Called to Serve--Part 2

I received my call about 2 weeks ago, and oh my goodness it's all I can focus on! I've basically lost all motivation for anything besides my mission, which isn't so good cause I'm in school until mid-June. But ya know... whate'er. 

So I've been thinking a lot about my mission call. I'll be honest, I was completely shocked when I opened it. I thought I was going foreign and that I would be learning a new language.

Guess not!

But once I started researching my mission and reading my mission packet I became really excited about serving in New England! It's such a beautiful area and  I'm real excited about all the good seafood I'm gonna eat! 

Another bonus-- my older sister lives like an hour and a half from Manchester!

Aside from all that, there's a ton of work that needs to be done in New England. Vermont has one stake with about 5,000 members, Maine has 10,000 members and New Hampshire has 8,000. Yeah, I wish I was learning a new language, but all that time I would've spent studying Spanish or Chinese or whatever I can spend focusing on my investigators. 

Last night I was reading the Book of Mormon (best book ever!) and I came across a scripture that really spoke to me:

1 Nephi 2:19-20 "19 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Blessed art thou, [Melinda], because of they faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart. 20 And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands."

This scripture made me think a lot about my mission call and my decision to serve a mission. During the end of my junior year of high school I was really lost. I had no direction for my life whatsoever and I didn't have a strong testimony of the gospel. I'm a very independent person, so I tried to figure things out on my own, but I was so unhappy. I finally realized that I had to humble myself and ask Heavenly Father what to do.

The night before General Conference in October 2012 I prayed and told Heavenly Father that I needed help. I told Him that I would do whatever He needed me to do, but I needed Him to tell me.

The very next morning my family turned on Conference. And within about 15 minutes of Conference starting Pres. Monson got up and lowered the mission age from 19 to 18 for young men and 21 to 19 for young women. 

I knew right then and there that the answer to my prayers was to serve a mission. It felt so right! And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Heavenly Father had been preparing me for a mission my whole life. Heavenly Father definitely works in mysterious ways, but His plan is always good and right. He knows us and He knows what's best for us, because He is our Father.

Yeah, New Hampshire wasn't my number one choice for my mission. I'm pretty sure I didn't even think about being called there! But above all, it doesn't matter where we're called to serve. Because we are not just called to a place, we've been called to serve in place of the Savior.