Yesterday, while preparing for a YW activity, I spent a couple of hours looking through my old photos. A few from my baby years, several from high school, even more from college, and HUNDREDS from my mission. (Maybe not quite hundreds, but who's counting?) I suppose this was perfect timing, as today marks a dozen years since I entered the MTC.
Having somewhat recently returned from an amazing trip to the Baltic states, where I lived and served for 18 months, this day is quite poignant for me. I spent time there with some of the members, (Chans, Vera Koemets, and Jelena Kalnina), I walked those city streets again, I smelled the same smells, I saw the same buildings (and a LOT of new ones), and I relived a million memories.
As I look back on the past 12 years, I've started to undestand how much that experience shaped me. I think no matter where I had gone in the world, those 18 months still would have refined me like nothing else can. Not high school. Not college. Not marriage. Not raising children. Don't get me wrong--all of those things have shaped me. But nothing can compare to the experience of a mission.
I learned how to really feel and listen to the spirit for myself. And, as I've described previously, I knew when my companion and I were both in tune with that voice. I learned how to deal with my doubts and fears. We all have them. I don't think anyone can get through a mission without encountering some kind of opposition--and you have to figure out how to move through it. I learned how to better work with all kinds of people: companions, church members, investigators, bobs on the street, teenage girls on the bus, strangers who needed a smile. But more than anything, I learned a lot more about my Savior Jesus Christ, whose name I wore for the world to see for a year and a half. I came to understand that I was truly doing His work. I was sharing His love and His light with people He loves.
I am so grateful that's the path I felt directed to take in my life. It has shaped who I am and where I am now. And though there were days, weeks, and months that were incredibly hard, I'd do it all over again in a heart beat. Because it was all completely worth it.
Isaac’s first football game of the year.
1 year ago
2 comments:
Awesome!
Amen sister! It is something that can't be understood by anyone who hasn't been there. I remember when I got back I was talking with a friend that chose not to go. I was telling her of some of the things I had learned. She instantly replied to each of my comments with the retort, "yeah, me too!" I don't want to demean what what had gone through and what she had learned but you can't gain the blessings of serving a mission without serving one. I am sure that she learned a lot and I am sure that she had many blessings. A mission isn't right for everyone but I am SO THANKFUL that it was right for me! :)
Post a Comment