The Big Announcement

For those of you who don't know.. my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, made some big changes in their missionary program on October 6th. Here is a video of it; it's really short.

In this video, our church President, Thomas S. Monson, announces that young men can now serve a mission at 18 (down from 19), and young women at 19 (down from 21). (They will still serve for the same amount of time-- 2 years for men, and 18 months for women.) This inspired change will dramatically increase the number of missionaries across the world, and will allow the gospel of Jesus Christ to spread to even more places!

Now... how does this affect me??

Growing up, I have never considered serving a mission. It wasn't until I first came to BYU, that I even thought about it. I remember thinking about how cool it would be to teach the gospel to those who have never had the opportunity to hear it, but at the same time... I didn't want to wait until I was 21. It seemed so far away. Recently, I had even talked with my roommates about serving a mission and said that if the age was lower, I would definitely go. But, we had no idea that President Monson would make this announcement!

To say I was excited, would be an understatement. As soon as I heard the words come out of his mouth, I knew that I wanted to go. Over the next couple days, I talked to my family about it and they were all supportive of whatever choice I made, but I needed to make sure that it was what God wanted me to do. I have made it a matter of prayer the past couple weeks, and I have continually been filled with peace and joy with this decision. I know that I'm supposed to serve a mission :)

I plan on starting my papers when I come home for Christmas. My availability date will be in May, so I will hopefully leave sometime this Summer! I can't wait to go out and serve the Lord for 18 months. I am really nervous, and have a lot of studying and preparing to do, but I am mostly just really, really excited. :)

I love this quote from Jeffrey R. Holland - "This announcement isn't about you. It's about the sweet and pure message you are being asked to bear and the ever greater numbers God needs to bear it."

I am so blessed to be apart of this generation-- to go forth and bear witness that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I know the truth, and I can't wait to share it with others.