this occasion, 2 Timothy 4:6-7, I have fought the good fight everyone :) Oh...see you all next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment