Rip Me - 7/5/19

Last dinner with the Chanthachuk family
(their son is a missionary, but they're all nonmembers)

Church cleaning activity

Nice river shot

Cool elephant thing

A picture I like of the best district to ever hit the streets of Vientiane 

Well, I guess this is my last email.

It's really weird to think that I've already been a missionary for two years exactly today. It has been the longest but shortest two years of my life haha. I know that's seriously cliché, but it kinda feels like the last two years have been some really weird drawn out dream.

The past week has been a pretty good week. Not too much was going on, but Elder Phasay and I were able to go around and give a bunch of members some final visits. That was pretty sad, but I guess it's just the way things go. I've gotten so used to staying in the same area for the past 14 months that it's kinda started to feel like home. I'm super lucky that we were even able to make these visits this past week due to all of the restrictions the government has put on us lately.

On the 4th of July we went out to eat at a really nice American breakfast place and man, I forgot that pancakes were a thing. The next day Elder Phasay and I had to hop the border to Thailand and come back because our Laos work visas had run out of time. We were detained a little bit on the way out of the country though because we were a day late on our visas. Oh well, we just threw some money at them and were able to get out pretty cleanly. We then came back into Laos and got tourist visas. It's sad, cause now I don't have a paper saying that I'm a government employee :(.

Today we went to a small 4th of July celebration that was set up by some friends of ours at a different charity, and that was pretty fun. After that we went bowling and wow, I am not good at that.

Tomorrow will be my last Sunday on the mission, and it'll be way sad to say goodbye to the members who live super far away and won't be able to go to the airport. On Wednesday Elder Phasay and I will fly down to Bangkok and then have the last interview with President Hammond. Then on Thursday my entire dying group will get together and have a small devotional. On Friday we will get up, go to the airport and begin the 24 hour journey home.

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to be out serving the people of Laos and Thailand. I have been able to learn so much from them and the experiences I've had here, and I love them.

The most important lesson that I have learned these past two years is that God knows and loves every single person on the earth. He knows your situation, He knows your temptations, and He knows how to help you. He has a plan for each of us and wants all of us to return to Him through the Atonement of His son, Jesus Christ. I feel that after all of the experiences that I've had that it's very fitting that I chose Romans 8:38-39 as my mission scripture. It reads:

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I have seen so many things try to separate people from knowledge of God and His love for them, whether it be the government, physical distance, or feelings of unworthiness. I have a testimony that God's love and the Atonement of Christ can reach everyone and change them for the better.

Thanks to everyone who's kept up with my emails and have sent me messages! I love you all.

<3

Elder Ridd