Friday, July 12, 2013

The Announcement that Changed My Life

My Initial response to President Monson's Announcement in the October 2012 General Conference .
(re-posted from my previous Blog)

Sunday, October 7, 2012

My mind is Blown! This weekend has been crazy. My Aunt Jen came in town and so I decided to spend General Conference weekend at my grandparents house. I was enjoying listening to the beginning of the Saturday morning session when the prophet came on and made this announcement.



Yep thats right Men can start serving at 18, and Women can now serve a mission at 19 instead of waiting till 21!! (For those of you that don't know Young Men and Young Women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spend 1 1/2 to 2 years serving the Lord and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.) When I first heard this announcement that Men could go after graduating High School I was so excited thinking about my 3 younger brothers and what a blessing it would be for them and my family. But then as President Monson continued and started talking about Sister missionaries I couldn't believe my ears. 19!! Women can leave on a mission at 19!!

This was basically my reaction.

I couldn't believe it. I started getting all emotional and teary eyed thinking about all the women my age and the kind of impact that we could have on the world. I got on facebook and started crying as I read about how all my friends were excited about this announcement and I started thinking about how this would change the lives of the members in my generation.

I got on facebook this morning and some of my friends have announced that they are starting their papers, and that they plan on leaving in a couple of months. Every single one of my close guy friends have mentioned that they are now considering to leave after this semester. Even some of my girl friends have decided that they are going to leave with in the next year!


Seriously, I feel like everybody has decided to leave. Which leads me to the question, maybe I should go too.

I've never seriously thought about serving a mission. My attitude like many others has always been "Well if I'm not married or in a serious relationship then maybe I'll consider going/" I definitely have always put that thought on the back burner. But after the announcement made yesterday I have got a lot of praying and thinking to do. I turn 19 in January, which means that If I choose to I could leave this winter. But is that the right thing for ME to do? Should I wait a couple of months and go after next semester? Should I spend the summer working and leave this fall? OR am I not suppose to go on a mission at all?

Could this really be me?

Obviously this was the ONLY thing on my mind yesterday. All I could think about was the idea of going. How will I pay for a mission? How will this affect my education? Where would I be spent? Am I going to have to learn another language? Will my brother and I be going the same time? Would I get along with my companions? Will I have enough courage to share the gospel? What if all my friends choose to leave and I'm left with no one? What do I want I want to do with my life? What do I want out of life? More importantly what does God wan me to do?

My mind was spinning and I became so overwhelmed, I felt like everyone had made this life changing decision with in a few hours! And I was still confused. But after talking to my wise parents I realized that this was a big decision and that I didn't need to decide right away.

So will I be serving a mission? I have no idea! But for now I'm going to continue living my life and who know maybe one day you'll have a Sister Roberts knocking on your door.
          ~Mallory :)






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