The Day I got my mission call- January 16, 2008

Its Here!

Sister Shepard,

You are hereby called as a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Romania Bucharest 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, 27 February 2008. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Romanian Language.

well, there you go!

A hopeful whahoo!

So, today my bishop called me and asked me if I had received my call today in the mail and I was confused and said no, I had not because its Monday and they don't come on Mondays, they usually come on Wednesdays. Then he told me he checked online and it said that it was mailed out on Friday... So hopefully my call will arrive tomorrow!!! Cross your fingers!

Proverbs 3:5-6

So, I still have not received my call and its be a surprisingly heart breaking experience so far. Today was my 21st birthday and I had to pick out gifts that had nothing to do with a mission and it was so hard for me. I didn't want any of the things I bought, all I really want is my call so I can get my stuff and go. I am so ready for this mission! I want to go out there and work for the Lord. But I have to hold up my faith and try to see why its taking so long.

But I guess when I originally anticipated leaving on the 16th of January (which I will be lucky if I get my call by then) is quite a bit off of what it will actually be (my guess is sometime in March) is the difference in companions, my time in different areas, meeting people and maybe even the mission as a whole. So, I try to remain positive and keep my faith where it belongs.

Just Thinking

So, I am still waiting for my call to come (I am still hoping for this Wednesday!) and my birthday is this Friday and I have just been thinking about how great life is and how blessed I truly am. The Lord has supplied me with so many amazing blessings and opportunities that shape me into what I can become and when I think of this monumental fact I think that my heart may explode.

I am so everlastingly grateful to God for my life, even the lessons in patience and the frustrating trials He so wisely bestows upon me. Because even when I know that I am being tested and I don't think life is fair I realize that He loves me so much and only wants whats best for me, and my trials really aren't so bad. The other night I was laying in bed and the wind outside was whipping intensely at my house and I could hear the patio furniture blowing over and tree branches breaking, and I thought how profoundly blessed I am to have my beautiful house to protect me from the elements. In that moment my mind wandered to place in Romania I visited summers ago. I met a family up in the hills of Sibiu, Romania who lived in a run down shack that consisted of two and a half walls, livestock and chickens wandered in and out of the flee ridden lace blankets that served as substitute for missing walls and door. I remember thinking in the muggy heat how terrible that situation must be with the rain and the flies and the sun beating down in on them in their place of "refuge" from the outside. But the other night as the wind roared and the sleet and snow poured upon my house I thought for the first time what it would be like for them in that moment. I thought of the 6 month old baby, the 2 year old, and the 7 year old, living in the squalor, were they still there? Were they even alive? Was their foremost thought of simply not freezing to death? I couldn't believe my life and the blessings I had been given and could not be more thankful to God for His tender care of my basic needs and felt wholly unworthy.

Life if beautiful, I hope to always remember that.