It is so different to read these letters to my mom/family as an adult. As a teen, my life was about me, and how things effected me. Reading the letters then, I suppose I was jaded to see their lives with respect to mine. Reading the letters as an adult--in retrospect--gave me a opportunity to see the mission experience as a story--more like reading a book. I saw a different perspective of missions and missionaries that I am sure I didn't see as a young adult. The struggles to stay focused on teaching the gospel, with companions who are a mess, money that is not coming on time, and relationships with girls at home that are in one way distracting and in another encouraging the missionaries to finish the work. Not even mentioning the physical and spiritual weight of trying to help people with their eternal salvation. These boys have to have an underlying bravado, a sense of what is right, courage, dedication, and all mixed in with some humility. Otherwise how could they give two years of their lives to doing what the Lord asks of them?
Of course these boys, these brothers, are now men. Raising their families and preparing their boys to serve the missions. I am proud of them. So amazed at the choices that they make to be righteous men, fathers and husbands to their wives. To these men, as to my Shawn, I am grateful for your sacrifice to serve a mission, and for your willingness to do what is right, often at the cost of other things you thought you may have wanted.
Now days we read a missionaries letters to home on their missionary blogs. I love this way of sharing the missionary spirit and sacrifice with those of us at home. I am sure it is only snippets of their actual letters home, but I love hearing their experiences, seeing them deal with struggles and watching them grow into men.
Thank you to all the families who prepare these young men to go and teach the gospel, and thank you for sharing their incredible experiences with us.
Now days we read a missionaries letters to home on their missionary blogs. I love this way of sharing the missionary spirit and sacrifice with those of us at home. I am sure it is only snippets of their actual letters home, but I love hearing their experiences, seeing them deal with struggles and watching them grow into men.
Thank you to all the families who prepare these young men to go and teach the gospel, and thank you for sharing their incredible experiences with us.
3 comments:
How embarassing! Those letters should be burned. My teenage self writing those probably complained and whinned way more then my adult self would like to remember. Burn 'em, Burn'em, Burn 'em.
Matt: I loved reading the letters. I think part of what I liked about them is that they were from guys who were unsure about themselves, yet they moved forward with what they knew was right. And continued serving the Lord--amiss the chaos that went on around them, and their families as they served. Makes you more brave in my eyes, not less so.
Very, very impressive.
How embarrassing! Those letters should be burned. My teenage self writing those probably complained and whined way more then my adult self would like to remember. Burn 'em, Burn'em, Burn 'em.
Posted by matt to Living with JMT and G-dog at 1:03 PM
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