HEY-O! This is my mission blog. Throughout my mission I will be having my family posting letters, facts, pictures, etc. from my mission. SO, I thought I would start the blog out with a post by myself, Zoë Hart, about why I wanted to serve and the events leading up to the day I got my call. Here it goes:
Since the day that my aunt Mo left for her mission to the Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square mission, cerca 1997, I have wanted to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was and will always be a role model for me - I have always looked up to her and respected all that she has done. And even though I was young, I still appreciated and have respected her decision to serve.
Throughout my life I have had experiences and interactions, like this with Mo, that have encouraged and influenced my decision to serve even more.
When I was 8 years old I had the opportunity to meet President Thomas S. Monson when he was giving a fireside at my home at Aspen Grove (at the time, he was Elder Monson.) Our conversation was brief but it still is a vivid memory to me. He told me that he liked my red hair and was curious if I was serving a mission. I told him I wanted to. He then smiled and told me "Redheads make great missionaries." I have never forgotten that. It has forever been engraved in my mind that President Monson thinks I will be a great missionary - granted it wasn't a personal complement but it has helped shaped the way that I lived my life to be worthy for a mission.
A few years later, cerca 2005, my aunt Jessie made her decision to serve a mission and received her mission call to the New York Rochester Visitors Center mission. From writing to her and hearing of her experiences there it only helped my decision to serve become more real and more likely to happen in my life. The examples of my aunts (both of whom happen to be redheads;) made my decision so much easier to make.
Not only have my aunts and President Monson influenced my decision, but so has my dad. I have always been my dad's #1 fan (well according to me at least.) Everything he does makes me want to become better everyday. He served his mission in the Haiti Port-au-Prince mission and since then I don't think he has ever stopped serving. He is always giving of his time, talents, abilities, and anything else he can give. He inspires me to be better and has always done that. I have always been curious and to this day I still go into our storage shed and pull out Scotty's mission bin and just look. I look through the slides, photos, maps, letters, journals, and his Book of Mormon. Looking at all of this was only an affirmation of how great my dad was and still is.
On October 6, 2012 my best friends and I raced up to my house from the dorms at BYU to make it intime for the first talk by President Monson in the Saturday Morning Session of General Conference. He then announced the change in age for mission age for young men and young women. The feelings in the room were that of shock, surprise, and uncontrollable happiness. Tears of joy were streaming down our cheeks. My mom still says it was one of her favorite moments to witness. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when we all made our decisions to go on a mission. What an amazing experience.
Now, four months later, I have received my mission call. At 5:45 pm I opened my mission call on the Provo Temple grounds - I wanted to be up at my house, in my temple in the mountains, but this would have to do. I don't think I have ever prayed so much in my life. Having a constant prayer in my heart that I would be understanding and ready and okay with wherever I was going. (I had a small feeling that if I were to get called stateside I would be disappointed - that being the reason that I opened it alone.) I sat and ripped the envelope. I knew that if it was foreign there would be multiple papers because of passport and other information. I pulled out everything out of the envelope and began reading. I knew I was stateside and I trying my hardest to find out which state. I was shaking uncontrollably and decided that I was too excited to read straight through it and began jumping around the page. First seeing the date - "You will report to the Provo MTC June 5th, 2013." Mmkay. Next I saw that my name, Sister Zoë Hart. Mmkay. At this point I was just worried, excited, and annoyed that I couldn't find WHERE I had been called. But being the smart one that I am, I still didn't read all the way through it. Then finally I found it right in the middle, screaming at me "YOU HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED TO LABOR IN THE FLORIDA ORLANDO MISSION!!!!!!" (Granted, it wasn't actually screaming but it certainly felt that way.) After I read it I glanced around just to make sure I didn't actually scream it or it didn't actually scream itself.
Initial reaction: Florida. Whoa. Am I speaking Spanish?!?!:) [ me encanta español...mucho]
I decided to start reading it straight through to figure this next question out. This was a lot easier to find than the rest [Here's a little tip: Read your mission call straight through]. "You will be preaching the gospel in the English language."
Initial reaction: No Español para mí? Ay caray.
I sat and just took it all in. It was real. I was going. To Florida. Not Italy. Not Brazil. Not Spain. Orlando Florida. I got into my car and drove back to the dorms. All I could think was "What is in Florida? Who is in Florida that needs me? Who is in Florida that I need?" That is when I felt the overwhelming blanket of the spirit comfort me and tell me that Orlando is where I was meant to be.
For the sake of my family and friends I reopened my call at 9:30pm to let everyone know that I would be Miss Worldwide serving in FLORIDA (Flo Rida reference that I don't think many people actually got at my mission call opening.)
After opening my call I know that Orlando Florida is where I'm supposed to be - whether it's because someone needs me down there or because I need someone. I cannot wait to serve the Lord and share the gospel. I cannot wait to help people and families come to the gospel to be able to be with their families forever, just like mine! I know that from going I will not only bless the lives of those people in Florida but also the lives of others including my family. I am so excited to go forth and serve! Orlando Florida here I come!
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| my friends, my call, and me! |
