Waiting for Answers

I have had a huge recent encounter with faith. My whole life I was asked more times than I can count, “Are you going on a mission”? I never really knew the answer myself so the simplest answer I could give people was, “I’m not planning on it, but I wouldn’t be against it”. The truth is, I was waiting for a huge sign, or an overwhelming feeling of “this is so right”. Silly me. I should have known from personal experience and examples in the scriptures that asking for a sign is no good, and that’s not how my Heavenly Father communicates to me personally. I wanted so badly for my Heavenly Father to just tell me exactly what to do and when to do it so that I would not have to battle with this idea of a mission.


I know with all my heart that the Church is true, but I was not certain of the fact that a mission was the right choice for me. I began to pray and pray and pray. I was wanting so badly for the Lord to give me a glowing path of what I should do exactly, but I found myself constantly receiving neutral answers. At this point I was just frustrated with my Father in Heaven, because I knew he was there and he was listening to me and my prayers, but I got an answer that was different from what I was expecting. It wasn’t until I was visiting teaching that I understood the prompting I was being given. The woman I visit teach and I had a discussion that sometimes God gives you the opportunity to choose your way, and action is what is really beneficial. It was doing nothing for me to be idle, because my Father in Heaven was letting me use my agency to choose between two right choices that would both improve my life tremendously.


This is when I began to experiment with my faith. I decided, there is no harm in starting my mission papers, and if sometime down the line I didn't feel as though it was the right decision for me, then I could change my mind. There’s no way they could force me to go on a mission, so there was no harm no foul.


As I visited California for the holidays, I asked to set up an appointment with my bishop to begin my papers. At this point I was nervous. Without a doubt, I was nervous. This was really happening and I was still waiting for that overwhelming feeling that “YES! THIS IS SO RIGHT!” But I got nerves instead. I wasn’t until I was scheduling my appointments that I believed I got my answer. I asked my doctor for an appointment, and of course there isn’t going to be a single opening during the busy holidays when everyone is trying to book appointments before end of the year. This was my answer. It wasn’t meant to be. I was feeling a little doubt. It wasn’t until five days before I was headed home that I got the glorious news that a slot opened up at the same time that I was free of family obligations. A miracle, a sign, a coincidence. Whatever you want to call it, but I saw it as a long needed answer. This is the knowledge and comfort I needed to know that “Yes, this is so right.”


I was able to finish my papers and have them sent out in two short weeks. At this point, my faith was nourishing and growing tremendously. I felt so much gratitude towards my Savior for the answer he provided me with.

Now that I have officially received my call to serve for 18 months in the Charlotte North Carolina Mission, I know for a fact that this is what I am suppose to be doing and where I should be headed. I am so grateful for this knowledge I have. I know faith is a beautiful cycle that we should be continuing to nourish so that our faith can grow stronger and more steadfast. I am so beyond excited to serve the people of North Carolina as of May 11th of this year.