Before I start, let's get something straight... I am in no
way, shape, or form a full-time missionary. Not yet anyways. I am currently in
the process of studying and praying earnestly to find out which path Heavenly
Father would have me take. It has only been recently that I've had any
sort of desire to serve a mission. It wasn't even the change in missionary age
that caused the fire to kindle within me. In fact, I was only slightly
amused by the age change. I was only seventeen at the time of the
announcement in General Conference, so serving a mission wasn't at the
forefront of my brain anyways. Sure, I briefly thought about serving a mission,
but I figured if I was meant to give 18 months of my life to the
Lord, I would have known it in my heart a long time ago.
A couple of weeks ago, I had a major epiphany about the potential
of serving a mission. It happened on a fairly normal Friday morning. I was
contemplating whether or not I should go and listen to a presentation at the Institute.
The speaker was going to be talking about missionary work. I figured that since
I didn’t really have a desire to serve a mission, it wouldn’t be worth my time.
However, I decided that since I didn’t have any classes going on in that slot
of time, I would go anyways. Boy, am I glad that I did. The speaker, Brother
Lee Donaldson, the Manager of In-Field Proselyting, basically changed my entire
opinion on missionary work with what he spoke about. He didn’t say anything
special. He didn’t say anything mind blowing. He didn’t even say anything that
I didn’t already know. The difference was that the Spirit was working on me in
ways that I had never experienced before. Everything he said sounded new and
exciting, even though I had heard the messages a million times before. I
honestly felt like I could go on a mission right then and there if that’s what
Heavenly Father wanted.
Let’s just say I went a little nuts with the whole missionary
work thing after being impressed by the Spirit. I enrolled in a missionary prep
class, number four of my Institute classes. I bought every missionary handbook,
teaching pamphlet, and learning material that I could get my hands on. Believe
me, once that passion and yearning to serve the Lord set in, nobody could stop
me. I started reading my Book of Mormon
excessively, I pinned just about every Missionary pin I could find on
Pinterest, and I began writing more frequently in my journal. Things were, and
are, definitely looking up. I am still not positive if I will serve a mission,
I have a lot of time to ponder and pray about it. I do know, however, that I
will have plenty of opportunities to serve the Lord, regardless of whether it
is through full-time missionary service or not.
Since the school year has just begun, and I am in a Young
Single Adults ward, this means that callings are being administered to pretty
much every lucky soul in my ward. Myself included. I had absolutely no idea as
to what calling I would receive when I was summoned to the Bishop’s office
after at least a dozen other recipients. I was thinking something along the
lines of like bulletin board decorator, or official birthday card maker,
nothing too exciting. Needless to say, I walked into the Bishop’s office with
pretty low expectations. I sat down in the squishy cushioned seat across from
his desk, and waited for the Bishop to decide my fate for the next nine months.
The conversation went something like this:
Bishop Merrill said, “How are you doing Sister Wagstaff?”
I said, “I am doing great! I have been pretty much obsessed
with missionary work these past couple of weeks, so I’d say I’m doing really
good.”
“Really? That’s funny because I’m about to give you a
calling on the Ward Mission Council. It’s interesting how the Holy Ghost works
in us.”
Ummmm…… What? Was he being serious? I just got mentally
promoted from card maker to Ward Missionary. I was so unbelievably excited! I
don’t think the Bishop realized how big of a testimony builder this experience
was for me. Maybe Heavenly Father is preparing me to go on a full-time mission
by giving me this calling. Maybe I was given this calling to help me realize
that serving a mission isn’t right for me. Maybe this calling is my way of “serving
a mission.” Who knows? For now, I am going to take what I got, and run with it.
Words cannot express how grateful I am to be in this
position. The Spirit has influenced me in ways I never thought possible. I went
from being only marginally interested in missionary work, to basically bathing
in it in a very short amount of time. Only time will tell where I’ll end up in
a few months. That’s up to the Lord to decide, and for me to find out. Let the
journey begin!
