I know that Jesus Christ is the light and life of the world. I know that he lives and that he loves each and every one of us perfectly. I have seen and felt the Lord Jesus Christ on my mission and I know what He suffered for us is real. I have had the privilege as a full-time missionary to walk in His path and experience the many joyous but sometimes very painful steps that come with working in His vineyard. I love this quote by C.S. Lewis which reads “we can say we believe in Christ as we believe in the sun at noon day, not that we can see it, but that by it we can see everything else.” when I say I’ve seen and felt Christ on my mission, I mean that I’ve seen and felt him in everything that I have done and witnessed. I know that everything testifies of Christ that He is “the light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed…who is in the midst of all things” (D&C 88:13). I know that although I have not seen the Savior with temporal eyes, I know of His perfect love and glory through the spiritual eyes by which I have witnessed lives change, miracles occur, and testimonies grow, including my own. I’m eternally grateful for my Savior and Redeemer because He has given me the sacred opportunity to sanctify myself, as I was helping others come unto Him. I’m so grateful that Christ loved me enough to partake of that bitter cup. I am imperfect, I am a sinner, and I will forever be a debtor to Him and His atoning sacrifice. But, I can do all that I can to love others just as He loves me, to forgive others as He has so graciously forgiven me, and to lift others burdens as He carry’s mine. For me, the personal effect of a mission can be best described in alma 5:9 “and again I ask, were the bands of death broken, and the chains of hell which encircled them about, were they loosed? I say unto you, yea they were loosed, and their souls did expand, and they did sing redeeming love, and I say unto you that they are saved.” I am brought to tears when I think about the miracle of a mission and how serving Him full-time has given me the liberation I needed from past sin as I lost myself in my efforts to help others do the same. Jesus Christ is perfect, glorified and living. He is the lighthouse that guides me to shore as I’m tossed and turned in the desolate waters of the natural man. I know that I am nothing without Him, nor can I become anything without Him. He gives me purpose and reason to rejoice, because I have felt the miracle of forgiveness and the power in virtue and consecration. I love the Savior and it is by my faith that I know all of these things are true. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Hermana Bulgier 