Hey guys! Well this is it. The very last email that I will be sending out from Manaus! I am still having a hard time believe that my mission is coming to a close and that 18 months have gone by.
This last week was amazing. We were able to baptize the Castro family and it was such an emotional experience for me this last week. I loved being able to be a part of their conversion process. We are going to baptize two of the cousins on Saturday and I am so happy for them. Today I went to the center the buy all my souveniers and things! And this week we will make one division and then I will have my last interview with the Pres.
The decision to serve a mission has proven to be the best decision that I have ever made and it's become one of the greatest blessings in my life. I had always imagined that at the end of my mission I would come home with a feeling of satisfaction knowing that I had completed a mission and was able to help in the Lord´s work. But in reality I have been overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude for my Savior and Heavenly Father who have blessed and strengthened me with so much more than I could have ever done for them.
I can now recognize that the real change that took place was inside of me and I now have an entire life of devoted discipleship that I owe. I never could have imagined that in such a poor and dirty and hot city could exist so much love, friendships, and happiness but the Lord helped me to see beyond the natural eye to recognize the joy of the gospel in the most simplest and purest form. Not for a single moment was a mission easy, actually most of it was a million times harder than I ever thought but from São Paulo to Boa Vista to Cidade Nova to Adrianopolis to Petrópolis the Lord had every detail planned perfectly because He knows us perfectly.
I am so grateful for Him and all the times He asked me to do something hard and believed in me even when I couldn't believe in myself. I am also so grateful for him having entrusted with me a small portion of His vineyard to take care of and for Him having kept all the promises He made to me from the beginning. I have grown to love this work and am so grateful for the privilege was given to work by our Savior Jesus Christ. Needless to say that these last 18 months have changed everything for me, the way I see the world around me and the eternal plan made by our Father in Heaven, the new vision I have for my future family and the somewhat small comprehension I have gained of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
After thinking the last few weeks what could be the most important thing that I can bring home to my family and friends I realized that the thing of most value is my testimony of the Savior. I love my Savior. I love Him because He did for me what I could have never done for myself. I love Him because He walked by my side these last 18 months always lifting me up and showing me a better way. I love him for the perfect example he set and that because of Him the plan that my Father in Heaven made for me can be fullfilled and I can live with my amazing family forever. I love Him because He loves me and each of us and that love is perfect. I know that He is the Savior and Redeemer of the world who the prophets have testified and has made all things possible. I know that He restored the fullness of his gospel with priesthood authority through the prophet Joseph Smith and that Joseph Smith has done more for the salvation of mankind, besides Christ, than any other man. I know the Book of Mormon is proof of the love of our Heavenly Father and that any question or problem can be answered through it and I know that every one needs to know what we know.
I wanted to thank each of you so much for all your love and support, you have no idea how much every email and letter meant to me and helped keep me going.
I wanted to share one my all time favorite quotes from President Uchtdorf that describes exactly how I am feeling these last few days. My beautiful companion Sister Sunaga sent it to me:
"In light of what we know about our eternal destiny, is it any wonder that whenever we face the bitter endings of life, they seem unacceptable to us? There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings.
Why is this? Because we are made of the material of eternity. We are eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless13 and who promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny.
The more we learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more we realize that endings here in mortality are not endings at all. They are merely interruptions—temporary pauses that one day will seem small compared to the eternal joy awaiting the faithful.
How grateful I am to my Heavenly Father that in His plan there are no true endings, only everlasting beginnings."
Although the thought of leaving behind my Brazilian family, companion, Presidents, and all the mission has to offer me gets me choked up, I am so grateful to know that there are no true endings, and that one day I will be reunited with everyone again.
Thank you for everything. I love each of you so much and will see you soon :)
Sister Arbuckle
This last week was amazing. We were able to baptize the Castro family and it was such an emotional experience for me this last week. I loved being able to be a part of their conversion process. We are going to baptize two of the cousins on Saturday and I am so happy for them. Today I went to the center the buy all my souveniers and things! And this week we will make one division and then I will have my last interview with the Pres.
The decision to serve a mission has proven to be the best decision that I have ever made and it's become one of the greatest blessings in my life. I had always imagined that at the end of my mission I would come home with a feeling of satisfaction knowing that I had completed a mission and was able to help in the Lord´s work. But in reality I have been overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude for my Savior and Heavenly Father who have blessed and strengthened me with so much more than I could have ever done for them.
I can now recognize that the real change that took place was inside of me and I now have an entire life of devoted discipleship that I owe. I never could have imagined that in such a poor and dirty and hot city could exist so much love, friendships, and happiness but the Lord helped me to see beyond the natural eye to recognize the joy of the gospel in the most simplest and purest form. Not for a single moment was a mission easy, actually most of it was a million times harder than I ever thought but from São Paulo to Boa Vista to Cidade Nova to Adrianopolis to Petrópolis the Lord had every detail planned perfectly because He knows us perfectly.
I am so grateful for Him and all the times He asked me to do something hard and believed in me even when I couldn't believe in myself. I am also so grateful for him having entrusted with me a small portion of His vineyard to take care of and for Him having kept all the promises He made to me from the beginning. I have grown to love this work and am so grateful for the privilege was given to work by our Savior Jesus Christ. Needless to say that these last 18 months have changed everything for me, the way I see the world around me and the eternal plan made by our Father in Heaven, the new vision I have for my future family and the somewhat small comprehension I have gained of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
After thinking the last few weeks what could be the most important thing that I can bring home to my family and friends I realized that the thing of most value is my testimony of the Savior. I love my Savior. I love Him because He did for me what I could have never done for myself. I love Him because He walked by my side these last 18 months always lifting me up and showing me a better way. I love him for the perfect example he set and that because of Him the plan that my Father in Heaven made for me can be fullfilled and I can live with my amazing family forever. I love Him because He loves me and each of us and that love is perfect. I know that He is the Savior and Redeemer of the world who the prophets have testified and has made all things possible. I know that He restored the fullness of his gospel with priesthood authority through the prophet Joseph Smith and that Joseph Smith has done more for the salvation of mankind, besides Christ, than any other man. I know the Book of Mormon is proof of the love of our Heavenly Father and that any question or problem can be answered through it and I know that every one needs to know what we know.
I wanted to thank each of you so much for all your love and support, you have no idea how much every email and letter meant to me and helped keep me going.
I wanted to share one my all time favorite quotes from President Uchtdorf that describes exactly how I am feeling these last few days. My beautiful companion Sister Sunaga sent it to me:
"In light of what we know about our eternal destiny, is it any wonder that whenever we face the bitter endings of life, they seem unacceptable to us? There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings.
Why is this? Because we are made of the material of eternity. We are eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless13 and who promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny.
The more we learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more we realize that endings here in mortality are not endings at all. They are merely interruptions—temporary pauses that one day will seem small compared to the eternal joy awaiting the faithful.
How grateful I am to my Heavenly Father that in His plan there are no true endings, only everlasting beginnings."
Although the thought of leaving behind my Brazilian family, companion, Presidents, and all the mission has to offer me gets me choked up, I am so grateful to know that there are no true endings, and that one day I will be reunited with everyone again.
Thank you for everything. I love each of you so much and will see you soon :)
Sister Arbuckle
My beautiful friend Greicy came and picked us up today for p-day and we did so many wonderful things.