Its really here. I'm getting set apart tonight by Stake President Hafoka. The time went by so fast that I can't even believe that I will be sleeping in my bed for the last time tonight, this year and won't be back until next year in August. I hate goodbyes. I really do. Just as much as I hate packing. But I know this is something I need to do. As long as I remember my purpose as a missionary and keep a good attitude along the way. I need to trust in the Lord and be his BESTEST friend ever NOW and FOREVER. Here's my farewell talk which I gave a couple weeks ago in case you wondered what I spoke about. Enjoy!:
My brothers and sisters, Aloha.
Its so nice to be welcomed back to my own homeward which I
haven’t been to for nearly a full year. I have been going to the Sunset Beach
YSA branch while I was in school at BYU-Hawaii. But to introduce myself, my
name is Marisa Santeco. I am the daughter of Iggy and Didi Santeco. I have one
older sister, Marvelyn and two younger brothers, Gabriel and Jesse. I am called
to serve the Bolivia Cochabamba Mission, reporting to the Colombia Missionary
Training Center on February 26th, and I am to preach the gospel in
the Spanish language.
Bishop Kotobalavu asked me to share my desire and
preparations to serve in hopes of inspiring the youth of this ward to serve
also. Yet I feel that perhaps my message may inspire you all both young and wise
to serve and to take part of the work.
To begin, I want to share with you of how I gained the
desire to serve a mission. Serving a full-time mission was never a part of my plan
in life. But from many different events in my life, it has led me to where I am
today. Just like anyone, I’ve faced many trials. In short terms of what I was
going through, things just weren’t going the way I wanted it to or hoped that
it would in life. But I remember feeling so down on myself, feeling that God was
testing me with more than I could handle all at once. Like He was trying to see
how I would deal with my struggles and just trust His will no matter what. With
all these problems constantly running in my mind, I kept asking myself, “Why
me? Aren’t I living my life right? What did I ever do to deserve this?”
I remember one day after work, I wanted to go to the temple by
myself. So I did. I wanted to find some peace. I sat at the very top by the
water fountain. I had my patriarchal
blessing with me in my hands. I remember praying to God asking, "what now? What
do I do?" While I was focusing on my own problems, I always remembered my mom
telling me that it is by serving others; we become selfless and somehow forget
our own problems. We can lose ourselves in the act of service. So I thought,
“Okay, maybe I need to do more service projects because I haven’t done those
since I was a youth”. But then I kept
reading my blessing over and over again. Said a little prayer. Then you know
how you read your blessing and tend to just focus on the parts you want to know
about? Such as what your future companion would be like or if you will have
kids? I usually would skip to those parts and quickly skim the rest. But this
time I read it thoroughly and from doing so I realized that three fourths of my
blessing was all about missionary work and participating in the gathering of
the House of Israel who have been scattered to the four corners of the Earth.
So after that, I walked down from the temple to wait for my dad
to pick me up and take me home. But on my way down there were two sister
missionaries walking towards me. I keep walking down and for some reason I just
knew that that they were going to ask me if I was planning to serve a mission. Then
when I got closer to them, they stopped me and then they asked me.. if I wanted to serve
a mission. Now I didn’t say no and I didn’t say yes. I said maybe.
That night I prayed to God asking specific questions. In
young women’s they taught us to prepare ourselves for general conference so
that we would be able to listen with an open mind and heart. They taught us to
write down questions that we hoped that general conference would answer for us. That night I prayed, asking God if it was His
will for me to serve a full time mission. Or what type of service would do just
the job to bless my family and I. The next day was the October 2012 general
conference and that was the day when President Thomas S. Monson announced the
age change. When I heard the words come from his mouth that the opportunity to
serve a mission was right before me, closer than expected, I could feel the
spirit telling me that this is something that God needs me to do. Thereon I
considered it more, but didn’t rush to a final decision. It wasn’t until I
started my papers and really started to study the Gospel and His doctrine when
I realized that His work is so real. That it is everyone’s responsibility to do
His work. Which, one-way to do it was to serve a mission. It was because of the
spirit and the love of God, which has brought me to desire to do so. I feel
that it is His will for me to serve a mission and to teach the people in
Bolivia in hopes of bringing them unto Christ. In John 15:16, it reads, “Ye
have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go
and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye
shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it unto you”. I know that He
has chosen me and given me the responsibility to do His work and this I know
because he has answered this to me in my prayers.
