It honestly doesn't feel real that I am going home. Sometimes I am excited, sometimes I am nervous. A few times this week I even cried. It’s been a roller coaster week and an amazing year and a half.
This week was great. So full. We killed it. Worked our tails
off. We were so tired at the end of every day. Even had some people come to
church. (YES!)
But this isn't really about the week. It’s sort of just my thoughts
of what I have learned on my mission - just a few things off of the top of my
head.
The best time is now – don’t procrastinate repentance. Don’t
postpone a prompting. Never let a good thought go unsaid. Today and now is the
best time. Start what you finish. Just buckle down, roll up your sleeves and
get the job done. Make your hopes and dreams and goals a reality through
ACTION! We each are the masters of our own lives. Start today - NOW!
“Why” and “How” are a lot more important than “Who” and “What.”
Whatever we are doing, whoever we are doing it with, be sure we remember why
and do it the best we can. It’s not just serving. It’s how we serve. God wants
it all – especially our heart.
Everyone is just doing the best they can – including me! Of
course we all know we have different strengths and weaknesses, but we also all
have different variations of “bests.” And what my best is today is probably not
the same as yesterday or tomorrow. Everyone really is just making the most of
what they have to work with. Instead of judging, gossiping or criticizing, we
have to just give others the benefit of the doubt. Including ourselves! Just do
our best and have faith that our best is good enough.
Nothing replaces quality time when it comes to building
strong relationships. My strongest companionships have always been when I
invest time into them. Listening to them tell me stories even when I was just
so tired and wanted to sleep. Eating food together. Doing yoga after planning.
Going running in the morning. It’s the little things that add up and make us
closer. Nothing replaces spending quality time with someone – time outside of
working and planning.
Don’t wait for the perfect moment before we give. Whether it’s
giving of ourselves, our time, or our talents – just give. Don’t worry about
it. Whatever we have is enough. If we
wait until we’re not busy, if we think that someone else can do a better job
then we are cutting ourselves short of blessings we can receive. Take any
opportunity and run with it!
I've never been so aware of my weaknesses in my life. But
being aware of these weaknesses has brought me closer to God. But for real,
being a missionary the closer I've come to God more and more weaknesses are
just thrown in my face. I've learned how to overcome some, but I've also
learned how to be patient with myself and forgive myself. Because some
weaknesses we will take with us to the grave.
One of my favorite expressions here is, “kung gusto mo,
maraming paraan, kung ayaw mo maraming dahilan.” It means “If you want it,
there are many ways. If you don’t want it, there are many excuses.” It’s so
true.
Time is the best medicine. Everything gets better with time.
Missionary life. Investigators. Areas. We just have to have faith and hope and
actively wait. Everything gets better with time. I've found that if I continue
being diligent everything works out in the end.
Probably one of the biggest lessons I've learned is how to
be interdependent. It has been humbling. I've never really been a dependent
person. I've always been pretty independent. I didn't like accepting help from
others (cough, cough - pride) but I was compelled to be interdependent on the
mission. Dependent on my companions. Dependent on my family. And mostly just
dependent on the Lord. Which has been super humbling for me in the best way
because I can’t do everything by myself. And relying on Him doesn't make me
weak – it makes me stronger than I could ever be on my own.
I hope my mission is a catalyst for how the rest of my life
goes. I just feel so thankful that I've been given this opportunity to serve.
Because for every sacrifice we make the Lord triples it with blessings. The
mission has improved me. It has improved the goals that I have for myself. I
don’t think I've been changed – just refined and improved. I wish I could word
how full my heart feels. I’m not very sad that it’s over. It feels right. I’m just
so happy that it happened. So cheesy but so true. I gave my all and God gave it
back to me so much better than before.
See you soon!
Sister J
