Before I Part...

Dear Family,

Doing Great! One Day left until I’m on the Plane! Gahhh! I’m so ready. Not that I feel like I NEED to leave the MTC…but just that I Feel That Now is the Time.

(I will bring up some thoughts regarding this topic in a minute)

Yes, yes indeed. I love that story as well Mother. The Story of the Stripling Warriors. Each and every One of Us. This Gospel is so important to Us. It is Everything to Us.

If You Would Like…mmm…man. Haha…Don’t know if I have any time to write about that tonight. We’ll see. I will try very hard to write ya’ll a letter tonight. Brief as it may be. But to mail it off tomorrow.

I’m glad Dad gave out my email, makes me happy =p! And I will be sending the memory card picture thing home tomorrow...i will still have one here…give you that one. It is a bit defective, as I mentioned once before…when you insert it into the proper slot…sometimes it will either say “Memory Card Full” or “Need to Reformat”…DON’T! I’ll lose all the pictures haha! But yeah…I just keep turning the camera off and on off and on til it works…or taking the card in and out and in and out til it works. It works every now and again.

I’m glad to hear that Ethan is thinking on me =) And that he’s getting his paper’s in! Woo! Haha! He just sent me an email…and I intend to write him back. My apologies…I did receive his letter, and enjoyed it quite thoroughly…I just get so caught up. Oh dearr…

Haha…just to give you an idea of how far behind I was…remember that picture you sent me? That I had made out of words for Alena? Yeah…I just mailed her that today. Oopsies xD! And I still have much I need to catch up on in my journal…oh dear…what I wouldn’t give to have everything where I would be starting fresh. All caught up.

Sooo…as I mentioned, I have a 22 hour long flight ahead of me…and 11 hours of layover. Oh dear me…but it is a wonderful time to begin Spreading the Gospel. In fact…it already had begun…from the day I was set apart. But now…a whole new venue.

If you wouldn’t mind…I’d like to speak of a few things concerning my time here at the MTC.

There are some people…who would say the MTC is long and arduous. Others who say it is boring. Others who find it meaningless. Others who come and meander through. There are those people…who, to make an all encompassing statement, “believe that their time or efforts could be used better elsewhere.”

To Them I Say: I have been here for over 9 weeks. I Have but one day left. And the ONLY thing I would change…is if I could have realized how Sacred this time is…from Day 1. The MTC is so precious.

I do not understand…how a missionary can miss this. And yet…I can. And the tragedy is that this is something very real. And very, very dangerous. We are the instruments of Eternity…and yet…we fail to see our call.

Perhaps it is BECAUSE I have been here 9 weeks that I realize this. Yet…know this:

In my heart…… “letting my light grow brighter”… And I know that I have great lengths to go…even infinite strides…to achieve that “perfect day.”

I don’t know when that day will come…but I Promise You. When that day arrives…I will be there. With the light. I will become the light.

It overwhelms my soul…to feel as I feel, even now.Lehi, in 2 Nephi 1…bears such beautiful testament: “for behold, my Savior hath redeemed my soul from hell…and I am encircled eternally in the arms of his love”

The very end of Romans 8: “I am convinced…that nothing-shall stay the love of Christ.”

And John 16…a Promise of the Father…one of eternal hope and love…one that makes my very heart weep:“Yet shall I See You Again.”

These small verses…through the course of 9 weeks, and scriptures like unto them…have become the very foundation of who I am. I know…that in every one of us resides the light of Christ. I know…that the very purpose of our existence is to give our heart…all that is most precious, that which is truth…that which we’ve spent our lives to discover…to give to someone else. To give them…our light of Christ.

This is My Eternal Purpose.“For This End Was I Born” saith the Lord Jesus Christ.For His Purpose…Am I Here.

God is Love, Mother. It is His Sole Reason for Being. It is His Only Purpose, yea, even all that he Does…He Doeth for The Love and Joy of His Children. This is His Power. Without it…He Would Cease to Be God.But He Is. And I Am. And I Know Him. I Love Him. And if Even He, The Greatest of All…This Be His One Eternal Purpose…then This is My Purpose.

This is My Testimony Mother…in but brief. In but a sparkle of the majesty He Hath Given unto my heart.I pray, that I might be able to finally give someone…all of me. Even the fulness of my Soul. Because I Love Them…My Sweet Redeemer…I Love Them.

It was Yesterday…not a huge turn of events…but one moment…not out of the ordinary, but just a moment…amidst crying…over the Spirit which came upon me…that I Decided.

I Will Become a Missionary. Today.This is the Start of My Eternity.

If Ever The Lord Might Grant Me One Wish, One Desire of My Heart…it Beith Thus:That I Might Serve Unto Thee Forever.This is My Celestial Glory.

I wish I had more time…To say a few more words…for this testimony causeth me to see other missionaries…and how greater the Lord hath need of them than I…and How they Do Not See! They Are All Glory in my Eyes. All! And Yet..they do not see. They, in their ignorance…treat the Kingdom of Everlasting…as but another ‘something.’ It is Everything! For Someone! For Everyone! This is Everything!

Oh How I Desire to Grab Them…and Shake Them! And Shake Them! Fiercely…and Call Unto them Awake!And I Shall…Oh I shall…Through My Testimony…no Matter What and no Matter Where…I Will Let Them Know that Withing Me I Know Christ. And Christ Knows Them. And They Know Christ.Therefore…They Shall Feel All of Heaven Through Me.And Maybe…Oh Dear Lord, Maybe…They Will Finally Fell The Savior… And Become That Missionary…The Lord Has Ever Ordained Them to Be.

They Are Everything To Me.

You All Are Everything to Me.

I Love You,

--Elder Christopher Lewis