Its a little surreal that its over! The first six months of Jesse's mission were filled with anxiety and stress. Wondering if he was happy, hoping he was staying healthy, worrying that he was working hard, worrying whether he was getting along with companions, all things I have no control over...which are the things I tend to worry about most!!! Then the next six month went a little faster I still thought about him, but less and less obsessively!!! Then we skyped at Christmas time and seeing his sweet face, watching his interactions with his companion and those in the room as he spoke...I knew he was good. Really really good. From that time on I have been at complete peace. Knowing that he was exactly where the Lord wants him. Knowing that his testimony was growing stronger each day. He was making it through the small bumps in the road, maybe there were giant sink holes he was dealing with, but he never told us! He was becoming a man. A wonderful man...that's so weird to think that my boy is now a grown man! The experience has been for more than just him, it has increased the testimonies of each of us in our home. We feel the spirit and the love of the Lord because of Jesse's willingness to serve Him. I have received a powerful witness of the work that he is doing, and I KNOW from the bottom of my soul that the gospel is true and that God wants his message spread to the corners of the world so others may come to know HIM too. I am going to miss having a missionary. I will miss his weekly letters even though they stunk sometimes. He comes home on Thursday, I can't wait to hug him and hold him in my arms again. I am sad for it to end and the difficulty it must be to leave those he's come to love in Ecuador. He'll soon be off on the next chapter and I sure the worry will never end, but this has been a wonderful journey and one we will all be eternally grateful for!!!
I asked Jesse if in his last letter he would bear his testimony and the impact of his mission on him...this is his letter...
In these past two years I have learned and felt a lot. I feel as if i have
come to know my Saviour and Redeemer even better. As I read about his suffering
and the Atonement that he gave for all mankind. That not only did he suffer for
the sins of the world but for the pains and sicknesses. I have felt the Holy
Spirit testify to me that these things are true. That the Lord loves and wants
the best for me and each and everyone of us. I know that he still lives and that
three days after his death he rose from the grave and showed himself in a now
glorified state, to his apostles and select people in Jerusalem as well as in
the Americas. I know that he really did come, here, to the American continent
and showed the inhabitants here that they had not been forgotten, I know that the
testimonies that we have of them are true. I know that as we read the Book of
Mormon, we can come to know that Jesus Christ and his coming here really did
take place. We can also come to know that he as presented himself in our day, as
well, to a fourteen year-old boy, Joseph Smith. That through this humble boy,
the gospel and church of Christ were restored. As I have read, studied,
pondered, and recited the First Vision, I have felt that this is the true church
of Christ and that he guides it in these days, that he is but the same,
yesterday, today, and forever. That he has decided to call a prophet in our days
as he had done in the past and as well as he has been doing. I know that Thomas
S. Monson is a true prophet who has been called of God. I know that all of these
things are true and that our Lord lives.
This is my testimony that
I have grown to have in these two years, I hope it has been able to help many
and will be able to help many more.
I just love the pictures of shoes after a mission, here are Jesse's!!! So awful and awesome at the same time!
More birthday cake!
