Yesterday I had a genius idea. It came about because Church ended up being a lot about missionaries. First, in Sacrament meeting, there was a recent return missionary from our Stake that spoke. He was called to serve in the Provo Utah Mission, and when they split the mission in two, he was assigned to the St George Mission part. Since that's where my little brother is serving, my thoughts obviously went to wondering if this guy had met my brother.
He must have been reading my mind because his next sentence after saying where he served was about how he was aware that there was a missionary serving in that mission from our ward, and that he in fact did know him, and assured us that he was doing very well. haha. So. Pretty awesome. It's nice to have little connections like that to my little brother. I miss that kid a lot.
My mom and I talked to this return missionary after the meeting and it turns out that they had gone on exchanges with one another, and that he had made sure it happened because he wanted the opportunity to meet Ian since they're from the same Stake. So it was neat to find out that he had actually spent a whole day with my little brother and saw him in his full missionary glory. haha.
The Relief Society lesson was also about missionary work. The lesson was taught by my mom's best friend, who is an amazing teacher and I really appreciate her lessons. It was an interesting take on the lesson too. Our ward has a bunch of return Sister missionaries, and she took advantage of that and asked a couple of them to talk about their experiences leading up to going and how they decided to continue being missionaries once they got home. I'm really proud of myself for serving my mission. It really was a defining event in my life that helped me shape who I am going to be for the rest of my life. I love the perspective it gave me, and the understanding of how simple it really can be to be a member missionary. I learned how to teach the gospel simply, and that's a skill that will sustain me for the rest of my life. So I guess while some people dread lessons on missionary work, for me, it kind of makes me sit up straighter and remember that there's always something I can do.
So with all these thoughts running through my head about missionaries and my own mission, I started thinking about what ever happened to all those emails that I had sent home every P-Day. Well, mom and dad kept them on the family computer, so I had full access to them, which was exciting to me. Every time my little brother sends home an email, I post it on a blog I created for him and post it to his Facebook page so his friends can catch up on his weekly happenings. I decided that I wanted something like that for myself. Not so much to share with friends, because those events have come and gone, but more for myself because I wanted to have that record of my mission from the perspective I gave to my loved ones. Since I'm a chronic detail writer, my weekly emails turned out to be pretty long and full of lots of details. I figured if I put it on a blog, I would always have that record that wouldn't ever have to be packed up in a box of books and moved somewhere. This option gave all my letters a more permanent and completely accessible home.
That was my Sunday project. I spent all afternoon copying and pasting my emails onto this new blog. My next step is to read through them all and attach the associated pictures from that week onto that weeks post, so it'll be a full visual recount of my mission.
I'm pretty dang proud of it already, and I'm really excited to go through all my mission pictures again. Like I said, my mission was a hugely defining event in my life, so revisiting it is a privilege. I'm still in awe that I even made it through.
My mom asked me yesterday where I think my life would have gone if I hadn't have served my mission. Quite frankly, that thought scares me. I know I wouldn't have been near as spiritually prepared for life, and I'd have missed out on experiences that helped me gain confidence in what I know to be true. Not only that, but I definitely would have never been blessed to have meet Ray and have him in my life. So my response to my mom's question was repeating what Elder Jeffrey R Holland says about his mission.
Everything good in my life has come as a direct result of my serving a mission.
I really believe that. I am where I am because of my mission, and I wouldn't have been able to get here any other way.
So here's the link to all my missionary emails. I'm really excited about this...
http://sisterdyeralrm.blogspot.com
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