Missions Are For Learners

Here are some disclaimers:
I think this will be a post-in-progress for a long period of time, and will therefore end up being kind of novelish in length.
I will mostly be writing this for the intent of remembering (since this is more editable and add-onable than an old school journal), but if I put anything helpful to you, score!

A Short Background

   I have always been blessed to have a father who believes in the life-changing abilities of a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I don't have many solid memories from my childhood, but I always remember him talking about the possibility of a mission for me. 

   Missionary work has made it possible for me to be where I am at at spiritually today. My father was inspired to go on a mission, which completely changed the way his life has turned out (in fact, the reason he started really looking into the church was because the girl he wanted to marry told him she wanted to in the temple. He ended up going on a mission instead of proposing... so that didn't work out ha). When he got back from his mission, his scholarship at the University of Utah didn't wait for him. While trying to figure out what to do, his adviser noticed he was an electrical engineer major and told him Utah State University was a better place for that anyway, so he packed up and enrolled at USU within a couple of days. And that is the place he met my mother, another electrical engineering student who had transferred from Idaho State. She was from a Catholic family and had been told from a young age to stay away from Mormons. After some bad experiences with some Mormons (hey, the religion is perfect, not the people), she actually considered herself anti-Mormon for a time. Which made for some pretty intense talks about religion with her peers in good old Logan, Utah ha. My dad and mom became pretty close, but he would usually just sit out on the bible bashes. Then, one night, he had had enough of their talking. So he took my mom off alone to talk, and quietly asked her if she believed that God had talked to prophets in the past. She said something to the effect  of, "Well, duh." Then he asked why God wouldn't still talk to prophets today. And that was the start to her conversion. Now, it was a long process (about 6 years if I remember the story correctly). She didn't get baptized when my dad first asked her to. It wasn't until she was graduated and living in an apartment and two elders happened to knock on her door that she realized she had truth in her hands and she wanted to have it forever. Then came marriage, and me :) and those other kids.

   I said that my dad always encouraged me to serve a mission, and that definitely has helped me to be where I'm at today. However, I've definitely come to the conclusion to go based on my own experiences. I think the most important one that I can share with you would be one that happened during freshman year of college. I was reading the scriptures one night, and came across Doctrine and Covenant chapter 4. The entire chapter is kind of the theme song for missionaries, but it was verse 3 that hit me in a way that I can't remember happening ever before. "Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work." Yeah, wow. I had had these desires my whole life, but I hadn't really ever said, "I am going to go on a mission." It was always, "Well, I'll probably go; we'll see what's going on when I get there." But this verse, it spoke to me, straight to my heart, and what it said was, "You have been blessed to want to go.  Now go." Plain and simple. And that was when a mission became part of the life plan. Since then, I've had many more experiences that have solidified that this is where I'm supposed to be headed, but that was the first big one I can remember.
   Now, I already posted the video of the announcement for the age change in missionary availability. Looking back on that (yes, I know it's only been a week ha) I can see how perfect it is. At first, I was super pumped. Then, when everyone and their dog started talking about going, I was like, "Well, I wanted to first!" Ha ha so, so silly. And now I'm at a place where I've realized that, okay, not everyone is jumping on the band wagon, and that it's going to be a great, great thing, and that the world is about to change in a beautiful way. I'm also SO glad that I don't have to decided if I'm going or not. I do not envy anyone who is trying to figure that out right now.
   That announcement also kicked me into gear. I realized that even though I thought I was so prepared, and even if I don't end up leaving until I was planning on anyway, I've got a lot of work to do. I've come to realize that I will have bad days on my mission. All the things that make me mad/sad now will happen on my mission: I'll have gross roommates. I'll be sworn at. I won't be dating. I'll be put in awkward situations. I'll be far away from my family and friends, etc. And getting that mission call is not going to magically change my personality into one that is a perky, cheery, or happy-go-lucky under all the pressure in the world. Physically, I've got to get myself into shape (will power, I'm coming for you). And, even though I usually don't like to think about the value of the dollar in comparison to the Lord's work, there's really no avoiding it; I've got to be able to finance this journey in some way (yes, my parents will happily pay for it, but with 4 siblings, and one thinking about going on a mission at the same time as me now, I really feel the need to take some responsibility on this one). I will let you know, though, that I've felt an internal change. My patience has impressed me lately. I've received a lot of personal revelation within the last week, even about things that don't really seem that important. My thoughts have been somewhat elevated (and I cannot come even close to taking all the credit for this). I will be as ready as I should be when the time comes, and that is an extremely comforting thought.
    Wow, I totally labeled this as a short background. We're nearing the end, I promise. I just want to say that I'm excited to see what's about to come in my future, and that I think I'm getting closer to being able to "find joy in the journey," instead of waiting for some seemingly far-off event to change my life. This is what my heart feels right now---> :] sometimes :? or :/ but mostly :]

Entry 1:

   So yesterday I had my first meeting with my bishop. Surprisingly, it wasn't like a super spiritual event in comparison to other mission-related things that have happened to me. I did feel very peaceful about it though, even during his warnings about what I was getting into. As I started filling out the papers online (sidenote: if you ever use the website, be warned that it takes quite a while to upload and save forms you fill out), there was a question about the nationalities of my ancestors. I called home to ask what I should put. My parents told me English, Scandinavian, German, and Russian. I said, "Well, isn't there some Native American up in there?" and my dad said, "No, don't put that! Don't you want to go out of the States?" I have to admit, I freaked out a little. I hope I don't jinx myself by saying this, but I REALLY want to go somewhere foreign. I'm really trying to prepare myself to be thrilled with whatever I get, because I know it'll be the exact place I need to go, kind of like a pregnant mom does when she really wants to get a son (that was actually a dumb analogy since I've never had that happen, but you get it.) Anyways, I laughed, and my dad laughed, and we decided to just be truthful. But you know what, when I submitted that answer, it said my response was too long! So I just put English and Scandinavian, which I think most white people put anyway. Now the only spot without an answer is my date of availability. I've been getting a lot of advice about that, and I have to admit, I'm starting to feel overwhelmed. But, I've been assured that I'll know when I'm supposed to go when I need to know it. 

   So, that's where I'm at right now.  Like I said, this is going to be added on A LOT by the end of my missionary work (and I probably will make a lot of typos...). So stay tuned! But only if you want to.