Monday, April 3, 2017

The Best 18 Months

Well...this is it.

These past 18 months have flown by so fast. I dont even remember what it is like to not be a missionary. Tomorrow I will be traveling with President to Ocotal, where 18 months ago I started my mission. It will be a day of tears and memories!

I am so blessed to have been able to be a missionary. For my whole life it has been a dream and goal of mine. As of next week, that goal will be completed. When I first started my mission, I lived with a sister named Hermana Wilkins, who was about to finish her mission. One of her last nights we stayed up talking and she said, "I just want to know if I did everything I was supposed to and If i have changed enough." As the weeks have gone by, I have found myself with the same question in my heart. Have I done everything the Lord wanted me to do?

In the MTC I heard a talk by Elder Holland. He shared a story about a man on a cliff that heard the voice of God. God said,

"Come to the edge."

"No, I'll fall.", responded the man.

"Come to the edge.", God said again.

"No, I'll fall."

"Come to the edge!" God told him one last time.

And in the story the man says, I came to the edge.

He pushed me.

And I flew.

As I have thought about the people I have met, the miracles I have seen, and the spirit I have felt, I truly have flown. Before we do something great, we always feel fear. Fear always tries to hold us back. But our Heavenly Father pushes us to limits we can't even imagine so that we can become more like Him. Like Jean A. Stevens said, "The gospel is not weight. It is wings." On my mission I have seen Heavenly Father work miracles, change hearts, and bless those who obey his commandment.

I know that I have done what I needed to do here in Nicaragua. But it doesnt end here. President Nelson has said that as you teach the gospel, you will learn more. It is the Lord's way of helping us comprehend the gospel. After teaching about Jesus Christ for 18 months, I understand a lot more about who my Savior is. I understand a lot more about the plan of Salvation and how important the gospel is. I am excited to continue to share this message even though I will be doing it without my plaque.

I know that Jesus is the Christ. And I know that God is a God of miracles. And like Nephi,

... my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

They say that you can take the girl out of Nicaragua, but you can't take the Nicaragua out of the girl. The experiences that I have had here have changed my life forever. I will treasure the memories that I made here for the rest of my life because on my mission I truly came to understand the beautiful plan of our loving Heavenly Father.

See you all next week!

--

Hermana Willes



Me and my MTC comp, Hermana Speas

FHE with the Poncios

Watching Conference

Reading the Book of Mormon with Fransisco