Mission Papers Submitted, School Over, Back in Missouri

So... I've been so busy I just feel dazed. The last week of school I did my finals, went to the dentist, got a physical, got sized for suits for my mission, spent a couple days in Southern Utah at the San Rafael Swell, and drove from Logan all the way back to Missouri. In one week! Of course, the most exciting thing of all this is that I officially submitted my mission papers. They were submitted to SLC from my Stake President on Friday, the 7th. It was so nerve-racking when I finally hit that "submit" button at the bottom of the online missionary application... I knew I'd finally know where I was going so soon after that! And, it's true. My bishop texted me today and told me my call has been mailed, just a week later. I can't believe it! I can't believe I'm going to know where I'm going to spend the next two years so soon, because it feels like I have been waiting for and thinking about it for so long. I've been considering a mission since I joined the Church at the beginning of 2010, and now it is so close to actually happening. I have been praying fervently that I will be sent to the place where I will do the most good, where the Lord wants me to be sent. So, now I just have to accept that call and promise to do the best that I can for those people, wherever that will be. I cannot wait to make a difference in people's lives. I cannot wait to share with others what has become one of the greatest joys in my life. All over the world, this Church is misrepresented as something that it is not. I know that it is the Truth, and I cannot wait to show others what I know. It will be a great sacrifice, but I know it will be worth it, even if I help just one person to find the truth.

So, now school is over and I had to leave beautiful Cache Valley. I will miss it. I've already posted about how highly I think of that place, and the wonderful people there. It was nice to be around so many good, happy people. It is a blessed place. But now I'm back to my parents house for the summer, or until I leave for my mission. My family is having problems with the current church they are/were attending, and are now trying to find a new church. As my mom said to me the other day, she's been there four years or so, and that means it's about time to find a new church. Why does it have to be that way? How can I express to her that Christ has re-established a church that is not controlled by the wills of men, but by He Himself? She does not have to run from church to church, searching for something that will fit what she thinks a church should. There exists a church out there that is concerned with what is true, and not what is trendy. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one does not skip from ward to ward because one dislikes what a ward is doing or teaching. There is unity, and that unity exists because every ward is under the leadership of one Being, and that is Jesus Christ. I am sorry that she continues to reject such good news.

But anyway, those are just a couple of things I've been thinking a lot about in the few days I've been home. Very soon, I'll post where I'm going for my mission! Cheers.