Last Email

[Note:  Elder Pearson comes home on Monday, August 29th.  He will arrive at 5:01PM on a US Air flight - which is Terminal A.  If you would like to be there to welcome him home, all are welcome]

This sucks. I was pretty excited about the mission coming to an end until Monday. Then I realized all the lasts start. Last Tuesday with the last email. Last night was my last P-day eve. So we had a sleep over and didn't get to bed till 6 am. We were supposed to have a ride come at 5:45 AM to take us to the temple, but he never showed up. So we slept till 10 and started the day. We stayed up all night playing a sweet card game called Bang. So addicting!

The week has been sweet. We're still picking up a bunch of new people to start teaching. The weather is warming up a bit and all the anti-Mormon people are getting extra grouchy. I've had some temple stuff yelled out and heard a scripture in Deuteronomy 3 different times about false prophets - and the name Joseph Smith has followed the scripture every time. But it was cool.

We went on splits with a kid named Joseph. His brother's name was Hyrum. haha crazy stuff. We had a sweet mission conference on Saturday! Elder Bednar, Bishop Burton, and Elders Cherrington, Callister, and one I can't remember from Japan. It was intense. 3 1/2 hours with all these men and their wives. I learned a lot. Mostly that Elder Bednar is a really funny dude. He's a lot different when he's not in General Conference. He was having a good time calling a lot of missionaries out and slightly rebuking them. It was funny. 2 of my former companions, Daly and Waggoner got rebuked.

I've been doing well not thinking about home and after mission stuff till this weekend. Elder Bednar talked about marriage for over 1/2 an hour. Then on Sunday we had 4 Sacrament Meetings. All of them were about family and marriage. And one of them was a homecoming!

But it's all good. I'm still working hard, and making every hour count. On an unrelated note, here are some sweet scriptures y'all need to read.  Job 10:20, 2 Tim 4:6-7, 2 John 1:12, and Moses 7:63.

Next I have the newly updated and completed top 25 reasons for not doing missionary work, in order. Reasons for not inviting their friends to meet with the full time missionaries. All which I have personally heard or experienced while on this mission by completely active people, with 2 exceptions:



25 "We're in Utah, everyone is LDS" - All

24 "I don't keep track of stuff like that" - Logan

23 "They moved in during the summer" - West Haven

22 "It's summer" - Brigham

21 "Our Bishop is really missionary minded" - Kaysville

20 "Someone in our ward joined the church a few year ago" - Kaysville

19 "They're all old people" - Brigham

18 "I've only lived here a few years, and haven't gotten a chance to know my neighbors yet" - Roy

17 "My kids pray for opportunities" - Brigham

16 No Excuse, whole family just left the room - Washington Terrace (Possibly not active themselves)

15 "It's no my thing" - Clinton

14 "They aren't members" - West Haven

13 "I'm on the High Council" - Logan

12 "They're letting us store stuff in their back yard and I can't afford to lose that" - Kaysville (Fairfield Ward)

11 2 reasons 1 Floor mat said Go Away 2 He had a U of U shirt on - Kaysville

10 "Our houses are on 1 acre plots and it's harder to meet your next door neighbor" - West Haven

09 "I'm not in the Relief Society presidency any more, I'm sure they'll find someone" - Perry

08 "I don't want to alienate my friends" - Kaysville

07 "They're getting active in another church" - Perry (They were inactive themselves)

06 "No offense, but I think I'm a better teacher than you" - Kaysville

05 "I wouldn't worry, he lives across the street from a church" - Kaysville (Fairfield Ward)

04 "We're good friends with them and I don't want to put that on them" - Kaysville (Fairfield Ward)

03 No Excuse, just yelled at us for knocking on their door when is said no soliciting - Kaysville (Fairfield Ward)

02 "Don't expect much, kids around here are raised not to associate with non-members" - Kaysville (Fairfield Ward)

01 "All my friends are LDS because the church says to have good friends" - Brigham

Hopefully that brought a few laughs. I worked hard to get these - lost the spirit a few times when I heard some of these. I didn't have the last one until this last week. But the Lord knew I needed a solid 25, so He provided.

In all seriousness, this mission, these past 24 months have been the greatest times of my life. Also, some of the worst. I've been scared and courageous. Alone and surrounded by loved friends. I've grown more at this time more than I will the rest of my life. And a lot more than I did before the mission. I'm still not where I need to be, but I'm on my way. And the experiences I've had and the people I've met have helped me to become better.

The gospel has filled holes in my life that things in this world would only temporarily fill. Christ's love is for everyone. I've seen it. I've been able to walk into a home, or meet someone on the street and immediately have a love for them. Even for members! It's crazy!

The friends I've made while out here, whether they be missionaries, members, or friends of other faiths, will always be there for me, and I'll be there for them. This is the exact same church that Jesus Christ established on the earth! Miracles still happen! My family and I have been part of and witnessed them. We have a living prophet. I've been fortunate enough to hear 4 of his Apostles in person while serving as a missionary (not counting General Conference) I've shaken hands with 2 of them. And even had a good chat with one. They do know Christ!

This message will help anyone. But we must let it help us first. We cannot help someone become converted past our own conversion. Read the Book of Mormon. Pray about it again and again. Seek answers as you attend church. Gain a testimony! I love y'all. Thanks for all the support!
--

Elder Pearson

Utah, Ogden Mission