Hello All,
Well all I feel I can say is that the Lord gives us trials to strengthen us. The Lord knows us and knows what we can handle. He wouldn't give you anything if He knew you couldn't handle or overcome. He feels you are prepared and ready to grow, progress, and develop. The hard part to swallow and understand though usually is that with this growth, stretching, and development there can come pain, uncomfortableness, and hard times. But the great thing is that we can turn to the Lord in faith, asking for help, and He will bless us with so immense strength, endurance, and fortitude that these trials will seem to be lightened. As we focus out towards others and showing charity and service to our neighbors, these trials or hard times we go through will seem but a small moment. And then we pass through these trials, standing on the mountains of our success (of course giving thanks to the Lord for His hand in our lives), and looking back at the valleys we have passed through they will truly appear as just a small, minuscule moment in our lives and we see how passing through that valley to rise to top of the mountain blessed us so immensely. The key is to strive to always push forward, never giving up (because that is what Satan wants more than anything, for us to think that we are worthless, that Heavenly Father could never love us, that we are lost), and seek for our will to align with the Lord's will. We are all sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. He loves us so immensely that every soul, EVERY soul is precious to Him. Heavenly Father wants every single one of us to succeed and to be happy. He Himself knows what brings the greatest joy and happiness in life, so He teaches us what to do to obtain that joy and happiness through His son, Jesus Christ. Nothing attests to the greater love and devotion Heavenly Father has for His children than sending His perfect son, His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to come to this world, to atone for our sins, sinking below every single soul, suffering such an immense anguish we cannot even fathom, so that every single soul has the chance to obtain forgiveness as well as eternal life, the greatest blessing Heavenly Father has to offer. Think about it for a second. Eternal Life. To be able to be with our Father again as immortalized beings. And even greater is his promise and blessing that we will be with our families forever. We will be able to perpetuate beyond the grave the deepest and closest relationships we create on this world. As a missionary we are called to cry repentance to the people. It goes so much further beyond just repentance. It's through doing work according to the Lord's will that we are gathering His children to be able to return to our Father as a family. Even furthermore we are bringing the opportunity to families around the world to be together forever. That is my greatest joy and feeling I have about missionary work. Family is so important to me and I am working each day to become a better son to both my family on earth as well as my Father in Heaven, in addition that I am working each day to become a better husband for my future spouse and and better father myself for the children I will be blessed to rear. A mission not only can change the lives of those you teach, but changes your own life. My own advice and what I feel with how a missionary should work is that you should strive to serve every person you come into contact with, improving their life in any way you can. Leave them and their life better than when you first met. Then further throughout your whole mission, no matter what, strive to have no regrets. I know myself that I will make mistakes, but if I learn from those mistakes and grow and develop, then I will have no regrets. Key is just work hard, doing all you can, and turn to the Lord realizing you don't have strength to do all. Then the miracles will happen and you will be the instrument that the miracles will flow through and be blessed to witness.
It can be crazy to be serving a 2 year mission. But if you have fervently prayed about it and that is truly what the Lord has in mind for you, then do it and go for it. The Lord knows what will be the greatest and best blessings in your life. A mission will be something so unique and such a tremendous blessing that will affect the rest of your life. If served righteously, you will recognize and see the impact and blessings every day that your mission has had on you. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and you will never be in this exact situation ever again. Push forward with faith and know that the Lord is with you.
It's crazy to think that I am leaving in less than 24 hours for a different country, different culture, and going out to preach the gospel.
Love you all!
Elder Dayley
