Your Gonna Miss This

I’m home! This week has been a whirlwind of emotions. Sometimes I don’t even think it is real. The first couple days I felt like I was going to wake up any minute. I was trying to figure out what I needed to write about for my very last email the other day. I decided I needed to write out a little bit of a testimony. So here you go! I hope you like it! The mission has really changed my life for the better. Just like President Jeffery Holland the mission means everything to me. Here is a testimony I wrote out one of the last days of my mission. 

Reflection times are always the hardest for me. I remember when I was reflecting 2 years ago as I was preparing for the mission. Going through my stuff and retiring it for a little while definitely made leaving on the mission super hard. Too many crazy memories. The last couple days I have had a lot of time to think. To anyone who is just starting the mission or anyone who feels like they are in a hard spot I promise you it flies. Before the whole journey I remember when I was sitting in my room after going through my stuff I felt like the next two years of my life would be too long. I would miss my family. I would miss the fun times with my friends. I would miss so much.

 Now as I was driving and reflecting I didnt know what to think of myself. The last 2 years have flew by. Sometimes I dont want to leave. Having the opportunity to be here in Oregon has changed my life. There are so many people that I have come to love and appreciate more than youd imagine. So many people that have seen me in the thick and the thin. Companions and members. Friends and family. My dedication to serving the Lord the past 2 years have taught me so much about myself and about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As youd imagine there were lots of tears shed and times where I was sick of the work. I distinctly remember one time in the middle of the winter I was riding the 8 miles from a less active members place back home. It was almost 930. We were pedaling back as fast as we could. The freezing cold wind nipping our faces and our hands. My legs were super sore and we still had a long way to go. Nothing has been going our way in this area for a super long time and I was hardcore stuggling. We show up at the apartment drenched in sweat even though it was freezing outside. I just started talking to my companion. He really put pain and suffering in perspective for me. He talked about how we are given trials for many different reasons. 

He shared with me a scripture in Alma chapter 13: 28" But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering;"

 Every single trial and tribulation we go through, the lord is there to help us through it. Alma Chapter 11 talks about how Jesus went through pain and aflicitions of every kind. He did this so he could learn to succor his people. I promise you that you need to look to the Lord. I have learned this during the time here as a missionary for the Lords restored church.  Before the mission I was a very casual church goer. I went because I knew it was right but I never had a testimony of Jesus Christ and of the Book of Mormon until I came out here.

I was reading in the book of Mosiah earlier this week The story of Alma the Younger being cast dumb and then restored really stuck with me. In Mosiah chapter 27 Alma the younger learns and gains a witness of Jesus Christ. He says he is born of the spirit. He then says in verse 27 "27 I say unto you, unless this be the case, they must be cast off; and this I know, because I was like to be cast off. 28 Nevertheless, after wading through much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an everlasting burning, and I am born of God. 29 My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more."

I honestly feel like the mission was my Alma the Younger experience. I have learned that the Lord is there for me and that he will snatch me up when times are hard. Just like Alma the younger I see the marvelous light of God. My pain is no more. And now I know and bear a witness that "Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess

before him" that Jesus is the Christ. I know that these trials are for our good. I know that Jesus is my savior and redeemer. He is my brother and he is my friend. 

I appreciate you all for sticking with me through this Alma the younger experience of mine. You all have seen me in the good and the bad. I would love to also thank my Mom and my Dad for their wonderful examples they have shown me. They really are lights in the storms for me. They have been there every step of the way. You guys dont even know how many times I have called home on Monday and just talked to Mom and Dad and just expressed concerns about what I am doing. I have had many doubts and my parents have been with me every single baby step of the way. I love you guys so much! You have made me the man that I am. I dont know what I would do without you! 

I love you all! 

Elder Tysen Reynolds 

(06/02/24)