Elder Burton Takes Manhattan: Well, this is it.

So Alexandra, Elan, and Mary (all from back when I was in the YSA
Ward) all showed up at our branch's sacrament meeting! I got to meet
up with three of my favorite New Yorkers for my second to last Sunday.
That was awesome.

I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to send pictures from Finding
Neverland last week. We went to dinner with Ray right afterwards and I
didn't get a chance to send off any more emails until after p-day was
over. Today we're going to be going up to the top of the Freedom
Tower. It's the tallest building in this hemisphere, so it should be
quite a view!

So, about this time next week, I'll be on an airplane. Is that crazy
or what? This will probably be the last you'll hear from me as a
missionary in New York. It's been amazing—indescribable really. I'm
sure you've gathered from my emails that I've had some awesome
experiences, but in reality (as I'm sure most every returned
missionary knows) there are some things an email just can't contain
and there are some things that are kept just between me and God. I now
have a burning conviction for the Gospel and Church of Jesus Christ. I
know there is a God, and he loves each one of us with a perfect and
unconditional love. Jesus Christ is his Son and my Savior. The Holy
Ghost and it's gifts are real. God's love is manifest in the truth
that he has reached out to us, sending the Savior, the Holy Ghost, and
the Gospel. I know that even when the world rejected and turned away
from those things, God yet again reached out in love and restored the
Church and Gospel to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith. That
Church is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is led
by men and women who are truly called and inspired by God, and they
love us with a love that comes from God. The Book of Mormon is the
word of God and anyone who desires to know God, his Gospel, his true
Church, and his prophets can know them by reading it, praying about
it, and applying what it teaches.

As I said, I have a burning conviction for these truths. Why? Because
revelation is real. It may start out as a good feeling and or gentle
nudge in the right direction, but when we are diligent and faithful,
grander revelations cannot be withheld from us. No one can ever tell
me that any of this isn't true, because God told me first that it is,
and He did so in the most beautiful, personal, and undeniable ways. I
promise He'll do the same for anyone who sincerely, diligently, and
faithfully seeks after these thing. And that is a testimony after
these two years of striving harder to be more diligent and faithful
than ever before.

Well, this is it. I guess I just have one more thing to say: Mom, you
get the first hug.

-Elder Samuel Burton

Photos:
1. Mary, myself, and Elan.