Well I’ve been home one month now. Crazy how time flies these days. Still feels as though I’ve only just got back, still as disorganized as ever. But I thought I would write a little of my experiences on here, maybe look back on them in a few years! And it will help me ponder the experiences I had in those wonderful 10 months.
I look back and wonder how I actually made it to here. From growing up in primary, all through youth I always said I would never ever go on a mission. I had no desire to and would not be forced into it or talked into it. Even when the announcement to lower the age of eligibility to serve was made I laughed and thought ‘No chance’ No sooner had I thought that then another popped into my mind ‘But you can, it would the best experience of your life, to help so many people find the truth’ I was suddenly filled with excitement!! I could think of nothing else until I’d spoken to my Bishop to start the application process! It took my just under a year to get everything I needed to done, but finally the day came!
It was the 10th of July 2013. I had just traveled from Bournemouth to Jersey to come home for the week on Condor Ferries. That ever so familiar route which I had grown accustomed to working that it seemed weird to be a passenger. So I walked out the terminal at the harbour and walked out the door to meet my parents, no sooner had I done so the phone started to ring. It was Katy! ‘It’s here, It’s here! Your mission call is here!’
So there it was. Australia, Sydney North Mission…Insane, that can’t be right, what had I done to deserve to serve in such an amazing country?! I was fully expecting to serve in England. Leeds, Manchester, Scotland/Ireland mission. Any of those would have been sufficient, but Australia!? I kept repeating it to myself, it just wouldn’t sink in! It was rather a shock.
A few days later I was flicking through my EFY 2007 Journal. And came across one of the lessons we had been taught. It was about preparing for missions. At the start of the lesson on the desk were placed envelopes. ‘Fake mission calls’ for everyone in the room. I opened mine and read ‘Australia Sydney Mission’ I remember thinking ‘Wow, what if that were actually happen?!’ But quickly dismissed the idea. Why would I go on a mission? I certainly didn’t have a testimony! And wasn’t going about trying to find one. Oh, how things change!
Finding this truly helped me see that Heavenly Father really is in control of our lives, as long as we allow him to. He has a plan for us and as we follow the counsel the prophets have given us we cannot be led astray. He knew I would serve a mission even then, even when I was a child, and he knew exactly where he wanted me to serve! It gives me great comfort in knowing this, that whatever I go through there is always a purpose behind it.
Doctrine and Covenants 90:24
Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ya have covenanted one with another’
Through my experiences I know this to be true. Always remember the bigger picture. Our purpose in this life as we know it. To be able to grow, experience these things, and learn to rely and trust in our Father, to continually strive to return to Him through the power of the atonement, given to us so lovingly by Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven. I love this gospel. I would be lost without it =)
22 Oct 2014
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