Dear Hannah Jane...

Dear Sister Wilson...

"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 Los Angeles Mission. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 18 months.

You should report to the Missionary Training Center at Provo, Utah on Wednesday, 6 May 2009. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Spanish language. Your mission president may modify your specific assignment according to the needs of the mission.

You have been recommended as one worthy to represent the Lord as a minister of the restored gospel. You will be an official representative of the Church. As such, you will be expected to maintain the highest standards of conduct and appearance by keeping the commandments, living mission rules, and following the counsel of your mission president. As you devote your time and attention to serving the Lord, leaving behind all other personal affairs, the Lord will bless you with increased knowledge and testimony of the Restoration and of the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Your purpose will be to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. As you serve with all your heart, might, and strength, the Lord will lead you to those who are prepared to be baptized.

The Lord will reward you for the goodness of your life. Greater blessings and more happiness than you have yet experienced await you as you humbly and prayerfully serve the Lord in this labor of love among His children. We place in you our confidence and pray that the Lord will help you become an effective missionary.

You will be set apart as a missionary by your stake president. Please send your written acceptance promptly, endorsed by your bishop.


Sincerely,


Thomas S. Monson, President"

CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES SPANISH SPEAKING!!!!!!!!!

It is official! And I am SO SO SO excited!!! I am, of course, following the trend/tradition of spanish speaking in our family; Joseph (Mexico), Wendy (Argentina), Sam (Venezuela), and Suzan (California) all served spanish speaking missions! Not only that, but every cousin on Dad's side of the family that served went spanish speaking as well.

Grandma Wilson, I guess you were right, huh?

I still can't believe that this is actually happening! It's so crazy to think that I'm going to be a missionary in just less than 3 months!!! Wow. Awesome though. I really cannot describe just how excited I am, but believe you me, I am beyond excited!!!

This is a missionary tag that Mom gave me over Christmas. She doesn't remember where exactly she got it (some ward or stake missionary calling years ago), but she wanted me to have it as kind of a reminder, and something to help me really be able to look forward to my mission! Thanks Mom - I love it!

Here's the video of me opening/reading my call - sorry it doesn't have the very first part where I actually read where I'm going; I really wish it did, but somehow the camera missed that. Anyways, it's just me reading the rest of my letter (through the tears that started as soon as I read "Dear Sister Wilson,"), and then our chatting afterwards. Enjoy!

Thank you everyone for all of your love and support in all of this - it really means the world to me, and I pray that the Lord will pour out His blessings upon you for it.

I Love You All, and I can't wait to LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!

Next up, going through the temple... :D

IT'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!

MY CALL IS HERE!!!!!!!

Just as I was getting out of my Cake Decorating class this morning (about 11:30am), I got 2 text messages from my roommates that said the following:

"You got your call :)" -Tynj'a

"Oh my goodness! Sallie Wilson! You're going on a mission! Not that of course I didn't know this but your call IS HERE" ...and immediately following that, "And might I add...Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!" -Megan/Bridget

...7 minute pause in blogging... I just ran into another friend of mine and had to tell her too!

So Anyways, I got those texts and immediately FREAKED OUT!!!!! On top of it all though, I still had another class! I had an hour and a half class that I had to go to right then, and attempt to focus in? Yeah right. I immediately texted my parents, my brothers and sisters-in-law, and several close friends. Needless to say, the first few minutes of my class were spent sending and reading texts (I know, I know...that's horribly rude, and terrible manners, but COME ON!!!!!)Even though I knew I wouldn't be going home to open my call right after, I still couldn't focus for the life of me. I had pretty much zero interest in being in that class. Nevermind the fact that it was a test review day, which just made it even worse!

Never fear though, I made it through. Now granted, I got out of there as soon as I possibly could!

If any of you read this before then, I will be opening my call around 5:30 or 6:00pm my time (MST) tonight! I would open it right away, but I'm waiting for some very important people to be available because I love them and want them to be a part of that. They are VERY lucky that I love them so much!

It's stinking hard to wait though!!!!!

To "distract" myself (and keep myself from opening it before tonight), I'm staying on campus, and will attempt to maybe study for my upcoming tests. We'll see how well that goes, huh? I DO have class (Women's Choir) from 3:15-4:15, and then I short meeting at 4:30, so that will help take up some time too.

