Friday, November 21, 2014

11/17 The Last and Most Beautiful Letter from the Mission

I just bought out Sarajevo when I was up there on my exchange! I have so many souvenirs I think I’m turning into a Muslim-so it’s cool... I like it! ha but #really!  It was a great exchange except for the fact it got cut short cause I worked this poor missionary so hard that she threw up because her body was not used to it. I felt like we really didn’t do a whole lot, but I felt so bad for her! Sister Chauncey said, "Sister Peterson your work and other missionary work is on a totally different playing field.., you contact everyone and their mom, and work hard and you don’t ever get tired... you’re not normal!" 

The other day I got really tired when we were at dinner with the senior couple. Sister Chauncey was like, "I’m writing this down in my journal and calling people it in to the mission to tell them Sister Peterson is finally tired!!" It was so funny!   I guess you know that’s when I’m hitting the end of my mission. 

When I say those words, I feel like someone just stabbed a knife in my heart.  I have never 
felt heartbroken before and now I know what it's like. The pain that you don’t know how you  can live without these crazy, weird  people in your life, who you have grown to love and occupy your thoughts 24/7. When you come on a mission you think the people need you so much but at the end you realize how much you truly needed them. You go out to teach them and you come back realizing how much they taught you. You got out to help them have a might change of heart but come back realizing you are the one who had the mightiest change of heart. That they have shaped you and opened a whole side of your heart you never knew you had. 

I have come to know full confidence that the scriptures are for our day and age and that they 
have the power to speak to us to lead us and guide us now more than ever. The scriptures are still being fulfilled through us now a days. The Lord is counting on us now to fulfill the scriptures until the day he will come in all is glory to embrace us, reaching out to us. I will be eternally grateful for that opportunity I had to serve him and to be used as a servant to the Balkan people and to embrace them and reach out my arms to hold them when they didn’t know what to do or where to turn. To give them hope that we can get through the hard times. That God does exist and Jesus Christ is our savior and one day it will be Christ arms holding them.  I stand by Mosiah as he said: 

Behold, I say unto you that because I said unto you that I had spent my days in your service, 
I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the service of God.17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God. “
                                                                                                -Mosiah 2:16-17

 Through my service I truly feel selfish cause “The lord has opened the windows of heaven,” and poured me out a blessing!  When you serve,  you truly are the one that feels  more blessed.  We say we sacrifice two years of our life,  but it is no sacrifice at all.  

You realize that these have been the best years of your life , That you have had the best moments of your life here and have felt the most happiness here on the mission. That you 
not only made new friendships here but you have strengthened your relationship with your Savior, your Redeemer, even Jesus the Christ. I love saying Redeemer because I have truly felt his redeeming love  he has for me  and for all these children who need his light so much. 
This is his work .This gospel is true! God is our heavenly father who made us in his image and he sent his son, our chosen brother,  to come and “lead us, guide us walk beside us to help us find the way” so we return to our father and love ones once again.  I know that this is all possible though my Redeemer, Christ. Through trials and taking leaps of faith  I have grown to have a solid  unbreakable  testimony that this church is true and that the BOOK OF MORMON IS THE MOST TURE BOOK ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH  and the Bible and the Book of Mormon work together.  That a mission is the best thing I have ever done inmy life and that this is the lords work and nothing can stop  it but he wants to invite everyoneto partake in it. 

My eyes fill with tears as it all went by too fast.  My little kid dream of serving a missionhas been fulfilled  and it far exceeded my expectation.  But I know it is not the end, that now I truly know about how member missionary work is so important and can’t wait to go home and get to work and do what I love best “preaching the everlasting true gospel” I already have a referral=)

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