Final Mission Email Feb. 20, 2012

Hey all,

I assume everyone's waiting for the epic 创final email of elder parry创 but I honestly don't know what to say. My mission is ending and it went really well. This last week has been really awesome. Really really hot, but awesome. I'm excited for the snow and all that good stuff. I'll see you all on Thursday and I can tell you more about what's going on.

I'll be figuring out some good stuff for the country report. I've already got the clothes and such to show off, so I'll be looking at coins and other stuff to show. It'll be really cool.

I kinda just wanted to take advantage of the fact that these emails/blogs are being recorded to share my testimony.

In all my life, I've felt that the church was true and that God lives and I heard the stories my whole life of the prophets and the miracles that we read in the scriptures. I always...believed the stories, but I didn't have real...faith in their promises yet. I had the sensation that they were true, but didn't know what they had to do with me. When I was in high school. I really dedicated myself to find out if the Book of Mormon was true and have a firm testimony and in several occasions, I felt spiritual confirmations that it was true. I did a lot of stuff in the church. Going on Sundays, mutual night, firesides, campouts, efy, etc. and that helped strengthen me, made it so I didn't fall (too hard), but not until I got to the mission did I learn what the importance of all that was. Why do young men's leaders care if young men go to mutual? Why do people go to efy? Why do sunday school teachers work so hard to get their kids into the class instead of the couch in the foyer? They're questions that many people ask themselves, but I got to the mission and I figured it out. All we do in the church is to help us get home. They're tools the Lord has provided to help us through this mortal probation. I know the church and its organization is perfect. The men and women who are called to run it are inspired of God to know how to best help the people under their care. I've learned a lot about goals. God helps us progress toward eternal life by setting shorter stepping stone goals--baptism, recieving the priesthood, going on a mission, etc. When we get committed to achieve these goals, the Lord blesses us and while we're in the pursuit of these smaller goals, we realize looking back that we got a little closer to achieving the ``work and glory`` of God to achieve 创immortality and eternal life创 I know now, through study, prayer, and application at least a little bit of the how and why of the gospel and my testimony has increased in size and power. Now I'm excited to get home and keep working in the Lord's work and apply all the things I learned here in Uruguay.

Love you! See you on Thursday!










--
Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all. The salutation of Elder Parry with mine own hand, which is the token in every email: so I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.