23 months later and we are home again.
In the October 2024 general conference, President Nelson affirmed that “now is the time for you and for me to prepare for the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.” Reflecting on this, in the April 2025 general conference, Elder Steven D. Shumway shared that the Spirit taught him that as we participate in God’s work, we prepare ourselves and others for Christ’s return. Here are a few highlights of our mission experience with respect to preparing ourselves and others for Christ's return. Following our training at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah (photo above is of our training cohort), we were delayed in Salt Lake City for 7 weeks while we waited for visas to enter Mexico as missionaries. Living in a 12'x12' room at the MTC and then in a small one-bedroom apartment downtown across the street from the Conference Center put my wife and I in closer quarters than we have ever before experienced as a couple for that length of time. And yes, it...