Dear Missionary

Dear Missionary

Hey It’s Justin ,we have not met yet in person, but already I’m in awe of your character. What you are doing right now is truly the lord’s work. I will not lie to you and tell you each day will get easier, but I will say as you progress each day you will get used to it. As I am not a born Mormon, but a convert sadly I never served a mission. However in 2005 I was deployed from the fall of Japan to sunny Iraq. The training and education I received was supposed to prepare me for the mission, however they focused too much on things that were barely a factor and glanced over things that would have been more helpful.

While on my 12 month deployment, my job was planning XBox tournaments (which was awesome FYI, I won most of them) and search and recovery of lost, missing and dead Soldiers (not so much fun). Another part of my job was talking with the locals, speaking with them everyday. We would stand in the middle of villages covered in Gear and handed out pamphlets about freedom,democracy,civil rights etc; many times we would see the handouts on the floor or in the local trash, a few times I saw them light their camp fires with them. After my time in the military I was lost, my time in the United States Air Force had hardened my heart, some things frighten me so that I abandoned my faith. I was drinking heavily, getting into bar fights, pretty much a person of low character. My life was far away from Christ and appeared to be happy in appearance, but at the end of the day I sad, lonely, suicidal and truly haunted by my past experiences.

One day after leaving a bar, a Missionary called out to me and asked me if I’d like to learn how to be happy I lied to a stranger and said “no I’m happy with my life as is” I look back and think why did I lie and it’s because I was lying to myself. He tried to hand me a pamphlet and I could have sworn I threw it away. Somehow after getting home it fell out of my pocket onto my couch. I began to explore the more and more, one thing I saw over and over was just truly happy people devoted to Christ. Families that love each other, families I saw only that could have only existed on 80’s TV sitcoms. I search my heart and was looking for signs to help me, but what truly sold me and inspired me, was the Missionaries. People whom so love Christ and their church and have such a devotion, to suspend your life and place your goals on hold and preach the gospel.

I joined the Church because the Missionaries are the living visual representation of the restored Church. Have faith in your self, for God has faith in you, the Church has faith in, your family has faith in you, and me a stranger to you has faith in you. You are there because the Book Of Mormon is True and by waking up each day and spreading the gospel of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints each day you prove it.

Thankfully yours,

Justin Diaz