February 2, 2015 "And That's All She Wrote"

Wow. It has been an emotional roller coaster of a week. I never expected a place so far from the people I loved to have captured my heart so thoroughly as it did.

So yes, I am excited to see yall.

But I am leaving my heart in Louisiana.

It belongs there. These people I love more than anyone else except for maybe my family. I bore my testimony this week in Sacrament, and as I was looking at the congregation, I realized why it is going to be so much harder to leave than to have come out in the first place. I KNOW these people. I have been in their homes. I have been there to help some of them through their problems, I have sat down to eat with them, and I have seen many of their lives change through the Atonement. 

I will never be the same.

I want you to know that I am not the person I was when I came out on my mission. I will not settle for anything less than what the Lord has in store for me. I will not be swayed from my testimony of this gospel. If the Lord converted no one else through me, I know that He converted me, and I know that's the reason I came out. I look back at all the different experiences since July of 2013, and despite this being the hardest year and a half of my life, it has been the most rewarding. I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father for giving me this opportunity. 

I had an added bonus this week of one final testimony--we got to meet Elder Quentin L Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Hallstrom of the Presidency of the Seventy, shake their hands and ask them questions. As I sat there in the chapel, I had this unbelievable peace come over me that I knew those men were called of God, especially Elder Cook. I know he is an apostle of the Lord and that he was called by a prophet in these latter days. 

I don't have much for this week. I got to see a bunch of friends and say a lot of goodbyes. It's been a really hard week becuase of that, but I am willing to pay that price for the love I have for these people. 

I am excited to be home! 

But I am not excited to leave my new home. 

I'll see yall in a few days.

Love,

Sister Cassidy Steele

PS: I added a few more people to this email than I usually do. That's because I want you to know my testimony, if you remember nothing else about me. To my mission friends, I love yall. I'll see you again sometime (a lot of you tomorrow) and if not tomorrow somewhere down the road. God be with yall till we meet again.