August 4, 2014
I have been sitting here thinking for some time, what am I going to write? In the last few days I have pondered, reflected, prayed, laughed, as I passed the memories that I have from my mission. As I reflected, I can't think of a single negative thing that had happened on my mission. Even the times where I might have felt sad or upset, I look at them now and I thank my Heavenly Father for them. The final stages of my mission have been the sweetest thing that I have ever tasted. The Lord has changed almost everything about me....And thanks be to Him that it has happened. I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for me in the next walk of life.
Yesterday, a sister told me, "What a blessing that you are going home now!"
I said, "I don't know if I would call it a blessing." She then asked me what I had meant... I paused, I didn't know why I would be upset to go home. My future wife and kids were honestly the entire reason that I went on my mission to start with, now the Lord was giving me the opportunity and I was somewhat stepping on His offer and saying no thanks. She then looked at me and said, "You have served the Lord extremely well here in our area, and I imagine through your whole mission. Now the Lord will support you and bless you with your future goals that you have. An extreme calmness fell over my whole body and I knew that Heavenly Father was, is, and will always support me, so long as I live worth of it.
She then offered to put me in contact with her 22 year old Colombian niece who was recently baptized, and we laughed. I know that the Lord supports us. There is a pain that comes with coming home, but even though I may miss the people here, the way of life, and people always looking at us, I feel at peace with everything I have done and will do. President Holm always said, "Peace is a gift from God, after a job well done."
I love being able to help people find peace in there lives, in their moments of chaos, in the times of instability, through the atonement of Jesus Christ. This is the only peace that we can carry with us in this life. I have seen people using drugs, alcohol, sex, partying, a new relationship, and more to find peace. But all of those things eventually wear out, the effects of drugs leave after minutes, alcohol goes stale, sex seems to be in the worlds eyes a fun recreational activity on the weekend that helps you tally points, partying lasts until you get tired and fall asleep, and a new relationship becomes an old one after weeks. But the atonement is infinite and everlasting (2 Nephi 9:6-7). Just like the infinite and eternal covenants, that we have the opportunity to make, are sealed up and bound on earth and in heaven, by the priesthood (Matt. 16:15-19).
I know that for the last two years of my life I have been lifted up and even carried by the grace of Jesus Christ. I know that I have taught the very same gospel that Jesus Christ taught when he very first ministered to us here on the earth, and that he taught even further back through his prophets. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. I love the pages of that book every single one. I know that Jesus Christ made it possible for us to be forgiven of our sins. I know that this life is going to pass by us as if it were a dream (Jacob 7:26) and we will be able to stand before God to receive our judgment and I am honestly excited for it. This life is not reality, our reality is with our Heavenly Father and our eternal families, and we choose to live that or we choose the opposite. I pray that we all can return and live together. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Love ya,
Elder Hatch
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