Homecoming

Mallory Comes Home





Homecoming Talk

A Change of Life Plan

Hey everyone,

So it seems the word is spreading, there as well as here, that i have been given an early release for my mission. and oh how crazy it has been!! Today i have been receiving illegal phone calls from missionaries all over the place wanting to know what happened, hahahaha, and I have many emails of love and support.

I want everyone to know that everything that has happened is how it is written in my subject line. Simply a change of plans. I thought Heavenly Father would need me here for 18 months, but it turns out it was only 7. (yes, two days ago i completed SEVEN, que fuerte yo senti. ahahaha)

Although i feel stressed and nervous, i also feel happy and excited. You all know the movie Inside Out right? Thats how I feel, like all the little emotions in my head are fighting over the control board lol. just recently I went from crying to playing ping pong and laughing my head off. So just a warning for all I am actually goin a lil crazy lol. BUUUUT i am still me hahaha.

Before my interview with my mission president, I felt very strongly that i needed to follow the counsels of my mission president. So, I went in ready to hear that I was doing something wrong, that I should improve, that I was going to be needed for a different assignment, and WOAAAAH. It was different. He said something like, "the doctors are very worried, i am very worried, and you have done EVERYTHING you can to stay here, and we need to talk about getting you home." As surprised as I was, I was so grateful to know that this was a revelation from God. Through my own prayer a month or so ago, I received the same revelation that I may be needed in my house. My companion Hermana Moya reminded me of that, and since then, I have been just flying. I KNOW this is the right path. as much as it was my dream to serve a full 18 months ever since I was 14 or 15, I know I am needed somewhere else.

In my journey here, all I have ever wanted to do was the will of my Father who sent me on this mission. which was to preach the Gospel to the people in Paraguay. Now I see that His will is to have me in a different place, helping different people, and it hasnt been as hard to accept as I expected, because God's plan up to this point has been much better than my own.

I LOVED my mission. When i am sad, I only talk about the sad parts, but I LOVED these 7 months. I loved meeting new people, and meeting and counseling with my mission president, and most of all, teaching the Gospel and testifying of truth to those who don't have it. This will forever be a positive experience for me, and I am so excited to see what happens after this. And hey, if it's hard, I have been able to overcome some hard things already, and I will do it again.

I am sorry for the long email but it's the last one you will have to read from me hahaha. A talk that has helped me a lot here is "Wounded", but Neil L Anderson. It talks of the stripling warriors, and how although none of them did perish, "neither was one soul among them who had not received many wounds." In my mission, in LIFE, I have felt and will feel moments of pure pain, moments where I didn't feel hope, where I didn't feel loved, and you know, where i felt just.. Wounded! But this talk is not one of sadness. "The Savior is our Good Samaritan, he comes to us when others pass by. With compassion, He places His healing balm on our wounds and binds them up. He carries us. He cares for us. He bids us, "Come unto me, and He shall heal you."

I have learned that I am not meant to go home and hide, I am not meant to give up. It's not over. It's just barely starting!! ALL OF THIS LIFE IS JUST BARELY STARTING. THERE IS SO MUCH MORE THAN HERE IN THIS LIFE. "For you, the righteous, the Healer of our souls, in His time and His way, will heal all your wounds. No injustice, no persecution, no trial, no sadness, no heartache, no suffering, no wound, however deep, however WIDE, however painful... will be excluded from the comfort, peace, and lasting hope of Him whose open arms and whose wounded hands will welcome us back into His Presence. This day will come. I so witness in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

I look forward that day with HOPE IN MY HEART. Thank you for your love, and I will SEE YOU SOON!!! I should be home sometime Tuesday or Wednesday, and i hope to go to school if possible at Weber State, but God is gonna help me figure all those things out. Love you all so much.

Hermana Thomas