Happy Thanksgiving
We are so thankful for what we have but more importantly
what we have had in our lives, for such good and dedicated parents, for our
knowledge and sure foundation received in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for our
safety and health all these years, for our freedom and privileges living in
America, for our dear friends from around the world who have inspired, lifted
and loved us through the years. We are so grateful for the background we have
that has given us what we enjoy today.
We only hope we can somehow give back to others who cross our path, to
share our testimony of Jesus Christ, to give hope where there is despair and
put smiles on the faces of those around us.
Following is what Elder Hansen shared at our Thanksgiving
dinner. Helps us put things in perspective:
Received on 10 Nov 2015 from Dale Mouritsen
This sister missionary, Joslyn Bunderson, is
serving in the Brazil Vitoria Mission. She is the granddaughter of dear
friend, Dale Mouritsen, in Sunnyvale, CA. We love this
true missionary, having never met her.
"Soon I
will have to go wash my clothes by hand, with a washboard and soap. And
hang them to dry. I will take a cold shower tomorrow morning, which I
will be grateful for because I will have sweated all night. I'll brush the ants
off of my table and eat some bananas and study the Scriptures and some
Portuguese in the hopes that I will understand all the people and they will
understand me. Then I'll go into Sao Gabriel with my companion, praying
and searching for the Lord's elect and loving the people I get to meet. I
am so blessed!!"
I sent the email to our children.
Later that same day our son, Clay, who served in Sao Paulo South (which
is about 700 km southwest of Vitoria) a few years back, responded.
"And if she's really lucky, she'll be sleeping with fleas. It was so
awesome being a missionary. Cold showers, washing clothes by hand, bananas and
papayas and mangoes and avocados, fleas, big cockroaches, stray dogs, people
throwing rocks at us and spitting on us, the magical moment when I understood
what people were saying and heard myself speaking coherently in Portugues,
dreaming in Portuguese, loving complete strangers, baptizing dozens of people
in a river in the jungle, seeing people change their lives and be healed of
addictions, just to mention some of the great experiences I had in Brazil," and we would add, in Bolivia, Venezuela, panhandle of Florida, England, Hawaii, Argentina and to mingle with people from all over the world at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.
We love the people and the work and love being a missionary here in Peru minus the fleas and cockroaches.
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