Actually, I think I will take sometime to study my scriptures and prepare a little more spiritually before I open it tonight. That will help too--both to hopefully calm me down a little as well as help prepare me. This is a call from the Lord, after all.

Yeah, that's a good idea.

MAN!!!

I can't believe it's here!!! Nine days. It took a grand total of NINE DAYS for my call to come! Actually, technically only about eight and a half considering the fact that my papers went in Tuesday night!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! I'm SO EXCITED!!!! Like I said in the last entry--it's all pins and needles now that it's actually here!

Oh, and Joseph sent me a text earlier that said, "Aaron said you are going to the "temple" mission"

Even my 3 year old nephew thinks I'm going to temple square!

Come 6:00pm tonight, we'll find out for sure!!!

Update...

Just by way of a quick update, I had my mission interview with my bishop on Sunday, February 1, 2009.

Groundhog day was the next day, on which day Punxsutawney Phil apparently saw his shadow, meaning six more weeks of winter. This doesn't really bother or affect me that much, as here in Rexburg we will probably have six more MONTHS of winter, regardless of whether or not a silly groundhog n Pennsylvania "sees" his shadow.

The very next day, Tuesday the 3rd of February, I had an interview with my stake president, President Kevin Packard. In it was determined my full eligibility to serve a mission. Actually, it really was a wonderful experience to be able to have a personal interview with my stake president. He helped me better understand what my responsibilities as a missionary will be, as well as explaning exactly how the call process works. He is an awesome, inspired man, and I'm grateful to have him as one of my local priesthood leaders.

He let me know that my papers would be sent in that night, and that if everything was in order as it should have been on Wednesday, I should have my mission call in about 10 days.

He also asked if I would speak for 9 minutes in our Stake Conference on March 15th...

Today is Wednesday, 11 February, 2009, eight days after my papers went in. That means that there is a very real possibility that my call could come tomorrow. TOMORROW!!!!! However, it might not...which is fine. I can wait patiently.

I am very excited, though it's not an anxious, running-to-the-mailbox-every-10-minutes-even-though-the-mail-has-already-come-today, sitting-on-pins-and-needles-through-every-class kind of excited. It's a very calm, somewhat subdued excitement. Part of that comes, I think, from the fact that this is still so surreal to me. I can't believe that I'm actually going on a mission. Like, for real.

But for all that, don't get me wrong, I am VERY excited!!! I do think about it all the time, and wonder, "have they made my call yet?" "Is one of the apostles sitting at a computer screen looking at my picture right now?" "I wonder where on earth I'll go? Maybe Scotland, or Kansas, or Canada, or Nauvoo?!" "hmmmmmm..." So yes, I am excited, and I do think about it a LOT, but the wait isn't killing me.

(see, this is my excited face :)

However, you better believe that the day it does come, I'll be waiting on pins and needles, probably unable to concentrate on anything in my classes, anxious to get home, gather my friends and roommates, call my family, and open that big white envelope to find out where in the world I'll be spending the next year and a half of my life!

So far, the guesses for where I'll go (collected from my "Sallie's Going on a Mission!" facebook group, as well as random friends I've talked to)have included:

Australia (4 times, including one for Chinese-speaking), Sweden, Texas (Dallas, San Marcos, and one just Texas), Phoenix Arizona, Temple Square (7+ times - by far the most guessed), Florida (twice), Provo Utah, the Phillipines, Spain, Las Vegas, Portugal, the South, Spanish-speaking in the States, the Dominican Republic, American Sign Language, Canada (3 times), Europe (twice), California (LA, Long Beach, and one just California) , Connecticut, Yekaterinburg Russia (as well as one for just Russia), Oregon, the West Coast, Boise Idaho, Argentina, Northwest US, "somewhere in the US," Bolivia, Columbia, Venezuela, "some European country with a different, hard kind of language," and South America.

It'll sure be interesting to see, huh?

hmmmmmm...

Where do YOU think I'll go???

Wherever it is, I can't wait to sign my letters "I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!!!"


In the mean time, I'm keeping busy with school, etc, enjoying the snow (it's snowed a good 4 or 5 inches already today), and doing my best to just love life!


