Well I am sure by now it is spreading like wildfire, at least among my family, but for those of you that haven't heard, this week will be my last week in the mission.
So you are probably all wondering why I will be home a transfer earlier than initially planned. It all started with President interviews this last week. As I sat down for my interview the first thing President Palmer said is, "I have something I have been thinking about that I would like to talk to you about..." he then preceded to tell me that it had come to his mind the possibility of me going home at the end of this transfer instead of on April 27th. He said he hadn't thought about it before but that it came to him multiple times and that he said in light of my health situation and with the extensions that I should give that option some serious thought and to get back to him in a day or two.
I have to say I was a little, no a lot surprised but when your mission president says he has been receiving a prompting and that you should think about it "seriously" that is what you do. So that being said, I agreed to think about it. I spent the rest of Tuesday and most of Wednesday thinking and praying about that option. I thought through both options, the pros and cons of both options. As I made the list it appeared that the list for why I should be at home was a lot longer than the list of why I should be in the mission. I felt though that all of the reasons to be at home were selfish reasons, even if they were good. I just didn't want to feel like I was giving up at the end. More than anything I just wanted to do what the Lord wanted regardless of what it was. I received a blessing and thought some more. As I pondered on what it was I was supposed to do I felt the really strong impression that it was time for me to go home.
Even though I was/am sad about not being able to be here until April I feel a lot of peace about the decision. The thing that is interesting to me though is that I feel like the ending of my mission came much like my call to serve. My soul has been conflicted over something, although I did not know what until now, much like before I made the decision to serve. As I sought out the will of the Lord in his time his will was made manifest, just as clearly as before. My decision to serve was clear and the change was fast. It was a whirlwind of emotions and getting everything in line to submit my papers. Now, here I am almost two years later going through a similar experience but on the other end.
I'm so grateful for this chance the Lord has given me to serve. I feel humbled by the trust that he has given me during this time. I know that he has a work for me to do at home and more than anything I feel excited to be able to go home and continue that work. I want to take all that I have learned from the mission to go forth and bless the Lord's children and build up his Kingdom. I know that even though my full-time mission is coming to an end that my work as a missionary is not. That will always continue.
For those of you that are interested, my homecoming talk will be Sunday, March 13th at 11:00 a.m. The address of the church is 1552 East 750 South Spanish Fork, Utah 84660.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week. I will be seeing you all soon!
Love,
Hermana Carpenter
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