August 8, 2011 - Last post

Posted on 2:07 PM by Elder Messer | 0 comments

Pues…. Me es dificil creer que ya se me acabaron los mejores dos años……It feels like yesterday I was saying goodbye to everyone in the airport and getting dropped off by Lindsey at the MTC and here I am at the other end of the spectrum about to finish my mission. It really did go by fast. I don`t think I can even began to describe how I`ve been feeling in these last couple days. I just feel straight up weird. I`m happy because I get to come home and see my family and friends but at the same time I feel like I`m leaving family and friends here in Ecuador so its hard. I love the people of Ecuador. It’s been hard to say goodbye to everyone this week.

But anyway, It was a good week. I did my best to show Elder Whitlock the area. And the most exciting news is that we have a baptism coming up this Saturday. I`m sad that I won`t be there for it but I still count him as my convert. His name is Luis Flores. He is the father of Kristina Bonilla Flores (The wife of the family that we baptized last month). He has had a drinking problem his whole life which has caused a lot of problems but hasn`t drank for over a month now and has come to church 4 weeks in a row. He says that during the week he always wants Sunday to come faster so that he can go to church. He doesn`t speak very much Spanish and has almost no formal education so we have been teaching him like we would teach a 4 year old with simple words and really basic concepts. We have been working with the bishop too so that he can translate what we say into Quichua and help Luis understand better. He doesn`t understand much but he says that he feels peace when he prays, in church, and when we teach him. He should get baptized this Saturday.

At the beginning of my mission I thought that God and Christ had done so much for me that going on a mission was the least that I could do to try and repay them but now I realize that my debt to them has grown even bigger because they have blessed me so much over these past 2 years. It really is true what King Benjamin said in Mosiah chapter 2; we will always be unprofitable servants. The more we try to pay off our debt to Christ the more he blesses us and the bigger our debt because. Going on a mission wasn`t a sacrifice. It was a privilege and a blessing. I have gained a simpler but more profound understanding of the Gospel. I feel like I gained like 50 years of life experience with all the people that I got to help and all the problems that I got to see and try and help solve. I got to see and be part of miracles. There was absolutely nothing bad about going on a mission. It was the best decision I have ever made in my life.

I`d like to close my last letter with a scripture. Its in 2 John 1:12. It reads, “Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.”

God be with you till we meet again!

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