:)

ps
For those who are wondering about the call process, Pres. Packard said that the apostles have certain days that they are assigned to go in and make calls. They sit down in a room and have two computer screens in front of them. On one comes up a picture of the prospective missionary. On the other appears their info. The apostle looks at the missionary, and at their info, and by revelation makes the assignment of where they are to serve. In a matter of 4 hours, the apostle will probably make about 500 (yes, that's five hundred) calls, and all by revelation. So no, missionary callings are not made by any sort of "missionary committee", but by revelation to one of the Lord's prophets.

Cool, huh?


pps


Pres. Packard does have the above information on good authority -- Elder Cook, who set him apart as a stake president told him. I'd say that's a pretty good source, don't you think?

MISSION!!!!!!!!

I know that most of you already know this, but for those who don't, and just for my own sake, I thought I'd at least briefly mention it here...

I'M GOING ON A MISSION!!!

That's right, ladies and gentlemen...er, Brothers and Sisters, I have just finished my mission papers, and am now awaiting my final interviews.

Now, for the FAQs...

No, I don't have my call yet.

As was previously mentioned, all I have left is my interviews before my papers go in.

Yes, this is a fairly recent decision! I always talked about going on a mission when I was little, and I've thought about a mission on and off for a while, both prior to and since "coming of age," but not really seriously until just recently. As in General Conference recently (Sis. Allred's talk in the Sat. am session, to be exact). Things moved pretty quickly, and it's a really surreal feeling, but I'm excited!

For those of you wondering when I turn 21, I'm currently 22 (I'll be 23 in May, possibly before I leave).

Some of you may be wondering what's going on with my "relationship status".

I started dating a young man (Durk, pictured with me and the cow) in my ward shortly after deciding and starting my mission papers. Yes, he knew what he was getting into, and yes we did it anyway. I do realize that sisters have a different responsibility than elders when it comes to serving a full-time mission, and I know that I can change my mind at any time (trust me, my bishop made that VERY clear to me when I started this whole thing). Durk is amazing and wonderful, however, I really feel that I need to go. It's what I need to do right now, so that's what I'm doing. Durk is also very understanding and supportive, even though he was hoping for a slightly different outcome...

Yes, we are currently still dating.

No, Durk is not going to be "waiting" for me. He and I had that discussion a long time ago, and both completely agree on the subject.

I can go through the temple as soon as I get my call!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm VERY excited for that. :)

No, I don't have anywhere in particular that I want to go. I have lots of places that I'd love to go, but will happily go wherever the Lord sends me. Whether I'm called to Chile or Kentucky, Russia or Temple Square, Venezuela or Canada, Europe, Idaho or anywhere in between, I will go and LOVE it! I had a friend say once that "every mission is "The BEST Mission In The World!" for the missionaries called to serve there."
I really will be thrilled wherever I'm sent. The Lord knows what He's doing, and I trust that. I know that I'll go where I'm needed.

My paperwork went pretty quickly. I was blessed to find a great dentist here in Rexburg who does complete missionary exams (including x-rays) completely free! I got my wisdom teeth taken out when I was 17, and was cavity-free! Apparently that's pretty rare, because they were all surprised that I wouldn't need any extra work. I also now have a testimony of flossing. I've flossed most days since my last dentist appt (a little over a year ago?), and it WORKED!!! The dentist here noticed right away, which made me pretty happy, as well as fully converting me to the practice :)

All the dr. stuff I did at the student health center, which was pretty quick and easy.

The thing that took the longest was just getting around to taking my picture. That I did tonight (Sunday, 25 Jan 2009), then electronically submitted my papers!

Last semester, when I started filling out my papers, I wasn't sure when I'd turn them in because of school and everything. I decided to stay one more semester, which meant I couldn't turn them in until just recently (you can't turn them in before 3 months prior to your availability date). Hence all the talk and early prep last semester, and the only recent completion.

I can't believe I'm actually turning in mission papers and going on a mission. Weird.

I am VERY excited, albeit a bit anxious and nervous at the same time. I know this will be a wonderful opportunity for me, and I'm grateful for the chance to be so completely immersed in the gospel for a year and a half, and even more excited to serve and bless the lives of others by sharing the gospel with them!

The church is true, the book is blue. Keep the commandments and you'll be happy too :)

I'll keep you all updated on the status of things, especially once I get my call!!!!!