Colorado to Kingston : Sabbath Day Blessings, Baptisms, and the Best 18 Months of my Life

Well this is it... my final letter home. This is just completely surreal. I don't even know how to describe what I'm feeling right now haha.

We had an amazing week this week. Probably one of the best, and I'm grateful because it was my last. We were in a lesson with Kenisha, one of our investigators. Man I love that lady. Last week when she came to church, she had just barely gotten about a block away from her house when her shoe broke. She knew she would be late for church if she turned around, and she knew she had to go to church, so she kept going with a broken shoe. She told us that on the way home after church, she was limping along with one shoe when a lady selling shoes called out to her. Kenisha told her she didn't have any money to buy shoes and she was just coming from church. The woman selling shoes told her that they were free of cost and gave her a pair of brand new shoes. When Kenisha told us this, she was just beaming... she told us that she knew that it was a blessing from God because she chose to keep the Sabbath Day holy.

This weekend was one of the best weekends of my life... because Joe got baptized!!!

We woke up at 4:30 in the morning on Saturday to get ready... and then we rode with some members to a completely different parish to go to a place called Salt River. Old Harbour doesn't have its own font because we meet for church in a rented place, so we had to go find somewhere with enough water to do a baptism. The baptism was amazing. It was absolutely beautiful. Joe was just glowing. And then at church on Sunday, he not only received the Gift of the Holy Ghost, but he took the sacrament for the first time, got the Aaronic Priesthood, and he paid his tithing. It was a very big weekend for him and he was just so happy all weekend... which made me happy!!!

This weekend pretty much sums up why we come on missions. I didn't come on this mission to see the world and to have a good time. Now that I'm coming to the end of my mission, I realize that the whole reason I came on a mission was to learn about serving others. By serving and learning to love, I have come to know for myself that everything I was taught growing up is true. I've seen the blessings that the gospel brings in my life and I've seen the gospel bless the lives of so many people over the course of these 18 months. Joe is now a completely different person than he was when we met him six weeks ago. And it's because of the gospel. I'm a completely different person than I was 18 months ago. And it's because of the gospel. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. He's your Savior... He is everyone's Savior. And I know that this is His church restored to the earth. I am so grateful for that knowledge. This has been the hardest, but the best year and a half of my life. I have absolutely no regrets. I will always remember and cherish this experience... I owe Heavenly Father everything for trusting me enough to come out here and to meet all these amazing people.

Well... my final scripture to share with you all as a missionary comes from the Bible. 3 John 1:13-14.

"I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee: But I trust that I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name."

I love you all. I'll see you soon. Never forget... the church is true!!

Signing off for the last time,

xoxoxoxo,

Sister Oman