What I Needed First

   

     If you have known me well for a while, you know that I said, "I'm never gonna go on a mission." Well, I obviously was wrong. I am going on to the Argentina, Buenos Aires East mission on December 30, 2015! I am a mix of emotions from excited to nervous to sad and everything in between. When I made the decision to go, about a month and a half ago, I immediately got started on my papers. I knew that once I had my answer I needed to act fast.
     Since that decision was made, I've thought, why now? Why couldn't I have gone when all my friends went? Why couldn't I have served before I was "old"? I was talking to my cousin Mary about that and she said, "Well, why are you ready now?" That got me thinking and I realized that I wasn't ready to serve 2 years ago. I needed these last 2 years. I needed to learn so many things and have a lot of experiences before I could go and serve.
     First off, I needed to be fully recovered from knee surgery. If I had gone at 19, I would have been sore a lot from walking and riding a bike and I would have been nervous to do a lot of things. I don't have that limitation any more.
     I needed to live in Alaska. I needed to live away from my home and what was my comfort zone. I needed to learn how to improve relationships with people I didn't know super well. I needed to have time with my grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles. Also, during my summer in Alaska, my testimony about the Prophet grew so much and found a deep root within me. I will need that testimony forever. Because I got that testimony, I'll be a better missionary.

     I needed to watch Olivia go to Peru and realize that I could be an individual. I grew a lot as my own person without her. I'm not saying we're better when we're apart, because that's not true. We improve while we're apart, but we're pretty dang good together. I also needed to live with Olivia in a college setting and get out of the "little sister" stage.

     I needed my roommates. Roommates are a good way to learn how to live with a companion I suppose. I have been blessed with some AWESOME roommates! When I had my interview with the Stake President he asked me how my experience with getting along with roommates has been and I could honestly say it has been fantastic!

     I needed to learn how I receive answers from the Lord. I had some experiences where I had to pray fervently and learn to listen. Without this practice, I may have missed the answer to my prayer to serve a mission.
     I needed another summer living with my parents. I got in a lot of family time and strengthened a lot of my siblingships this summer. We had so much fun with family reunions and half marathons and rafting the river and just spending time together as family.

     I needed to work at Weed and Pest because I needed to learn to go to bed on time. Another wonderful things about Weed and Pest was working with Coach Linford. He's been such a help and example for me. I'm kicking myself now that I didn't ask for Spanish lessons every day! But we had a lot of Gospel lessons. We hit on a lot of topics of the Gospel and he really helped my testimony grow. I didn't really expect my testimony to grow riding in a ranger behind Raymond  Mountain in the cold mornings while trying to get control of the never ending thistle, but as we shared our testimonies with each other, my testimony grew so much.
     Finally, I needed to feel like it was my decision. There was a lot of pressure for me to serve as a 19 year old and I didn't go just because "everyone else was doing it."
     I feel like I've grown closer to the Lord and experienced these things so that I could be more prepared to go to Argentina and serve how the Lord needs me to. I know these experiences will be for my benefit as I serve. I made this decision with the Lord and I know it's what I'm supposed to do.

   Argentina--here I come!!