Why Serve a Mission?
Serving a mission is something I've wanted to do since I was fifteen. I decided that no matter what, I was going to be a missionary, and that I would do great things. I want to bless the lives of others.
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What's a Missionary?
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Japan?
I love this question. Mostly because it's so exciting to tell:
Growing up, I learned about Japan, and it seems for as long as I can remember, I have loved Japan, and have so wished to go there. I told myself that one day, I would visit Japan, and become an English teacher there in Japan.
Years passed, and I gave up Japan. Told myself it was impractical, and too expensive, and that I should focus on becoming something else I would enjoy.
When I began the paperwork for my mission, I began to dream about where I'd be sent. There are so many different places all over the world I might go, or even so many within the United States where I may be called to serve. It was at this time that I came to myself, and decided, "No matter where I'm sent, I know it will be the right place. The Lord knows that there is someone there that only I can help." That is what I began to tell people when they asked, "Where do you want to go?"
After all, the Lord would never send me to Japan. I loved it too much.
One sister in my ward was certain, however, that I would go to Japan. Whenever I spoke about my mission plans, she would tell me that the Lord would send me to Japan. In my heart, I thought there was not a way I could be sent there--I would love it too much! And each time she said it, I dismissed it.
What to my amazement, but to her own confirmation, when I opened my mission call in front of my family, and began reading-- "Dear Sister Blake,"
That was when my eyes couldn't wait any longer to see it--where was I going? My eyes saw the word--Japan. I gasped, but went back to read the rest aloud, excitedly, and overwhelmed.
In the short time I've had since then to contemplate why God would send me there, I've begun to see that God did not send me to Japan because I would have chosen it, but He has prepared me with everything that He's given me, so that I would be ready for this mission. God knows everything from the end to the beginning. He knew that I would serve in Japan for forever, and that is amazing to me.
Growing up, I learned about Japan, and it seems for as long as I can remember, I have loved Japan, and have so wished to go there. I told myself that one day, I would visit Japan, and become an English teacher there in Japan.
Years passed, and I gave up Japan. Told myself it was impractical, and too expensive, and that I should focus on becoming something else I would enjoy.
When I began the paperwork for my mission, I began to dream about where I'd be sent. There are so many different places all over the world I might go, or even so many within the United States where I may be called to serve. It was at this time that I came to myself, and decided, "No matter where I'm sent, I know it will be the right place. The Lord knows that there is someone there that only I can help." That is what I began to tell people when they asked, "Where do you want to go?"
After all, the Lord would never send me to Japan. I loved it too much.
One sister in my ward was certain, however, that I would go to Japan. Whenever I spoke about my mission plans, she would tell me that the Lord would send me to Japan. In my heart, I thought there was not a way I could be sent there--I would love it too much! And each time she said it, I dismissed it.
What to my amazement, but to her own confirmation, when I opened my mission call in front of my family, and began reading-- "Dear Sister Blake,"
That was when my eyes couldn't wait any longer to see it--where was I going? My eyes saw the word--Japan. I gasped, but went back to read the rest aloud, excitedly, and overwhelmed.
In the short time I've had since then to contemplate why God would send me there, I've begun to see that God did not send me to Japan because I would have chosen it, but He has prepared me with everything that He's given me, so that I would be ready for this mission. God knows everything from the end to the beginning. He knew that I would serve in Japan for forever, and that is amazing to me.