Week number three

Well, another week has gone by and this weeks adventure will, by far, have the longest, most profound effects on my life than any other this semester.

This week I turned in my mission papers.

That's right.

I am going to be a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It's true, and I cannot wait to be a full-time missionary. I have wanted to serve a mission since I was a little girl. I would talk about it with my parents and friends and say proudly, "one day I am going to serve a mission and I simply cannot wait for that day." Throughout my life the option of serving a mission came and went as I dated, went to college, and made life plans. For a while I really did believe that serving a mission was not going to happen for me. Especially when I switched my major from Humanities to Communication Disorders. My class schedule became very complicated and leaving when I actually turn 21 (may 31 2012) made serving a mission and finishing school in a timely matter very difficult. After figuring things out, it came out that I would graduate a year later on top of the year and a half of serving a mission. So serving a mission would put me two and a half years behind in school. Which isn't the end of the world but it would really set me back since this next winter and the winter I got home I would not be able to take any classes for my major. I felt like those two semesters of being home but not being able to take classes would be such a waste of time. I felt defeated. It seemed like serving a mission was not in Heavenly Father's plan for me and I was devastated because I still felt like I was supposed too. I prayed and even though I was confused, I knew everything would be OK. That's when I heard from a friend that there are some cases where people can get special permission to go on a mission early if they have a really good reason. What is a better reason than my academics? So I made an appointment with the bishop to ask him that very question. I asked him if this little fun fact was true and he had never heard of a sister going early before, but he said he would call the mission office and ask. A week later I heard back with the news that IT WAS possible and the decision whether I could leave early or not was up to my stake president. So what did I do next? I met with my Stake President and I got the special permission I needed to start my papers a couple weeks after that. Going through the process of requesting this special permission to leave early, I don’t think I actually thought it would work. It didn’t seem real. When I got the phone call from my bishop that everything was good to go and I could start my papers, my eyes filled with tears of joy and also with tears of fear. I thought to myself, "Can I really do this?" For weeks I told myself I was going but still felt some doubts in the back of my mind wondering if I would actually go through with it. I knew I wanted too, I just didn't know if I actually could do it. I didn't know if I could leave my amazing, beautiful family for so long. I didn’t know if I could leave my friends, school, and life at BYU behind. I started to doubt if a mission really was the thing for me. I knew that making a decision and taking it before the Lord was the only way to calm and settle my fears and insecurities about serving a full-time mission. The answer didn't come to me easily. In fact I couldn't tell you the day or even the week that I made the decision to actually go on a mission. I never really knew for sure until the night I had my Stake President interview. Even with all of my doubts, I kept moving forward. By the time I submitted my papers I could not have been happier or more sure of anything in my life. My availability date is January 1, 2012. After weeks of praying and preparing I finally submitted my papers and I cannot wait to receive my call in the next few weeks! I will most definitely blog about opening my call. That’s something I’ve definitely never done before. :)

My mission picture