LAST ONE!!!
Hello!
One day I will visit Canada. How's Sav's cheer camp go? That is totally weird and cool that they'll both be at Red Mountain. Good to hear things are going well.
Hey, well, this is my last email after two years of writing emails to you guys.
We saw President's family in the mall a few days ago because they were at the movie theater and then we went to their house the next day to do the changes for the missionaries and I asked them what movie they saw to see if I'd want to go and see it next week. They just laughed. On monday we're going to their house to have a Carne Asada since it's my last day. President tells his wife that we'll be going to dinner at this restaurant called "Tok's" in the evening because I want to go and I said "Who said I wanted to go to Tok's?" and he just looks at me and says "I did." all seriously because he is like in love with that restaurant. So that's what I'll be doing until I get home, pretty much.
Today we have a baptism for our investigator named Diana. She's totally ready and has been to church about 6 times and she's totally excited about it. So that'll be good. We made cool invitations that are like bookmarks and stuff. I think she'll do really well in the church. I'll show you pictures IN PERSON :D
Anyway Aunt Steph, you asked me to give like a summary of the stuff I've learned in the mish. That's going to be a huge list. I feel like I've learned a ton of stuff. Sometimes it totally makes me feel like a fool when I think about some of the stuff I did before the mission (like do everything I could to not take the bus home from school or staying out way too late, etc.). I feel like I've become a better person. I'm still me, but maybe a little less selfish (I like to think that anyway), maybe more nice to others and try to be a little more conscious of their situations. I think that I do a little better in recognizing what's really important and things that aren't as important. I learned some Spanish.
I don't really know how to sum up two years very well. And we all know how much I love to talk about my feelings and stuff like that.
I think I'll sum it up into three things:
1. Putting what I want aside and trying to do what God wants - That's probably been the biggest challenge of my whole mission. Maybe I thought I'd have 1,000 baptisms and that I was going to change the world or whatever (honestly I don't even know what I expected the mission to be like) and having so many influences like what others want you to be doing, I think I've really learned, through tough experiences I've had here, that I have to put whatever it is that I want to be doing or what I want to happen aside and figure out what it is that my Heavenly Father wants me to do first. I might have my plans, but He has His plans and He knows what He's doing. I feel like there's been a lot of times in my mission where He's had to work with my stubbornness and humble me a little so that I could recognize that it's not about me. Obviously I'm still not very good at that, but it's something that I pray for every single night and morning.
2. Problem Solving (Tenacity) - I feel like this is something that UD has been trying to teach me for years but it was until I got here and was presented with an objective and ten million challenges or excuses not to get it done did I really figure out how to solve problems and why it's so important (and how frustrating it is when other people don't realize any of that, so thanks for being patient with me, UD). Especially being here in the office I have like 1,000 things to do and tons of people who are unhelpful or don't get their crap together and I have to figure out how to make things happen with or without their help. With ordering materials, delivering stuff, getting new systems up and running, opening a mission with people that have very little or no experience in any of that, and basically just tons of little stuff like that but I know that my future career will be a lot of that and other stuff, too. It's something that will prove to be valuable, I think.
3 - Consecration - I've recognized a little more about consecrating everything someone has to God or to a good cause. That's basically what being a missionary is. Trying to not waste time that you've consecrated to the Lord and just always be looking for something good that you can do. I hope to be able to bring that into my line of work in the future, too. Maybe I can help someone with the things I do instead of just having a job to make money. Obviously that's going to be a big part of that, but I want to be able to something beneficiary to others, too. That's helped me realize what I want to for a living, too.
But anyway, I've just basically really enjoyed my time here. I feel like I've done some good things. I feel like I gave it about all I had. I feel exhausted. My shoes are a joke. They don't do what shoes are designed to do anymore. I feel happy. I HAVE MISSED YOU GUYS A TON. I'd recommend being a full time missionary to just about anyone. It's proven to be more valuable to me than to anyone else. I feel less lazy.
I'm dreading giving my homecoming talk. I hate talks.
I feel like I have some pretty well thought out plans for my life. We'll talk about those later.
Andddd basically I'm dying to come home and do everything together.
It's been really great.
It's funny because I also feel like I've learned stuff that other people knew before and I think "Ahh, Aunt Steph totally already learned that and that's why she does this." (That's happened on many occasions with you, and UD.)
But anyway. This is the longest email I have ever written. Historical moment.
I will see you on Tuesday :D
Thanks for everything over the last two years.
It kills me how sentimental this email is. Hate talking about feelings.
That's all I've got.
<3
Jord
"The happiest people don't have the best of everything, They just make the best of everything."
