I served a full-time mission from 1998-2000. It was a wonderful 18 months of my life. Some days it seems so long ago, and other days, I wish I was back there with nothing to worry about except whether or not I was doing what the Lord wanted, good enough to please Him. For anyone that does not understand why Mormons go on missions, it’s hard to explain. But, I can try and explain why I did. In fact, I’m speaking to the Young Women tonight at church regarding this very topic.
In our church, mormon missionaries are not paid. We do not get to speak on the phone to our families for 18 months or 2 years with the exception of Mother’s Day and Christmas. You can write letters. You don’t watch TV, listen to music, or even listen to the radio. Your entire day is taken up by going out and talking to complete strangers about something many of them don’t want to talk about. Religion. Yet, thousands of young men and women keep choosing to do this. Oh, and did I mention, the missionary has to pay for their own mission?
So, why did I choose to do this? Especially at a time in my life when I could be living it up! I was 21 years old. When you are 21, you have so many choices. Yet, serve the Lord? Dedicate your life to Him? Believe it or not, youth are still making this choice every single day.
A big influence on me as a child was that my Dad was fluent in Spanish because of serving his own mission in Chile at the age of 19. I wanted to learn another language. I thought that was so cool. But, you can go study abroad to learn another language. So, at some point, you have to want to go for more than something that simple.
When I was 20, I was living on my own, making my own choices, and sometimes, not very good ones. It was always in the back of my mind that when I turned 21 I could go on a mission if I wanted. But, I wasn’t required by anyone to do so. When the time got closer, I realized I wanted to do that more than anything. My biggest hesitation? Wearing a dress for 18 months.
But, I felt from a very young age that I wanted to do this. I wanted to give back to a Heavenly Father who I loved, and who had blessed my life greatly. I felt that what I believed was true, and that others needed to feel the same peace and happiness in their lives. In some ways, I felt it was my responsibility to do so. It was the fastest 18 months of my life, but I came home from that experience a different person.
With no outside, wordly infulences, I spent everyday speaking of God, and happiness, and reading scriptures. I listened only to church music, prayed at least 20 times a day, and never took time for myself. I dedicated that time to Him and nothing else. It is a rare opportunity. My experiences as a missionary forever changed me, and only solidified in my mind what I already felt to be true.
I love my job now. I’m a Mom to two, almost three, beautiful children. But, the job requires a lot of self-sacrifice and heartache, and work. And, again, I don’t get a lot of time for myself. But, I hope I can look back on my job as a mother with the same fondness I have for my time as a missionary. I hope I can say that it was the most rewarding, and it changed me and made me a better person than I was before.