Cauayan Philippines' Mission : Week of August 7, 2017

Dear friends and family,

Considering next Monday will hold many departure activities, I suppose that this will be the last email I will be writing you on my mission. The time is fast indeed

I'm not sure how to express how I am feeling about coming home, because my emotions are so mixed. I'm not sure either how to express my gratitude for all of the blessings the Lord has blessed me throughout my mission, but I will attempt to do so here.

As I think of the individual I was when I left home almost two years ago, it feels as if the individual I look back on is a different individual than I am today, and I know it is so. Throughout my mission, I have been blessed to meet so many wonderful people and blessed as well with so many wonderful experiences as well.

As I have come to ponder on the totality of my mission's experiences though, I have also come to realize how grateful I am now for all of the hardships I experienced as well. Surely, while one is enduring a trial of whatever sort, it is not fun. However, I realize now that I grew more during those times of trial than in any other time. In short, I have gained a testimony of what the Lord told the grieving prophet, Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail "that all..things [including trials] shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good" (D&C 122:7). Perhaps as we look over the totality of our lives once the time comes we will make the same realization.

As I mentioned previously, one blessing that I received from serving my mission was to be able to meet so many wonderful, wonderful people. However, I think the most important Individual I came to know better throughout my mission is our Savior. As I have been through the easy and hard times of my mission, He has always been there for me to help me along the way, and I have felt His sustaining hand in all facets of the work I have done I have never been privileged to do anything better than wear His name on my chest along with mine. And, although I will soon remove the nametag I have come to love from my chest, I am determined to wear His name on my heart for the rest of my life. I love Him more than anyone else, and I love serving Him. I could never thank Him nor our Father in heaven enough for the things I have been blessed to feel, realize, and witness throughout the course of my two-year mission. I never made a better choice than the one I did to let the Lord make more of me by serving Him for this short portion of my life.

I love you all!

See you soon,

Elder Pulley