Letter to Mission President

12/31/2007

Hermana Pratt
Misión Chile Osorno
Junio 2007 – Enero 2008

My entire life I have heard people say that the mission was the best and hardest two years of their life. I never really understood that statement until now. Now, I can testify of the truthfulness of that statement.
When I decided to go on a mission, I felt as if my reasons to go were a bit selfish. I had two main reasons to go on the mission. One, I had prayed and fasted a lot to know if it was a step I had to take and I felt so strongly that if I didn’t go I would regret it for the rest of my life, wondering who needed me and I didn’t help, always thinking that I had to do something and never did it. The other reason was because I really wanted to learn how to be charitable, to have the pure love of Christ, to really love my brothers and sisters here on the earth and desire their salvation as much and more than my own. At first I was a little embarrassed to admit that to my Stake President because I felt like they were both for me. But to my surprise he assured me that they were righteous desires. But never did I really ever expect what I have experienced in these 18 months here in Chile, the most wonderful and most difficult experiences of my life.
A scripture in Alma has really sums up what I have experienced and felt on the mission. Alma 36:20-21

“Y ¡oh qué gozo, y qué luz tan maravillosa fue la que vi! Sí, mi alma se llenó do un gozo tan profundo como lo había sido mi dolor. Sí, hijo, mío, te digo que no podía haber cosa tan intensa ni tan amarga como mis dolores. Sí, hijo mío, y también te digo que por otra parte no puede haber cosa tan intensa y dulce como lo fue mi gozo.¨

I have come to feel as Alma did as I have shared the Gospel with my brothers and sisters here in Chile.
In my first area, I grew to love a family as if it were my own. As we shared with this family and taught them the truthfulness of the Gospel and how they could have an eternal family brought me a joy I had never experienced. I felt a love for this family and a desire to see them sealed as a family for all eternity. I desired that more than I did for myself. It was a wonderful feeling that quickly turned around as the family rejected the truthfulness of the message that they knew was true. I had truly never felt a pain in my heart like I felt that day as I could see that some of Our Heavenly Father’s children had rejected His plan of happiness, the only way to get back to Him. But in this moment, I realized the change that was happening within me, how God was working in my life and refining me. It is an experience I will never forget, the joy and the pain that comes as you love someone else and give them all you can so that they can be happy in this life and in the next. I continue to pray that these people that have rejected this message will one day open and bland their hearts so that they will be able to be with our Heavenly Father once again.
The mission has definitely been a growing experience for me; I have grown leaps and bonds that a person outside looking in wouldn’t see. I have gone through things on the mission that I would never wish for another person. I reached moments that I thought it wasn’t possible that I could get through it, at times they were physical trials and others mental and emotional trials. It has been a time where I have never been so stressed, concerned, and pressured in my life like I have been on the mission. Times where I have never felt so down, depressed, alone, without hope, and without the power to go on. There are things that I don’t understand why I had to go through or why it happened to me.
Thanks to these trials, I have never felt God’s love as strong as I found the comfort, answers, help, support, and everything I need in the scriptures. I had never pleaded so sincerely, from my heart, and powerfully in my prayers before like I have on the mission. I have never seen God answer my prayers as quickly as I have had to use all of my faith and all of my being to get through the trials and help the Chileans. The scriptures have come alive and have been amazing how God leads me to exactly what I need right when I need it. I have never fasted with such faith and fervency. I have never been an instrument in God’s hands like I have been on the mission. I have never seen so many miracles, God’s love for every one of His children, His grace and mercy like I have in the last 18 months. And I have never understood the extent and the intensity of Christ’s Atonement, the pain and suffering that Christ went through for me and all of the humanity. I can never thank my Heavenly Father enough for every one of those experiences. I know that after the trail of your faith come the blessings from heaven, I have seen them and have received them. God has given me such a wonderful blessing being able to be here and serve Him as I serve my brothers and sisters here. I know that everything that has happened to me will be helpful in the future, begin able to help others through their trials and get through some of my own.
On the mission not only have I been able to understand a little more about what Christ has done for me and what he suffered for me, but I have been able to taste what the eternal happiness we will have when we arrive in our Heavenly Father’s presence. I have truly tasted that as I have found people that were waiting for me. I have found my best friends from the preexistence and have been able to be there for them and lead them to the correct path. I now understand why I had felt what I felt when I prayed about going on the mission, that if I didn’t go I would regret it forever. Because there were people here who were waiting for me, especially a lost sister that had been prepared when over 7 years ago had had a dream of when we said goodbye in the preexistence and how I had promised to find her here on the earth and bring her back to the truth. It is a dream come true, something I had only ever heard about but never thought I would live it. As I have watched her and her family change, come into the church once again, and see the happiness and joy that has come into their life has brought me the greatest happiness I have ever felt. It has helped me see what we are fighting for every day; understand what the blessings will be in the end. There has been nothing else sweeter or greater than being able to help these people return to our Heavenly Father. I can understand a little better the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 18: 13, 15…

¡Y cuán grande es su gozo por el alma que se arrepiente! Y me traéis aun cuando fuere una sola alma, ¡cuán grande será vuestro gozo con ella en el reino de mi Padre!

I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for truly helping me to reach the two goals that I had before my mission. I know that this is where I had to serve my mission; I know that Gordon B. Hinckley is a prophet of God that receives revelation for all of us. I know that this is the true church because if it wasn’t and if the President Hinckley was not a true prophet, I would have never been here nor found the people that I was sent to find by our Heavenly Father. I understand now why things happened in my life before the mission, how the Lord prepared the way for me to go on the mission. I am so very thankful for the promptings of the Spirit and because I was able to follow them and do what the Lord had prepared for me from before this life. I know that none of this has been a coincidence but we have such a loving Heavenly Father that prepares the way for us continually.
He has also touched my heart in many ways unimaginable. He has changed my heart and has taught my how to love. I feel like He has set me on my path to be able to really be able to have charity. I have never loved so many people so deeply like I have here on the mission. I will leave the majority of my best friends here in Chile. They are a wonderful and loving people. They have taught me and given me much more than I have done for them. God has given me the greatest blessings I could have ever asked for, the true happiness that comes as I have learned to love these people with all of my heart, might, mind, and soul. Many times I wonder why I have received so many blessings I really don’t deserve. But, I thank God everyday for giving me the wonderful family I have that has taught me the Gospel and now being able to share the happiness and joy I have in my life with other people. There is no greater blessing nor happiness than forgetting about yourself, losing yourself in the work of the Lord, and finding yourself by helping and serving other people.
I have grown to love my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ much more and have felt the love that they have for me and for everyone else. I know they live. I know only through Christ we can be saved and be happy now and forever. I know God guides and protects us in every step of the way. I know He loves us so much that He sent His only begotten son to take upon our sins. I know He loves us so much that He has restored His church on the earth so that we can have the sacred ordinances of salvation we need to we can return to Him. I know Joseph Smith restored Christ’s church and that today we have Christ’s true church, the true path that leads us straight to our loving Heavenly Father. I know the Book of Mormon is true, I have found all the answers and comfort that I have needed in this magnificent book. I know that God loves us, after everything I have seen and been through, how can I not know and feel the truthfulness of it all. I thank my Heavenly Father for every one of these experiences, good and bad; I wouldn’t change it for the world.