Called to Serve on Cinco De Mayo

Over two years ago I made a decision. I decided I wanted to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It wasn't something that could be accomplished over night. It took a really long time. There was lots of planning to do but most of all a lot of counseling with God. I wanted to make sure I was going for the right reasons. I wanted to be sure I could do it. I wanted to go at the right time.

Finally, this past January, I set a date. May 25th. This was my availability date, or the day that I would be available to be called on a mission. This is when all of the craziness began, all of the paperwork and shots and appointments. It took longer than I expected and I was getting antsy. I just wanted to leave! I knew I was making the right decision and I wanted nothing more than to put on the black name tag and serve God for 18 months.
Once all the paperwork was completed it was sent to Salt Lake City to church headquarters. Sometime during the next few weeks, by revelation, through the prophet of our church, I would be called of God to serve. Everyone says this is the hardest part of the preparation process. Waiting. This is the time when the candidate checks the mail everyday, anxiously awaiting a large white envelope from the First Presidency.

Well, I wasn't that nervous about where I'd go or what language I would speak. Anywhere God called me I would go with a happy heart (but going back to Provo wasn't at the top of my list). I found myself occupying my time by studying the Book of Mormon more, praying harder and feeling better. The only thing I was nervous about was when I would go. I didn't want to spend the whole summer at home waiting impatiently.

I only went to the post office 5 times. I knew my bishop would let me know once my call had been made and was in the mail. On Friday April 29th my Bishop from Utah sent me an e-mail saying, "Congratulations! Your call letter is on it's way!" Hooray! That's when I started checking the mail.

Thursday morning at 2am I woke up. I didn't know why but I woke up. I felt a little nervous and REALLY excited. "Brain, it's 2am go back to bed!" It didn't listen. I was up for the next 2 hours unable to sleep, just sitting there feeling...different. Something was about to change and I could feel it.

On Cinco de Mayo (at a reasonable hour) I drove to the post office. I stuck the key in, opened the box and there it was. A large white envelope.

I grabbed it and hurried out to the car where I proceeded to cry with joy. I drove home and got my friends and family on the phone/skype/nearby. We talked for a minute then I began to open the envelope. I read:

Dear Sister Williams,
You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the California Roseville Mission.

I didn't know where Roseville was but I immediately knew that was where I was supposed to go. It was one of the greatest moments of my life. After that I spent some time reading the lengthy instructions that came with my letter as well as the rest of the letter signed by the prophet. That night I got to open it again and read it to more friends at a church activity.

Then came all the research of Roseville. There wasn't a lot to find out. It's just another city in California. But, here's the cool part. I've never been to California and I have always wanted to go. My parents aren't a fan of the state for one reason or another so we never took vacations there. It has been my dream since before I can remember just to step on California soil. I never knew why I wanted to go so bad. But now I get to spend 18 months there and it will become a pretty important part of my life.
Well, that's the experience. Over the past few weeks I've seen so many little miracles and blessing in my life. I know my Heavenly Father is pleased with my choice to serve. This will be the adventure of a lifetime.