A little while before I had gotten baptized, I had a dream that I was serving a mission and teaching investigators in Spanish. I made the "mistake" of telling one of my friends from Church. At the temple one night, she commented on how my bag looks like such a "missionary" bag. I guess she had told Bishop Patton about this dream I had, because he then made a comment about how I would be serving a mission next March.
A few days later, the Sisternaries came over (for what I presume was supposed to be my new-member lessons), and asked about this dream. So I told them about it, and they began to tell me about the blessings I could receive from serving a mission.
Fast forward a few weeks, and I'm getting my patriarchal blessing. The Patriarch told me to fast and pray, so I did. I don't know why, but in my prayer, I asked to know whether I should serve a mission. And, boy, did I get my answer!
Over the next few days, I start to have doubts, and I convince myself, "The Patriarch probably tells everyone to serve a mission. After all, this church is known for service and spreading the gospel."
I turned to the scriptures, and I found Doctrine and Covenants Section ten, Verses eight and nine, which say,
"But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that is is right.
"But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you can not write that which is sacred save it be given you from me."
After reading that, I knew that the Lord truly does want me to serve a mission because I have felt it in my "bosom." And verse nine says that if it's not right, you will forget about it; but I can't seem to forget about it.
But I didn't want to go out and serve a mission just because I know that it's what the Lord wants. I didn't want that to be the only reason. As I struggled to find reasons why I wanted to go on a mission, I continued to read my scriptures. In Mosiah, chapter 2, verses 17 through 19 further convinced me why I should go.
"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.
"Behold, ye have called me your king; and if I, whom ye call your king, do labor to serve you, then ought not ye labor to serve one another?
"And behold also, if I, whom ye call your king, who has spent his days in your service, and has been in the service of God, do merit any thanks from you, O how you ought to thank your heavenly King!"
Moroni 7:47 tells us "charity is the pure love of Christ." I know charity involves serving one another. I know that if I truly love Christ, I must be willing to serve my fellow brothers and sisters, not just for eighteen months while I serve a mission, but forever. I know that not only does it make my Heavenly Father happy to see me serving my brothers and sisters, but it'll make me happy, too (Finding Joy through Loving Service).
I love reading conference talks. I have found so much insight, so many answers to my questions in the talks the leaders of the Church give. Reading Elder M. Russel Ballard's October 2008 conference talk (The Truth of God Shall Go Forth), I found the following:
"We are all needed to finish the work that was begun by those pioneering Saints over 175 years ago and carried out through the subsequent decades by faithful Saints of every generation. We need to believe as they believed. We need to work as they worked. We need to serve as they served. We need to overcome as they overcame."
I know that Satan is trying really hard to convince me not to go on a mission. But I also know that "no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing." No matter what happens, the gospel will always be heard. I know I'm going to serve a mission, and I'll probably be going out into the field in about a year. I know that it might be hard; I know that if, as missionaries, we are going to be representatives of Christ, we are going to experience a lot of what Christ experienced. But I know that it will also be worth it.
Helping the Sisternaries now (and not only from the YSA ward, but from the Reseda family ward as well), has been such a blessing. I have truly come to understand love better. I have grown to love those investigators. I have become more selfless in the process, and it truly does make me happy. Every time I help the Sisternaries teach a lesson, I cannot wait until the next lesson. I love it! I honestly feel like teaching lessons, and being a missionary, is something I was born to do. I know that the Lord put that in my patriarchal blessing for a reason!
No comments:
Post a Comment