Well the first item from my bucket list is now complete. "Serve an LDS mission." I guess I can also count this as number 2: "Introduce somebody to the gospel," number 11: "Change someone's life for the better," and number 86: "Smile at 100 people." These are all things that come with serving a mission. As far as the smiling goes. I met so many nice people in Texas! Granted, I met a lot of people who weren't that nice to us as well. But in general, people were very kind, and I appreciated that. So be kind to everyone! I recently returned from my mission to Dallas, Texas on October 30th. I spent two years there teaching people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was an amazing experience! It is going to be really hard to sum up two years worth of life changing experiences in a single post, but I will do my best to give you some brief highlights.
I went into the MTC (Missionary Training Center) on November 2nd, 2011. It was definitely a rude awakening to the missionary lifestyle. It seemed like we were moving all the time. It was a little overwhelming, and the first few days were definitely the worst. My companion at the time Elder Smith was great and with rest of our MTC group we managed to survive the three weeks of training where we learned the basics of teaching, scheduling, studying, and learning to spend 24/7 with a companion! To those preparing to serve a mission... The first two days feel like two years. You've been warned! But don't worry. It gets better!
On November 21st we hopped on a plane and flew to Texas. My Dad was even sneaky enough to make it to the airport to say goodbye. It was the last time I'd see any family for two whole years. My trainer was Elder Treasure. He was a great trainer! It was so different than the MTC, just being thrown into teaching situations that I didn't feel nearly prepared enough for. I caught on eventually, I have a lot of good friends to thank for that.
At this point, I could go into details of some miracles that I saw happen, some people that I met, and all kinds of different stories I could tell. But in an effort to keep this relatively brief and readable, I'm just going to make a list of some different things that happened and lessons that I learned. I'm just going with the shotgun principle on this. (That is, it's going to cover a lot, but not be very specific.)
-The first person I saw baptized happened on January 7th, 2012. It was awesome! He is a great missionary.
-I had 5 different areas. (Irving, Lufkin, Plano, McKinney, and Carrollton)
-I was in the surrounding suburbs for all but 3 months, and generally in fairly wealthy areas.
-I had 15 companions (counting my MTC companion, as well as two Elders I was in a tripanionship with for two weeks.)
-I learned to not take myself so seriously.
-I learned to love reading the scriptures! I learned so many useful things from them that not only helped me, but the people I taught as well!
-I also learned a lot of other things from the scriptures that aren't necessarily useful, but interesting nonetheless.
-I learned that I can survive off of cereal and PB&J indefinitely, and do it by choice not because I had to.
-I learned that people who take care of the missionaries receive blessings.
-I learned the value of studying.
-I gained a greater appreciation for my family and friends.
-I learned just how lucky I have been to grow up where I did.
-I learned to be a leader.
-I learned that people can change.
I learned a lot of things on my mission, about the church and about myself. Most importantly my testimony was strengthened. I know that Jesus Christ lives. He has called a prophet, just like in biblical times. He loves us. And his arms are open to anyone who will come.
