I can't believe how fast time has flown! I will be reporting to the Provo Missionary Training Center in two weeks from today! From there, I will have about 10 days in the MTC before I fly out to start my service in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In a million years I never would have guessed that I would be 22, almost 23, years old and leaving on a mission. I never planned on serving a mission at all! But Heavenly Father has this incredible way of guiding us in our decisions and taking us places that we didn't expect. And it always ends up being for the best good. I will be serving with 18 year old boys and 19 year old girls. It's not too big of a difference, but I already see myself as being the grandma of my mission. That being said, I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to serve with these people who have been so well prepared for missionary work at this time.
After spending 3 entire summers as an EFY counselor working with teenagers, I have been completely convinced that the youth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are ready. They are ready to tackle the problems of the world and to see through it to find true happiness. They are ready to give the knowledge of the source of this happiness (the gospel of Jesus Christ) to the world. And I get to serve along side of them!
I'm nervous and excited and scared and peaceful about leaving, all at the same time. I know that I've got some great experiences ahead and I'm excited to go and share my testimony with the people of my mission. My passion is teaching about the gospel, so what an amazing experience to be dedicated to doing that for a solid 18 months!
Thank you for being in my life. I am a combination of the experiences that I have had and the people that I have known, and I have been blessed to know some pretty incredible people. Thank you for playing a role in my life, whatever it has been! I pray that you'll have your own incredible experiences and that Heavenly Father will make Himself obvious in your life. I've got a few more days left until I enter the mission field. I can't wait to see you all on the other side!
