2000-2010: A Decade in Review #20

When: Late September, 2004
Where: Kansas City, MO

Before I opened my mission call I went around the room and had everyone give one final guess where they thought I would go. My guess was Spain. I asked them that no matter where it was, would they please pretend to be excited for me?

I opened the letter and read the words one line at a time. When it announced the call, the first words I read were, "Ohio Cleveland Mission" and my initial thought was "oh man!" Then I kept reading and saw that I would also be serving at the Kirtland Historical Sites, and then I got excited. I started reading anything I could get my hands on about the important time period in church history when the Saints lived in Kirtland and surrounding areas.

Not long after I received the call, I was reading my scriptures. I was in 2 Nephi and read the following verse (2 Nephi 4: 35):
"Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen."

As I read that verse, my bosom burned and my body tingled and it was the confirmation that I needed that serving a mission was the right thing to do, and that I was going to the right place. The words of that verse perfectly reflected how I felt at the time. I was so grateful for the blessings He had given me and I wanted to lift my voice in gratitude to Him.