My dearest Family,

I guess in your last letter home as a missionary, the pressure gets put on you to make it a good letter...hahaha but i really cant think of much to say. I could bear you my testimony and bore you all out for a while....but i do feel that i need to share some things with you. 

This last week has been one that has FLOWN by. It has been one of reflection and one to always remember. The work continued on like normal, just at an usually fast pace. We were able to end the week off with some baptisms. And i got to baptize my last 3 converts here in the mission. That has been a goal since the very beginning to always baptize on your last saturday in the mission. It was a very special evening for me especially. We returned back to our room and i got to thinking about my last 2 changes that i have been able to work here in mollendo....and it really just hit me how merciful the lord has been with me and my companion. We have worked hard. I gave it all i had, and i have no regrets about my work here nor in any other place. The lord has made it manifest to me that he is proud of us here. I can remember leaving the office with a goal in mind to end my mission with 8 baptisms and rescue 5 less actives....and last saturday we ended the 2 changes with 9 baptisms and 5 rescues. The lord has heard my pleas and my cries.

I think personally my testimony hasnt changed much regarding the word choice. I still know and have always known that Jesus is the Christ, i know that Joseph Smith was indeed a prophet of God and i know the Book of Mormon is true....but the conviction of those words has intesified and has been welded into my very soul. This is the true church of the living God. He is in control of every aspect of this work. There is nothing that we cant do, feel, or experience that he doesnt already know about. He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. And he knows me. I think one of the most valuable lessons i have learned being here for the last 2 years has been the very nature of God. Who he is, how he speaks to us, how he loves us, what he desires of me. He is not a distant being that we throw words at. He is my Father, he is my dad. He has heard me and has talked with me more times that i can tell any of you. 

He is the one that has guided me, and told me what to do, and who was the one to help me progress and attain heights that not even i thought were possible. He is the one who i have turned to in the good times and in those tear jerking moments. He is the one who has ALWAYS lead me....i was just too blind to see him. Now i see. Now i know. Now i can say that i know who my god is. This past 2 years i havent been teaching new things necessarily to the people of Peru....i have been here trying to remind them of everything they at one point knew and agreed to in the premortal existence, but have forgotten. I think of all the things that God desires the most important to him is that we can remember him. We are his children who have traveled a ways away for a time, forgetting everything about our home in heaven...i can only imagine the feelings of my father in heaven, just longing for some of children to remember him, to have a glimpse of who we were and who we can become, and to remember the feelings of love that we shared there together. THAT is what i have been doing in my mission. I have learned lots, and i continue to seek for more. 

But just know that i love my God. I love my Saviour. He is real. He is there. Look for him. With every fiber of my soul i testify that they live. They love you and me and if we just follow with faith in every footstep, we shall live with them once more. May god bless this wonderful country and her people. I LOVE Peru. I dont want to leave. God knew i was supposed to come here. And i thank him for the call to serve here. 

I have fought the good fight. I will continue to fight it. 

I am so excited to see you all on Saturday. 

Till then,

With all the love i have for you all.

ELDER Weston Birtcher