God Be With You Till We Meet Again

This past week was GREAT! We went on exchanges to Melaka and Masai, and got to be with the good elders there. The Lord's work is hastening in each of these different places in unique but good ways. I love being a part of this work! It's the best! We also had a baptism this past Saturday night, as well as the other elders in our district! It was awesome! Our recent convert, Hady, is SO AWESOME! She's a 16-yr-old from Korea, and this is her first time learning about God. She is so open and willing to learn--she's incredible, and the Lord really has prepared her. She went back to Korea to visit her father there; she'll come back here to JB at the beginning of May, and then her journey as a recent convert will continue and move forward and upward. Hooray! :)
Well, elders, brothers, and sisters--the time has come.

This is my last P-Day as a missionary. Tomorrow morning/early afternoon I head off to Singapore for a final interview and fireside with my beloved mission president, and then the next day, at a VERY early hour, we board the flight bound for home. It's a really weird thing to think that my mission is coming to a close, that things are wrapping up. I don't think that I've fully and completely processed it yet, mentally or spiritually. I don't think it will fully process for a long time. As I was sitting down and doing my Personal Study this morning, I took a step back and looked at what makes me most happy at this very moment. Honestly (and I'm not saying this to be cliche, either), one of the things that makes me the most happy is sharing the Gospel with other people. Being able to see the Spirit touch their hearts; the light that clicks on in their eyes; the happiness that just pours into your own spirit as you tell them about the Savior and His happy message with every bubbly bone in your body--man, it's the best! A part of me feels like I'm going to miss it a lot; but as I sat back and thought about it all, I realized that these feelings NEVER have to end. I realized that the point of this life is to change and to become something more than we originally were/are. The best and only really effective place to receive and apply that time of refinement is in the service of the Lord. Being a full-time missionary truly has been a refining and changing process for yours truly, but hopefully it's not the only chance that I'm going to get for that type of refining. If it were, I'd probably be bound to not the Celestial Kingdom at this point--but thanks be to God for the matchless gift of His Son Jesus Christ! Through Him we are redeemed from our sins. Maybe even more importantly, He doesn't just redeem us (Helaman 5:10), but He also RAISES us to life eternal (Moroni 7:41). He enables us! He empowers us! We'll continue to be refined and perfected all throughout this life, for THIS is the time to prepare to meet God, and He's going to give us as many chances as we need--and even more than that--in order to get us ready to see Him again. He WANTS us to be with Him. I testify that that is true.

I testify that the love of God is real. I testify that the gift of tongues is real--I have no idea how people understood my words and decided they wanted to be baptized if it isn't true. I know that it exists, and I know that the Holy Spirit is the REAL teacher--not us finite mortals. I'm so grateful for the wonderful Saints of Malaysia and Singapore--I love these two little countries with all of my heart! I love these people with all of my heart! I wish that you all were as lucky as I am to know them and associate with them. They're wonderful, and I pray that God will bless them always. 

This Church is true; the Gospel is the path that the Lord has set for us to help us be able to return to Him. It's sort of the individual Plan of Salvation that each of us chooses whether or not to follow. For now I bid you all a fond farewell. To those still in the field, keep on keeping on! This is the greatest work EVER! To those back home, get ready--things are about to get real ;) :) I love you all, and hope you have a fantastic week! Keep the Faith! :)

God be with you till we meet again,

Elder Mitchell. :)

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