My love for mission presidents.............

In the last few weeks I have thought a lot about my love for mission presidents.  

When I first arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, my mission president and his wife shared powerful testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and as I served with them, I developed a great desire to have what they had in a testimony. 

 President Nilson taught me to work hard, be obedient and teach with the Spirit. 

 He possessed all of these qualities himself and had a huge impact on my testimony as a young missionary.  

A few weeks ago he organized our last mission reunion as he was close to leaving this mortal life due to cancer and congestive heart failure.  

We had the opportunity to listen to him share memories of our mission like they happened yesterday, and then each returned missionary that was present had the opportunity to share gratitude for his leadership, and the blessings we received from serving. 

 Just 3 days after the reunion he passed away and we gathered again at his funeral and listened to Elder Ballard (President Nilson was his stake president for many years) share his thoughts about this amazing man.  

The missionaries from my mission then assembled at the front of the chapel and sang "Called to Serve" in remembrance of both President and Sister Nilson.  

What a beautiful day it was.

A couple years after I returned home from my mission, my mother and father were called to open and serve as Mission Presidents of the Kenya, Nairobi Mission.  

This was an eye opening experience for me as I saw first hand what great sacrifices are made by mission presidents, including not being present when several of your children are married.  

Their service taught me that when you love the Lord, you are willing to do all that He asks of you.  Their example and service added a huge building block to my developing testimony of the Savior.

3 weeks ago today, Cody returned home from serving in the Texas, Lubbock Mission where he spent the last 7 months serving with his mission president and wife.  Cody will tell you that the reason the Lord called him to serve in Lubbock, was to serve with President and Sister Heap.  I see clearly the great influence that they had on Cody and will be forever grateful for all that they taught him.  Its interesting how much you can love people you have never met.........