Dear Family,
It's kind of hard for me to believe that this is the last letter I will write. I remember when I entered the MTC, and how I thought that this day was an eternity away. I can’t really believe that it’s finally here. The mission has become my life. Mexico has become my home, and Spanish has become my language. Starting the mission, everything seemed so foreign to me: the mission schedule, the language, the culture, the people, and the food. But slowly all of those things have become a part of me.
It’s difficult to explain what the mission has meant to me. It has been the most difficult yet rewarding experience I have ever lived. But I have come to learn that that is how life must be when one dedicates their life to the service of the Lord. The testimony truly comes after the trial of our faith. I have also learned that Christ has indeed suffered so that can know how to succor his people. The saving of human souls is the most rewarding work that one can do on this Earth. To see lives change for the eternities is a joy that nothing in this world can offer.
I believe that the greatest convert of my mission is myself. By accepting a mission call one accepts to be molded and perfected by the hand of God. It is a long and sometimes painful process, but in the end one can look back and see the masterpiece the Lord has created. I’m not saying that I am that masterpiece, but I accept that the work that the Lord has done for me in these two years has truly been a work of art.
Throughout the mission, a missionary always has this day in the back of his mind. But I never thought I would be this sad when it finally came. I have grown to love these people and this country. I think I understand now how Alma and the sons of Mosiah must have felt as they worked among the Lamanite people. These are truly a chosen people. I now understand what caused the three Nephites to ask to be permitted to serve until the second coming of Christ. I feel a little guilty that I decided to cut my mission a month short to start school, but what’s done is done. There are more things waiting for me back home.
I would like to conclude this letter with my testimony. I know this is the true church of Christ. I know that because I have asked and received an answer. The Book of Mormon is the word of God, and is the most important tool that we have in these latter days to bring to pass the salvation of human souls. I know that God lives. He loves every one of His children. He listens to us, and will answer us. I know that He has a plan for us. Part of this plan is that we can have eternal families.
Thank you for raising me in a home where love and righteous principles were always taught. I love you and look forward to seeing you soon.
“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.” Joseph Smith
Love,
Elder Hansen
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