Mesa, Arizona.

If it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!

D&C 18:15-16

I have received my mission call to serve in the Mesa, Arizona mission, Spanish speaking, with part of my assignment in the Mesa Temple Visitor's Center. This has been a much anticipated moment in my life, and this post is an attempt to explain both the purpose of a mission and my emotions regarding this unique experience.

Perhaps the best way to describe the purpose of a missionary is by quoting the letter that informed me of my assignment. One paragraph reads, "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, repentence, 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."

Mom, Sam and I outside the Mesa Temple in 2008.

And so, starting July 25, I will spend 18 months either in Provo, Utah learning how to teach the gospel in Spanish (for three to six weeks, depending on how quickly I pick up the language) or in Mesa, Arizona and the surrounding towns actually teaching the gospel. Some of my time will be spent at the visitor's center, where I can help members and nonmembers alike understand the purpose of the temple and the principles of the gospel better through various resources they have there.

The picture submitted with
my papers and the reason why
I didn't think I would get called
to a visitor's center. 

The process of determining where young men and women will serve their missions may be foreign to some of you. I'm taking a Missionary Preparation course this spring, and the teacher shared with us this explanation from one of the leaders of the church, Elder Ronald Rasband. Here is the video and text of his explanation. Start at 3:54, or thereabouts. The whole thing is great and more clearly explains the process by which I was called to serve in Mesa, Arizona. I am glad this call is from God and not man.

So those are the technicalities. I'll blog later about more specific things I'll be doing on my mission, as far as I can know that, and more about Arizona in general since I'm automatically a big fan of it now. When a couple friends and I were driving to California last weekend, I got a little too excited when we drove through the northwest corner of Arizona for a few miles. I'm not sure if I was born like this or what, but I don't get excited, or emotional in general, too easily; it's been really interesting to see the intensity of emotions I've felt both while I was preparing, waiting, and receiving my call. At this point, I'm just so excited. I wish there was a better word. I never would've imagined myself serving state-side, in a desert, at a visitor's center, but that's what's happening and I am just unbelievably excited. I've had trouble balancing life between school and church and friends and all the components of each of those, so I'm looking forward to only having one thing to focus on: missionary work. Bettering myself so that I can be a better conduit for the spirit so that I can find people who are ready to accept the blessings of the gospel. How liberating is that! My only hesitation with saying it like that is that it sounds selfish. I'm going on a mission so that I can become better. And hopefully, by bettering my life, I can be an instrument in God's hands and better others' lives. I'm so excited.