5/20/14

Querido Familia, Well this week was really good, our best in this area so far! Our ward mission leader came out with us all day after church on Sunday, and rode bikes with us! It was super awesome, and we can tell by the way he does missionary work that he was a good missionary in his day! We did some service on saturday, helped a new family move in! And Friday was the craziest day of all! So there was a man who had cancer that we were visiting, he was a member, and the doctors told him about three weeks ago that he had anywhere between one week and three years to live! So on Friday we had a strong prompting to go visit this family! So we got there only to find out that the man had passed away three hours prior to our arriving. He was still sitting on the couch and all his family was there. This experience really got me thinking hard about the plan of salvation and what really happens to us after we die. Seeing this lifeless man on the couch, I couldn't help but wonder, "Where is he right now? What is he doing?" As I saw all of his family gathered around mourning I wondered "What would it be like if I died right now? Would my family all be there? What if I didn't even get to say good bye? What if a member of my family died right now? How would I feel?" As I thought about these things I told myself "Oh, they are just sad because they will never get to talk to him or be with him ever again" Which is kind of a big deal but I thought it is no different that going away for a while or having a friend go away and you lose contact. But people don't mourn over that, so what is it? Why is death such a hard thing for people to deal with. Well, my thought is that its not seeing the person or talking with them that is so horrible. It is the love that you have for that person and the life that they had. It is the unknown, of where they are, or even IF they are. These are normal thoughts and feelings to have. When I came to this conclusion, I could only find peace and comfort in our savior Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation. That through Jesus Christ we will all be resurrected! We can all live with our Father in heaven again with our families and our loved ones! If this is not a basic truth of life and this gospel, then everything Jesus Christ did was worthless. But I testify that Jesus Christ did suffer and die for us! But more importantly, he over came death and was resurrected so that we too may over come death and be resurrected! I testify of these things in the name of our savior Jesus Christ, Amen! Side note, I had only met the man two times before so his passing wasn't super tragic for me, but as we were there my love for him and his family grew. And Tomorrow my companion and I will be going to the funeral home with another member to dress him and his funeral will be on Friday! I love you all! Elder Lee