Tuesday, October 21, 2014

the whys

"Why do you want to serve a mission?"

"I don't know. I want to share the gospel." That's roughly the response I have given on multiple occasions to those who ask why I want to serve a mission. This question always throws me for a bit of a loop. Though this answer is true, it's does not suffice, so I'd like to expand on it. After having to answer this multiple times I began thinking of reasons why I am choosing to serve a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Why would I choose to leave my home, family, friends, phone, computer, social media, musical instruments and music in general, many favorite articles of clothing, and many other things behind? Why would I want to take two years off school while others my age continue to further their education? Why would I want to wake up at 6:30am everyday?
Let me address that last question first: I DON'T want to wake up at 6:30am everyday, nope, nope, nope. But I AM willing to sacrifice a little to gain a lot.
I want to serve a mission because how can I live my life knowing the answers to some of the biggest questions of the world--where did I come from? why am I here? where am I going?--how can I keep this knowledge to myself when millions of people are searching for the answers? I know where I came from, I know I have a purpose for which I am on earth (I may still be searching for said purpose), and I know this life is not the end--I know where I'm going and what I need to do to get there. Keeping the answers of these popular questions to myself would be one of the most selfish things I can think of. 
I want to serve a mission to serve The Lord. With everything I have been blessed with because of Him, there is no better way I can think of than to completely dedicate 18 months of my life to His work.
I want to serve a mission to forget myself and learn to love as Jesus Christ loves. Serving a mission is centered around teaching and serving others. You love those you serve. I want to develop a more Christ-like love for everyone I come in contact with.
I want to serve a mission because nothing has/will ever give me a greater peace and joy as does following the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So many people nowadays consider following commandments or rules to be a restriction of freedom and choice. They could not be further from the truth. Since the beginning of time, God has given His children commandments. He gives us commandments to test our faith and love for Him, as well as pour out blessings upon us. I have witnessed the heartache and sorrow that comes with disregarding God's commandments, and I have personally experienced the inner peace and joy that comes with following them. 10/10 times, I'd choose the latter. Life's not easy. Nobody's perfect. Temptations come. Satan is real, but Heavenly Father is real too. If you have a true desire to do what is right and ask God to help you with your struggles, He will enable you to have a life you never thought you could--to mend the deepest of wounds.

 So, if you have ever asked me why I want to serve a mission, I most likely stumbled on my words and gave you a lame one-liner. I hope these reasons above are good enough. But if they're NOT, oh well..."if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work" (D&C 4:3

If you made it all the way through this post, you deserve a cookie, because I am probably the last person who should ever write a blog.