Starts With Goodbye

So...I've been listening to the song by Carrie Underwood called "Starts With Goodbye". And in it this song talks about how we have to let go of some things we LOVE to get to the other side. As I've been getting ready to leave for my mission I realized that sometimes this is hard. It's a bittersweet farewell...I mean there are certain people that I have to say goodbye to that really HURT, and other's that I know we'll still be friends forever. I am starting to dread the day when I get on the plane to Utah and I have to say goodbye to my family...I guess it's just going to have to hurt, and that I'm just going to have to LET GO for just 18 months. I know that I will be blessed for this, but at the same time it's hard to leave and know that I won't be a part of people's lives for that time that I'm gone. And just as is says in the song "sometimes moving on with the rest of your life starts with goodbye." So I'm going to let go of some things I love...and realize that everything and everyone that is important to me will still be here when I get back.

You know it's crazy to actually think that I'm going to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And that I get to WEAR my Savior's name on my chest for the next 18 months. I can't wait for that day to come where I can look at someone and just speak spanish to them without thinking. I can't wait to bear my TESTIMONY in spanish and be able to share the power of the atonement. I am so VERY excited for this opportunity to give a little bit of my life for something that I love, and be able to help other people along their way. MAN, to think that I BRITTANY LAUREN PLATT will be a missionary is really quite crazy, but at the same time I can't picture myself anywhere else. I mean I know this is where I'm suppose to be and where I want to be. I am willing to give up my WHOLE life for this gospel, and dedicate 18 months of it to it. I HOPE that I can touch one person, and help them realize that there is a point to living here. I want to make a difference in someone's life, and be that catalyst that makes them excited to know more.

I KNOW that this church is true and that Joseph Smith is truely a prophet of God sent here during this time to restore the Gospel on the earth. I know that he SAW God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. I know that because of this he found that no church was true. I know the Book of Mormon is TRUE, and that it is only through this book that we can gain a testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know that President Monson is a prophet of God here on the earth today, and that he LEADS and GUIDES us based off Heavenly Father's plan. He will never lead us astray. I know that the Atonement is real and that because of Christ's SACRAFICE I am able to be forgive and have pains taken from me. I know for a fact that agency is part of the plan and that sometimes people choose things that hurt other's. And that He gave us agency to choose, but at the same time he also let us know that when we are hurt by other people that we can be WHOLE again through the Atonement. I know that God is still watching over me even when I feel like there is nothing else. And I know that he is aware of my DAILY WALK...and knows my stuggles and trials. How amazing is it that He knows each of us so personally, and no matter what I do He will still love me. I know that Satan is real, and that he knows the potential that we can have and will WORK to STOP IT! But if we put our hand in the Lord's Satan can have NO POWER over us! I testify that miracles do happen still, and that I have witnessed many different miracles in my own life. I LOVE my Father in Heaven and I LOVE my big brother and Savior Jesus Christ. I'm thankful for the fact that I can live with my family FOREVER, and never have to worry about what could happen if someone was to die. I love this church and can't wait to go and share my beliefs with the people in McAllen Texas!