7-23-12 The Last Email!

fotos. cake in the ward counsel meeting. going away party

 

well my last week of the mission has come...it is starting to feel like it a little bit. this was a really great week where we saw a lot of miracles. the baptism that we had prepared for this week fell through, but they are a great family and very soon will be baptized. yesterday the dad asked me for a blessing to help him to get married so that they can get baptized. the familia perez that got baptized last week is still on fire! they invited one of their friends to listen to us, and we got there and they just started testifying and sharing their experiences. we almost didnt talk at all haha. hno iturbide got the priesthood this sunday and was really excited. i gave him one of my white shirts and a tie and him and his family look like they've been members forever and have learned a ton! thrusday we had a fireside. we started doing one a month last month, so this was our second. the first one went really well, and this one too. we watched one of the mormon messages, and then talked about repentace and forgiveness and the atonement. it was really powerful and the members liked it a lot. then we played games that went well too. there were a few investigators there that i think enjoyed it a lot. also elder De Hoyos, of the presidency of the seventy came and gave us a training that was really good. it was focused on the atonement. he said if all members understood really what the atonement is, there would be nobody showing up late to sacrament, nobody who doesnt read the scriptures daily, nobody who doesn't pray every day. he basically said the atonement is the key to everything, and i agree. this week i have learned a lot more what the atonement is and what it provides us with the opportunity to do.

 

sunday was a really great day. in church i got to play a song on the piano. i made an arrangement of "god be with you til we meet again". i started out doing it in minor and then changed to a major and it went well. the spirit came super strong when i played the last verse and then the bishop stood up to announce that i would be the last speaker and was crying. i got up to speak and i stood there for about 3 minutes without talking. i tried and just couldnt. i felt so much love for the ppl there and for the mission and had a flash of seeing all of the things that i had done in the last two years. i shared a short message and my testimony and we finished the meeting. the members were all really nice to me. they wrote me cards and all said goodbye. in the ward counsel meeting they brought me a cake. at night some investigators (that were going to get baptized this week but didnt) invited me and like half the ward to their house for dinner. i dont know how they paid for it all, but it was super super nice of them. i have grown to really love and care for the people here and it has been hard to say good byes. it still doesnt feel like it though completely.

 

i had my farewell interview with president castañeda yesterday as well and that was really powerful. he made me a lot of really special promises if i kept living the gospel and asked me, "what is your report to god of your mission?" that is a hard question to answer. i have learned so much in this time and been so blessed to have been here. i have seen so many miracles and seen the real conversion of so many people. there is no greater feeling of joy than to see someone embrace the gospel and receive the blessings of the atonement. at the end of my report i said. "i worked with all of my strength, and the lord has blessed me greatly." president said, "how great will it be to say that same thing when you are in you ¨final interview¨ where Christ is the judge."

 

i want to thank each and every one of you for your love and for your support of the course of my mission here in mexico and over the course of my life. i love you and have learned to love and appreciate you all much more as i have learned about the love our savior has for each of us. thank you.

 

love

 

elder smith

 

ps. see you soon :) ha