I've Been Called To Brazil!

     On Friday, the day I had been waiting for finally came.  For weeks and weeks I have been waiting on my mission call, waiting to know where I would be going for 18 months.  The day had finally come!  I will be serving my mission in Sao Paulo Brazil, reporting to the Missionary Training Center on November 20th.  I am so excited!  I had never guessed Brazil, when I would imagine where I would go, but as I read, I knew that Brazil was the right place for me.  I knew that the Lord wanted and needed me in Brazil, that I could be the best instrument in His hands there.  I am feeling so blessed right now in my life.  I am so grateful for the opportunity that I’ll get to serve, the chance I’ll get to teach many people about the Book of Mormon and our Savior, Jesus Christ.  My dad served his mission in Brazil, and has already begun telling me about the country.  We’ve decided that when I get back home in the fall, he is going to start teaching me Portuguese, which I’m so excited to learn.  One of the things I’m looking forward to the most is meeting the people.  

     Some people may ask me why I am serving a mission.  In the Mormon church, it is expected for guys to go on a mission, but it is not something girls must do.  They can if they want, but it is not required of them.  So why should I go?  Why not stay in Provo, continue my education, and possibly get married sooner?  I want to serve a mission because I know what I will be teaching is true.  I know the blessings it will bring to the lives I teach it to.  My testimony of this gospel is so strong, that I can not imagine myself not being a missionary, not being in a role where I can share it with many people.  My mom is a convert to our church, and if it had not been for the missionaries, then she would have never become a member, never met my dad, and I would have never been born.  My mom is one of the strongest people I know.  The measure of her love for the gospel and her testimony is one I hope to someday be comparable to.  I look up to her example so much.  I have seen the blessings of the gospel in her life, and I want others to be able to have that same joy that I see in her because of it.  Ever since I was a little girl, I had wanted to go on a mission.  At a young age, I did not know why, I just knew I wanted to.  Yet, as I’ve grown older, I’ve been able to nail it down as to why.  I know the gospel is true.  I want others to know about their Savior and the very real love He has for them.  I want others to know of the joy I have in this gospel and to be able to be a part of it.  I want families to benefit from it, and know that they can be together, forever.  That -plus lots of other reasons, but it’s late and I’m sure I’ll list them later, in another post- is why I want to be a missionary.  That is why I want to leave my home for 18 months, go to a foreign land, speaking a foreign language, and preach the gospel.  Because I know it is true.