See You in Two Years

"We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins" (2 Nephi 25:26)

Last week we said goodbye to Drew’s little brother as he left to serve a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints .  He left for the Missionary Training Center in Utah, where he will learn to teach the gospel and speak Spanish before heading down to serve in the Mexico City East mission.

We were able to listen to him speak in front of the congregation at church two Sundays ago. This kid is ready to do the Lord’s work! He was a great example to me this summer as we have watched him prepare for his mission. He attended the Spanish-speaking branch all summer, along with his regular ward so he could start to grasp the language he will be speaking for the next two years. 

Sammy's last night with her uncle. Hard to believe she will be 4 when he gets home.

 

Here is a little more info about the missionary work of our church for those of you who might be interested. The number of missionaries out serving right now is greater than ever before. Last October, in General Conference, President Thomas S. Monson announced that men could serve missions at age 18 (used to be 19) and women at age 19 (used to be 21). This caused a great increase in the number of missionaries; right now there are 75,000 missionaries out serving!

The church even created 58 new missions, totaling 405 missions worldwide. The work is definitely growing! So don’t be surprised if you run into missionaries everywhere you go. This increase is another testimony to me that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true.

I didn’t personally serve a mission, but Drew (Florida, Bahamas, and Jamaica), my dad (Kentucky), and my brother Shane (Peru) have all had the opportunity to do so, which I am so grateful for.

I know some of you might not know a lot about the LDS church, and may wonder why we believe sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ is so important. Here are a few of my thoughts:

After Jesus was resurrected, He visited His apostles and sent them to preach to the gentiles. He commanded them, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15)… So this is what we do … just like Jesus commanded that the gospel to be preached in Bible times, we believe it is just as important to do so today.

I will be the first to admit I am not the greatest missionary out there, but that is partly why I am writing this post. I am trying a little harder to be a little better. The gospel of Jesus Christ is such a great blessing in my life, I feel like I would be being selfish if I didn’t share the knowledge I have with those I love.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is where I find MY joy in this life. I love my Savoir, Jesus Christ, and I know that He lives. My Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have blessed me beyond measure. All that I have has been given to me by them.

I may not always show it, especially for those of you who knew me back in high school, but this is the real me--“I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ” (Romans 1:16).

Don’t worry though.  I am still the same quirky Befany you always knew. Still have a tiny bladder; still hate most all condiments; still am loud, crazy and feisty around those who know me well and quiet and reserved around those who don’t; and still love to laugh at my own jokes and rarely at others’.

Feel free to ask me questions, or let me know what you think. I tried to put lots of links in here, to help answer questions about all this jazz I am talking about.

Look forward to upcoming posts about by brother’s wedding, which is coming up this weekend!! Woo hoo! And just some of the fun things we have been doing this summer ( I love that I can still say summer since none of us have to go back to school). Stay tuned…

Love you all! Have a great day!

-Bethany