My Last Letter

Well where do I even begin...these past 18 months have been quite the experience and I am filled with joy and gratitude towards my Heavenly Father for this wonderful opportunity he has given me.  I feel as though the miracles I have seen these last few weeks of my mission in a way have sort of been God's way of thanking me for my service towards His children this past year and a half.  This last transfer Heavenly Father has given me countless opportunities to share the gospel and I am so very thankful for that.  

This past Saturday I had one of the best lessons in my entire mission.  We were reading 1 Nephi chapter 1 with Julio and Andrea and then the whole lesson turned into a conversation about how they need to really give it their full effort to know if the things we share are true.  Julio has been without a job for about a year and a half now, and we often find him focusing on the things of the world instead of putting the things of God first.  I shared with them Matthew 6:10 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God" and Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God."  With those scriptures and powerful testimonies from both Hermana Chavez and I, the spirit was thick and we were all in tears because Heavenly Father was testifying to us all that the things we were teaching are true.  It was a powerful lesson as Hermana Chavez and I poured our hearts out to Julio and Andrea expressing to them our love for them and our great desire for them to have the gospel in their lives.  We told them that we knew them before this life, that we met them in Heaven.  And that we had promised them to come here to Fernandez Oro in this very moment of their lives, with the answer to all their problems.  The gospel of Jesus Christ.  It was a beautiful moment we got to share with these special children of God and I am going to miss these unforgettable experiences that one has while serving a mission.  We are planning on Andrea being baptized this Saturday :)  

What a joy it has been to work alongside the Savior these past 18 months.  My time here in Neuquen Argentina has changed my life forever.  This last week I hope to leave all of me here.  All of my love, and the gospel of Jesus Christ that has become such a big part of me; so that others may have this eternal happiness that can only be found through and with our Lord and Redeemer.  I sure am going to miss being a missionary and I am happier than ever before.  I will see you all very soon and I can't wait to share my experiences with each of you.  Thank you for your constant love and support this past year and a half, I love each and every one of you with all of my heart.  

Nos vemos pronto. :)

Quote of the week:

Of this be sure, you do not find the happy life, you make it.

-Thomas S. Monson

***Important dates--

April 18th: end of my mission

April 18th-28th: Traveling Argentina with my two best friends, Mom & Dad :)

April 28th @ 10:20am: When I land in the SLC Airport, friends and fam invited!! :)

May 8th: Mother's Day and my homecoming talk! 

LOVE YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH! :)

xoxo

Hermana Anika Van Boerum :) 

#LDSconf

Happy General Conference!! I hope that you were all able to enjoy the beautiful thoughts and testimonies shared by our great leaders of the church.  This time I watched all 4 sessions in Spanish which was really neat and although it was a little different from listening to it in English, I still felt the spirit powerfully testify to me that the words which were spoken are true!  Some of my favorite talks were given by Donald L. Hallstrom, Elder David A. Bednar, Mervyn B. Arnold, Bonnie L. Oscarson, President Monson, Elder Christofferson, President Uchtdorf, and Jeffrey R. Holland!  A few of the things I was able to capture from General Conference are- 1. the importance of the restored Priesthood keys and how the ordinances of salvation are only complete with those keys 2. the beautiful blessing of having the gift of the holy ghost and 3.  that we are all sons and daughters of a very, very loving Heavenly Father- those are just a few of the may things that Heavenly Father wanted to remind me about and I hope that you all had a wonderful General Conference experience as I did!  Like Elder Holland said, our leaders truly do love us so very much and we are so lucky to be guided by such special disciples of the Lord.

I do not have much time today but I would like to share President Thomas S. Monson-s thought about our destination in life.  I love that he mentioned the Alice in Wonderland story because just the other day I had read that story in his book A Future as Bright as your Faith and I wanted to share it with all of you!  He says 

Let us not find ourselves as indecisive as is Alice in Lewis Carroll-s classic Alice in Wonderland.  You will remember that she comes to a crossroads with two paths before her, each streching onward but in opposite directions.  She is confronted by the Cheshire Cat, of whom Alice asks, <which path shall I follow?>  The cat answers, <that depends where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn-t matter which paht you take.> Unlike Alice, we all know where we want to go and it does matter which way we go, for by choosing our path, we choose our destination.

So choose the right path that leads to eternal life! 

Well, next week you will all be receiving my very last email!! Crazy how fast the time goes.  I hope you all know how very much I love you and have the BEST week ever!!!!

xoxo

Hermana Anika Van Boerum