Monday, October 24, 2011

La Ùltima Carta

Dear Family,

Hey everyone this is it. I`m not sure if I`ll have a Pday next week so I`m going to make this my last letter. I leave Artigas next Wednesday night. I get to Montevideo Thursday morning. We go straight to the mission home and have lunch with President and Hermana Heaton. After that we go to the temple. After that we have a testimony meeting. Somewhere in that time President will interview all of us. We should have a few other activities too. I`m not sure. We leave for the airport at 8. My flight leaves at 10:15. These changes are different because President has a conference in Buenos Aires. We usually have two days in Montevideo. I don`t know if I`ll have a lot of time to buy stuff but send me some money anyways. I`ll grab something at the bus station. A hundred should be fine. Maybe a little more just in case I have airport fees. Gracias.

Well I `m having a baptism this Saturday. Her name is Miriam Severo. She will be a great member. She has gone through a lot to get baptized. As usual, Satan has been working a lot. The last two Sundays she`s had to walk to church because her motorcycle wouldn`t start. It worked fine throughout the week and then came and it just happened to not start. That didn`t stop her though. She just walked. She`s super excited to get baptized. I`m super happy for her. It`s been great teaching her. I met my goal. I said I would baptize my last weekend and I`m going to do it. We also have a lot of other investigators who will get baptized in November. We have two Aaronic Priesthood age investigators ho have dates for November 4th. Their names are Jacinto and Isaac. Their older brother is already a member. Their mom and dad are going to get married so they can get baptized as well. Then there are Marìa and Carlos. Marìa is doing great. Carlos is struggling a little bit. He says he doesn`t have a desire to go to church right now. We`re working with him though. We`re having an FHE tonight with the stake president and his family, and we`re hoping that he goes. All we can do is jeep invithng him and let the Lord do the rest. Everyone is doing well. This area will have a lot of baptisms next change.

So I`m not exactly sure what to say now. This all so weird to me. I remember everyone telling me that before I knew I`d be on the plane heading home. I didn`t believe that before but I believe it now. It`s really weird. These two years have been the best. The mission has been the best experience ever. I`m so grateful that I was able to come to Uruguay and teach the gospel. I have learned so much. I have seen people change as they embrace the gospel. One family in particular is the Moreno Family. We went through alot to get them baptized but they finally took that step of faith and now are completely converted. They share the gospel with everyone. I hope to be able to come back here when they get sealed. One thing I`m going to miss alot is wearing my name tag. I wear it with pride every day. I`ll miss being able to work full time in the work of the Lord. It`s so tiring but so awesome. There were defenitely hard times. There were times when I wondered, "Why?" In the end, however, everything always worked out. I love this work. I have loved representing the Savior. I can`t describe in words how much I have enjoyed being here. Know that I have really tried to be a good missionary. I tried to honor the Lord. I tried to do my best. This week will be the best week of my mission. I`m going to work my comp and myself to death.

I have no doubt that this is the work of the Lord. He leads it. He helps us. This is His church. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He lives. Our Heavenly Father lives. He loves us. I felt His love in very special ways. I love my Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ. I love testifying even when people don`t listen. I love sharing the Book of Mormon with everyone. I know it`s true and that it has the power to change lives. The gospel is the answer to everything. It doesn`t matter how hard the trial is. We can always succeed. I know that through Jesus Christ we will be perfected some day. We can all return to live with our Heavenly Father again. This is the true Church.

I want to thank all of you for your support in these last two years. It really helped me. Thanks for the letters. Thanks for the advice. Thanks for everything. I love you all so much. There is no other family that I would rather be with than this one. Thanks again.

Umm next week at the airport please record everything because I want to remember that moment always. Invite anyone to the airport. The more the merrier, right? Also can someone copy and paste the letters that I sent home. I want the ones I sent and the ones I received. Gracias.

Well I guess that`s about it. I`ll see you all next week. I love you all.

Love,
Elder Ethan Jones

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