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| The Elders in our district |
It was several years ago now that President Thomas S. Monson
stood at the pulpit in the Conference Center to announce that instead of at 19 yrs.
old, worthy young men could serve at 18 years of age. Like everyone, I remember
looking around to see if everyone had heard the same thing I had. I remember
thinking how great that would be for so many young men who “wasted” a year
waiting and others who ended up not going because of the wait. However, this
announcement did not affect me personally since I knew I would graduate almost
being 19 years old. President Monson then continued the announcement saying
that worthy and willing young women could serve at 19 years of age instead of
21. Yesterday, as I listened to those prophetic words once again they took on
new meaning and I’ll admit even brought emotions that I had never experienced
while listening to that announcement. Those words will forever change Emily’s life
and it is exhilarating to me that my own sister has responded to the call to
serve as a full-time missionary in the Alabama Birmingham mission. In total, I
think 39 months will pass without us seeing each other due to our respective
missions, but that’s okay, this is more important and I am convinced that
families can be eternal. I’m so proud of her as her older brother and I’m
positive that she will be a much better missionary than I am (she always tends
to be better than me) and that makes me so happy!! She will love her mission.
So this week we celebrated the 18th of September.
It is the celebration of the Chilean declaration of independence from Spain. A
huge holiday here, bigger than the 4th of July in the states. It really
wasn’t too crazy in our sector since there aren’t many Chileans. I did take
some photos of the celebration, but not nearly as many as last year.
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| 18th of September celebration |
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| Our 18th of September meal |
With the celebration of the 18th of September I
realized that Elder Santos and I have been together a really long time. We’ve
been together for Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, 4th of July,
both of our birthdays, Brazilian Independence Day, the Independence day of
Elder Santos state (in Brazil), all of our sibling’s birthdays, the beginning
of Emily’s mission and the end of Elder Santos’ mission. These 4 changes have
been completely unique on my mission and although they’ve been crazy and
stressful, they’ve been incredible and I have Elder Santos to thank for that
100 percent. I wouldn’t have preferred anyone else to open 2 sectors, start
with me as brand new APs, send off one mission president and to welcome
another, Calvin Rocha dos Santos will not be just an ex-companion to me, but
rather a friend for life. I think above all things, he taught me to never be
ashamed of being spiritual. We’ve spent a lot of time with other missionaries
these 4 changes (transfers) and Elder Santos was never afraid to just be
spiritual, share testimony, share a personal story or share his love for the
Savior. That’s something I will always admire about Elder Santos.
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| I'll miss Elder Santos |
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| On top of Cerro San cristóbol today with the Chilean flag |
Tomorrow we’ll spend all day planning changes (transfers) so
I’ll find out who my new companion will be. I’m excited to see what these next
two changes have in store for me and to see what we’ll be able to do to serve.
I love this work, and I love the Savior who makes this work meaningful and I’m
ready to continue serving Him.
Happy birthday, Mom! I know it may not be your favorite
since Emily just left, but I hope you at least get to enjoy it with Cam and Dad
and that you can have the peace that all is well. Love you.
Love,
Elder Birrell
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| 18th of September celebration |
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| At the 18th party |
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| Office missionaries |
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| We invited some missionaries over to say goobye to Elder Santos |
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