Mexcio Week 95: Final Week

Hey Everybody! 

Well I am entering into my last week in the Mission. It's gone by fast. I would like to mention some of my experiences and talk about how great of a Mission it has been and what I have learned. I hope that it might be of great worth to the boys since they all want to be going on a Mission. 

The Mission has been the best yet most difficult experience that I have had in my life. I think that because it was difficult it was great. I remember when I first came to Mexico I wanted to go home. I remember wanting to just give up but I was inspired to go on and finish. Hahaha, I remember hating the food and feeling lonely since my companion wasn't the best and the members were a little mean. I realized that it was just culture shock. Hahaha, since then I have had a lot of difficult times but I have put them behind trying to learn from them. I remember when I was a Branch President, things were really hard and I thought that I was losing faith. Afterwards I learned that my testimony grew and was strengthened from the trials that took place in Chignahuapan. I remember the members and the things that I learned from them as I tried to help them with the spiritual and temporal needs.

I learned alot in Castillotla about Missionary Work and how to really do it. Elder Escamilla and I had great times and a lot of success and I will always remember my time with him. I really enjoyed training Elder Escamilla and also learning from him. He is a great friend. I learned a lot about leadership in Loma Florida (Apizaco) when I was a DL and I had a struggling district with struggling wards. We ended up doing miracles for the Lord there in that district.

 

I remember that I learned the importance of working with members in Totolac (Tlaxcala). Wow, we did some great stuff there Elder Nuncio, Elder Lopez, and I with the members. We ended up having success for the members. They are great there.

 

Now as an AP I have learned a lot of everything. Having to run a Mission of over 100 Missionaries is not an easy task and I have so much respect for the President. He is a great man and has taught me a lot, especially about the future after the Mission and how to apply everything I have learned here, there in the real world. 

I have learned a lot in the Mission and I know that it will help me throughout my life, but I believe that the most valuable thing that I have learned here, that I will always treasure is understanding how and why to apply the Atonement in my life. I really understand that it is more than just repenting everyday. I have learned that it is essential for us to experiment it everyday. I have learned that to be able to experiment it each day we must be obedient. It's impossible to understand the Atonement or even experiment it if we are not obedient. Most people think that you must be a sinner and sin to understand it, but I believe that you must be obedient to understand it because the obedient repent....sinners might not. I have learned that the Atonement has a divine power that can set us apart from reaching our potential....yet it allows us to go beyond that if it is required, and more times than not, God needs us to go past our potential so that we may help Him establish His Kingdom and we do it through the atonement. 

I have learned that really we must understand the importance of the Atonement because it is the center of all we do. We could study the Book of Mormon and find that a lot of scriptures that maybe we don't see very well talk about the Atonement. The Bible actually only refers to the word Atonement one time were as the Book of Mormon refers to it 39 times. Besides the fact that it mentions the word more in the Book of Mormon, helps us understand at a broader view what the Atonement is through personal experiences of the Nephite and Lamanite people. 

I know that the Atonement is important. I know that it is essential for us to apply it to our lives each day. We must experiment at some point in our lives a little what He experienced. I testify as His representative that Christ lives! He loves us. He wants us to be like him and through His Atonement we can do it. 

With Love,

Elder Brady Lester

Life Lessons

Hi Elder Lester,

I have been thinking about what you are going through with these companions that are lazy, doing things their way, etc… And I am very quick to just tell you to tell them that you are there to work, etc… I say that because I know that’s what will bring the most happiness and success to you all. But what I’ve realized is that you will be dealing with this throughout your mission. You will always be with someone that won’t be the same as you. And it’s learning how to work as a team.  What you are dealing with are LIFE LESSONS.

These experiences will help you throughout your life when you are at a job and you are working with someone else and they aren’t doing their part of the job. Or you are the boss and you have an employee who isn’t doing something the way you think they should.  This will help with your future wife and children too.  What I wish I would have taken the time to tell you in the email is that the key is to figure out how to motivate that person, companions, etc., and learning what you can do to help.  By talking and having a discussion on what is it that you guys can do to accomplish this or that. Talking it out and figuring out a way to make it work and what you can do to help.  I know as a Missionary you have to plan out your days and have goals, so this goes right along with this. Also I know that following the rules will keep you safe, so coming home on time at night is crucial.

So after thinking about it, I didn’t want it to sound like I just wanted you to tell your companion that this is the way it’s going to be, and you weren’t going to allow what happened with his last companion, and not getting any work done to happen again, etc.  But I know you have the skills, and are learning more skills everyday, to learn how to work as a team, and how to be a happy and successful Missionary, and these Life Lessons will bless you throughout your life.  I know you have shared in your letters ways you have made things better with Elder Lumbreras, and answers you have received from your studying, and the inspiration you have received. This will continue to happen to you as you seek ways to learn how to be successful with each companion you have, and your new companion Elder Rojas. You will be blessed, and you will bless your companions life, and the lives of the people you are serving.

You are gaining so much experience in such a condensed amount of time. I remember when I went on my mission and I was at the MTC, I heard that the mission experience is like 40 years of college education. You are blessed for this opportunity to learn how to work with these companions and they certainly are blessed to learn from you, know you, and have you touch their life forever.  You know how much you learned in the MTC with Elder Walker, and even at the Hill Cumorah. These experiences are invaluable. You are doing such an outstanding job. I am so proud of you and have loved learning from you.  Thank you for that.

I love you,

MOM