My Life as a Missionary by Elder Ryan Froude: August 18, 2015

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

Wow, this is something weird! My very last letter home as a missionary. I'm not sure if I should talk about my last week here or how I feel. How about both?

Well, this past week my companion, Elder Walters and I spent a bit of time learning a few more songs for another choir activity. But I only needed to learn one song so we didn't spend much time working on that :D But the activity was a graduation for a Self-reliance class the church is doing. This class is one of the first in the world and they earned degrees from BYU so this was a pretty big deal! There was a news team from the country covering the graduation. If you look it up you might see me on the piano. ;D Anyway, the activity went great! I played well and everything was all good. ^_^

Well, after that whole thingy, Elder Walters and I turned our attention to finding those 60 references we have received over some time through the English class we were teaching. We had 30 people come to the class!!! We had the highest number of references received and contacted in the zone. We were happy with that. :D Unfortunately, not one of them came to church because it stormed and Dominicans are terrified of the rain. But that's ok, because something that would happen the next day would cheer me up.

So, I got a call from my ZL's asking if I could come to the capital and help in translating for some US Navy doctors coming to visit the country. Boy, it was an amazing experience!!! The troops doing this service project were all fantastic! Also, there were different jobs for different translators. Some were translating for the doctors, but I was assigned to translate at triage. Basically, I was the welcoming sign in. So, I got to meet every single person that came in. That day something like 250 or 300 people came in. I had to sign them in and ask what the problem was. Man, I heard some interesting things. Mom, I'm leaving it to you to include what you think should be included with what I heard. XD But it was a great experience! And I will never forget it! (This is Elder Froude’s mom…I decided not to include his stories of his triage experience as most of them were inappropriate for this blog. Funny, but still inappropriate. Just ask him when you see him. J)

So, this one is a little random, but I thought it was really cool! So, Elder Walters and I went to go to a member's house to pick something up. When we got there the member went into his house to get it and Elder Walters and I were joking around and talking, as we usually do, while we waited. When the member came back and saw us, he told us that we didn't look like normal companions. We asked him what he meant, and he said that we look like we don't just bear one another's presence. He said we looked more like great friends that just happened to be companions. I guess he meant that there are two types of companionships, one that just kinda works together and one that are the bestest friends. I thought it was the coolest thing! That not only am I a happy missionary, and Elder Walters too, but other people can see it too. It was a neat little moment! ^_^

Well, this letter and my mission is coming to an end. It's a very funky feeling. I felt like I have been doing missionary work for as long as I can remember, and loving it, and now it's coming to an end. I'm sure any returned missionary knows how this feels. And I guess now it's my turn. It's been an extraordinary experience. The miracles I have seen, the happiness I have felt, the things I learned from my mistakes, they all have come together to make me a better person than I was before the mission. I'm nowhere near perfect but I think I'm a little closer to it, much more than I would be had I not served. It's weird, I can notice a difference in myself but at the same time I cannot. It's like piling up hay. Each piece of hay is almost weightless and I can carry it like nothing. But with time, the hay piles more and more and before I even notice, I'm 10 pounds heavier without realizing it.

I know I have changed; I'm just not sure how much. What I know for sure is that my testimony has grown and so has my love for the Savior and His work that He has called me to. And I have learned things that I probably would not have learned had I not served a mission. I have loved every moment of being a missionary and I hope to be able to apply what I learned out here in the world so that I can be able to let my light shine before the world, especially with the state the world is in. It will be harder than before but I feel that the mission has prepared me to be the best disciple of Christ that I can be.

Well, that was my little emotional splurge. X) I hope it makes a nice final entry for the blog. It's been a great two years! For the last time, thank you guys so much for being on and chatting with me on my p-days and for all your love and support! I love you all! And God be with you till we meet again!

-Elder Froude