July 1, 2019

The Last One

24 things I’ve learned in 24 months.

Well, I figured that finishing the mission deserved a good email finally so I’ve actually put lots of thought into this one. The idea was to share a little bit of what these months in Argentina really have meant to me. This will probably be pretty long, so Id like to congratulate beforehand those few who make it to the end!

1.I have superpowers. I developed the super power here to make people disappear just by knocking on a door.  But I did learn that sometimes the truth has to be defended and that sometimes that involves enduring persecution. It´s something I do with pleasure now. 

2.Confidence. I think one of the great turning days in my life and mission was when I learned to walk with my head up and notice what happens around me. I´ve learned how to defend what I hold sacred and true. I know who I am and I know of the potential I have a well!

3. The importance to take care of our bodies. Our bodies are a gift from God and just like everything else in the gospel, what we get out of it depends on what we put into it. So I have come to learn and understand that physical health is super important and that by taking care of my body, it really does have a direct influence on my spiritual health. 

4. How to lead. I had the opportunity to try a little of everything as far as leadership goes in the mission. What I learned is that the key is loving those you lead. I found that the assignments I enjoyed the most weren´t those that were ¨big¨ with lots of people in my stewardship. My favorites were the ones that allowed me to spend more time with less people. I learned that leading is about loving people and guiding them through example.   

5. How to follow. I learned what it means to sustain our leaders. What we do should make their lives easier. We should help them and allow them to magnify their callings. I learned how to follow counsels and gained a testimony of the reality and importance of priesthood keys.

6. How much I really do love this church. I knew this before the mission too, but getting the opportunity to teach about and defend this church just made me love it so much more. Studying the doctrine and having more interaction with other beliefs just made me so sure that this really is the true church of Jesus Christ. nothing else even comes close. Just look at the fruits and its obvious. 

7. The Restoration. This kinda has to do with number 6 but I learned that the Restoration is real and still in process. I learned about the apostasy and of how the first vision really changed the world. 

8. This is a gospel of covenants. The mission has taught me so, so much about how to return to God. Covenants are the only way. It could be the most important of all the things I learned here. That´s why I love so much baptism and the temple. The mission is about more than baptizing, but there isn’t anything more important than helping other people receive covenants through the priesthood of God. Covenants are how God teaches us to become like Him. 

9. People cross our path for a reason. I love so many people here. I’ll be hurt to leave them. I know that every person I talked to, every person I taught and every soul I helped bring closer to Christ did the same for me. I can´t imagine my life without some of the people I met here. Converts, investigators, members and other missionaries. They are all part of who I´ve become and I love them forever for that. 

10. How to sacrifice. I know what Jesus meant when he said we have to lose ourselves to find ourselves. It was very hard to learn but I learned it the day I chose to sacrifice EVERYTHING I had to God. The day I chose to sacrifice what I once had was the day God gave me it all back, but He gave it back to me better. Sacrifice is the way to sanctify something. And that´s why God can’t take anything from me, because I give it all to Him.

11. I hate false doctrine. false doctrine and Satan. I have come to love The Truth and it just bugs me when something isn´t true. I know some people really believe it but that really doesn’t matter. It´s just not true. They´re wrong. Truth belongs to God and it never changes. 

12. The need to magnify our callings. This church is fueled by service. If we don’t give of ourselves and serve in the church, the church doesn’t function right and it impedes people from receiving the Truth. God gives us callings for a reason and we are responsible for magnifying them with all our heart, might, mind and strength!

13. God can protect us physically and spiritually. My mission is a pretty dangerous one but not once did anyone rob me nor was I in any situation too dangerous. Yes I was in some close calls and sketchy situations but I saw that God really did keep us safe as we worked in complicated neighborhoods. And if we are obedient to the commandments, they create a spiritual protection that can be lifesaving!

14. T9 technology. This ones kinda dumb but I´ve used a small phone straight out of the year 2000 for the past 2 years and I´m pretty proud of how fast I can type on it. If you don´t know what t9 is, you probably never had to use an old flip phone! 

15. Spanish. While I´m at it being a little sarcastic with this, I thought I´d point out that I did indeed learn Spanish while living in Argentina. 

16. Patience. I think one of the most important things I´ve learned is how to be patient and diligent and optimistic at the same time. It´s a hard balance sometimes. But patience isn´t just sitting around waiting, it’s getting up and doing what we need to all while waiting on the Lord. And I´ve learned to be patient with myself and others!

17. People allow what we allow them to be. what I mean by that is that lots of times we put limits on people by how we think of them and treat them and by doing so it greatly limits their ability to grow. We need to believe the best in others and see them for their potential!

18. I was very blessed at birth. I feel very, very blessed to have been born in the covenant in a family where the spirit could be felt. I took that for granted. There is a different feeling in the homes of faithful latter day saints and the rest of the world. I also feel blessed to have been born in the United States of America and to have all the opportunities and commodities that I could ever want!

19.I can do hard things. The mission was very hard all things considered. It has been mentally, physically, emotionally and even spiritually strenuous but I´ve become a better person in the process of learning to lean on the Savior. I know that I am capable to do anything He asks of me with His help! 

20.I love my family. I always knew this but going without them for two years really made me appreciate them a lot more. I love my family and I know that I was extremely blessed to be sent to this earth in their company. They are a huge strength to me!

21. Go to Gethsemane every week. That’s something that President Allred tells us lot. We need to visit Gethsemane every week, repent daily and take the sacrament each week to be able to continue growing in purity and power. There is nothing that could keep me from going to church each Sunday because I know that is where I will have access to the redemptive power of the Atonement of Christ.

  

22. Charity. I learned how to love people in spite of differences and even persecutions. I dunno if you knew this but Argentina doesn’t exactly love the USA or the church so I had lots of opportunities to exercise the character of Christ and come to love those who treat me poorly which is charity in and of itself I guess. 

23. The gospel can uphold us. When I had hard days, prayer kept me going. Daily scripture study filled me with the light of Christ. There is nothing more important. 

24. EVERYONE should be missionaries. Even if it’s not for full time, we owe it to God and Christ to help others gain access to the Atonement of Christ through covenants. 

I guess these aren’t the only things I learned nor necessarily the biggest. Just some that came to my mind as I wrote. I love you all lots! I know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know it for certain.

Elder Nixon 

I don't have any from this week so i just clicked on some random ones. One is a throwback to when i made it into Argentina!