Hi Everyone!
I don’t really feel like saying much this week. It will suffice me to say that Elder Johnson and I get along really well and we are working well together. Missionary work is so fun when you enjoy working with your companion! He is helping me through a lot of the stuff I have been struggling with lately and he also makes me speak french basically all day. I am getting French headaches and having a hard time switching back to English because we speak French so much. My french has already improved by a lot because of his diligence to help me! So we are doing really well, I am really happy to be serving with him.
I would just like to talk about the biggest lesson I have learned this year and thus far on my mission. I do not remember if I have already mentioned this, so if I have I apologize, I want to talk about it again.
My mission thus far has been quite the rollercoaster ride. I have had good times and bad times, and a lot of hard times! But through all of this I have come to know who my Savior really is. Before my mission I understood what Christ had done for me; I grew a lot through my experiences with repentance and utilizing the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Even though I had been through the repentance process and understood how to use Christ’s atonement - to a degree - I still didn’t really know who Christ was. My first MTC teacher gave me the assignment one day to try and figure out who Christ is. He said I know what he did, now I need to figure out who he is. I tried to study Christ during the MTC and came to the conclusion that Christ was Merciful. That is true but I don’t think that encompasses all that he is.
So, how did I find out who Jesus Christ is? I am honestly not sure, maybe it was through bearing testimony of him and trying my best to become like him and going through so many trials. Maybe it is because as a missionary you give your entire being to Christ and furthering his work. Maybe it is like Elder Holland said, something along the lines of, we are walking side by side with the greatest being that has ever walked on the earth and we are experiencing a little bit of the pain and sorrow he felt. Either way I am not one hundred percent sure, but I feel like I know Christ in a much more personal way. I have the 1983 oil painting of Del Parson’s depiction of Christ on my desk - I look at it every single day. I had the same photo on my desk at home and looked at it every single day. I start off every single day by looking Christ in the face. I start off the day by remembering why I am here. That picture has become something very personal and precious to me. I feel like it really depicts Him, somehow it was painted in a way where he looks stern but loving at the same time - I love it. That picture has gotten me through a lot of hard times because it makes me feel a lot closer to Christ - it reminds me of him. Even though I have had my hard times on the mission, and in life, Christ has always been there for me and he will always be there for me and for you!
I bore a testimony in my district meeting last transfer that I have never forgotten. The whole meeting had been centered around Christ and I was feeling the spirit and we were ending the meeting by bearing our testimonies. Usually when I bear a testimony - it might be the same for some of you - I finish and then immediately think of something better I could have said or a better way to word something. For this testimony I felt like the spirit just gave me the words and I was perfectly content with what I said. I’ll try to bear that same testimony here for you all.
Jesus is my friend, He is my savior, my redeemer, He is my brother, He is my God and my King. The soldiers of World War II, especially the ones from D-day, have always had a very profound effect on me. I was blessed enough to serve in Caen, where the D-day beaches are, and I was able to see the American Cemetery, with over ten thousand graves. All of these young men, traveled thousands of miles to help save a people they didn’t even know. Jesus Christ traveled many miles, suffered many afflictions, felt the pains, and the sorrows of the world. But, He died for people he did know - for us. What a touching thought. Our brother, our friend, our Savior, chose to die for us.
So who is Jesus Christ to me?
He is my Friend. He understands me like nobody else and he comforts me like nobody else. He is there for me and he watches over me. I love him so much for all that he has done for me. He truly is my Savior.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Love you all,
Elder Molinari
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