I am going to serve a mission. I AM GOING TO SERVE A MISSION!!!!
I'm just so excited. This particular blog post has been a long time coming actually. I decided to serve back in late March, early April, but haven't publicly announced it in this fashion. I've pretty much told everybody, but I guess it's time the internet knew.
So here's the story. Two years ago, during my second week of EFY I had an experience where I felt impressed that I could, and should serve a mission. That I should be a missionary. So I made plans in my head to finish another year of school, turn 21 the next summer, do another year of EFY, and then go on a mission. Well, at some point in that year of I started praying about it again and felt impressed that I should wait. I assumed that meant wait until I finished my undergrad, so I pushed it to the back of my mind and said I'd pray about it again when the time came.
So here I am 21.5 years old, and my parents and younger sister had just come home from their spring break of college visits. So as they're telling me about the schools, and we discuss my sister's immanent future, we turn to a discussion of mine. Now, at this point I still have at least another year of school, probably a year and a half, before graduating, and my parents bring up the mission. My father explains in his calm and wise way that they think it'd be a good time for me to go. I had just changed majors that semester, and as excited as I was with the change, I think they sensed I was a little burned out. Well, the renewed talk of a mission honestly took me completely by surprise. As I mentioned, it had receded to the furthest part of my mind and I hadn't thought about it in ages. But I decided to pray about it. So for a week, in every prayer I said I asked to Lord to help me to know if it was the right time. Needless to say the decision felt heavy on my mind. I thought about it constantly. I compiled pro-con lists in my head and on paper, and when I read my scriptures everything seemed to apply to the subject at hand. But there came a night where I was studying my scriptures and decided to study about missions and missionary work, and turned to the Topical Guide. It sent me to the Doctrine and Covenants, chapter 31, where the Lord calls Thomas B. Marsh to serve. And as I read, verse 3 seemed to jump out and hit me square in the forehead. It reads:
"Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come; and your tongue shall be loosed , and you shall declare glad tidings of great joy unto this generation."
So there was my answer. It was time to serve.
So I met with my Bishop and he set me up with the online papers and when school was out I completed them to the best of my ability, went to the doctor and the dentist, and now I'm about to interview with my Bishop again before he sends the papers to the stake, where I'll interview with my Stake President so he can send my information to Salt Lake.
Suddenly the mission is starting to feel infinitely more real. Even as I filled out the paperwork, it felt more like a vague good idea. And now I'm coming closer and closer to being faced with this reality as I try to emotionally prepare myself for a call at some point in the next month. It's overwhelming and scary, and I feel so inadequate and immature. Sister missionaries are so mature, I can't believe I'm old enough for this. I was just 18 yesterday.
But then I remember the first impression I'd had two years ago at EFY. That I could serve a mission. I can do it. With the Lord's help I can do anything. Especially that which he's commanded me to do. I can do anything, even talk to strangers.
So the residual twinges of fear mingle with excitement as I anticipate the future, and try and prepare myself for something you can never really be prepared for.
And here is the picture the general authority deciding where I will go will see. Talk about intimidating to think about.
