Letter from Motra Bezas - written Sep 4, 2014

(Here are some snippets and pieces from this week's letter to help share the impact and experiences within a missionary's life in the MTC . . . not all is included here at the blog but hopefully enough to bless your life. It was a very touching letter and brought such a feeling of the Spirit of peace.)

Dear Family,

It is yet again another week here. Well, FIVE to be exact. It is honestly so crazy to think that we leave less than in four weeks. That is just blowing my mind.

So I also wanted to write you a letter because I wanted to tell you a unique experience. So, the last you heard from me, I was sick, but what happened next was I lost my voice due to the snot/mucous that attacked my vocal cords. (And yes, Dad, I blew my nose 24/7 :0)    In fact, I had my own tissue box and trashcan by my desk. Needless to say, no one cares about looks in our classroom, so I didn't mind how all this looked.)

By this point the two elders in the room were sick as well, but I was the one that lost my voice.

One day it got way bad, so bad that it was SUPER hard to wake up. Well, the night before, I had emailed my branch president like I do every week, but this time I mentioned I wanted a priesthood blessing from him of health. We had planned for Sunday, and I wrote that email Friday. Saturday morning was the worst, and I felt I couldn't wait anymore.

I asked my zone leaders, who are my district leaders, to give me a priesthood blessing that morning we got to class. They said they would love to. (I should probably mention that neither had given a blessing before. I wasn't fully aware of this until they told me afterward.) Anyway, so Elder G did the main part of the blessing. In it, it was sweet, simple, and short, but what was said, I will never forget. The Spirit was so strong, and earlier that week I had been facing trials. I now know that I am loved. I know I am. I had just felt down in the dumps. More than that, I realized that when he told me how much the Savior loves me. The Spirit enveloped me and I began to cry.

Once they had finished, they made sure I was okay before returning to sit in their seats. (We had been in our classroom with all of our district in there.) But that is not even the coolest part of this story. So, Sunday comes around, and I'm still without a voice but feeling better than I was before. President called me out of the room, and we went into another room. We talked for a bit, and he checked to see how I was doing all in all. So, eventually in all that he found out I'd received a blessing from the zone leaders. He asked me if I was still interested in another one. I said whatever he felt was best. He then asked who I would like to help in the priesthood blessing. I said that I didn't mind who, and so he brought in Elder G.

This became the great point in what I'm sharing. In this blessing, he didn't say a ton, but he said a few VERY important points. One, that my Savior loves me. Two, that sometimes we need to go through trials of different kinds. Finally . . . (at this point, some beautiful things not for a blog).

By this point, I was bawling. I had already been crying, but by this point I couldn't hold back the flow of tears. He told me that he was not expecting to say any of that stuff (referencing some very beautiful things not shared here) when he had placed his hands on my head. He told me to make sure I wrote down these things. I promised and did that night.

I have been spiritually blessed, that, or my eyes are being opened. Today we went to the temple. One lady I met sitting beside me began to cry while talking with me. She said the blessings we receive as missionaries for certain things are amazing (the lady had mentioned some specific things). She looked into my eyes, and I felt she felt this was very true for me.

(Motra Bezas goes on to share yet another special occurrence sacred to her and not mentioned here, but the Holy Spirit is amazing in helping these missionaries who are trying with all they have to sacrifice so they can serve God's children and teach of Jesus Christ. In fact, there is a scripture that reminds me of the responsibilities missionaries have, found in John 21:

 15 ¶So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

 16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

 17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 

(That brings me to the end of this week's posting of the letter. And it just occurred to me: if you would like to know more about the Savior and His Plan of Happiness for you, visit Mormon.org or you can call 1-888-537-6600 to speak with a missionary similar to Motra Bezas.)