Charizard🔥
Letter and Presentation from Tayor to Luke
Luke!! Bro, I’m so excited for you to be a missionary! I really do think about my mission every day— it changed my life forever. I’m so excited to see what God has in store for you these next two years!
I bought this shirt in Japan for you because it is tuff, and I thought it would be a good souvenir. But the more I’ve thought about it, I’ve realized that there are actually a lot of lessons to learn from Charizard! I don’t know a ton about Pokémon and Charizard, but I’ve been doing some research, and here are some cool lessons I’ve learned. I hope they can help you get even more excited and prepared for your mission!
1. You are evolving
As you know, Charizard starts off as Charmander and then evolves to Charmeleon and eventually to Charizard. Each time he evolves, he gets stronger, smarter, and develops new powers.
Throughout your mission, you are going to keep learning, growing, and evolving into the missionary that the Lord wants and needs you to be. You have already been evolving as you received the priesthood and your endowment. And you are going to keep evolving when you get set apart as a missionary, go to the MTC, and go throughout your mission.
You will probably get on your mission and meet some super awesome missionaries who are goated at teaching and talking to people. You will be tempted to compare yourself to them, but don’t! They have had more time and have evolved through their missions.
As you are patient and diligent, you will keep evolving, and one day, other missionaries will look to you as an example. Make sure to help them and teach them. Also, remember that you can learn something from everyone. Don’t compare yourself up or down.
Keep evolving, keep learning, keep studying. The Book of Mormon is the greatest missionary tool ever! Read it every day, and you will eventually evolve to a freakin level 100 Charizard X
2. Light your fire
One of the coolest things about Charizard is that his flame reflects his inner condition. When he is strong, focused, and full of energy, his flame burns super strong. The fire on his tail isn’t just a cool part of his appearance — it reflects what is happening inside him.
I think our spiritual lives work the same way. Whether we realize it or not, people can see the condition of our inner spiritual fire and light. The way we speak, serve, respond to challenges, treat others, and carry ourselves says a lot about what is happening in our hearts.
Jesus taught: “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid… Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” — Matthew 5:14,16
One of your main responsibilities as a missionary is to let your light shine! You’re not just someone who teaches lessons; you are called to bring warmth, hope, and truth into dark places. There are people you will meet who feel forgotten, lost, ashamed, alone, or spiritually dark. Some people may have never really felt God’s love before. Others may feel like their spiritual flame has almost gone out. You are called to let your spiritual fire light others up!
Jesus also taught: “Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up.” - 3 Nephi 18:24 This verse is goated. If you ever forget what you’re supposed to be doing as a missionary, this scripture will remind you!
Just like Charizard’s flame grows brighter, your spiritual flame and testimony will grow brighter as you grow closer to Christ. A strong flame is usually the result of quiet consistency and doing the little things each day.
My favorite person in the Book of Mormon is Abinadi. He is straight aura. He stood completely alone before King Noah and the priests. He was mocked and eventually killed for his testimony. But spiritually, his flame burned so brightly that it changed Alma’s heart — and Alma later changed generations. His faithful fire lit another fire, and it changed the course of history.
That is missionary work.
You may never fully know whose life you will affect or the power your spiritual flame can have on another. A simple testimony, a lesson, a conversation, or an act of kindness may become the spiritual turning point for someone else. So protect your flame.
Feed it with the scriptures.
Strengthen it with prayer.
Guard it through obedience.
Brighten it through service.
Recover it through repentance.
Share it through love.
And when your inner fire is connected to Jesus Christ, people will notice something different about you — not because you are trying to stand out, but because light naturally shines in darkness.
Be like Charizard - let your light shine.
3. The Lord is your trainer
When Ash was first training Charmander, he was kind of rebellious and prideful. Charmander mostly relied on his own strength and power and didn’t really listen to Ash. But Ash never gave up. Even when Charizard was difficult, prideful, or unwilling to listen, Ash stayed patient and loyal.
One of the turning points in Ash and Charizard’s relationship came when Charizard was frozen after a battle. Ash stayed awake through the night trying to save him — warming him, caring for him, and refusing to leave his side. And when Charizard woke up and realized Ash truly loved him, everything changed. From that moment on, Charizard trusted Ash completely, and he became even more powerful.
In a lot of ways, God is like our trainer. He sees what we can become long before we do.
Sometimes we are like Charmander — small, uncertain, and struggling. Sometimes we are like Charmeleon — growing, but prideful and impatient. And sometimes we are like Charizard at the beginning: strong-willed, stubborn, and wanting to do things our own way.
But God never gives up on us.
He stays with us through every battle, every failure, every hard lesson, and every season of our lives. Even when we ignore Him, He keeps guiding us. Even when we resist Him, He keeps loving us.
Your mission will be one of the training grounds for the rest of your life. God sees so much potential in you, and if you let Him, He can shape you into a strong and loyal disciple of Jesus Christ.
It’s not always easy, though. Training requires sacrifice, hard work, discomfort, and even pain. Just think about the gym and building muscle. It requires progressive overload and breaking down the muscles so they can come back stronger.
One of my favorite scriptures is in Ether 12:27: “If men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness… then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”
Be humble and let God train you. He knows what He is doing and has a customized curriculum just for you.
Trust your Trainer.
I’m so pumped to hear about all your stories! You’re gonna be an amazing missionary. I hope this wasn’t too cheesy haha and you learned something! I love bro! Go Catch 'em all! Taylor