Today marks exactly one month until I report to the MTC. I am so excited!!! Our stake started a mission preparation class about three weeks ago, and I have gone every Sunday. Today is when we got to begin to put into practice what we have been learning and studying. we split up into companionships and taught a couple other people in the class about a certain topic in the first lesson. The first time you teach, whether it is to members or nonmembers, is scary!!! For one family home evening activity in college we did this same practice teaching and I was so embarrassed. I second guessed everything that I thought I knew and stumbled so much. I feel much more prepared as I have studied Preach My Gospel and learned more of what a missionary does. The greatest thing I learned was that missionaries are never perfect.
Missionaries are human beings like everyone else. There will be times where missionaries stumble over their words, but the Spirit does not require eloquence to be in a lesson. The Spirit will testify of truth regardless of the ineloquence of the speaker. If the missionary has been praying and sincerely serving the Lord and trying to do His will, the Spirit will be there to attend him and touch the investigator.
As I taught the part of the lesson today I could feel my confidence growing. I stumbled and messed up, but the Spirit was still there. I know that as I go out into the mission field I will experience the same inadequacies I do now, but the Lord will make up for my weaknesses as long as I am serving Him with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. The missionaries are not on their own errand, but on the errand of the Lord. This is the Lord's work and He is in charge.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
The Announcement That Changed My Life
I have felt I needed to start this blog for a while now, and I am finally doing it. I want to share some of my experiences leading up to my decision to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Chile, Santiago East mission beginning February 27, 2013. I do not remember the time I decided I wanted to serve a mission, but I remember many times in my teenage years declaring, "If I am not married by the time I am 21, I am definitely serving a mission!" For a girl in our church, you had to be 21 before you could serve the Lord on a full-time mission. I am only 19 and although I have always been preparing for a mission, it was still a long time away. Over the past year I have faced a lot of challenges. They haven't been huge sicknesses, deaths, or major setbacks, but they have been trials nevertheless. When I started this fall semester I was already feeling burnt out, but was so excited to get back to BYU and was actually super excited for my classes. From the beginning of the semester I struggled. Times were tough, but I learned a lot. I learned to TRULY trust in the Lord's plan.
My bishop gave me a ticket to the Saturday Afternoon General Conference session on October 6th. I went up to my brother's house just outside of Salt Lake that Friday so that I could attend that session. I was not sure how I was going to get to and from Conference, but soon my sister solved that problem. Her and her husband had an extra ticket to the morning session that same day, so I was going to go up with them, but they weren't going to be able to bring me back after the afternoon session. I ended up giving the afternoon ticket to someone else and just going to the morning session. I almost didn't go with my sister and brother-in-law that morning because I wasn't feeling well, but I am glad I did. We got there plenty early and I was able to talk to my sister before the session began. Somehow we got on the topic of missions and I literally told her, "If I could serve a mission right now, I would!" Well, neither of us had any idea that my wish to serve a mission now would be granted! The president of our church, President Thomas S. Monson, stood up to welcome everyone and say a few words. When he said that the missionary age for guys would be lowered to 18, all I could think about was that my little brother, Ben, and I would be serving at the same time! When he then announced that the missionary age for women would be lowered to 19 I instantly broke into tears. I had been praying and asking the Lord why I was going through some of the challenges I was going through, and what was I supposed to learn. The momentous announcement that fine Saturday morning was an answer to my prayers. I felt the Lord telling me that he was preparing me to serve a mission now. I was facing opposition so that when I went into the mission field, I could serve the Lord better than I before could have. I remember looking back at my sister, Lindsey, who also had tears in her eyes and both of us knowing that I was going to go and serve. The rest of the session I had a huge smile on my face and knew that I had made the right decision! I was more excited than words can adequately express! One of the most precious moments of that day was after the session was over when a little boy (I would guess about 8 years old) who was sitting behind me and had heard my sniffles asked me if I was going to serve a mission. I answered him with a heartfelt, "Yes!" The boy had one of those children missionary tags that said, "Future missionary" on it and it was fantastic to tell him that I was a future missionary too.
The greatest lesson that I learned from this experience is that the Lord does not give us trials and challenges for no reason. He has a plan that is more perfect than we could ever imagine! Our trials are shaping us into what He knows we can become. Though not all my questions were answered with that announcement, enough were to strengthen my faith that the Lord hears our prayers. He listens to us individually and knows our hearts. I know that Christ knows EXACTLY what we are going through, and will help us if we will let him; we need to have patience and trust in HIS timing. I know my Redeemer lives and wants us to follow Him so we can experience our fullest joy!
My bishop gave me a ticket to the Saturday Afternoon General Conference session on October 6th. I went up to my brother's house just outside of Salt Lake that Friday so that I could attend that session. I was not sure how I was going to get to and from Conference, but soon my sister solved that problem. Her and her husband had an extra ticket to the morning session that same day, so I was going to go up with them, but they weren't going to be able to bring me back after the afternoon session. I ended up giving the afternoon ticket to someone else and just going to the morning session. I almost didn't go with my sister and brother-in-law that morning because I wasn't feeling well, but I am glad I did. We got there plenty early and I was able to talk to my sister before the session began. Somehow we got on the topic of missions and I literally told her, "If I could serve a mission right now, I would!" Well, neither of us had any idea that my wish to serve a mission now would be granted! The president of our church, President Thomas S. Monson, stood up to welcome everyone and say a few words. When he said that the missionary age for guys would be lowered to 18, all I could think about was that my little brother, Ben, and I would be serving at the same time! When he then announced that the missionary age for women would be lowered to 19 I instantly broke into tears. I had been praying and asking the Lord why I was going through some of the challenges I was going through, and what was I supposed to learn. The momentous announcement that fine Saturday morning was an answer to my prayers. I felt the Lord telling me that he was preparing me to serve a mission now. I was facing opposition so that when I went into the mission field, I could serve the Lord better than I before could have. I remember looking back at my sister, Lindsey, who also had tears in her eyes and both of us knowing that I was going to go and serve. The rest of the session I had a huge smile on my face and knew that I had made the right decision! I was more excited than words can adequately express! One of the most precious moments of that day was after the session was over when a little boy (I would guess about 8 years old) who was sitting behind me and had heard my sniffles asked me if I was going to serve a mission. I answered him with a heartfelt, "Yes!" The boy had one of those children missionary tags that said, "Future missionary" on it and it was fantastic to tell him that I was a future missionary too.
The greatest lesson that I learned from this experience is that the Lord does not give us trials and challenges for no reason. He has a plan that is more perfect than we could ever imagine! Our trials are shaping us into what He knows we can become. Though not all my questions were answered with that announcement, enough were to strengthen my faith that the Lord hears our prayers. He listens to us individually and knows our hearts. I know that Christ knows EXACTLY what we are going through, and will help us if we will let him; we need to have patience and trust in HIS timing. I know my Redeemer lives and wants us to follow Him so we can experience our fullest joy!
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