Meeting Up With My Future Sisters

First of all, guess what? I have less than two months before I go on my mission! Holy cow. Time flies! I'm a little nervous to start this new chapter of my life just because I'm leaving my comfort zone and going somewhere I've never been before. On the other hand, I'm freaking pumped to go and share the gospel with those who aren't members yet especially after the experience I had last night!

Back story time! A few weeks after I received my call, I went on a Facebook page dedicated to future sister missionaries and posted that I was going to the South Carolina Columbia mission. One girl told me that she was going to the same mission and they had made a different group just for the girls going our mission that I should join. On that page, they organized a time to go see "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" at the Legacy Theater in Salt Lake City. I decided to go! I mean, why not? I'd get to see this incredible movie and meet some girls going to the same mission as me, so I feel like that's a win win.

Including me, there were five girls there. Three of the five are leaving in a few weeks for the mission and another girl and I leave on July 10th. Even though I won't be serving a full 18 months with most of those girls, it's still nice to meet them so I can see some familiar faces when I'm out there, you know? And the craziest part? I went to college with two of the girls! One of the girls is even in my former professor's ward! It's such a small world, I know. Meeting these girls was wonderful! I'm so excited to serve with them!

South Carolina bound :)

Now while that was a good reason to get pumped up for the mission, I feel like the Joseph Smith movie made me even more excited. If you haven't seen the movie yet, I'd encourage you to do so! You can either go to the Legacy Theater like I did or even watch it online by clicking here. It's an incredible story about an ordinary young man who was asked to do an extraordinary thing by God - restore His true church to the Earth. The things that he had to go through in order to do so were crazy. He was mocked, tormented and threatened because of the church. Even after all that, he proceeded to build up the church and its members. It proves the amount of faith that he had and how strong it was.

Once the movie was over, I wanted to do a fist pump and be like "THE CHURCH IS TRUE!" I restrained myself though... It probably wouldn't have been a good thing for me to do in that setting... But seriously. I felt the Spirit so strong while watching the movie. I'd just like to let my readers know that I have a strong testimony of Joseph Smith. I know that he restored the gospel to its fullest and through God, he was able to translate the Book of Mormon, the keystone of our religion.I really admire Joseph Smith for all he's done. It would be hard to withstand all of that peer pressure but he did and because he did, we have over 14 million members of the church worldwide!

Joseph Smith as played by Nathan Mitchell in
"Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration."

Just before I end, I'd like to share a quote with you guys that's been on my mind lately. "You cannot know the strength of your faith until it is tested." Being religious isn't always easy. We are tempted many times but we can't give in. If we give in, Satan wins! We don't want that now, do we? These temptations are just ways for us to prove our faith. I know that if we have faith in God, we will be able to make it through our rough patches and our faith will be strengthened.