Why Serve a mission?

When I was 15 years old I listened to the mother of a close friend talk about serving a mission. For the first time I remember really wanting to serve a mission when I turned 21. I just had to hear hundreds of missionaries sing "Called to Serve" in the MTC! Time went on, and I prepared for the different eventualities of life. When the age sister missionaries could serve dropped to 19, I was super stoked! I was 19, almost 20! I could go early! Well, it turned out that wasn't the time for me. November of 2013, I felt strongly like I should reconsider the mission idea. I did, and the pieces of the puzzle fell into place :) This is all really nice, but it's not really the WHY, it's more of the HOW.

So WHY am I choosing to dedicate 18 months of my life away from my family, friends, school, and a closet full of clothes to talk to people in Missouri? Well, 33 years ago, 2 male missionaries started talking to my dear sweet Momma. The message they shared with her changed the course of her existence, and our family. I'm so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and the knowledge I have of who He is, and what His plan for His children is. I can't help feeling like if I choose not to share this message with others that I'll be ungrateful for the amazing gift that I've been given. I've also been blessed with some talents that I'd like to give back to the Lord. As much as I love my family and the other things listed above, I love my Heavenly Father and Savior more. They have called, so I'm answering.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

August 31, 2015 crazy trainer

Hello Everyone!

I hope you've had a good week. We've had yet another week of miracles and learning! I never cease to be amazed with how gracious God is in answering our prayers in such unexpected ways! He's awesome!

So the funniest moment of the week would have to be on Wednesday. We decided to try and catch a bus we've never caught before. Well, we had to walk about a mile to get to the bus, and we only had about 10 minutes.... We decided to try anyways. We were speed walking up and down these hills, and Sister Bishop was like, "Sister Edgel, this physically isn't possible! The fastest man in the world can't even sprint to the stop fast enough for us to make it!" and I was thinking, "Yeah, but He wasn't a missionary!" So we walked up the hills, and then the final hill, I had us run down. I should back behind me, "You can tell stories later about your crazy trainer!" I was just praying so hard that our sprint hadn't been in vain and that we'd catch that bus. I was praying it had somehow been delayed long enough for us to catch it. 1 minute after we arrived, LO AND BEHOLD there it came over the hill! It was a valuable lesson about faith, and the importance of ACTING on our faith and giving God the opportunity to provide a miracle. It was neat :)

On Tuesday morning, I felt inspired to give myself and Sister Bishop a little pep talk about miracles and how we have no idea what's around the corner, and we have to have faith that God will provide. Well, we had just got back from our district meeting when we got a call from a senior sister Missionary telling us she had a referral for us! This lady, we'll call her Kelly, is so stinking awesome! She just moved here from San Francisco, and has read a lot and really wants to become a member of our church! When we went by to see her, she told us she had been listening to "sessions" to fall asleep, and we realized she meant GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSIONS! She's so stinking adorable I love her so much already. She was the referral we've been praying for for the past few months.

Okay you have to understand a few things to really appreciate this story: We've been working so hard the past 2 transfers and haven't been seeing a whole ton of progress. We fasted over a month ago to be able to set a baptismal date with someone and "nothing happened" on our side. What we didn't know, was that was during the time Kelly was moving to St Louis. I've been praying all transfer for referrals, and none came. None. Zero. I prayed for over months. None came. But while none were coming, I kept feeling like Heavenly Father was saying, "Hold on and keep praying! Something really good is coming!" and boy was He right! I would go months with no referrals for one as awesome as Kelly!

I had a really neat experience this week. Like I said last week, we've been facing a lot of opposition lately about Joseph Smith. During the heat of it, I just wanted it to stop! I just wanted to move into a cave and for people to leave us along. Well, that's not really what I wanted, so I persevered. This week while reading Section 135 of the Doctrine and Covenants, my testimony of Joseph Smith as a prophet was so strengthened! All of this opposition made me realize WHY that matters! WHY I NEEDED to know if He was or not. My understanding of God depended on it. It's so beautiful that Joseph saw God the Father AND Jesus Christ. It changes the relationship I can have with God. I am so grateful for the times my testimony was challenged because it has made me so much stronger. So if you're going through something that is challenging your testimony, thank God for it, and learn what you need to learn and keep growing! Growth is painful, but it's so great! I was satisfied with my testimony, but God wasn't. He wants us to grown. He wants us to develop. He LOVES US!

I love you all. I wish I could tell you all of the miracles we've seen, all of the prayers answered, and all of the good. Unfortunately I can't right now. I pray that you're seeing those things in your lives too. God is our Father! He loves us so much! You can do the hard things you're doing. Keep spreading goodness! We're changing the world one smile at a time :) Have a super day!

Lots of love and support,
Sister Edgel
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