Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven

During the time we have been away from home we have missed out on a few things:

Meeting our newest grandson, William Blake Bell...

Dillon's Preschool graduation....

Ethan's football games....

Clayton's birthday. (And I know he is wondering why I picked this picture!)

Sure, it would be great to be able to have attended these events. And there will be plenty more that we will miss out on. But, we know that this is the place we need to be right now. Already we have seen the rewards that come from serving a mission and have had experiences that we will never forget.

In the last General Conference of the Church, Elder O. Vincent Haleck said:

"In our own day many young men, women, and senior couples have answered the call of a prophet of God to serve missions. With faith and courage they leave their homes and everything that is familiar to them because of their faith in the great good they can do as missionaries. As they act on their vision to serve, they bless the lives of many and, in the process, change their own lives."

This is why we are here. The song "Praise to the Man" written by W.W. Phelps has a line which says, "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven." We truly know that the sacrifices that we are making and that our family is making in our behalf results in blessing our lives for years to come.

Most of all, this is who we serve and who we represent. And it is so worth it.