Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Thank you everyone ...

Wow! This was the most amazing week ever! I Love my mission sooo much and I have just come to love my Savior more than anything in the last 2 years! I am grateful for the blessings that my loving Heavenly Father pours upon me and I have been more blessed than I ever should have been! We have a Baptism this week, a young girl we started teaching my first week here in Buhl! She is amazing and is so prepared! She comes from a less active family and she has just grown and progressed in the last few weeks! She asked me to baptize her and confirm her. What a blessing! We set another date for the week after this one for a boy that comes from a part member family and he is sooo excited too! We are baptising him in the hot springs and he will be confirmed there too! I feel such a bond with these people here and I KNOW that God knew all along that I needed to end up here sooner or later! How merciful and tender He is to me! So I will end my last 2 weeks here in the mission with 2 baptisms and I will love every second of it! I have had many life changing experiences here in Idaho (and Oregon) and not only were these the best 2 years of my life by far, But they truly have been the best 2 years for my life by far! The things I have felt, learnt, and seen will bless my family and I for eternity and I thank my Father in Heaven every day for preserving me and allowing me to serve Him! I was not the sharpest tool He had in His tool box. Nor was I the strongest, but he used me as His instrument to do so much good and, He allowed me to be shaped into just the tool He needed! For that I owe my life to Him and I will serve Him all my life! I started my mission serving these people because I knew I had to! I came out because I had been given soo much I had to give a minute amount back to Him. I started because I knew it would make my family proud and I would grow in the process! I whole heatedly can stand today and say I have served the last 2 years out of the love for my Savior! What a transformation! I allowed my mission to change me and I sure am glad I did. I have come to KNOW Him and His Gospel! I love His teachings and I love His Children everywhere as He would if He were personally here! I have served and been served by this people and I know the promise in D&C 18 is true, my "joy will be great with [THEM] in the kingdom of my Father" I love the sentence on page 2 in P.M.G. where it says "As your understanding of the Atonement grows, your desire to preach the Gospel will increase." How true that has been for me! I just want to thank all of you for supporting me through all of the last 2 years! Though I know life is tough at times with the everyday "hustle and bustle", you still took the time to stop and write me a little note of love. The prayers that have been offered up in my behalf have been the direct result of many doors opening and hearts softened.
I know I would not have made it 2 months, yet alone 2 years with out you and to you I say simply... THANK YOU! I love you all and will see you soon. A hui ho till next time!
-Elder Runnels

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