queridos irmãos e irmãs..
The email that I never in my life thought I would get to, has
arrived.... now I know what the scriptures mean when they say the great and
dreadful day of the Lord is upon us...
Wow what a strange feeling to be writing to you guys knowing I’ll
get to see your real life faces in less than a week now. I’m writing this mass
email and not sending individual ones because I have to write quick and get out
of here and also because I’m kind of at a loss for words right now to explain
what is going on in my head and my heart. So it’s better to just save up the
few words I have to use when I get home. So sorry for the lack of personal
replies this week but I read and loved your emails! I’ve been thinking about
how much my family has sustained me during my mission, that I never had to
worry about if they were okay, if they were writing to me, or if they were going
to church, that in and of itself is a huge blessing that not 20% of the
missionaries here have.
Yesterday I got special permission from Presidente to visit Estancia
which was the most amazing experience. I got to see some members and the family
of Magna and Cinval that are all active in the church now and have callings and
are preparing to go to the temple. It was amazing to talk about the stories
about when we contacted them in the street and their son thought we were Jehovah’s
Witnesses and when we would ask them if they prayed and they would give some
excuse that they forgot, it was incredible to hear their side of the story. I
had got there kind of late and the daughter, Gabi that’s 12, was waiting on the
porch when I started down the street with the Elders there, she saw me and ran
inside ´´mom she’s here she really came!!´´ I’ll have to tell you more when I
get home. Wow. Most amazing experience!
But I also got to see all of your videos this week at Laleska’s
house. Holy cow you don’t know how much I cried like a big baby. hahaha We were
eating Brasilian treats and hot dogs after a family night there and all of a sudden
I heard Sydney’s voice and I whipped around and her big head was on the
computer screen talking to me in a language I wasn’t understanding and I just
cried and cried to hear your voices. I cried through all the videos even Spencer’s
that was 4.5 seconds long. It’s the thought that counts right? ;) thank you
guys!!
But this week I just sucked my tears and nerves up and went to
work. We walked and sweat and taught and testified which is exactly how I wanted
to spend my last week in the field. There are few things better than getting to
an investigators house and asking them if they prayed, if they read the Book of
Mormon, and they say ´´yes, I felt something different just like you said I
would.´´ What I love about a mission is that you don’t have to worry about
yourself, not in one single moment. You get to find yourself and who you are,
serving others and trying to figure out what their needs are instead of
focusing on your own. That is something precious I have learned here. That we
come to truly know the Savior here not just because we´re always talking about
Him, but because we are also sometimes cast out, rejected, mocked, our
intentions questioned, but above all we serve in some partial limited capacity
like He served. I am humbled and grateful to have walked a few measly steps of
the path that He walked.
I truly loved my last area. I love the members and my
investigators. They are an imperfect people of course, but you just can’t help
but love them so much. I don’t know if I’ve done a super great job of
bearing my testimony for you guys or the spiritual truths I’ve learned here,
but I want you to know that my testimony is truly the most precious thing I
have gained here. I don’t know everything about the church or the gospel but I know
that I have pleaded and conversed and truly talked with our Father in Heaven
and He has many times given me clear and real guidance and direction. I know He
calls real and living prophets on the earth because I feel the confirmation every
time I hear them speak. I know this gospel to be true, not because my parents
told me, but because I prayed to know, and I have been praying and studying a
year and a half to be sure. He truly knows us and loves us, I can’t explain it
any better than that. If we want to truly follow Him, if we want to truly be
like Him one day, we will follow the example of our dear Savior, in word and in
deed.
I feel that I’m coming home half hearted, because I’ll be leaving
the other half here in Brasil. I feel like it has been very little that I have
given back to the Savior after all that He has done for me. I will forever be
in His debt. My mission here in Maceio has come to an end but there is a whole
lifetime of dedicated service I am ready to take on now, with Him by my side.
He is the most important thing in my life, and that is something that I didn’t
know while I was at home. Thank you for all your support, I love you all to the
moon and back! a minha família é maravilhosa, nunca pensei que ia sentir tanto
saudade de um lugar e nunca pensei que ia ser mais difícil para sair do que foi
para chegar.
I’ll see you all Sunday! :) até domingo!
Sister Walker
