Unfading Memories: the Mission

So at work i file paperwork. from 3 30 in the afternoon to midnight, monday through friday. pretty boring, but a job none the less. well we get to listen to music which is really nice. im sure ive listened to almost all of the music on my Zune. I also listen to the Book of Mormon for the first two hours of each work day. Its real nice. And sometimes, I will listen to movies, or The Office episodes while i work. well today, i decided to listen to a movie i didnt realize was on my zune, it was the church movie, "the best two years" ( about missionaries, ect) So i gave it a listen, and even though it was fictional, and this sounds silly, but it flooded my mind with numberless memories from my mission. The good times, the bad times, the busy times, the slow times, the happy, the sad, and overall the reason why i went.

Listening to this movie helped me to once again take a step back and truly be grateful for my opportunity i had to serve the Lord for two years. Missionaries has been a theme lately, my friend lucy tingey just entered the mtc and heads to Japan soon. My friend, Geoff Grover, just got home from Norway, and his brother Jason got his call to Lithuania, and another friend, Ashton just recieved his call the other day to Honduras. Hearing about all this missionary stuff has really made me miss my mission. I loved it all. My mission taught me more things about myself than i could have ever imagined. I know for a fact that i would be lost in this world if i didnt serve. and not just serve, but serve where i did. Northern California was the exact place i was suppose to be. I witnessed miracles, I witnessed happiness, and i experienced some of the most joyful and sorrowful times of my life thus far while serving there.

Why did i go on a mission? Ultimately and originally it was because it was the right thing. It never really seemed like it was a choice or not, it was just something we do. Growing up, i did struggle internally, thinking if i would really go. And i did. At first i felt that it was a way for me to thank Heavenly Father for my blessings, to pay him back in one way or the other, but as I served and as i reflect on it today i realize that what i thought was a chance for me to help Him, was really a chance for Him to help me. My mission has molded me into someone who cares for life, who wants to do right, who wants to succeed. My mission means everything to me. I know i would be lost with out it. No question, no doubt, my mission changed my life, and will always be the best two years of my life.