.woops.

so it's been forever. a ton has happened. and now it's almost over. but holy cow i'm so glad this year happened! it's weird to think a whole school year went by. but if i think back long enough, yeah, i guess i can believe that it was a whole year. next thursday (and even this weekend a bit) i am saying goodbye to the only people that have understood me completely these past, like, 8 months. some of these people i will not see for two years, and maybe even never again. it's a weird life right now. it's like th end of senior year, except this time i don't want it to end. i just come back next fall and plug away...but all of these guys are going to far-off places and learning strange languages and going to be so far away from everything they know to be normal. i've said this a thousand times, but i'd rather have them go than stay here and plug away with me. this is the greatest thing on earth that they could be doing. seriously. spreading the message of cheer to all those who are ready to hear it? what better thing could they do? but it's so hard to say goodbye to my closest friends. at least i still have my roommates next fall--there's some constancy right there. and of course i still have my friends from back home. and my family. sometimes i feel like the only people (mortal people) that can understand me are these people i've met up here. they're the ones who also left their families and friends to come to this strange school. they're the ones who have witnessed the stresses of college life in "Happy Valley" with me. they're the ones i went to most when i had things that were too hard to bear on my own. but actually, the Person who knows me the most is my Savior, Jesus Christ. He bore everything for me. He knows how to personally succor me, one of His sisters, and He can understand EVERYTHING that i am feeling right now. because He has already suffered all of it for just me. and i am so grateful to Him for doing that. i would hate for anyone to feel as confused as i am feeling right now, but it's too late. because He did it about 2000 years ago. and i am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for letting His Son come down to this rotten planet and suffer for this little 18 year-old girl. so in a way, my heart is very full right now even though my life is going to be very different in a week.