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| President And Sister Smith, Final Interview |
Tortillas for the week: about 33
As I sit here in the internet café writing my final email
as full time Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I
have so many emotions knowing this is the last time I will be using an internet
café in Guatemala to send home weekly emails. As I think what I want to say and
how I can sum up 2 years up in one email, it may seem impossible but it is not;
there are two words to summarize my mission: Elder and Christ.
So you might be asking why on earth Elder Mcilmoil would
you say Elder. This is why and how I feel about that 5 letter word; the only
people in the church who are called Elder are Apostles, special witness of Christ
who are called to teach and testify of Him throughout the world. Now that I am
going home and will not be called Elder anymore just breaks my heart because of
how sacred that title is and what it means. To me Elder means a true servant of
Christ, who truly dedicates his time to the Lord’s time. As missionaries we are
not on our time, we are on the Lord’s time and that time to be completely dedicated
to His work goes by way to fast. Elder is also someone who truly has a
testimony of the Savior of the world, someone who is a reflection of the
Savior, someone who serves in the way He would serve, someone who loves in the
way He would love, someone to be His voice and His hands. Someone who desires
with all his heart to do and does his best to do everything in the way the
Savior would do. I have truly grown to love this little title and I am beyond grateful
that I have a couple more days and have had this chance to be called ELDER. I’m
an Elder, I know it, I love it and I live it.
Now to my last one, Christ, you might say well that a
little vague so let me explain, I was reading a talk one day that my Mom sent
me, ‘Gifts to Bring Home from the Mission Field’ by President Hinckley. As I was
studying it I knew what I truly wanted to bring home for me, “I bear solemn
witness from the bottom of my heart that Jesus is the living Christ.” In my last
interview with President Smith he asked what have you learned from your mission?
This is what I told him, out of all the things that I’ve come to know in these
short 2 years is Jesus is the Christ and that He lives, that He is the living
Son of the living God. That is my treasure and this is what I am bringing home
from the mission is my personal testimony. Jesus Christ is literally and truly
the Savior of the World. I testify that He lives and it is an honor to share
with my personal testimony that He lives, I know it and I’m certain of it and I
wouldn’t trade anything in the world for it. He lives, He truly lives.
What I love about my Mom and Dad is there personal
testimonies of the Savior.
con mucho amor, ducks forever,
Elder Mcilmoil
June 22, 2015
Scripture of the week: Alma 26:5,7-8 and 28-31
“No cause, No force in the entire world can stop the work
of God
After All that has been said, the greatest and most
important duty is to preach the gospel.” Joseph Smith
“Yea, I desire to dwell among this people for a time;
yea, and perhaps until the day I die.” Ammon (Alma 17:23)
“The standard of truth has been erected: no unhallowed
hand can stop the work from progressing, persecutions may rage, mobs may
combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go
forth boldly, nobly, and independent till it has penetrated every continent,
visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the
purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work
is done.” Joseph Smith
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| Elders: Special Witnesses Of Christ |
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