Llamado a Servir

It's here it's here it's here!

I am officially and excitedly preparing to enter the mission field after going back and forth, up and down, inside and out for the past several years on this decision.

To go or not to go. The question was always on my mind, and always being asked. The summer before I turned 21, I decided I was going to go home, start my papers and then leave as soon as I could. It kind of seemed like something I needed to "check off the list". However, I just couldn't do it! Everytime I would pick up the phone to schedule an appointment with the Bishop, I just didn't feel right. So the papers were not started and I decided then that the Lord probably didn't want me to go on a mission. I was ok with that to be honest :)

It wasn't but a month or two later when Peru and my internship with the church came into the picture. I decided that I was going to spend a whole semester in Puylucana, Peru serving the most wonderful Peruvian children and then the semester immediately following that in Utah doing a paid internship with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Looking back, I can see exactly why the Lord didn't want me to start my papers at that time. I needed those experiences. They shaped and challenged and changed me for the better. I am much more fit and eager to serve the Lord  because of those incredible experiences and although those were some of the hardest months of my life, I will ever be grateful for them.

Then it was back to school and back to making plans for education, internships and more adventures that I wanted to accomplish before I got married. I seriously had it all planned out. A semester of school, a trip to Ghana. Another semester of school and then working as a special trip leader who takes a group of 17-19 year olds to Fiji and Tonga to do Humanitarian work for 3 weeks at a time. On weeks I wasn't doing that, I'd be an EFY counselor. After a summer of that, I'd head back to Rexburg for one last semester, secure a job working for either the LDS church or a non-profit organization and live happily ever after.

Man, I had it all planned out. My resume and portfolio were flawless, impressive and simply gleaming! I was excited and ready to go.

 Then I consulted the Lord about my plans. . . and then I watched General Conference. I am passionate about doing Humanitarian work. PASSIONATE. I'm always looking into places that have the greatest need, or different organizations that really need my skills and abilities. So when Elder Nelson explained that serving a mission is one of the greatest forms of humanitarian work that we can do on earth, I was sold. I knew right then that a mission was what the Lord had in mind for me as my next great adventure and oh man was I excited!

The "papers" process took about a month ( a month too long if you ask me!) and it was a roller-coaster of a month. Second-guessing myself, cute boys coming out of the wood work asking me on dates left and right, fear, doubt, excitement, love, joy. It was tough, but each time I would pray and read my scriptures, I felt the strength, confidence and desire to keep moving forward with my papers, one step at a time.

Until they were in!

Those 3 weeks waiting for the call were brutal! Knowing that in a manner of days, a piece of paper would arrive in the mail, announcing where I would be spending 18 months. 18 MONTHS! It still kind of blows my mind to think about that.

And on December 6, 2012, that little piece of paper finally came! Here's the video of me and Natalie heading down to the mailbox to see if it was in there. I had checked the two weeks before and even twice earlier that day, so I wasn't positive that it would be in there.

I couldn't believe that it had actually come. We walked up to the temple, just Natalie and I, and tried to make sense of what was going on and what was about to happen. I had talked to lot's of  returned sister missionaries about the moment when they opened their call. I had watched dozens of videos of bawling, screaming sisters opening their call. They all told me that when they read their letter, they all "just knew" that that was exactly where they were supposed to go. They said they felt such peace and such joy! I was soooo excited to finally have this moment of my own. So I opened it. And I read it. And guess what. .  . I didn't feel anything! I didn't feel like they told me I would. To be honest, the first thing that came to my mind was, "wait, are we sure this is MY call? This can't be MINE." It was so weird. I didn't scream. I didn't cry. I just read it, called my mom and dad and then headed back to class.  It took a couple hours for the shock to wear off and for the excitement to sink in. So if that happens to you, don't worry about it! 

 As the day went on, reality hit, in a good way. I am SO excited to serve. SO excited to be able to serve the people in the New York New York North mission in the Spanish language. SO excited to be a formal representative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

 I have a full semester before I leave for the MTC and am excited for that time that I have to prepare. I've signed up for classes like "World Religions", "Mission Prep" and "Spanish 102". It will be an amazing and trying time for me I'm sure, and I can't wait!