The End

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."  -Ecclesiastes 3:1


This morning I finished packing my suitcases, just as I had a little over two years ago.  What has changed since then?  Some of the shirts are stained and some of the pants are torn, but is that all?  I don't think I can name all of the changes and differences that have occurred since then.  I also think that it would be impossible to sum up this great experience in a little blog post.  What I can say is that I have had a lot of little experiences that have made up my mission.  These experiences have shaped me into the person that I am today.

like stones in the river
we are tossed and turned
when the current moves so strong
but stones in living waters over time
are shaped until the edges are gone
polished and smooth, that's what we will be
if we put ourselves in god's hands
each day of our lives is a gift from the giver
to smooth all the edges
like stones in the river


I testify that the Gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives for the better.  I know that living the principles taught by the Savior will help shape us into the great beings that we have the potential of becoming.  Living these principles will greatly improve the quality of our lives and help us find peace and joy in this life.  Being a missionary has helped me see this perspective even closer and I am ever so grateful for the many experiences I have had.  I am also thankful for the many people I have met and for their testimonies that have strengthened my own.

Piano

Piano is a fairly big part of my life.  Everyone in our family was given the opportunity to start a sport and start playing a musical instrument at the age of eight.  I chose to play soccer and play the piano.  I saw my older brothers playing the piano and couldn't wait for my turn to start lessons. 

When I first started as an eight-year-old I was excited to be able to play.  I wanted to play the fun songs and not have to go through all of the boring basics.  I became discouraged every time I heard my older brothers playing the cool songs and I was still in book one learning hand positions and chords. 

Practice became very important to my progress as a young pianist.  I could really tell the difference that practice made when I would go to my lessons every week.  If I diligently practiced throughout the week I could pass off a song every week and move closer to the fun songs.  If I didn't practice regularly my improvement suffered, and I would stay on that song until I did practice.

The same is very true with learning and living the gospel.  At first, we need to understand the basics and work at them.  In 1 Corinthians 3:2 it reads: "I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able."  As babies, we could only digest milk before we could ever handle meat or other foods.  We need to have faith before we can repent and we need to do something right before we can be blessed. 

We also need to 'practice' and work at living the gospel.  If we're not improving ourselves, we're stuck on the same song and not progressing.  In a sense, if we're staying the same we're actually going backwards.   Over the summer if I never touched the piano I would have to actually go back a couple of songs and re-learn some things.  Only when we diligently learn and live the gospel can be enjoy the symphony of blessings that attend our efforts. 

Lego

While I was growing up every year we would take out all of the Legos during General Conference and build all of the sets that had been dismantled over the year.  This was a pretty epic undertaking and the whole floor would usually be covered in the hundreds of sets of Legos that we had.  While we endeavored in this huge project, we needed three basic things to assemble each set.  We obviously needed the instructions to each set, all of the pieces to that set, and the ability to not become distracted.  These things relate to what we need on our journey through life back to our heavenly home.

Instructions

How could I know how to build the Lego if I didn't have the instructions for the set?  In this life we have been given instructions for us.  Scriptures provide a lot of direction in our lives.  Through them we are able to build our testimonies of Christ and better live His gospel.  “But these [things] are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” (John 20:31.)  The scriptures should be of the greatest importance in our lives. Our spiritual survival during the stresses of our society and the temptations of our time is greatly dependent upon the strength that we will receive from searching the scriptures and listening to the words of the prophets, seers, and revelators.

All the Pieces

This was one of the biggest problems we had while assembling the Legos.  You couldn't continue to the next step if you didn't have the right piece.  It's the same with our gospel progression.  We start out with a desire to believe, and then continue on to faith.  We will want to exercise our faith and turn from sin.  Once we have repented we will want to make promises with God and we do this by being baptized by one holding the proper authority.  Baptism is incomplete without receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.  After we make these promises, is that all?  Nope, we have to continue on in our progression and endure to the end.  We constantly build our faith, repent, renew our promises with God, and continue to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  As we do this we become complete(Matt. 5:48), just like our Lego set.

Don't get Distracted

Along the way to completing the Lego set, we might become distracted.  There might be a nice shiny piece that we want to add, or an idea to change it a little.  I know that I would always want to start another project before I finished the one I was working on.  We can't allow ourselves to become distracted from our goal of following the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Just like in Lehi's vision, we need to hold to the rod of iron and keep on the straight and narrow path.  By doing this we will inherit the greatest gift of all, eternal life.

Each of us must strive to (1)follow the instructions given to us, (2)find 'peace' in life by having all the pieces of the gospel, and (3)not get distracted on the way.  By doing these simple things, I testify that we will find happiness not only in this life, but in the life to come as well.