Mission, YO!

So we are in the single digits people. 99 days until I leave for Brazil. This makes me equally excited and freaked out. I'd like to share how I knew I was supposed to go on a mission. The decision to go on a mission wasn't a super simple one like it was for some girls. Some girls watched conference and knew right away they were supposed to go. Or there were girls who had wanted to serve their whole lives so the announcement was perfect.  I was never turned off to the idea of going, but I never was like, yes I am going once I'm 21. My opinion was when I get to 21 and if I'm not married, I'll make that decision. Let's be honest though, I was kind of hoping I'd be married by then. Mormon girl problems, seriously. When the announcement happened, this is what went through my head : HOLY COW THIS DECISION I WASN'T PLANNING ON MAKING FOR ANOTHER TWO YEARS IS HERE. So I watched conference, then watched President Monson's address again later that night and prayed to know whether or not I should go. The Spirit works in many different ways. It isn't always some huge manifestation or super grand experience. Sometimes it is just the feeling of peace, or that makes sense. That's what I had. After watching it again, I thought, why not? That makes sense. What greater thing could you do than go on a mission? Not only would I be serving the Lord and others, but I was excited for the growth and desire to always do good that comes with a mission. However, I regret to say that within the week, I talked myself out of it. My thoughts were: oh my gosh that is so scary, you are halfway through school and you have a full ride scholarship, a mission is so hard, your family won't be a huge fan of that, I think I will choke when teaching people and just be awkward., I don't want to be doing this because everyone else is, is it more me just wanting to go then an actual answer, I want to do study abroad in England. So I regret to say that as the week passed, I talked myself out of it. DON'T DO THAT! Seriously, don't ignore a prompting when you know you've had it! Remember what you felt. So a month went by, and suddenly I started thinking about going again. This time it didn't seem so scary and I could see myself going. I wanted to go! I was still really keen on going for the right reasons and being 100% sure that it was I was supposed to do. After praying, fasting, and reading my patriarchal blessing, I just knew. I also knew that I knew it all along. That was the first week of December. I do want to add though, that the day after I made my decision and I felt so good about it, I started freaking out again. All these silly little worries started flooding in for the next week, but I absolutely knew I was supposed to go. There was no denying it! I think that Satan tries really hard to work on you and have you do contrary to what the Lord wants. I think that it's one of the times where I actually felt Satan working on me. I am going to link a talk by Elder Holland that I didn't read until after this whole debacle,but it was perfect for the situation and brought me a lot of peace to the way I felt. The rest is history I guess. I am going to Brazil in 99 days! I am so so so so so pumped. It can still be overwhelming because this is what goes through my head everyday: finish your semester strong, be preparing, prepare for the temple, buy cute mission clothes( which by the way is the worst), visa stuff, passport stuff, get your shots, etc. I am just excited to be out there. I just want to go go go! We live in an exciting era, the work is moving forward at such a quick pace, and I am excited that I will get to be a part of that.
http://www.lds.org/new-era/2004/08/remember-how-you-felt?lang=eng