Even though there is still a month until I become a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I thought I would begin my mission blog now. I want to talk about what I will be doing, why I'm doing it, and how I'm preparing to teach the Gospel to the people in Bakersfield, California.
Let me address the basic questions. What will I be doing? My purpose as a missionary is to invite all to come unto Christ. Through my life, I have felt His love for me. My faith in Him as helped me through challenges and difficulties that I have. I'm so grateful for this knowledge; I want to share it with others. Christ died for each of us so we may be free from our sins. He went through and felt the pain we feel during each of our trials. We are not alone when hard things happen to us. I want to share this message with others.
Another thing missionaries do is help people, which I want to do. There is a great devotional/talk/speech that Elder Russell M. Nelson of the quorum of the twelve apostles gave in October 2012. It talks about how missionaries can help everyone. I encourage you to watch it! Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L__HFy7vYh0. It's a fantastic video and really describes what Mormon missionaries are all about.
Why do I want to go on a mission? Besides teaching others about Christ, I want to serve God. When given the opportunity to serve a mission when I turned 19, I prayed to God to know if I should. I pondered the question in my mind, made a list of the reasons why I should and shouldn't go, and then decided that there weren't many reasons why I shouldn't serve an 18 month mission. But I wanted to know if that was God's plan for me. I prayed to Him, asking the question whether I should serve a mission. One day, I was reading the scriptures, and I let them fall randomly open. It opened to Doctrine and Covenants, section 4, which reads "...O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength... Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work." The decision to serve a mission for our Lord has always felt right to me. I made sure that through the entire application process that I was doing the right thing by asking God. Each time I asked, I felt at peace. So I continued to move forward. Here I am now, exactly one month before I become a full time missionary, and I still feel that peace today. I know I am doing the right thing.
From now on, each week I will post things about what I am doing to prepare for my 18 month mission. I hope you enjoy following my travels and do everything you can to help the Mormon missionaries in your area. Invite them into your homes. All they will do is be of good to you. They just want to show you how Christ can help you in your life.
One month left. 31 days. The adventure begins now!
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