LAST LETTER FROM SYDNEY'S SANDY SHORE

Ello Beautiful Family! 

Well ... my last letter from the land down undah!

I am so excited to see you, and share with you the sacred experiences of my mission. 

My core experience with God this week came from a lesson we had with the most amazing, prepared family. A few months ago we met a young boy, who's incredibly sensitive to the Spirit. In the last couple months we have lost contact, until his father called last week and asked us to come for dinner.

We had a beautiful lesson with the entire family about the restored gospel. Everything unfolded beautifully because the Spirit was the teacher.  We taught and testified and they accepted the invitation to learn more and attend church this Sunday. I had to hold back tears, because I feel so blessed to witness Heavenly Father’s guiding hand with this family that I love so much.  

This week, a passage of scripture stood out to me in 2 Nephi 4 as I bore my testimony:

 24 And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me.

 25 And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not write them.

 26 O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy, why should my heart weep?

Why SHOULD my heart weep?  Ahhh … how can I ever explain the complete joy that I have felt throughout my mission?

My eyes have been opened to such incredible things this week.  I feel as though the Lord has slowed down time so that I can let everything settle and sink in.

After nearly 18 months, I know who my Saviour is – His very nature.  I know Him because I too have waxed strong in mighty prayer, hour after hour, to understand the word and the act of the selfless and perfect Atonement.  

I have been studying this entire week about conversion, and what my mission has done for me.  Of course, I’m not eloquent enough to capture everything, but I have realized that the most precious seed that I have been planting on my mission is that in my own heart. I have felt this seed grow daily, and for this, I am forever grateful. Like Nephi, I have seen such incredible things in myself and the people that I have taught over the past 18 months.  

The words to "We Are Sowing" are:

1. We are sowing, daily sowing

1. Countless seeds of good and ill,
   Scattered on the level lowland,
   Cast upon the windy hill;
   Seeds that sink in rich, brown furrows,
   Soft with heaven's gracious rain;
   Seeds that rest upon the surface
   Of the dry, unyielding plain;
2. 2. Seeds that fall amid the stillness
   Of the lonely mountain glen;
   Seeds cast out in crowded places,
   Trodden under foot of men;
   Seeds by idle hearts forgotten,
   Flung at random on the air;
   Seeds by faithful souls remembered,
   Sown in tears and love and prayer;
3. 3. Seeds that lie unchanged, unquickened,
   Lifeless on the teeming mold;
   Seeds that live and grow and flourish
   When the sower's hand is cold.
   By a whisper sow we blessings;
   By a breath we scatter strife.
   In our words and thoughts and actions
   Lie the seeds of death and life.
4. 4. Thou who knowest all our weakness,
   Leave us not to sow alone!
   Bid thine angels guard the furrows
   Where the precious grain is sown,
   Till the fields are crown'd with glory,
   Filled with mellow, ripened ears,
   Filled with fruit of life eternal
   From the seed we sowed in tears.

I love these words, as they have really come alive for me in the last couple of months.  The recitation that we say each morning is a promise from the Almighty God:

"For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in storethat he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;"

I will never forget something that President told me -- we are promised that as we plant the seeds of the gospel, we are also promised that we will harvest the fruit. I have seen that daily as I have beheld the miracles and the mysteries of the kingdom unfolded before me.  I have been “carried away by the Spirit” as I have testified of this perfect truth.  

D&C 112:13 reads:

"And after their temptations , and much tribulation , behold, I, the Lord, will feel after them, and if they harden not their hearts, and stiffen not their necks against me, they shall be converted , and I will heal them. "

I know that after everything, I am converted to this gospel. I know that is why I was called to serve. The Lord loved me enough to watch over me, and send me to a mission with a mission president, companions, ward members and people who would teach me what it means to live the gospel -- to live the higher law, and never look back.  Before my mission, my testimony was weak, but I am changed.  I can't wait to continue serving our Lord as I return home.  

I know that God lives. I know that He is real, and that He is our Father who loves us infinitely.  I know that my Saviour has walked with me each day, and blessed me with understanding, healing, and peace.  I have felt their love through the companionship of the Holy Ghost, who I treasure, and will strive to feel the rest of my life.  

I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God who translated a Book that has been the tangible means through which my nature has been transformed.  I love the scriptures and look forward with faith to studying them forever.  I know that I have been able to develop seeds within myself that will help me carry on and serve others.  I know that God answers prayers, and that revelation is real.  I know that God is a God of miracles, and that each day is a miracle.

I know that the words of Book of Mormon, if followed, have the capacity to bind families, and that church is the place where we can receive peace and renew our covenants that keep us pure and on the path to happiness.  I know that no righteous effort is wasted, and every act of goodness is counted toward our eternal progression.

I wish that I had more words to say, but I feel that my testimony will be left here on the sandy shores of Sydney. I have given everything that I am to the Lord, and I know that because of His mercy, I will be blessed forever.  I have given him my heart, and I know that He has changed me for eternity.

Ofa atu. I love you family.

Your faithful servant,

Sister Lloyd