WX NORTH

It's been another glorious week in the mission! We met with our mission leaders at the mission home on Monday evening for some delicious ice cream and some final personal words from them. We love the Merritts and stand in awe of how hard they work as they lead our mission. Tuesday was zone council/district council. We were moved from our previous district back to the district we started in. We love these dedicated missionaries and enjoy being taught by them each week at these council meetings.

I submitted our last monthly military relations report to Salt Lake! Can't say I'm going to miss that assignment. We had dinner with our Branch president and his wife who have become dear friends and we appreciate them so much for taking good care of us while we have been here. We had our last training breakfast with the missionaries that are assigned to serve at the MCRD. This has been a fun tradition that we have enjoyed as we have been able to get to know these people better and share our love for the recruits and Marines at the depot with them. All the missionaries who have served with us on the base have been amazing, but as this group left, I asked Brent why is was that we had such an exceptional group when we were headed home and wouldn't get to enjoy them. His wise and inspired answer was that the Lord knew we needed an extra amazing group to help make the transition from us to our replacements. The Lord is constantly taking care of all of us and is definitely in the details!! Speaking of helping with the transition, I have to acknowledge all of the wonderful people who serve in the branch. They have made us feel welcome and loved while we have been here and they serve with enthusiasm and love! We know that we can go home and that our recruits and Marines are in such great hands!

We had a good cake cutting ceremony on Thursday. I know it's a trivial thing, but it's so satisfying when there isn't a single piece of cake left when we're done!! I also had a touching conversation with one of our graduates and his mom. She asked me if he had gotten the letter she sent me to give him. It took me a minute to think about this because I've delivered a few letters for parents and wasn't quite sure which one she was referring to. But as she kept talking, I remembered and I got to hear the rest of the story. She contacted me several weeks ago and said she felt prompted to send her son's Patriarchal Blessing to him and asked how she could do that. I recommended that she shrink it down and laminate it and that due to its sacred nature, she could mail it to us and we would make sure he received it. This method was more reliable than sending it to the depot. She mailed it and I handed it to her son at church. That was the end of the experience for me, until she brought it up at cake cutting. When she brought it up, her son told us the following: he said that he was having a really hard time and had prayed one Saturday evening for extra strength and help. He came to church that Sunday morning with that prayer in his heart. That was the Sunday I delivered his blessing to him. He told us how much it had helped him and how it strengthened his testimony of prayer. The look on his mom's face, as she realized how following that prompting had blessed her son, was priceless! As I pondered on how Heavenly Father knew what this young man needed, before he even asked for it, and prompted his mother to help him, my ever growing testimony of how much He loves us, how He is so aware of "the one" and how important it is for us to listen to and heed the promptings we receive was strengthened.

Thursday evening, we went to the volunteer appreciation dinner on the Midway. We've seen the set ups for some big events on the flight deck but had never been to one. It was fun to finally go to one. Plus, it was a free dinner, so we kinda had to go!

We attended our very last graduation on Friday. We were accompanied by a fellow volunteer from the Midway and his wife. We have hopefully planted some good seeds with them and have plans to come back and take them to the San Diego temple open house.

Friday evening was our last FHE with the senior missionaries. It was a murder mystery dinner, in honor of Halloween, but the great thing was that when we were done, they hosts revealed that the murder mystery was based on a story from the Book of Mormon and we figured out who everybody represented. It was great fun and educational to boot! We will sorely miss being with these dedicated disciples and feel that we have made some lifelong and forever friends.

And then it was time for General Conference! What a wonderful way to spend our last Saturday in the mission! And then it was our last Sunday at the depot! We have regular church, even on conference weekends. It was bittersweet. We love these amazing young people so much and have so enjoyed our meetings with them every week. We will miss the special spirit that is in the MCRD branch. We will miss their tender testimonies. But we know they are in good hands and the work goes on. Back at the apartment, we attended to our regular Sunday duties and then tuned in for the afternoon session of conference. May I just add my testimony to the ones I heard that Jesus is the Christ. I know He lives and I know He loves all of us. I know that He will find us no matter where we are and wants us to come to Him, no matter what shape we are in.

Brent and I will be speaking in our home ward on Sunday, October 20th at 9:00am for anyone who might be interested. We would love to see you! Our church is located on the corner of 800 West and 1500 South in Woods Cross. It is the Woods Cross 6th Ward. I hope you have a wonderful week!!

Sister Jackie Page