LAST DAY IN THE HOLY LAND!!

Well my journey through Jerusalem is halting to an end and it is quite a bittersweet thing for me to express. I leave in approximately 9 hours which is weird but exciting! As this is my last post while in the Holy Land, I wanted to leave my testimony as my final words. Last night we had a wonderful class program with the theme of "The Changed Life". The entire time I was sitting there, I tried to think about all the things I have learned since being here but it was a difficult feat to accomplish. I didn't succeed. There have been too many life-changing lessons that I have gained here that I can't even begin to number but I am so grateful for them all. One that has stuck out in my mind all day is the hand of God in my life and that no matter how much we try to plan our lives out perfectly the way we want, it always changes unexpectedly, usually for the better. I can't thank my Savior enough for all that he has done for me. I love the two lines in the third verse of "How Great Thou Art" where it reads: that on the cross, my burden glady bearing; He bled and died, to take away my sin. I have thought about the phrase "my burden gladly bearing" a lot this semester as I have sat in the Garden of Gethsemane and have visited the Garden Tomb many times. Although I have always believed these simple doctrines to be true and have never doubted any aspect of the gospel growing up, I have come to better understand the magnitude of the mission my Savior was foreordained to fulfill so that we may become perfect as our Father in Heaven and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. I have more appreciation for the pain and suffering my Elder Brother had to bear for my many, many weaknesses and wrongdoings against my Father's children. The Savior of the World descended below all things so that he may know how to succor his children in their own Gethsemane. It was required of him to experience the withdrawal of the Father's spirit and suffer even the depths of hell. I am so eternally grateful for this knowledge and have come to crave a closer relationship with my Lord since I have literally walked in his footsteps and come to know his character and attributes better. I can't believe my time is finished here in the Holy Land but I have had the experience of a lifetime. My only hope is that I don't wake up one day missing Jerusalem because I haven't applied the incredible things I have learned here. At this very moment, I have absolutely no regrets and hope and pray it will stay that way. My final plea for you is to pray for the peace of Jerusalem so that the gospel may be brought to these amazing Muslims and Jews.