Monday, November 26, 2012

I finally opened my mission call on Wednesday, November 14 around 6:50 MST!! 
The mail lady laughed at my squeals when I opened the mailbox.
This thing stared at me alllll day. 
Here are everyone's guesses! 
(yellow being the states; purple being foreign)
Before......
......During......
.......After!
I was so surprised I didn't sob my way through it, 
but I think I was just too excited and in shock! :)
Here's the video of me reading my call:
 
"I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord...I'll be what you want me to be."
we had some camera troubles, but this was too hilarious not to post..
thanks to everyone who came! love you all!
YOU ARE HEREBY CALLED TO LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA!
HELLO LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
I am SO excited. I have always said I would love to serve English speaking, so I am not bothered in the slightest that I am not serving a foreign mission. I had to mention that, because I get asked that a lot more than I should, haha. 

A few things I know about the best mission in the world: 
-every one says it is one of the most international missions. There are missionaries that speak English, Spanish, American Sign Language, Mandarin, Japanese, etc. and there are Tongan and Samoan wards. Apparently it is not unusual for missionaries to get to the mission and then to be asked to speak another language. As a side note, I’m going to try to practice signing and learn basic conversational Spanish while I’m home. 
-Not only will I meet and teach people from all over the world, I will be teaching all types of people. My mission is pretty small geographically speaking and includes downtown L.A. and the ghettos surrounding it, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Malibu, Santa Monica, etc.. 
Like I said, ALL types of people. 
People who have served there tell me I will have a hilarious story to tell every day. 
-My friend from that area said if anybody got called to L.A. it would be me. She joked that if a gang member pulled his gun on me I would just say, “Boy, put that thing away. What would your mother say? Merciful!” I wouldn’t put it past myself...
-the temple!! It is one of the largest temples in the world and such a strong symbol for the Church in that area. Although I am not assigned to serve in the Visitor’s Center, I will probably serve in the Visitor’s Center at least once. 
-I refuse to ever cheer for the Lakers, so I am now a Clippers fan!
-At first, I'll admit, I was a little disappointed that I don’t leave until April 3. I have friends who got their calls after me that are leaving in January, haha. Oh well, if I have learned anything in the past few months it is that Heavenly Father has His own timing for His own reasons. I just need to trust that. For whatever reason, I shouldn’t leave until April, and I have accepted that. I’m just so excited, it doesn’t even matter! The work of the Church is going to EXPLODE in the next few months! Every Wednesday night in Provo is a huge party because of all the mission calls. It is such an exciting time to be alive. 
-It has been 5 1/2 of the longest weeks of my life. I have had so many ups and downs with the process of submitting my papers, but I knew it would be. Thank you Satan, haha. Get thee hence. I actually was surprised by how unemotional I was when I opened my call. Well that came out wrong--I was SO happy and in awe to cry or to really soak anything in. But two days later, I had a breakdown unprecedented---I sat down and planned out every day between now and when I leave Provo in a few short weeks, and the sacrifice of what a mission requires all hit me at once. Feelings of fear enveloped me. I recognized this was the adversary and I prayed for strength. As cheesy and embarrassing as this may be, I sat down and bore my testimony to myself and to my Heavenly Father for 15 minutes until I calmed down and felt His love and peace. Faith always conquers fear, and my faith in Christ is honestly unshakeable. Elder Holland has a perfect talk about conquering fear if you wanna check it out! 

The following is what I wrote in my acceptance letter to the Brethren and I think it just sums up perfectly how I feel:
“I humbly accept the call to be a full-time missionary for these latter days. I am so excited to work with the people of Los Angeles and to invite them to come unto Christ. I am preparing to work hard as I prayerfully serve as a representative of this Church and of our Savior. I know that this is part of Heavenly Father’s plan for my life, and I enthusiastically accept the call of our Savior that Elder Holland eloquently stated at General Conference, “I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task...It is the work of Almighty God, and it is to change the world. So…I am asking you to leave all this and to go teach and testify.”
Thank you all for your support, love, and prayers as I begin this exciting time in my life!


The Los Angeles Temple!


Where I'll be spending 18 of the best months of my life :)