The Decision to Serve (Part One)

Many have asked me the same question. "Why did you decide to serve a mission?"
The story is long, and complicated, and starts long before the option ever arose. But I want to share it in all of it's commonplace glory.

As my senior year of high school drew to a close, my life was going exactly the way I wanted it to. I was Student Body Vice President, I was Prom Queen, I was on the Dance Company, and I was on track to graduate with decent grades. My plan for the future was foolproof. I had been accepted into the dance program at SUU. I was invited to be one of the school's Presidential Ambassadors and had a half-tuition scholarship waiting for me. Everything was going according to plan and I was well on my way to greater things. After graduation, I got a job working at Chick-Fil-A to work the summer awaiting my flawless future that fall.

And then reality started to settle in. I did the math over and over again and no matter how much I saved up, it wasn't going to be enough. I was confused and angry that my impeccable plan had been frustrated. After contemplating the situation, I decided that if I couldn't have my plan exactly the way that I wanted it, then I didn't want any of it. I withdrew from the university and continued to live at home and bask in my pressure cooked chicken sandwich glory. Maybe I thought that if I was patient enough, my fairy godmother would come and bibbidy-bobbidi-boo my problems away. Or that a generous stranger would slip me a tuition-sized check as a tip. When neither of those things happened, I decided to take it to God. When I prayed, my questions were less "What would thou have me do?" and more "Why me?" I wasn't getting the answers that I wanted and I just found myself getting more and more frustrated.

My loving parents continually presented me with options of other schools, jobs, loans, etc. That fall, my mom suggested that I apply to BYU-Idaho. I rolled my eyes and told her that Rexburg had nothing to offer me. But I promised her that I would think and pray about it. After a few half-hearted prayers concerning the matter, I awaited the answer that would grant me "I told you so" rights. I was confident that the answer would be no.

In October, I watched General Conference with the hopes that the answer to my problems would be found amidst the talks given. Surprisingly enough, my answer was not found in the announcement given by President Monson regarding the age for missionary service. At the time, a mission was the farthest thing from my mind. Sunday morning, President Eyring opened the session by telling the story of when he was called to be the President of a college formerly known as Rick's college, now known as BYU-Idaho. A sense of unwavering surety came over me. I can't say that it was a pleasant feeling, but I knew immediately that I had received my answer.

I needed to attend BYU-Idaho.

Part two