Saying Goodbye's

As a missionary we get to call home on Christmas and Mother's day, so it being Christmas this last week, I Skyped home!!!!

The hardest part about the whole call was saying goodbye.

I really really really REALLY don't like saying goodbyes! (I'm not going anywhere, so this isn't a creative way of saying goodbye, just got to get that out of the way.)

Before I came out on a mission I was sharing my dislike of goodbyes and they came up with a good point.

We need to say goodbyes because that's when we realize what they meant to us.

I didn't truly realize what my family meant to me until I said goodbye and walked in to the MTC.

Every day out here I realize more and more how much they mean to me.

Think about it, when we say goodbye and realize that we are really going to miss that person, we realize why we're going to miss them.

From then on you miss them for all the reasons you liked being with them in the first place!

You realize right then how much they truly mean to you.

That's why goodbyes are so hard!

We come as close as we can on this earth to realizing how much we truly love them.

I've seen this happen every time I left an area and moved to a new one, they each hold a special place in my heart for a special reason!

Imagine what the goodbye must have been with our Heavenly Father when we left his presence and came to this earth.

He knew perfectly well the pain and hardships we would go through and he knew that we may not return.

Step in to your Heavenly Father's shoes, imagine how hard that would be!

Our mortal minds can't even comprehend the love He has for us, yet I know my heart would break if I had to say goodbye to my children and send them to have an earthly experience knowing that some wouldn't return.

However I know that same love would push me to allow them to go, because I knew they would have teh chance to grow and benefit from it.

Our Heavenly Father misses us!

His heart aches when we go through hardships as I'm sure His heart ached when He had to say that goodbye.

We are His work and glory.

We are a huge part of his Joy.

The next time you kneel think of the love he has for you. Thank him for loving you enough to say goodbye for a short time.

Then let him know that you are trying your hardest to return.

And then do it. :D

He is waiting with open arms!!!

Keep this in mind and love your God and Heavenly Father above all things!

That's what he asks.

Love him!

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.