Mansions of our Father

As of tomorrow, I´ll have only 10 months to go until I´m home from one of the greatest places I´ve ever been, doing one of the greatest things I´ve ever done.  I cannot believe how fast time is going now (as if I thought it was going fast before, hah...WRONG).  A year ago today, I was in my last day at the MTC anxiously anticipating travelling to Paraguay the next day.  It´s really strange how fast this is going to end.  Even more sad is that if I get changed these transfers, I only have 2 more Sundays in Guarambaré.  It makes me want to cry.  I have grown SO much here, by far more here than in any of my other areas.  And the people...oh, I am going to miss the heck out of these people.  I don´t know what I´m going to do.  But that´s the mission I guess, it has to come sooner or later.  We just keep on keeping on I guess, and keep doing the Lord´s work wherever He needs us.

The family of Juani who passed away recently is doing well.  The 4 boys are adjusting, and their sister is goin back to Spain at the end of the month.  They will be staying in the house they live in right now, and every day one of the many family members they have living on the block will be coming over to wash clothes, cook, clean, and do all that kind of stuff.  Kind of an interesting situation considering that the oldest is only 15 or 16, but that´s what they´ve decided.  They´re adjusting well and we´re still visiting them.  Hoping to baptize the 9 year old this month.  I´ll keep everyone updated.

I want to share a story today.  The first is a story I heard that I shared with one of the missionaries in my district who only has 1 change left in his mission and is struggling to stay focused and motivated all the way to the end.  The Savior said that He has many mansions prepared for us in the kingdom of The Father.  This story is about a lady who found the gospel at some point during her life.  She developed faith in the Lord and gained a testimony of Jesus Christ as her Savior and Redeemer.  She repented of all of her past sins, leaving her old worldly-life behind and choosing to serve the Lord.  To show her newly-found dedication, she was baptized by someone who held the priesthood authority of God.  She received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and went about doing good things for good people.  As she progressed throughout her life, her knowledge, love for her fellow men, and abilities to serve others grew tremendously.  She held callings in the Church, which she fulfilled with excellence.  However, as she grew older and got into the last stages of her life, she looked back on all the good things she had done.  She thought to herself "I have lived a great life by any standards.  I was a good person and did a lot of good things.  I followed the gospel of Jesus Christ and kept His commandments.  I´m old and tired, and I deserve a rest until the Lord calls me home."  She began to falter in the little things at first.  Reading her scriptures every day, saying her daily prayers.  Her Church attendance slowly got fewer and farther apart.  She continued in this pattern until she passed away to the next life.

When it came time to meet with the Lord Jesus Christ face-to-face, He looked at her and said "Come in and see the mansion I have prepared for you in the kingdom of my Father".  She walked into the most beautiful and spacious building she had ever seen.  She saw it beautifully furnished with paintings, furniture, plants, and all kinds of gorgeous and comfortable things.  She was very pleased to be priviliged to live in this mansion for all of eternity.  She climbed the stairs, anxious to see the upper rooms and decorative designs she had enjoyed in the lower part of the house.  When she opened the door to the upstairs, apart from the same fancy trinkets and commodities that furnished the downstairs, she found quite the surprise - her mansion had no roof.  Confused, she turned and asked the Savior "What happened to my beautiful mansion?  It has no roof".  The Lord replied to her "Just as you did not strive your hardest until the very end of your life and until your work was complete, neither did I".  Don´t let us get to our celestial mansions only to find that they have not been completed because we did not complete our work here on earth.  May we finish strong in this life and work diligently until our very last breath, and then go on with the surety that we will have rest in the mansions of our Father.

I wanted to write one more thing, but I´m out of time.  Next week, I´ll write about a dream I had with me, Bryce, and a roller coaster ride.  I love and miss you all!

-Elder Moore