And Now, My Son, Remember, Remember

So many missionaries recently have asked me, "Elder Ritchie, how do you feel now that you are going home?!?!" And I have always responded with the same answer. "Well, I feel happy!!" Which leads me to my last lesson that I have learned on my mission.

I know without a doubt that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of happiness, lasting joy, peace, and growth.

I have learned that joy doesn't come automatically nor does it come through the calling. But the reason why as a missionary I have felt so much joy is because I have lived, shared, and helped others to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. It doesn't come just from being a missionary but rather it comes from fulfilling the call to invite others to come unto Christ.

First, I have felt the joy of Christ by living the Gospel. This transfer has been the craziest I have had in all of my mission. So I learned that I had to read the Book of Mormon every day even though I was busy with other things. Every single day I had to repent, and it opened my vision of how I could better serve the Lord Jesus Christ. This week I was even able to attend the temple with our friend Bernardo, and it always amazes me how much POWER is in the ordinances of God. Yesterday, we left 2 hours early for church so that we could go out and contact and invite literally everyone to church, and we found 4 people on the street that came to church with us! 

Second, I have felt so much joy by ministering and helping others live the gospel of Jesus Christ. This last week we had the meetings to decide the transfers, and it was amazing as always. We really try to search for the will of God and how to help these missionaries grow and convert themselves even more to Christ. We also had a meeting with all of the new missionaries and their trainers, and we were able to help them develop more of their skills as missionaries!!

Well, being my last email, I thought it would be appropriate to do one last FOOD REVIEW! It is a Puebla classic, and its Mole. Mole Poblano is like a mixture of chocolate, peanut butter, nuts, cookies, spices, peppers, and chicken broth to make literal magic. You can serve it over rice and also in enchiladas and the truth is it is the heart of Comida poblana and so it gets a 10 in my heart.

I want to share a classic scripture today of Helaman 5:12 it says,

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

I love the phrase at the beginning, remember, remember because due to our fallen nature as children of God, we often forget what the Lord has done for us. And so Helaman is telling his sons to remember what the Lord had done for them.

I will always remember my mission with love and with sunshine in my soul. I am so grateful for the habits that I have learned here and the people that I met. I will remember the hardest times and the lessons I learned and the joyful times and the peace that I felt. I will remember the Lord's hand and the changed lives of the people here. I will remember my first day and my last week. I will remember all of the emails that you all have sent me.

I know that this church is true and that it lives. It is led by Jesus Christ and is upon the foundation of prophets and apostles. The Book of Mormon is the Word of God, and Brother Joseph is a prophet of God. I know that the Lord lives to lift us up beyond where we could go on our own. He is the Prince of Peace and the King of all the earth. And I can not wait to dedicate the rest of my life to Him and this great work and be his disciple.

I love you all so much. Have an amazing week. God is Good!!