So I've officially decided that I'm going to serve a mission for my church. Well, that's not entirely true. I've known for some time now, but now I'm just shy of my 21st birthday and it's all become a much bigger reality for me. After Christmas break I start the process of getting my papers in. I had also made a decision not to talk about it because there seems to be a curse here at BYU that whenever a girl is set on going on a mission and tells everyone that that's her plan, she ends up getting married instead. I have a very good friend who had her mission call and was getting ready to head out in September. She got married in November. But it doesn't always happen. I have other good friends who served missions despite marriage prospects.
A lot of my friends this year are very recently returned missionaries and it's actually been good to hear their mission stories and experiences. It makes me a little less scared to go on my own mission. But only a little. I am by nature a very nervous person and the whole prospect of going out and talking to strangers has never excited me. Nor has the idea of sharing my testimony. Put the two together and I'm shaking in my Chucks (since that's what I'm wearing right now, not boots).
One of my very favorite scriptures is Doctrine & Covenants section 6 verse 36 where the Lord tells Oliver Cowdry to "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." It is such a simple command and yet for someone like me it can be so hard. But at the same time it's a very comforting thought. The Lord is there for me in everything I do and especially in those righteous endeavors that were His ideas in the first place. If left to my own devices and decisions, I probably would be too scared to serve a mission. But because I know the Lord has asked me to serve a mission, I will do it. It is still my decision, but I'm choosing to follow the Spirit, the council of my family and friends and what my own heart is telling me is right. Just like Nephi said, "I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." I will have the support of the Lord on my mission. I need not fear, I need not doubt my decision.
A lot of my friends this year are very recently returned missionaries and it's actually been good to hear their mission stories and experiences. It makes me a little less scared to go on my own mission. But only a little. I am by nature a very nervous person and the whole prospect of going out and talking to strangers has never excited me. Nor has the idea of sharing my testimony. Put the two together and I'm shaking in my Chucks (since that's what I'm wearing right now, not boots).
One of my very favorite scriptures is Doctrine & Covenants section 6 verse 36 where the Lord tells Oliver Cowdry to "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." It is such a simple command and yet for someone like me it can be so hard. But at the same time it's a very comforting thought. The Lord is there for me in everything I do and especially in those righteous endeavors that were His ideas in the first place. If left to my own devices and decisions, I probably would be too scared to serve a mission. But because I know the Lord has asked me to serve a mission, I will do it. It is still my decision, but I'm choosing to follow the Spirit, the council of my family and friends and what my own heart is telling me is right. Just like Nephi said, "I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." I will have the support of the Lord on my mission. I need not fear, I need not doubt my decision.
2 comments:
That's Mom's girl!
You'll be great! You're on the right path and so all you need to do now is keep going and be obedient! HE always supports those who follow Him.
John
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