So what have I done to prepare? As mentioned slightly
before, its important you take advantage of what you learn in the youth
program. I learned a simple thing to do for general conference and it has
blessed my life. To ask questions, to pray about it, and to be willing to
receive revelation. As I reflect back on my life as a youth, I know that the
things I’ve learned in Sunday school or seminary didn’t make perfect sense to
me at that time, but now it’s beginning to. It requires obedience and trust in
the Lord that we will gain the proper knowledge for us to return to our
Heavenly Father.
Another thing I’ve done was to learn to love others as God
does. A quote from Elder Neil Anderson's general conference talk really stuck to me for a long time until this very day. It reads, "If you’re not a full-time missionary with a missionary badge pinned on your coat, now is the time to paint one on your heart—not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.”We are all sons and daughter of God and it is true that the worth of
souls is great in the sight of God. Keeping that perspective has always helped
me to learn to forgive others including myself. When love is present, you find
yourself in a state of humility of wanting to help others with their trials
even when you are already struggling with your own.
I was reading an article by one of the members from Imagine
Dragons, an American alternative rock band. Dan Reynolds, the front man of the
band is also a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He is
a returned missionary. In this article he expresses his appreciation for
serving a mission. It reads, “It was such a growing experience for me, and it
humbled me and made me realize that the world’s a lot bigger than where you’re
raised. There are people dealing with so many more problems than you, and it
makes all your problems seem really small. So you just forget all about
yourself”. This sums up of what I love about service. Forgetting yourself. Just
as President Gordon B. Hinckley has said, “Forget yourself and go to work”.
Third is to read the Book of Mormon cover to cover. From
that you can gain a testimony of its truthfulness and Joseph Smith’s restoration
of the gospel. I was able to read the Book of Mormon completely for the second
time within 53 days. If you read 10 pages a day, you can finish it in about 2
months. Reading it will increase your gospel knowledge. Read it keeping in mind
that you will be teaching it to others.
Fourth, gain a relationship with God. This can be done by
praying always. Keeping Him in your thoughts throughout the day. I came a point
in my life that I know that
I can’t do anything without God and His Son Jesus Christ.
They have become my best friends who will never forget you or hurt you, but
simply love you no matter what.
Lastly, the biggest thing is to do nothing that will keep
you from entering the temple. When I was a little girl, I made a promise to
myself and God that I would never make a choice that leaves me waiting outside
the House of God. Now that I am able to go inside as I stay true to my
covenants and remain worthy to enter, I know that the temple is where we can
receive revelation and to be in the presence of our Heavenly Father. The temple
is one of the greatest blessings we have here on earth. When you are feeling
sad or lost in the world, go to the temple and receive the blessings He wants
to give you. Our Father in Heaven wants to bless us because He loves us. I will
never forget how I feel when I go inside. You feel nothing but peace and so
much love. I testify that He can heal you in there for He has healed my
troubled heart. He has strengthened me in so many ways and I am ever so
grateful.
In closing, I just want to express my love to my family. My
family means the world to me and I will miss them so much. But I know this is
something I need to do. I have wonderful parents who aren’t perfect, but have
raised me well to value the gospel in our lives. I wouldn’t be who I am without
my mom and dad. They have done so much for me and my brothers and sister. I
love you guys so much.
I testify that He lives. We have a living prophet, Thomas S.
Monson here on earth with us to guide us in these latter days. I know that
Joseph Smith restored the gospel. That he saw God the father and the son in a
vision. I know that this church is true and has the fullness of the gospel that
we need to return to our Father in Heaven. Book of Mormon…Temple..Bolivia is
where I need to be.(Testimony).
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
My lovely friends...
brothers and sisters….I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve our Lord for the next 18 months and the rest of my life here on earth. There is so much work to do and I am excited to be a part of it. Please write me if you can. I would love to hear from you and to receive words of encouragement. Its gonna be tough, but so worth it. I love you all very much!
La iglesia es verdadera. Yo se que el Libro de Mormon es verdadero también. Yo se que Jose Smith fue un profeta de Dios. Yo se que el templo es la casa de Dios. En el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen. (lo siento if my Spanish is bad hahaha, it'll get better)
Siempre y until then,
Thanks to all of those who came to eat and say farewell to Riss before she got set apart and left to Bolivia :) It was great company!
