Sunday, July 19, 2015

Dear Sister Leonard.....

One week and six days ago, my mission call came in the mail, and exactly one week ago I opened my mission call. It still feels surreal that I have officially been called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

                              [The day I got my mission call. Can you tell I was super excited?!]

So I decided to open my call with a good friend of mine in the ward. We turned in our papers the same day, we received our calls in the mail the same day, and we both had a dad and brother at scout camp at the time we received our call in the mail. So we decided to open our calls together and invite a bunch of people, including our family, our friends from high school, friends and family over skype/facetime members from our ward, youth from our stake, and even full-time missionaries serving in our area! We were so blessed to have such an awesome turn out and even more blessed to share this experience and important milestone in our lives.

                                                     [Brit and I with our mission calls]

Before we opened our calls, we shared a video by Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles called "The Greatest Generation of Young Adults." It was awesome to share with everyone the process we went through leading up to receiving our calls and what is expected of us as missionaries. 

After the video, we flipped a coin to see who went first, and I won the coin toss. I then opened the letter that would change my life forever. It read:

Dear Sister Leonard,

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the China Hong Kong Mission. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 18 months.

You should report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, October 14, 2015. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Cantonese language. Your assignment may be modified according to the needs of the mission president.


[My mission call opening!!]

CHINA. CANTONESE. I KNOW. I was just as surprised and shocked as everyone in the room. What shocked me even more was the fact that my best friend from when I went to high school in Japan, Mindy, got her mission call just a month earlier than me to the same mission, same MTC report date! I had read my call multiple times to make sure it was my name on the letter and that it was really my call, hahaha!

                        [Calling Mindy soon after I got my call. She was just as surprised as I was!]

After much prayer and study, I have come to know for myself that the China Hong Kong Mission is exactly where I need to be for 18 months of my life. I have never felt so much discouragement from the adversary, but I have also never felt so much love, encouragement, and confirmation in my whole life from my Savior. I know the adversary will continue to try to keep me from going on a mission, but as a turn to my Savior and allow the spirit to be with me always and heed its promptings, I will have the strength to withstand the enticings of the adversary.

I am so excited to teach the people of Hong Kong, China! This gospel has blessed my life so much and has given me so much happiness and direction, and I cannot wait to share this gospel with the Chinese people as a full-time missionary in the Cantonese language and see how this gospel will bless those that I teach and serve.

The church is true, y'all. Christ really did atone for our sins and sorrows and led the way so we can return to our Heavenly Father in safely. All He wants is for us to use our agency to move closer to Him because He loves us more than words could possibly explain and wants the very best for us.

Love much,

[Future] Sister Leonard
( [Future] Leonard Jimuih)

P.S. Brit got his call to the Guatemala Quetzaltenango Mission, Spanish speaking! I totally knew he was going Spanish speaking. He's going to be an awesome missionary!


                                         [Guatemala and China have no idea what's comin'!]

1 comment:

  1. Hi, Lauren! My name is Emma McNeely, and I am ecstatic to discover that we both are assigned to the China Hong Kong Mission and report on October 14. I'm so excited to meet you and your friend Mindy!
    A little about me: I'm almost 19, I live in Iowa, I've completed a year at BYU, I love to play the violin and piano, I like to draw, and I enjoy reading and writing. I had a hard time deciding if I would serve a mission, but now that I have, I see that it is the best thing I could have done.
    Is there any way we can get in touch on Facebook?
    Good luck on your mission preparation!

    ReplyDelete