Email to and from Mom:
Subject: Re: I need your
assistance
Mai:
I was asked to speak in sacrament next week on how your serving a mission has blessed my life and the lives of our family, which is a super awesome topic. I’m actually looking forward to it. I wanted to share how serving a mission has blessed your life from your perspective. Can you rattle off the top five ways serving a mission has blessed your life. You can send this back to me in bullet form, or paragraph, whatever works for you, but I do want to share your thoughts in my talk.
The biggest way I feel I have been blessed personally is I’ve learned to sacrifice. I’ve never been asked to give so much. Tithing is no big deal, it’s just money, my own time is no big deal, it only affects me, but giving you to the Lord for 18 months is the hardest thing that has EVER been asked of me. I miss you. I miss your smile, your laugh, your smell, your hugs, your sweetness, your kind and compassionate countenance, just everything. Okay, now I’m crying, I love you so much. Even though I miss you, I wouldn’t want you any place else. This year will go by fast, enjoy every second of it and really soak in this experience.
Love mom
I was asked to speak in sacrament next week on how your serving a mission has blessed my life and the lives of our family, which is a super awesome topic. I’m actually looking forward to it. I wanted to share how serving a mission has blessed your life from your perspective. Can you rattle off the top five ways serving a mission has blessed your life. You can send this back to me in bullet form, or paragraph, whatever works for you, but I do want to share your thoughts in my talk.
The biggest way I feel I have been blessed personally is I’ve learned to sacrifice. I’ve never been asked to give so much. Tithing is no big deal, it’s just money, my own time is no big deal, it only affects me, but giving you to the Lord for 18 months is the hardest thing that has EVER been asked of me. I miss you. I miss your smile, your laugh, your smell, your hugs, your sweetness, your kind and compassionate countenance, just everything. Okay, now I’m crying, I love you so much. Even though I miss you, I wouldn’t want you any place else. This year will go by fast, enjoy every second of it and really soak in this experience.
Love mom
Hi
mom,
wow
thats a cool topic. oh gosh I feel like my entire life has completely changed
since leaving on my mission. The first thing is I am becoming a better person;
more Christ-like. One of the many things we study in PMG is Christ-like
attributes and how as missionaries we can become the person Christ wants us to
be and become more like Him. I have seen in myself that my faith, hope,
charity, love, knowledge, diligence, virtue, patience, integrity, and obedience
have grown since I have left and started focusing on others instead of myself.
Third, I am starting to figure out the things that actually matter in life. I
actually had my interview last night with Sister Christensen (mission
President's wife) and we talked about that for a while. We talked about how
after all the craziness of life happens and the dust has settled, the only
thing we will have in our lives is our family, the Gospel, our Savior, and our
Heavenly Father. We talked about how important our families are to us and how
much we both miss them so much, and really don't care about anything else back
at home. I will always cherish my friends, my education, and other things, but
the people that I really want to completely focus my life around are the people
in my family, currently and in the future. The fourth thing is the experiences
I am having. Being in the craziest Asian country speaking the craziest Asian
language and actually loving it. I remember being so scared and depressed after
I got my call because I knew there was no way I could possibly do it. Ever. I
didn't want to come to a country that doesn't even have toilets (don't worry,
we have them in our houses), with people who eat coagulated blood, cow tongue,
maggots, spiders, and chicken butt, and a language that looks like spaghetti
thrown on a wall. But as I have been here and adjusted to the culture, the
food, the people, the stinky poo smell everywhere, and constantly sweating, I
have learned to love everything about Cambodia. I would not change my mission
for anything, and every aspect of it is teaching me about life. I think a part
of me will always be Cambodian, and I will eat rice for days at home :) Just
since leaving I think the biggest blessing I have received from my mission is a
true testimony. Before my mission, I had a testimony just like everyone else,
but it wasn't extremely heartfelt. I believed Christ was my Savior but I didn't
really even know what that meant. I still have a long ways to go to learn about
the Gospel, but my testimony and knowledge of it has increased drastically, and
I would have never learned these things had I not come on a mission. Even
though my mission is very hard, I know this is exactly where I need and want to
be. I miss my family, America, open roads, carpet, warm showers, netflix,
mexican food, and all the other wonderful things from home, but I know that I
can sacrifice a short period of my extremely blessed life to bless the lives of
those who have never even heard of God before. They have never even heard of
their Creator, the one person who loves them more than anyone could ever love another
human being. They don't know that they can live with their families forever,
because they believe in reincarnation. They don't know that after they have
made a mistake, they have a Savior who can wipe their slates'clean and bring
them true happiness. And I have the privilege of being the person to share that
message to the people of Cambodia.
Hopefully
you can use some of these things. Sorry if my grammar is off. you can change it
if it sounds weird :) I can't do english anymore haha.
Love
you mom! You are seriously the best role model for me and I thank Heavenly
Father for you and every person in our family every day!
Sister
Bashford
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