You're gonna miss this...

NOTE: Friends and Family, Mason will be speaking on Sunday 12/18/2016 at 9:00am

*****************************  Here is his final letter! ***********

Y'allll..... It's really here. I can't believe it.

This week was literally AMAZING! I loved it, despite all the emotions of having to go home, I enjoyed myself.The beginning of the week started with my last exchange with the Ruston Elders. I had a blast up in Ruston with Elder Crouch. We got to teach a lot of powerful lessons together, they are doing good work up there. We tried to find Karl Malone, no luck though.

Wednesday we did lots of service. We ended up going to a retirement home and spending sometime with all the ole' folk there. We sang Christmas songs to them and played bingo. It was so fun joking around this all the Grandma's! They kept asking if I had a girlfriend and told me that I could go on a date with their granddaughters.  It was so funny! Plus I beat them all in Bingo which turned out to be hilarious as they kept seeing me win. :)

Thursday was one of the most spiritual days of my entire life. Elder Arnold of the Seventy came to our zone conference and it was absolutely amazing. We got to have a mini-MLC with him and Elder Eggimann and I both got to have a personal interview with him during lunch. It was just so powerful talking to him. There is no doubt in my mind that he was called of God, such a powerful man and speaker. I think what I reflected on most while he spoke is how we can change and become better. I am going to continue to align my will with God's after my mission. I can't just stop. The spirit was so powerful that day, great highlight to the awesome week! :)

Friday we had an amazing lesson with D____, she is T___'s Aunt that live with him. We taught her the Restoration and set her with a baptismal date of Feb 24th. She felt the spirit and got a little emotional in the lesson. She said "I feel like I am shivering on the inside and I feel blessed!" It was a tender experience to witness and feel that same spirit of warmth and love. She is a young single parent of a baby girl so this Gospel is way needed for her. "Bless her heart." Like for her, it gives us all support, no matter what we are going through within this life. It is real.

There were too many highlight from the weekend... from working with members, finding new people to teach meeting with the Campbell family one more time and even a surprise at church to Angel and the Pickett Family showing up! I was smiling all weekend and I felt the spirit a lot. I am truly blessed in being able to serve here.

Just some final thoughts before I get back to packing and such...

"Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you." (2 Cor 13:11)

What a blessed 2+ years it has been. There have definitely been those ups and down, but I have enjoyed it. Ya know I never thought I would say "these have been the best 2 years.." but really they have been. My testimony has grown, my confidence in God has strengthened and I have become "new." I am so grateful for the mission, I am so grateful for all those I have had the blessing of serving, teaching and loving. The South has a special place in my heart. I love it. I know that my Savior lives and that the Gospel has been Restored. I know that because I have felt him and I have lived what I teach. May we each continue to be a "light to the world" this Christmas season. Farewell my Southern Family, see you soon Idahome. I love each of you and can't thank you enough for the support you have given me. Have a blessed day!

With much love and lot of hugs,
Elder Mason Rankin :)

"You're gonna miss this... you're gonna want this back... you're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast.. these are some good time... so take a good look around.. you may not know it know... but you're gonna miss this..."

Try to stay dry out there

This week was wetter than most. It literally has been raining non-stop, plus it's cold. People think we are crazy going out in this weather, but we just keep on going. Earlier in the week it was late one night and all our plans fell through. So we decided to knock doors for the last 2 hours of our night because we really have been praying to find a family. It was pouring rain and still no one let us in. It was actually kind of funny because one guy said "try to stay dry out there" as he slammed the door in our face. We did find this one really nice spanish lady though. She said she would feed us whenever and knew one of our member families. So that was one success of that cold night.

Update on M_____. She no longer is progressing toward baptism, which is sad with how much we have worked with her and prayed for her. She just doesn't have the faith right now to make the commitment to baptism. One day I know she will though.

E____ is doing was awesome though! He came to the baptism of a members son this last weekend and loved it. He kept telling us how he wants to be baptized, so we are working towards that right now. We just want to teaching his family as well and make sure he is supported at home as well. We also got to watch the Christmas Devotional with him and the Jones' yesterday. It was awesome to hear the words they shared. I love this time of the year.

We also had a stellar lesson with this girl named K____ this last week. We found her a couple weeks ago but haven't been able to meet up because she has been sick. We met up with her though and talked about the Restoration. It really applied to her because she is confused and is really trying to find the path God wants her to take. So, the life of Joseph Smith really spoke to here. We invited her to be baptized at the end of our discussion and she accepted to work towards Feb 11th if she came to know that what we have taught is true. Such a cool experience! I know I will be home but we are all working together to help Heavenly Father's children.

Cool finding story... We were knocking apartment near the church (another late wet night with faith to find someone) and we were really hoping to find someone to teach. After a few doors, we came to a door of a young girl named Shelby. She is 21 and goes to ULM. As we got to talking, we introduced ourselves and told her we were both from Idaho. She thought that was pretty cool because she used to live in MERIDIAN! I was like, "What the?" and freaking out on her front step. Then I asked when she lived there, where she lived, where did she got to school... She literally lived right north of our house near Prospect Elementary, went to school at Rocky Mountain for Freshman and Sophmore year (same years I was there) and moved away after those two years! So you can imagine it was a cool experience, she thought I was pretty funny. We got to share a little with her before she had to get back to studying for finals, but we are going back this week to teach her more! So excited!

Last highlight of the week... Yesterday was my final fast Sunday in the mission so I had to bear my testimony. On top of all that, Nate Hughes showed up to surprise me and spend sometime with me before I go home! It was such an awesome surprise! :) I do feel good though, looking back on how grateful I am for my mission. I want to continue to grow even after I go home and I plan to. My emotions may be up and down with the whole thought of going home, leaving the south, the end of the Idahomiez and taking off the nametag.. but I am happy and excited for this last week to hit it hard. Thanks again for all the support that last 2+years. I will see y'all soon. Have a blessed week!

With love and big hugs,

Elder Mason Rankin :)