Dear Family,
Here it is... my last hurrah. I can't believe it! I remember Dad telling me that it passes like a dream, and there have been moments when it has been anything but a dream. Moments when one foot would barley move in front of the other. But now it is coming to a close, and it has felt like a dream. So here is the plans for coming home: We enter into the Mission home on Monday morning (so we won't be emailing) and spend the whole day with President. He's going to feed us and take us to all of the sites for one last time. That evening, we are actually having a "Family Home Evening Night" and the Joseph Smith Farm which we actually have shifts taking tours from one home to the other, caroling, drinking hot chocolate. I'm excited to end working and it will be a good way to see everyone before I leave. Then we go back to President's, have our exit interviews, and go to bed. The next morning is the day! We get on a plane, get off a plane, get on a plane, get off a plane, get on a plane :), and THEN........ I see all of YOU!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! How exciting!! Its hard to believe its so close! I'm going to warn you right now that I will most likely be very awkward :). So, I apologize in advance. It will be a hard transition but I do believe that there are still great things that await and I know that all will be okay.
This last week has been an incredible one. Bro. Copp got confirmed yesterday. It was such a special event. In his blessing he was blessed that he would be able to read and love to read from the scriptures! How cool is that! We took him up to Temple grounds this week to talk about some of the next goals that he should shoot for. While we were there one of the members of the Temple Presidency let Bro. Copp come and and see the baptismal font and answer any questions he had about the Temple. It was so awesome! When we left Bro. Copp said, "The more I learn about all of this, the safer I feel". What a neat statement. I never thought of the church in that way before but it is a complete safety net. He has been interviewed and is going to be able to get the Priesthood this next Sunday. So neat. Also, Sarah, a little girl I taught in Webster, is getting baptized this Saturday! Yay! What a neat way to end a mission. I don't think I could ever be happier.
So as I thought about what my last email would be like I was trying to think of all of the things I have learned on my mission. I've started making a list, and it is getting very long. I could write down some of them for you but the thing that I've learned the most is something that I already came out here with, and that is my testimony. I love this work! I have loved being a missionary with all my heart! I know that there is a God out there who cares and loves us, that He sent His Son so that we could make it home again. I know the Savior lives. He's apart of everything. He offers peace and eternal life to everyone. He truly is the light and the life of the world. I know that Joseph Smith was His prophet. That just a couple of stone-casts away from where I live, that young boy saw the Father and the Son and that singular event started a work that will never stop again. There are living prophets on the earth today! President Monson is that chosen instrument and when we follow his direction we will never be led astray. I love the Book of Mormon. I have come to realize how rare a possession it really is. No book can offer the peace that that book can. I know the work moves forward whether you have a black name tag on or not, and I'm so grateful to be apart of the Lord's kingdom on the earth.
"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" -2 Timothy 4:7
Hurrah for Israel!!
I love my Savior. I love all of you. See you soon :)
