All of my
life I've grown up knowing that boys go on missions when they are 19, and girls
can go on missions when they are 21. TWENTY ONE. I was not fond of this number.
So I never even gave a thought to serving a mission, until last general conference.
On October 6th, 2012 President Thomas S. Monson announced that young men could
go at age 18. Hurray! And then he continued to say...
"We
have prayerfully pondered the age at which young men may begin their missionary
service, we have also given consideration to the age at which young woman might
serve. Today I am pleased to announce that able, worthy young women who have
the desire to serve may be recommended for missionary service beginning at age
19, instead of age 21."
At this
point my jaw was to the ground. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, that
fear of the number 21 had disappeared! At this point I wanted to serve, but I didn't know
if I should serve. What to do, what to do? Many people in the scriptures turned to their Heavenly Father in
prayer for answers. So what did I do? I prayed. Prayed my little heart out to
know if I was supposed to serve a mission. For the next week or so I couldn't
get it off my mind, constantly thinking about the positives and negatives about
serving a mission. And you know what? I couldn't find a single negative! Everything
that you get out of a mission is positive: you become more independent, you get
to experience a different part of the world, gain a greater love for others,
gain a greater love for your Heavenly Father and most importantly gain a
greater love for this gospel.
Taking a
step back, I realized that these attributes would make me into the person I
want to become. They would make myself, as well as my future family much
stronger. It would build my family upon the foundation of Christ, which we are advised to build our testimonies on in Helaman 5:12. "...because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."
I am also super excited about being able to go out and full heartily serve the Lord by serving the people of (insert future mission area here) for 18 months. I have always believed that the two ways you can show your love to your Father in Heaven is by obedience and by serving others. And I look forward to being able to do both with all my might, mind and strength for 18 straight months. I love this Gospel!
