Matt and Mandy

Illustrations by Shauna Mooney Kawasaki

Great news, guys. Your cousin Anthony is home from his mission, and we’ve been invited to a family dinner this Saturday.

AT THE DINNER

Was your mission fun, Anthony—I mean … er … Elder Edwards?

Yes, it was! Fun and rewarding and inspiring and wonderful!

And was it ever … hard?

Absolutely! Hard and sometimes scary and discouraging and just about impossible. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

That bad?

Bad? Not at all! Great things are never easy. Why should they be? Almost every day I faced challenges that I didn’t feel up to. And sometimes I wasn’t—at first. But do you know what I learned?

What?

That Elder Edwards could do things that Anthony could never have imagined. Because Elder Edwards had been called of God and given authority to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. You see, I wasn’t just Anthony anymore.

It wasn’t really me doing those things. It was mostly Heavenly Father working through me, and He can do anything. I just had to be willing and do my very best. He did the rest. Sound like something you’d like to try someday?

Yes! But I think I’ve got a lot to learn first.

I’ll get you your very own copy of Preach My Gospel, and we can look at it together.