Here is a Sister Missionary Questionnaire I found via my girl JaLynn (link for her blog on the sidebar--she will be serving in new york come may!) So here's my stab at it!
Did the age change affect you? If yes, how long did it take you to decide to go?
Not really. I had been thinking about going since february 2012 when I was 20 and decided in about June that it was definitely something I wanted to do. At this point I could just barely submit my papers because I was halfway to 21. Once I had finally gotten on the horse it was October and I submitted my papers. Then, they announced the age change. At this point my faith in my decision was strengthened even more. And now I am stoked that there are so many girls serving and we are in such a cool time! This is the time for sister missionaries and it is amazing :)
Did you always want to serve a mission? Why/why not?
Never ever! My whole life i thought that only girls who couldn't get married went on missions. But then i took my ignorant head out of the couds haha and realized that only awesome girls serve missions! but seriously i had some amazing examples of sister missionaries that gave me incredible advice and got me to where i am today. which is 12 days from entering the mtc!
Where did you want to be called? Why?
I really and truly wanted to be called to australia! maybe because of the accent or maybe i just really like shrimp and kangaroos? haha no i just think it seems awesome! and i also really wanted to be called to somewhere in europe, like london, just because i like to say cheers ;)
Was your call surprising? How do you feel about it?
My call was shocking yet not shocking at the same time because once i read it I was like YES. that is it!! i had a really strong feeling id be going somewhere spanish speaking just because of all the years of highschool spanish i have had. however, i think every mission call is surprising because you could be going ANYWHERE. and now that everyone's telling me that blond hair blue eyed girls is the norm there, ill fit right in :) (minus the fact that i will have the biggest white girl spanish accent ever!) but hopefully that will fade, and i am incredibly excited!
Share an interesting missionary experience or story.
one time i was getting my car washed and at the end of the car wash you know how there's always a guy who hand dries your car with a towel? so i was sitting there waiting and the guy drying my car started talking to me, turns out we were the same age (20). and so we had a good convo and when i handed him his tip i also handed him a pass-a-long card! he was like "oh you forgot this" to which i replied, "oh no, that's for you. call the number on the back you wont be sorry!"
I never figured out if anything came from it, but who knows :)
Why are you serving?
I am serving because this gospel gives me more happiness, peace, clarity, and joy than anything else in the world! And mostly I just can't be selfish and keep it all to myself :) i have to share it! I want everyone to know about Jesus and Heavenly Father and feel of the incredible love he has for them. I want people to find that joy and know that they are a blessed daughter or son of Heavenly Father. And if I can bring a smile, a testimony, or a new beginning to just one person-it is worth it!
Any advice for future sisters or girls still deciding?
POWER OF PRAYER! The choice to serve a mission is completely 100% your own. If it feels like something you should do, well my feeling is, you didn't have that feeling for no reason at all. You should definitely pray about it. And once you do you may not have a firework answer, or a giant clarity of YES or NO. But, I am pretty confident that you will get the right idea :) For me, once I had prayed about it I had people coming out of the woodworks that i barely knew saying "hey have you ever thought about serving a mission?" or "gosh you'd be a great missionary." and this was BEFORE the age change so i knew it was no coincidence haha. and then to top it all of EVERY SINGLE lesson we had in relief society was on missionary work. At that point I was like okay okay ill do it! And I couldn't be happier about that decision :)
Although there are many many trials and hardships that come after you decide to serve a mission, and will try and keep you from serving, you have to remember why you are :) and just stay strong. you will not regret it.
Any other thoughts?
12 days. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! bring it on.
