April 11, 2016

Dear Family,

Wow, I have been thinking about writing this email since my first pday in the mission field.  I honestly can not believe that it is here...  I remember sitting at the computer and thinking that I was going to be here for forever, and honeslty right now... I would like that to be true. 

Honestly these last 18 have been the hardest, greatest, funnest, most trying months of my life.  I have laughed, cried, been sick so many days that i can't even count, and have learned so much through it all.  My mission really has meant the world to me.  I will forever be grateful for these last 18 months here I have had in Peru. 

Some of the greatest memories of my life I have made here.  I have seen so many miracles and have seen how this gospel has changed so many lives.  I remeber my first baptism, the first door shut in my face, the first time I saw an investigator gain a testimony, and sooo many other firsts.  Every experience I have had here, good and bad, have changed my life for the better.  

Before my mission I believed a lot of things.  I believed in the church, the Book of Mormon, and all the doctrine.  But, I coundnt say that I knew all these things were true.  But now I can say with NO DOUBT, that I KNOW the church is true.  I know the book of mormon is true.  I know we have a living prophet and I know God and Jesus Christ live, and they love us SO MUCH.  I have seen how these simple doctrines can literally CHANGE LIVES.  I have seen destroyed families unite.  I have seen people who were at there lowest, get lifted higher.  I have seen and iIam a witness of the truthfulness of this gospel.  There is nothing else that can have such an influence on mankind. Gosh, I dont know where I would be if I would have never made the decision to serve a mission...  

This last week has been a rough one.  Work wise it was good, but I am just full of so many mixed feelings!  We are making progress with Alan, and we found a couple new investigators with amazing potential.  I still havent wrapped my head around the fact that the next time I will talk to you all, it will be in person. Its also hard for me to think that next week I wont be writing you from a ghetto internet cafe haha :) I hope you are all ready to have me back in the USA hahaha :)  I am going to need LOTS of help adjusting....  I always promised myself that I wouldnt be a weird returned missionary, and I will try my hardest not to be, but I think it just might happen... 

I just want to thank all of you the love and support I have recieved these last 18 months.  Really, i dont know what I would do without all of you.  And I just want all of you to know that really, I know this church is true.  I doesnt matter what we are going through, what we have done, where we are in the world... Heavenly Father loves each and everyone of us.  He always has and always will.  He is ALWAYS here for us whenever we need him.  

And my feelings about preparing to come home... Honestly I dont even know how to describe how I am feeling.  I really just dont want to do it haha.  Dont take that the wrong way, i am SOOO excited to see you all, i just dont know how i am going to leave all this behind.  I mean this is where I have really gained my testimony.  I have speant the saddest, hardest, most painful days of my life here.  But I have also speant the happiest, funnest, most spiritual days of my life here.  Its like leaving a little part of me behind.  I will always love this place and these people.  They have made me into the person I am.  Mostly I am just feeling stressed..  I feel like I am about to jump into a world that I dont even know anymore.  I wont have a companion, i wont have as many rules, i wont have my set study times, i wont have daily and weekly planning sessions, and i dont know what i am going to do.  But I know it needs to happen, and weather i am ready or not... it will.  But on the other hand I am super excited to see all the people I have missed so much.  I am excited to see how everyone has changed and how different everything is.  It is just a big mixture of feelings.  I will try to explain a little more when I see you momma :)

Well, I love you all so much.  And I guess I will see you all soon in the USA...  Thank you all so much again.  Have an amazing week.  See you soon!

Love, 

Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell :)

April 4, 2016

Hola Familia!
Wow 2 WEEKS!  I honestly can not believe it!  That is so crazy to me... Its coming too fast!!!!!  But I am super excited!
This week has been a good week!  Lots of learning and growing thats for sure! :)

First off i want to share what impacted me a ton in my studies this week!  So I was reading in Alma chapter 24.  In this chapter it is talking about the Anti-Nephi-Lehites.  This was just after they burried their wepons and converted to the Lord.  They made a convenant that they would never take up their wepons again.  It goes on to tell that the wicked people then got angry with them and came to battle with them, but they still would not take their wepons and many of them died.  It was verses 26 and 27 that really caught my attention.  They say: 

  26 And it came to pass that the people of God were joined that day by more than the number who had been slain; and those who had been slain were righteous people, therefore we have no reason to doubt but what they were saved.

27 And there was not a wicked man slain among them; but there were more than a thousand brought to the knowledge of the truth; thus we see that the Lord worketh in many ways to the salvation of his people.

When I was reading these verses I stopped and thought about EVERYTHING that was going on around the world.  About what happened in Brussels, about all the wars, natural disasters, and really all that we see these days.  Sometimes we see these things that happen and ask why.  We may think that things like this dont need to happen.  But sometimes i also think that we forget about Who is really in charge.  We forget that God has a plan and it is a PERFECT plan.  Sometimes, like in the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehites, that plan will affect us in ways that we really dont particularly enjoy or in ways that, for lack of a better phrase, really suck.  But what we can also see from this story, is that God works in MANY ways for the salvation of his people.  Many are affected in harmful ways by these types of disasters, but there are also many who are affected in ways that bring their salvations.  There are family members, friends, and even strangers who hear of these stories or who are affected by the event themselves that are touched by the spirit and are brought to the truth.  I learned this week that really all we need to do is TRUST IN GOD.  When we ask why, we just have to remember and have FAITH that He knows why.  The Book of Mormon really is amazing :)

I also LOVED General Conference this weekend!  It was sooo amazing! :)  All the talks, the music, and really everything was amazing :)  But the talk that really touched me was Elder Hollands.  I am pretty sure that talk was written just for me haha.  These last few weeks i have been SOOO stressed about going home.  It still is hard for me to really wrap my head around the fact that in a few weeks, i wont be here anymore.  I wont be a missionary, i wont be in Peru, my life will be completely different.  But during Elder Hollands talk I really just felt such peace.  Hes right, after spiritual experieces, we have to come back to earth.  But I loved what he said about not giving up and understanding that it will be hard.  I just hope that I can take all i learned in these last 18 months and do something good with it at home.  I just hope that I can be patient with myself haha :)   

Anyways haha about my week!  We were not able to find Alan this week which i was super sad about....  But we were able to talk to him a little and he is doing good!  We are hoping to have a few lessons with him again this week.

This week we taught a bunch of less actives which i really enjoyed.  We were able to find a few new ones and we got to hear their stories and answer a lot of their questions.  We focused a lot in teaching about following the Profet and General Conference.  There were actually a lot that showed up!  I hope that they felt the spirit and heard something they needed to hear :) 

We are hoping that this next week goes a little smoother.  We have a lot of trainings and interviews this week so i am sure itll go by fast!  :)

I love you all SOOO much!  I can not believe that I am only going to write you one more time after this!  CRAZY!  Have a great week!  Share the Gospel with someone :)

Love,

Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell :)