Dearest family,
This week has been a ridiculously emotional week for me, and there is no signs of slowing down! Next week is sure to be crazy too.
We are signing our bye-bye books as a district tonight in our classroom, and then tomorrow night we will sign Hasta Ver (Till we meet again ) in the dorm rooms on Sunday after conference.
I have one more day of class after that, around which I'm gonna be packing like a pac-a-fish, and then that night will be my last at the MTC. First thing next morning, I will report to the Travel office at 3:50 AM, right after screeching "GOODBYE MTC" at the top of my lungs, and then From there off we go to the Airport. I will call you as soon as I can when I get there.
After our call, I'll preach the Gospel at the Salt Lake Airport as my first true experience in the real world as a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have written my testimony inside a Book of Mormon or two, and I plan to hand those out like popcorn. Then after that, I will board the plane with my companion. Our group is already at least 21 Elders and Sisters strong and from that moment on we shall fly into the next phase of mission life.
Words cannot describe how I feel at this moment. I have been preparing for this for I feel like my whole life. And now I get to share it. My only regret is that I thought I had to be a missionary first. I am ashamed to admit that I allowed the idea, the thought that I had to be boarding a plane, going off to some remote part of the world far away from home in order to begin my time as a missionary. I thought I had to be where I am right now in my shoes to begin my sharing of the restored truth of the Gospel. Well, that's wrong. All of it. I promise you that you don't have to be wearing a badge to be a missionary, taking part in the work. And so it is that as I go out very soon, I give you all within the reach of my words, a charge. A charge to share what you know. To bear solemn testimony. To preach His restored Gospel, and as with the sound of a trump, to proclaim truth from the rooftops.
No good moment is ever wasted. This church is true. I know it with all my heart. I know it, and I cannot deny it. And I know that as we share the Gospel, we stand among all of the greats who ever lived. Not because we of ourselves are great by any means, but because you and I can bring the greatness and strength of this Gospel and the Knowledge of Jesus Christ to others, who need it even more desperately than we. If there is one thing I know about all this, it is that God needs us now more than ever to answer the call to help bless His children. For as of this moment, none of them have that restored knowledge in its 100 percent absolute truth. They are struggling, floundering, and sinking. They need us, they need this church. It really does change lives. I know it because it has changed my own.
I testify to you all that Christ is the only defense for lasting peace, true happiness. He is the only way out. They don't know about the great joy, and incredible happiness that only you can give them through the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are kept from the truth only because they know not where to find it. And they oh so desperately need that knowledge. There need to know that there is hope and happiness and joy ahead. They need to have protection. Be that light. For both this week, and for forever, this is my charge to all of you.
All my love,
Elder Hakala
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