Anyways.... Flashback to October 6, 2012...I was sitting at my brothers football game...it was General Conference...My grandpa was listening to conference on his radio so we’re all sitting there and he says… “they just lowered the age for missionaries to 18!” we all got really excited and he kept listening and then said “18 for boys and 19 for sisters!!!!!” WHHHHHHAAAAAAAATT!?!??! "Well…see ya!" Haha that was my first response…haha but then I started to think about it…I’m not the girl that's been planning to serve ever since I was little and then this just made it an easy choice for me!...yeah no I didn’t think this announcement would really change anything for me…It actually made things more difficult...lots to think about...haha! I guess it’s always been something that I thought I could think about later and see what I was doing when I was 21!
Haha so I'm a really indecisive person...but before the announcement I thought I finally had everything figured out with what I wanted to do with my life. I was going to go to Paul Mitchell the hair school and live in Provo with my best friends!! perfect right? but then…this…change of plans…I went home from the football game and wrote a novel in my journal…so in my journal that day I just kept writing how crazy and amazing this announcement was….but that I didn't know what to do…and that I had a lot to think about. I questioned if it was something that I could even do or not…I got on my knees and I prayed to Heavenly Father. I told Him how thankful I was for this announcement but at the same how it was confusing me and I didn’t know what I was supposed to do! I asked for guidance that I would know what to do…should I go to hair school or go on a mission?
So I decided that I would read my
scriptures and I was hoping that the random one I flipped to would give me my
answer… and well….it did…sort of…not really a straight answer… I flipped to Ether chapter 12 and
started reading on verse 17…right away I noticed one word.
Faith. By faith, of faith, have faith, faith, faith, faith! Hmmmm so my
answer was that I needed more faith! Lovely…so after that I decided to read my
patriarchal blessing and was hoping that might have a good answer! And guess
what it said… oh it just told me to have more faith! Well great! haha so I
decided to just go along with life and try to have more faith.
I kept thinking about a mission and I was
deciding between two things… do I serve a mission or go to hair school like I’ve always
wanted!? Clearly…two good options and technically I could do both either way…whichever
order…so I just had to decided which timing was right. I know that God's timing is the right timing so I needed to figure out which to do first! Well...sometimes the spirit won’t always influence you or help you
make a decision because the lord wants to know you will make decisions on your
own. That was definitely the case for
me. Sometimes when we have to make a
decision wehther big or small we pray, study the scriptures, ask for advice….and after
all that sometimes we still might not get an answer. This doesn’t mean that God isn’t answering
your prayers. He wants us to make
decisions for ourselves and though we should rely on him we can’t rely on him
to always make the choice for us. Not only
have I had to learn to have faith in the Lord and his timing…but I’ve
had to learn to have faith in myself and my decisions.
So finally…in January I got my answer! Me and my
mom went to Paul Mitchell and we took a tour/interview
thing there and talked about when I could start! Basically I loved it and it was
perfect and I couldn’t wait to start… So driving home we were talking
about when I could start and then I said…”what about a mission??” and so
dinner we talked about it more…I guess you know what happened next...haha well I talked to my bishop the next sunday...told him all this and he said I could start my papers and see if it felt right! So that by that Wednesday I had met with the Stake President, gotten all the doctor appointments done and on Friday morning my papers were submitted! I had to wait twelve long days before it came and then February 6 I got a big white envelope in the mail!!! AHHHHH!! All my friends and family came over that night and made their guesses and then I opened it up!! It was such a great night and then we all found out where I'll be spending the next 18 months...
Yup! I'm going to the New Hampshire Manchester Mission on June 5! TOMORROW!! Crazy right!??! I kinda can't even believe it's already here! I had 119 days when I opened my call and they're right...time really does fly! It still doesn't even feel real! But I'm so ready!! Is this weird or what!?!? If you asked me ten years ago what I'd be doing when I was 19...ha if you asked me 10 months ago what I'd be doing when today I probably wouldn't say I'd be preparing to leave on my mission! So crazy but so exciting and I know this is what I need to be doing right now! I'm so grateful for the age change for missionaries and I'm so grateful for prayer and personal revelation that helped me to get my decision of what I should do! I love this gospel so much and I know with all my heart that it is true!
I really wouldn't be where I am today though if it weren't for my amazing family and friends! I'm so grateful for all these great people and just want to thank all of you for all that you've done for me over the years! I don't think I can thank you all enough! Thank you for all your support and help with this whole process from making the decision to preparing and getting ready to go! I love you all so much! I am sooooo excited to serve the people of New Hampshire!
I guess it does kinda make me sad or scared to think about all that the things that I'll miss while I'm gone...but I know that the blessings will be even greater and that I will never regret this decision! I'm so excited for this crazy adventure that I'm starting tomorrow morning and I'm so excited to share some of my cool experiences with you all on here! I will miss you all so much but it's not goodbye...just see ya later! I'll be back before Christmas next year! Probably you won't even miss me! Haha don't forget about me though! send me letters! :)
Well...guess this is it! I'm going on a mission!! See you in 18! :)
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