Goodbye California

This week has been amazing. We were able to teach so many people and I got to say goodbye to everyone. Tomorrow I will be getting on a plane and leaving the great state of California. I cannot quite express my feelings. I thought, a couple months ago, that I would be ready at this point, that I would be burnt out and tired and ready to go home and sleep. But I'm not. I feel like I could keep going. I don't want to leave. And it doesn't really feel like I'm leaving. I don't think it will really hit me that this is real until I am standing in the airport.

This past week represents the last week in the life of Jesus Christ. Every day this week I read from the New Testament, about everything the Savior did during his final days on earth. His entry into Jerusalem on a donkey. His final teachings to the people at the temple. His last supper with the disciples. His passing of the Sacrament. His sufferings in the Garden of Gethsemane. His trial. His crucifixion. His resurrection on the third day. On Friday I had the opportunity to go to the LA temple with all of the other missionaries who are going home. While I sat in the Celestial room, I read about his trial before Pilate, his scourging, and the final hours he spent hanging on the cross. I cannot help but be incredibly grateful for everything that Christ went through for me, and I am amazed at the character he showed as he freely forgave those whose hands hung him there to suffer. I am daily humbled by this because although I was not there, and although I did not personally hang him on the cross, his suffering there was for me and all of my sins, weaknesses, and shortcomings. As a missionary, I have tried my best to represent him. To love people the way that he does. To serve. To gather his sheep. But I am so imperfect. I make mistakes. I let fear get in the way of faith. But he still trusts me, and all of us, to go out and do his work. He suffered for my mistakes so that I wouldn't have to. In return, he asks us to repent and to follow Him. I cannot put into words how amazed I am at all that Jesus Christ has done for me. But I can say that he lives! He was raised from the dead on the third day. He conquered death and sin. For me, and for everyone!

The Gospel is true and Christ lives!

Goodbye for now California. Hello Maryland!

Much Love,

Sister Daelemans