July 4, 2012 Epilogue

This is to report that Becky is at home and has already reported in to the Stake President. She has received an honorable release and we are thrilled to have her home.

Final Entry—July 2, 2012

Hello Everyone!    It’s over. I can't believe my time as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has come to an end. In some ways I'm still in denial. But I realized something interesting. The reason I know my time has come, and that I am ok with it, is because I feel an overwhelming sense of peace. When I think of my mission and the fact that it is over I don't feel sad, I feel happy, I feel love, and I feel peace. I know the Lord has accepted my service to Him. That is really all I could ask for. I am so grateful for this last year and a half of my life. I will be changed forever because of it. I can't wait for all of you to meet the person who will be coming home in a few days. She is a completely different person. I think you will like her. I do.    As for my last Sunday as a missionary in the Largo Spanish Branch...it was amazing! I didn't really have a farewell when I left Utah last year, but I most definitely had a farewell yesterday! President Lopez bore his testimony on love, service and missionary work and how grateful he was for my love for them. Several others said amazing and beautiful words as well. I bore my testimony, thanking each of them for all their love and pleading with them to work with the wonderful and amazing missionaries who have been called to take my place. I shared with them that the one thing that makes missionaries special is the love we have for the Savior, and our desire to be his instruments, and that I was so grateful to have been his instrument for so long, but how grateful I am for the wonderful sisters who will be here now. I am truly so grateful for the amazing and incredible missionaries that I have served with, and the two that are staying in the branch will see so many miracles because of their wonderful faith and love for my family.    We had 63 people in Sacrament! Can you believe it? Not to mention the fact that we had two of our major and most active families out on vacations, who make up 10 people that we usually have. The chapel looked really good. It looked full again. I couldn't have asked for a better farewell than to see so many wonderful people smiling at me from their seats after partaking of the sacred sacrament. After church we had a surprise going away/break the fast luncheon. I have never felt more love in my life. I was literally surrounded (as you can see in the picture) with more love than I have ever imagined. My joy was full to overflowing yesterday. I will never forget what I found here in St. Petersburg Florida, my family.

   I feel like I should share great words of wisdom now, or perhaps some grand theological insights I have gained in these last 18 months. I don't have any. What I can share with you is my testimony of this gospel. It is a simple testimony, because the gospel is simple. This gospel is pure and true and precious and so incredibly simple. Jesus Christ is the Savior of mankind. He died for us, he died for me. He died so that we could return to Our Father in Heaven, if that is what we choose. We make that choice every day, with our thoughts, our words and our deeds. We choose to return to Him by how we treat others, and how we treat ourselves. Love. This gospel, more than anything else, is a great demonstration of the love that our Heavenly Father has for each and every one of us. I hope each of you know that you are a dear and truly beloved child of God. He loves you. He loves you perfectly, completely, forever. I love Him. I love His work. I know that it is true. I will never in my life have a moment of doubt that this is the true, complete, and perfect gospel of Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ. I know it completely, with my whole soul. I love it.    I love each and every one of you. Thank you for your love and support this last year and a half. Thank you for thinking about me, for praying for me. Thank you for your letters, packages, e-mails. Thank you for remembering me as you went to the temple, for fasting for me, for loving me. This mission I have served is truly a part of each and every one of you, because I could not have done it without you. I couldn't have done it without my Savior. Thank you. May you each feel the love that I have for you, and the love that the Savior has for you. Please take a moment today and remind someone that they are a child of God. In this world we live in, it is far too easy to forget. Don't ever forget who you are and that He loves you. It's true, I know it.    I love you all!!! Forever.      Hermana Levanger