Dear family and Friends,
In The Book of Alma chapter 26 Ammon is glorifying in the Lord. In verse 16 he says “I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.” After living in Mexico City and serving Heavenly Father’s children in El Salvador and Belize for 18 months I believe this sentence hits home with me. I cannot say the smallest part which I feel. I am eternally grateful for the time I have had to leave everything behind and serve my brothers and sisters here in Belize and El Salvador.
These past 18 months have been months of stretching further than I thought I could ever stretch and growing in ways I never could have imagined. I have learned so much and I have changed. I have learned some of my strengths and I have learned a lot of my weaknesses, but along with that I have learned how to overcome and change those weaknesses, I have learned how to take stumbling blocks and turn them into stepping stones. I have learned to be happy in every situation! We choose our attitude and we choose how to react to every trail and experience we face! One of my favorite quotes says: “you may be given a cactus, but you don’t have to sit on it!”
My mission has taught me to be optimistic and to find the good in every moment! The glass can always be half full if we choose to see it that way! I have learned to have patience. I have learned that if I am patient and put my faith in Heavenly Father everything will work out. It may not work out how I plan, but I know everything will work out in accordance with the will of Heavenly Father. I know that if we keep our covenants with Heavenly Father and always live according to the commandments just like he says in D&C 82:10 he is bound to bless us, he wants to bless us and he will bless us!
I have learned how to work, and I have learned how to work hard! A mission is the hardest work I have ever done, but it is the most rewarding feeling to know that you have given your all to Heavenly Father and have invited everyone to repent and come unto Christ. It is the hardest work, but the most satisfying work! I have learned that this work is the Lord’s work. Missionary work is, always has been and always will be the work of the Lord. He has a plan for each one of his children and we are instruments in his hands to help bring his children safely home. I have loved every minute of inviting, teaching and taking people by their hand to show them the way to reach safely home.
I have learned about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know without a doubt that each one of us can be forgiven through the Atonement and through our savior Jesus Christ. I have learned that the Atonement is more than forgiving; it is to strengthen us in our hard times, to make up for our imperfections and to help us become better servants to our Heavenly Father. I love my savior Jesus Christ. He has carried me through each trial I have faced in my mission and he has walked beside me, never leaving me to fail on my own.
I am eternally grateful for the power I have felt from the Atonement during my mission, it has helped me to be a better person and I have learned how help others apply it in their own lives to find happiness and peace promised to each one of us. I testify that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is God’s true church on the Earth. Jesus Christ stands at the head of it. I know and testify that they speak to their living prophet Thomas S. Monson to lead and to guide each one of us here on Earth while we are temporarily separated from our Heavenly Father. I love President Monson and I sustain him. He is called of God to teach us God’s will for His children. I testify that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know that he was an instrument in the hands of God to Restore the Church of Jesus Christ to the Earth. I know that The Book of Mormon is true.
When we want to speak to God, we pray. When we want God to speak to us, we read the Book of Mormon. I know that is true and I know that we can receive answers, guidance and revelation through studying it daily. The Gospel of Jesus Christ will lead us and guide us. I invite each one of you to live in accordance with the teachings of the Gospel. Live the commandments because I promise that you will find lasting happiness through following our savior Jesus Christ.
Breaking the commandments might give temporal happiness, but our goal on Earth is to work for Exaltation. Now is the time to prepare to meet God! Use that time wisely! I want to thank my incredible parents. I must have done something incredible in Heaven to deserve you both and the love you guys have for me! I have learned so many things from you including service, hard work, love and giving my all every day.
You guys have been rocks for me through my service and I am so grateful for you both! Thank you for the letters, emails, packages, encouragement, prayers and strength. I have felt it and I am so thankful for it! Thank you for the sacrifices you have made to help me become who I am today! I freaking love you both to the moon and back! Dalton, Dillon and Sierra- I love you guys so much! I am so thankful for your support and love you guys have given me! Thank you for your emails, laughs and smiles you have put on my face through my whole life! Thank you for being faithful writers and never giving up on me or losing hope! Cling to the Gospel and you will always find happiness! I love you guys so much!
I want to thank each one of you outside my immediate family for your support, your prayers, letters, packages, emails and encouragement you have given me. I have felt so uplifted and I have been able to push forward in the Lord’s work with strength from each one of you. I have been so blessed to be able to be a full time representative of Jesus Christ and I will never regret nor forget this beautiful experience and the best time of my life! In 3 Nephi 17 Jesus Christ is visiting the Americas. He takes the children and prays for them and because of his service he said “my joy is full” as he said that, he wept. Not only did he weep once, but he wept twice because his joy was so full. My joy is full as a representative of Jesus Christ and I believe I may weep once in a while due to the joy in my heart! A mission is the best place I can be and it has truly been the hardest, happiest, longest, shortest, best 18 months of my entire life! I invite each one of you that is able to serve to do it! Give your time to the Lord and he will bless you for the rest of your life! Your mission will be the best time of your life!
It has been a good run down here, but I know that my time has come to a close! Each day as I have placed my plaque on my chest, I have engraved a plaque on my heart. I will forever be a missionary and I will forever stand as a witness that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world and that he lives! The Church is true, the book is blue, I love you and I will see you in a few!
With all my love,Hermana Savage