Thursday, April 25, 2013

Preparation? Preparation is great.

I love people. People absolutely fascinate me! Lately people have been asking me the same 6 questions. 

1. Oh you're going to serve a mission, where are you going? 
2. When do you leave? 
3. Are you excited? 
4. Did you always want to serve a mission? 
5. What are you most excited for? 
and 
6. How is your preparation going? 

Don't get me wrong. I'm not writing this because I am tired of people asking me these questions, I'm writing this because I wish I could sit down with each of you and tell you exactly how I am feeling. Those of you that know me, know that I could talk your head off about anything. So instead of taking up all of the time in your life when you run into me, I decided to write it all down! 

So here we go. 

1. Oh you're going to serve a mission, where are you going? 
  
          Yep! I sure am! I have been called to the Philippines Baguio Mission! I am going to be speaking Tagalog and whatever other dialect/language the Lord needs me to learn! 

2. When do you leave? 

        I enter the Provo MTC on May 8, 2013! 13 days from today to be exact! Sounds soon right? well actually I have been waiting and counting down since January 24th at around 8:00 pm, so actually, ITS ABOUT TIME!  
       
3. Are you excited? 

      Is this even a question??? Well maybe it is for those of you who don't know me very well....So the answer is YES! I am beyond excited! I am excited to be humbled! I have always been blessed with everything that I have ever needed in my life and more! I'm thrilled to be in a place that is beyond poor! I know when I get there I will probably cry and it will be really hard, but that is exactly what I want. I cannot explain why in the world I want this...but I do! 

4. Did you always want to serve a mission? 

    Hmmmm... this is a really good question! The answer is yes and no. When I was growing up it was the farthest thing from my mind. I was more concerned about how my hair looked, how I could do my makeup different to impress some guy at school that I had decided to crush on that week, if my grades were good enough, what chores I had to do, and whatever else consumes a naive teenage girls mind.
     At the end of my Senior year of High School, Serving on a mission started to cross my mind when most of my guy friends had started receiving their mission calls. When my best friend Wayne received his call the the Washington D.C. North mission I thought about serving more and more. I was and still am so proud of all of these boys that plan their whole lives to serve the Lord, and frankly I was super jealous! 
     When I got to college I met more and more great returned missionaries! I loved hearing about their missions and I loved hearing the conviction in their voices when the explained how much they learned from and loved their missions! I am so so grateful for their examples! These experiences made my desire to serve grow every day. The only thing that made me hesitate was the uncertainty of where I would be at the ripe age of 21! I might be seriously dating someone or even married! I could be anxiously engaged in a program for school! by the time I'd turn 21 my best friend would be home from his mission and leaving him for 18 months didn't seem like a fun idea! 
      Then good old General Conference came around in October 2012 and President Monson looked at me and told me that I could serve a mission if I wanted to right now! And the timing couldn't be more perfect! I knew at that moment, that the Lord needed me to serve a mission! Where I would serve never mattered to me. 
      In short: I love the Gospel and I love sharing my growing testimony with everyone around me! the thought of doing that for 18 months is incredible to me! I AM SO EXCITED!

5. What are you most excited for? 

     Well my General answer is that I AM EXCITED TO SERVE A MISSION! But if I had to pick some things I would say that I am so excited for the food! I love food! (except peanut butter, peanut butter is gross.) I am excited for a new culture! I am excited to be in warm weather!!!! And I am excited to have the conviction I have seen in sooooo many returned and current missionaries! 


6. How is your preparation going?? 

      I am not sure how mission preparation is suppose to go! I imagine that it is different for everyone! I have figured that there are two main aspects of mission preparation! The Physical aspect (the clothes, apts., other stuff) and the Spiritual aspect. 
      As far as the Physical aspect goes...I have more than enough clothing, plenty of makeup, Tagalog scriptures, Preach My Gospel, durable shoes, a good bag, 3 large suitcases, I could go on and on and on and on...
     The Spiritual Aspect is completely different!! Am I ready spiritually? well most days I am! then there are those other days when Satan works extra hard on me...I was able to receive my endowments in the Logan Temple back in March and I have to say that I feel extra strong ever since that day. It was THE BEST day of my life. But there are always those days when I feel completely inadequate! those days sneak up on me and I hate them! So I came up with a plan for those extra hard days: 
       I have surrounded my life with Christ. I always wear my CTR ring to remind me that I feel so much better when I am making good choices and doing what I am supposed to be doing. I have amazing friends. Friends that know what I stand for and always respect that. If occasionally I find myself in not so great company and know that I am not strong enough to handle it, I remove myself from the situation. I call my loving mother, who never fails to tell me that she is proud of me and that she loves me. She helps me get my head on straight when I almost make very rash crazy decisions! I read my patriarchal blessing or my favorite scriptures to bring the spirit back to my heart! And last but certainly not least, I read my mission call letter out loud to myself! every time I read it, I get that incredible feeling I got the first time I read it! 
       Naturally some days are better than others, and I am super stubborn, so it takes a lot for me to break down and turn completely to the Lord to carry me through those rough days. But I know that I always can turn to the Lord and I am soooo grateful for that. 

So behind the " it is going good" answer,  that is truly how my preparation is going. 


I am so grateful for the strength My Heavenly Father has given me just PREPARING for a mission! I know that if I always have faith, I will be given the strength to complete the full mission that my Heavenly Father would have me complete :) 

Thank you SO much for taking the time to read and understand my super long answers to these same 6 questions that I will always love to answer. 


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