Mar Vista: Transfer 11: Week 6 The Last E-mail!!!!‏ May 9, 2011

This is it!!!? Can you believe it? I still can't believe it. I can't believe that on Wednesday I will be back home. I have gone through so many different emotions in the last couple of days, its crazy. I just can't decide how to feel about it.

It has been a crazy week! After the hike last Monday I had a terrible allergy attack and then was hit with my annual springtime sinus infection, which had me in bed for three days. Can you believe it? What wonderful timing. Not! I actually think that a lot of it had to do with the stress of everything finally wearing down my body. Saturday we had a big church "Open House" activity that went alright for a first time, "pilot program" sort of idea. It was well organized but that we didn't have enough publicity for it, so we only had about five nonmembers wander in. But one of them was really interested and wanted to have the missionaries come over! So even if it was just for him it was definitely worth it. We had a big part in helping put it together, so that was part of my stress, but it was also a good distraction to keep me focused on the work.

I said goodbye to everyone in the ward yesterday and that was sad. I am really going to miss the Mar Vista ward. It has become a big part of my life. I was there for six months and I know every person in that ward. It has been amazing to see the changes as everyone has become really excited about missionary work. Since the ward fast we have had different investigators at church every Sunday, which has helped to boost the enthusiasm as the ward has seen those positive results. In sacrament meeting I sang the hymn "O My Father." I felt that the words were very fitting for my coming home.

I especially love the last verse:

When I leave this frail existence,
When I lay this mortal by,
Father, Mother, may I meet you
In your royal courts on high?
Then, at length, when I’ve completed
All you sent me forth to do,
With your mutual approbation
Let me come and dwell with you.

It made me think about coming home to be with my amazing family again and how much I love them. My mom and dad have been such incredible examples to me with the honorable missions that they both served, and just the strength of their testimonies of the gospel. I appreciate them so much! :D

It also made me think about how this whole life is a mission, and one day we will all return to live with our Heavenly Father and we will be so happy to see him, and hopefully he will be able to say to us "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." I really feel like I have done everything that I could on my mission, and I have taken the fullest advantage that I could of growing from this experience and have become a new and better person. I am very satisfied with all of the experiences that I've had, all of the personal growth that I have accomplished, all of the friends that I have met, and all of the times that I was able to follow the spirit and be in instrument in Heavenly Father's hands to do his work. Part of me is sad to leave it all behind, but at the same time I know that I will continue to learn and grow in the next phase of my life and I am excited for a new adventure. I really gave my heart to the Lord here on my mission, and I have learned to trust him with it and to let him guide my life because he will always make it better than I ever could.

I know that Jesus Christ lives and that he is the Son of God. He has the power to heal us and to cleanse us of our sins, and to prepare us to live again with our Father in Heaven. He loves us. It has been so interesting to me to hear all of the different stories of who men say that he is. Some that I have heard are that Christ wasn't really crucified, it was just a "look alike" that fooled the people and so Christ was never resurrected. I've also heard that the period of time where the Bible was silent about Christ's life from the age of 12 to his late twenties that he went into India and learned his philosophies from that culture. It is the same now as when Christ lived; there were so many different theories.

It is like when he asked the apostles "Whom say men that I the Son of man am?" And they told him that some people thought that he was John the Baptist, or another prophet. Others thought that he was just a wise rabbi, or some of the Pharisees even claimed that he was possessed by a devil. It is incredible how many different views and explanations there have been of of Jesus Christ. I love how Jesus then asks "But whom say ye that I am?" And Peter responds "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." And he says to Peter "Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven." The only way that we can come to know that Christ is our Savior is through our Father in heaven, who will send his Spirit to those with an open heart and a willing mind to testify the truth that Christ is the Son of God, and the only way to return to our Heavenly Father. I know that is true because I have felt the spirit testify to me that Jesus is the Christ! He really can heal our souls. He has healed my soul from past mistakes, hurt feelings, moments of self hate, depression, anxiety, fear, and doubt. I have loved being his representative and bearing witness that Jesus is the Christ. He is all powerful, and with Him "nothing is impossible."

I love you all, and will see you soon!

Sister Dansie

1. Goodbye lunch with Sister Larson
2. Saying Goodbye to Dagmar
3. Open House Activity
4. Last time at Yogurtland
5. At the Hollywood sign with my district.

Departing Missionary Fireside Pics‏ / May 1, 2011

The Marquez family came and they gave me balloons and a huge stuffed animal bunny. It was really sweet of them. :) I gave Mirna, Melissa, and Clarissa some of my mission skirts to remember me by and I gave Felix my hymnbook which I wrote my testimony in so he can take it with him on his mission. Did I tell you that Felix is getting ready to serve a mission?! I am so excited for him.

Mar Vista: Transfer 11: Week 5 / May 2, 2011

What a week!
 
Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Clayton, the President of the Seventy came with their wives this Friday to speak at a combined mission conference we had with the Arcadia mission at the Los Angeles stake center. It was so incredible! We got to hear them all speak about missionary work. It was a very powerful meeting with all of those missionaries there. It reminded me of the Missionary Training Center. Elder Perry told some really incredible stories, like about how when he was twelve his dad had taken him and his brothers to meet a man who had known Martin Harris when he was a boy. He had worked for a family that Martin Harris was staying with in Utah. Martin Harris was very old and witheres, but he still bore a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon and it had really impacted this man, who then then told the story to Elder Perry. Martin Harris was one of the Three Special Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who had personally held the gold plates and testified of their reality. Elder Perry told us how it was such a powerful experience for him to realize that he was just two generations away from a man who had actually held the Gold plates in his hands, and who bore special witness that they were from God. Elder Perry then bore a powerful witness of the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ.
 
There were a lot of things at the meeting that were surprisingly very applicable to my life after the mission. I also keep meeting people in the Visitors' Center that somehow find out that I am about to come home and that have been giving me really good advice. There was a man that came in and he told me about his nephew who was such a great missionary, that he loved his mission, but then he had come home and married someone who hated the church and had gone completely inactive. It is so sad to see people that fall away after having such an incredible experience as a missionary. I've decided that a big part of it comes from a need "to be commanded in all things," instead of being the wise servants that Doctrine and Covenants describes in section 58 that is "anxiously engaged" and "does many good things of his own free will and choice," or something along those lines. I am really grateful for the self-control that the mission has taught me, and I plan to keep learning and growing, and setting goals to grow spiritually as well so that I don't catch myself backsliding. Another old man asked me "So are you happy right now? Do you feel close to Christ and more of his love?" To which I of course replied "yes." "Well, then keep doing what you're doing." I don't think that he meant in a freaky "act like I'm still a missionary" kind of way, but there is a value that comes from the habits I've formed, from the daily scripture study and prayer, and from really applying the gospel to myself that I hope to always have with me in my life.
 
After the fireside and later Friday evening I was lucky enough to be right at the entrance of the Visitors' Center when Sister Perry and Sister Clayton came by, so I welcomed them and offered to give them a tour. They are the sweetest ladies! They loved the Visitors' Center. It was really amazing giving them a tour, because they are so wise and it was great to learn from them and also to see two really great examples of women that have dedicated their lives to serving the Lord. Their husbands were busy in a meeting, which is something that I imagine they are both very used to. Elder Perry even made a joke about how he loved being out with the members instead of being in meeting after meeting after meeting at the Church office building. They were especially excited to watch the Special Witnesses of Christ with the video segments of the newer apostles that aren't on the DVD. We also watched Elder Perry's, and Sister Perry commented on how much she disliked the tie he had chosen to wear. When we were in the "Savior of the World" exhibit there was a video clip that starts out with Christ on the cross, and sister Clayton gasped and hurried and changed it saying "oh I just can't handle that." They were both so cute.
 
Yesterday was the Departing Missionary Fireside. You would think that the fact that I am going home soon would hit me there, but it didn't and it really hasn't yet. It kind of just feels like a weird dream and home is still just another alternate reality. The fireside was great, except that they put me first! There were seventeen of us going home, so they told us that we only had three minutes to share our testimony, so I felt completely unprepared. I had thought that I would have some time to sit there and think about it, but no. As I got up I could still hear them discussing how we really needed to make sure we didn't take more than three minutes, so I was so nervous about going ever that I only talked for about a minute and then sat down. Hopefully I made up for it in a really nice musical number that I did with Sister Stout. It was a duet of "Lead Kindly Light." It was so great to see a lot of the people that I have come to know and love on my mission that were there! That was definitely the best part. The Marquez family came and they gave me balloons and a huge stuffed animal bunny. It was really sweet of them. :) I gave Mirna, Melissa, and Clarissa some of my mission skirts to remember me by and I gave Felix my hymnbook which I wrote my testimony in so he can take it with him on his mission. Did I tell you that Felix is getting ready to serve a mission?! I am so excited for him. So now I'll have two little brothers out on missions! Wouldn't it be great if he got to be companions with James? Or if they are in the MTC at the same time?
 
I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and I have felt him carrying me so much throughout my mission, and I know that he will keep taking care of me in the future. "So long thy power hath blest me, sure it still will lead me on." Heavenly Father loves all of us so much! It was so incredible to see some of those blessings of my mission and the fruits of my labors in his vineyard. Wow. Like I said, I still can't believe it.
 
I hope that you are all doing well, and I look forward to seeing you all pretty soon.
 
I love you all!
 
- Sister Dansie
 
Pics:
1. The Dickson's came in to the Visitor's Center!
2.Dinner at the Bishop's with Diane
3. Sisters Perry and Clayton