Saturday, October 6, 2012

The Missionary Medley of my Heart

Today was quite a day.

It all started when my mother came into my room this morning, bubbling with excitement, exclaiming, "Julia, wake up! General Conference is starting and the Prophet has news for you!" <- That isn't something you normally hear every day, so I pretty much fell out of bed, bolted to the living room and sat myself down earnestly in front of the TV and mom hit play on the remote.

Our Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, then announced to every LDS member in the world the age requirement change for serving a mission. It used to be that the young men had to be 19 and the young women 21, but with the change, the young men can now serve at 18 and the young women at 19.

Thing is, I didn't know if a mission at 21 would work out with my life. I had no idea. A mission is something I have wanted to serve my whole life, and I had been hoping it will be something I'll have the privilege of doing. With the change and having the opportunity to serve earlier, I'm positive I'll get to serve.

Possibly the most life altering, relieving moment of my life so far was when the Prophet breathed the sweet words, "...and the young women (worthy and able) at age nineteen." I immediately started crying, because it was confirmed to me at that moment: I am going to serve a mission. I'll never forget it. With the announcement have come many smiles, and mental pictures of black name tags with white letters reading "Sister Howard" on them.

I've spent my day re-planning my college life to adopt an 18-month-long mission away from school and everything else. Honestly, it's kinda stressed me out. Not only do I feel like I have to re-figure everything out, everything's been accelerated by two years. I suddenly feel like the pressure's on to prepare (by getting my General Ed. done and stuff). But it's all worth it. I'll sacrifice what I need to to serve my Heavenly Father. My heart longs to spread the truth and fullness the gospel of Jesus Christ has brought to my own life; the blessings have been far too sweet not to share. No tongue can tell of my gratitude for the church, and I pray everyone will experience that gratitude someday as well.

I started planning the next few years (and last few years before the mission) out with my mom, and she kinda saw how specific I was trying to be with my goals and aspirations (and adventures...). And so, once again, she gave me some fantastic guidance:

"You can plan as much as you want, but your plans wont work because life will screw them up and make them better. How boring would life be if it was just a written schedule anyway?"
^that was paraphrased, but that was the idea.

The words of a favorite song came to mind. "...with all the choices I make, I write the next page. I don't know all the twists and the turns, but my journey is clear. I'm a child of infinite worth, there's a reason I'm here."

I just need to write my story one page at a time. Trust my feet to take me where the Lord needs me to go. Everything will work out.

Today was kind of the most perfect day ever.

-Julia

Post Script - Enjoy what I've had stuck in my head all day, if you want.
Called to Serve
Savior, Redeemer of my Soul (Missionary Medley)

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