Well, this chapter of my life is coming to end. In 2 days, I will no longer be a set apart missionary for the Lord Jesus Christ and that is super odd. Luckily, I'm a decently calm person in general so I've kinda just let it all happen and I've been alright with it. I don't predict that the transition will be that gigantic, I have been using technology and speaking English for the entire 2 years of service in America. Somebody asked me the other day if I was nervous to be coming home and I couldn't think of one thing to be nervous about. Excited? Oh yeah. You bet. There's a lot waiting for me back home that I'd love to get to. Christmas with the family will be heaps better than what I experienced last Christmas as a missionary. I just said prayers all day with people then. It'll be different for sure, I mean for the last 2 years I have somebody who has to back my car up from the outside while I'm in reverse every single time I go in reverse. To not have that person there will be a change. I've had somebody who is within my sight and sound for the last 730 or so days. That will be a change. I haven't flirted with a girl in over 17,520 hours. You bet that'll change. The list goes on and on but I'm ready for it.
To put a whole bow on this missionary service, we were blessed with a baptism last Saturday of a wonderful lady named C. She is a doll. I found her on Facebook by just saying hi to her in her direct messages and we got to talking. Shared a few scriptures and asked if she'd like a Book of Mormon and to come to church. Here we are. She's a middle aged woman who is a therapist and she has such an outgoing personality. Her character will definitely bring such a light to this ward here in Prattville. We were able to have only members do every single responsibility for her Baptismal service which is always one of my favorite things to witness. I only just had to show up to her baptism and watch. We taught her solely over the phone having a member join over the phone from their house. It was a big conference call and it worked wonders. C became best friends with the member who brought over the phone before even knowing what she looked like.
I think lastly I just want to share a couple of important things I've learned, but not too much since I am giving a talk very soon. Here's a couple:
-Missions are difficult and tedious at times. They aren't always fun but boy are they good for you. They test your patience, they try your tolerance, and mentally wreck you sometimes but all of that is so necessary. You gotta learn to endure the bad and look for the good that you get from it. Whether you like it or not, you will learn how to be patient and tolerant of things you aren't fond of. I definitely have.
-Your belief in God needs to be won every single day. Every day I woke up, I had to choose whether or not I cared about the rules I had to follow. I had to choose whether or not I wanted to dive deep into the scriptures and actually pray, or if I wanted to waste that time and not pay much attention. Your conversion really is your willingness to do the nitty-gritty habits everyday. Doing 1 hour of scripture study for one day does little to nothing for you. Doing 1 hour of scripture study every single day for 2 years changes your entire life. Persistently being consistent is everything and I've had to learn that because I sucked a lot sometimes at keeping up the habits.
I don't want to share too much since I do have things to see when I speak, but I just know that this church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is really Christ's church. It has to be. There is no way that this responsibility could be trusted to 18-21 years old boys and girls unless this gospel were true. It's gotta be true. I've had the ability to see how a church congregation runs from the ins and outs and I've witnessed firsthand how perfecltly setup this structure is. That's because it was created by a perfect person. I know that Jesus is the Christ, I know that God is 100% real. You can't change my mind on these things because of what I've seen. I've lived the truth and witnessed it.
Have a blessed week.
Elder Batman 🦇
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