who: my little sister Lindywhen: September 2010-March 2012
where: Montreal Canada
how: French-speaking
A few months ago Lindy "turned in her papers," which is colloquial for submitting an application to become a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Applicants must be members of the church of at least one year and passApplying includes multiple interviews with ecclesiastical leaders, medical exams, essays, as meeting strict moral standards in our church saying that she met all the requirements and would like the opportunity to spend 18 months devoting herself to teaching others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Lindy has no say in where her mission location will be. There is a missionary committee that prayerfully seeks answers to where each missionary should go. Lindy is going where God can best use her. (Incidentally, this is the first of a million times as a missionary that Lindy will say, "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord, I'll do what you want me to do.")
Lindy is an excellent French speaker and is very excited about her assignment.
Serving a mission is a BIG DEAL. It is not easy. Not only are you apart from your family, with minimal contact (2 phone calls a year), but you put your heart and soul into sharing and the gospel of Jesus Christ and most reject it (which feels like they are rejecting you.)
There is no obNo one pressured her to go. Lindy decided she wants to serve a mission. She is looking forward to this (relatively short) period of time when she can consecrate all her time to seeking God's will and serving others.
I was lucky enough to serve a mission (long ago haha) and in the words of Robert Frost, "I took the [road] less traveled by and (for me) that has made all the difference."
It is priceless to me. While it included some of the worst days of my life, it also included many of the best days of my life. My mission taught me, among other things, that Priesthood is the power of God on earth, and it is every bit as real as electricity, and much more powerful. It made it clear that Jesus Christ is aware of every little child, in every little village, in the far corners of the world. It made it clear that Jesus Christ is living and actively leading His work on earth.
I'm excited for Lindy and our family as we follow her adventures in Canada.
5 comments:
Glad I'm the first to chime in and say Congratulations Lindy and we are very proud of you. Canada is lucky to have you.
And of course, I'm excited for you to fall in love with Canada!
My mission in Mexico was a life changing experience, and I'm sure yours will be too. For me the chance to shut off the noise of the world for two years and focus entirely on serving and loving others--and very directly serving God--was amazing. And you'll come even closer to Christ as you teach of Him and serve like Him. Congratulations Lindy, you'll always look back and cherish your time in Canada.
Congrats to Lindy!
And you changed your blog! I felt like I was looking at somebody else's blog. WEIRD. But it's cute!
Awww sorry it felt like someone else's blog Stef. :( Still ours.
I REALLY like this blog design because the post titles are highlighted (helping to distinguish between one post and another.) Cool.
And I'm trying to find a new blog title. Any suggestions?
Yay for Lindy, and yay for Canada! I bet she's so excited to be speaking french!
Love the new layout... Congrats to your sister!
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