The One With The Mission Call

     When I was 17 years old, my bishop pulled me into his office after Sacrament. He asked me if I had thought about serving a mission. Girls don't serve missions until they are 19, so obviously it had NOT crossed my mind. Once I got passed the internal screaming, I decided to think about it. The very next day, I walked into seminary. To my surprise, it was Missionary Week. The Lord definitely has a sense of humor. A sister missionary was asked to speak. I asked so many questions she probably slept for 3 days afterwards. My best friend's sister had also served a mission. She would often talk to me about her experiences, but I was still on the fence. Until that summer. We invited the missionaries over a lot. They would always seem to joke to me about it. "Are your papers in yet?" "Hey, how 'bout that mish?" I would giggle and mentally run away. Until one day they came to teach my sister. She was not there so instead of leaving they decided to teach me instead. They showed me a video.  Jesus Christ was walking up and down a street, administering unto the poor. It was such a simple video, but I found myself sobbing. Like full on ugly crying. I was so filled with the spirit. I realized I was thinking about everything all wrong. The only thing I was thinking about was myself. I was being extremely selfish with my reasons for not going on a mission. I was leaving my family and friends for 18 months, I will be walking for miles and getting doors slammed in my face when I could be going to college or be on social media. But I was wrong. For some reason I never thought about the word serve in the phrase serve a mission. You’re helping other people find the Gospel that has brought joy to so many others. So that was it. I decided to go. Except the only problem was that I wouldn't turn 19 for another year and a half. I faced so many trials in that year and a half. I wanted to just take it back. I wanted to stop and crawl into a whole. "This is too hard," I thought. 

     After graduating high school I went on a trip. A church history trip. We left for 14 days the day after graduation. We started in Vegas and flew to New York. The next two weeks we visited 22 different states, discovering about the history of the church and American history. It was the most amazing experience of my life. There was one thing that changed my life and strengthened my faith. I knew that I needed to serve. I was walking in Harmony, Pennsylvania to the grave of the young Alvin Smith. I was walking with a sister missionary. I don't know why but my friends had gone ahead and a sister missionary joined me. We were just having a light conversation, just enjoying a little small talk. I haven't even said anything about my desire to serve. She stopped and turned to me. It was dark and I could hardly see except for a lamp light on the log home behind me. She had tears in her eyes and said, "You're going to make a great missionary." I felt that ugly crying come back on. The Lord knew what I was feeling and he sent me exactly what I needed. I felt recharged and ready to take on the world...or the bus ride home. 

     I didn't start my papers until August 30th. I got my physical done. Then in October I got my wisdom teeth out. I couldn't even turn my papers in until November 11th. Exactly 120 days before my birthday. It took some of my amazing (lol) math skills to figure that out. I was finally finished (cue the dancing) and I turned them into the bishop. My time was wasted by watching hundreds of videos of other people opening their calls. Laaaameeeee. I went to Texas for two weeks and my bishop had STILL not turned them in. ugh. By the time it was Christmas they were finally with the stake. I interviewed with him and then a day later he sent them in. They said I would receive my call around the 21st. It. was. agony. I hadn't started the good ol' mailbox check yet when my dad walked in with my call. It was Friday the 13th. I immediately collapsed to the floor. I was in absolute shock. Here comes the ugly crying. I had no idea what to do. We were planning on driving the 3 hours to my family to open it with them, but there was no way I had THAT kind of self control. My grandma, my mom, and my dad were going to be my only fan base for the grand reveal. We found a corner of the room with good lighting (duh) and began to video. I couldn't breathe, it was finally my turn. All those videos I watched and it was my turn to film my own. The words on the page read, "Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission." I couldn't believe it. I had guessed it. Back in Thanksgiving with my family, I told my uncle who served in the same mission, that I was going to his mission. We for sure shared a moment. March 22nd was my report date. That was so soon. It took a while to sink in, but I'm ready and I can't wait to share this gospel that I love so much.