I have served the Lord for 2 years. These past couple days have been so so crazy and hard. I’ve said goodbye to so many friends, missionaries, members, and amis. I will miss Tahiti with all my heart. I already do with this Utah climate my goodness haha!
It was crazy leaving Tahiti; the flight was long and nobody slept; the flight attendants right behind us talked of horses and whales and other nonsense; baggage was marked as suspicious and they stole my cool coral; we hung out in San Francisco for a bit as our flight got delayed; got $150 dollars worth of coupons to buy food because we meet an amazing worker who’s niece just left to Tahiti; and so many other little moments.
The craziest one was definitely seeing my family again. I love them so so much, and it was so weird to see them in person again. Everyone has grown so much! I was grateful for everyone that came to see me and especially for Sister Banner who came to see us all. She’s so sweet to have come, because that same day President Banner had a bone marrow transplant and is now recovering well.
I’m so grateful for every moment of my mission. As I reflect on all the people, friends, family, missionaries, and members that have helped me, I realize how blessed I was as a missionary snd how the Lord looked out for me in every situation. If it was definitely hard, I found out what I had to learn (sometimes, eventually) and what I needed to do to become better. That is the message I learned on my mission: that through Jesus Christ, we can receive all the blessings our Heavenly Father would like us to have. His Atonement pays the price, but we will always have our agency and our choice whether or not we accept His plan.
There are so many people out there that want to have the truth but they don’t know where to find it. We can help by being missionaries, maybe not always as full time missionaries, but in loving, serving, and inviting those that are around us: members and nonmembers ! You will have a stronger testimony and happiness if you do that, I promise because I lived that everyday for 2 years.
Thank you all for supporting me in one of the greatest and most influential experiences I will ever have in my life. I have felt so much love and I hope to continue throughout my life living that same example for everyone around me. Life has been exciting, and I can’t wait to see what will happen next:))
Mauruuru, Koutau Nui, Merci, Thank you !!
Love, Samuel Hansen
