Saturday, August 10, 2013

The Call

"Ya...I'd love to learn a language...but not one like Korean, Japanese or Chinese probably...they look so hard. I've heard that most missionaries don't get a grasp of Korean until it is time to go home."

Six hours later I opened up my mission call and read:

 Sister Grundvig,
You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Japan Kobe 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, September 18 2013. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Japanese language. 

I was in shock. Tessa Taylor! That was my first thought. Tessa Taylor, my Sunday School teaching partner from BYU is going to the Japan, Kobe mission. My second thought was I have to learn this language. I was a little confused, a little in shock, a lot excited and very nervous. I had never expected to go to Asia! I honestly hadn't been able to picture myself anywhere in the world, but I had started to believe that Germany would be a fitting mission. Particularly because I had five years of German under my belt. I used to think I knew very little German, until I realized I needed to learn Japanese. I had never felt so fluent in German.

And then Megan opened her mission call. Megan, THIS cute girl that I met at BYU. The girl that I grew so close to over the very short time I knew her. When I heard her read "Sister Daniels, You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Japan Kobe 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, September 18 2013. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Japaneses language," tears came to my eyes. What a comfort it will be to have a dear friend with me for some of the hardest months of my life. What a blessing to share such a life-changing experience together. And not only would Meg be there with me, but Tessa as well. These were inspired friendships.

It is said that missionary assignments are made before we come to earth. That we are predestined to teach the people that we meet in the mission field. As I have been called to serve in Japan with some great friends, I can testify that this is true. I don't know who I will meet in Japan, and I don't know who I will teach. But I do know that I will not be meeting them for the first time, and that they will be waiting for me to teach them this marvelous gospel--the wonderful truths that I have been so blessed to have in my life.

Throughout my life there have been friendships I have made that have been inspired. Some of them begin in the strangest ways-- a hot-dog throwing contest, a drive in the back of a sketchy truck, a swing dance in Oakton or eating graham canyon ice-cream outside the creamery. But all of these friendships have taught me that there are times and places where life isn't just coincidence. Sometimes, things are meant to happen for a reason. Sometimes, there are people that I need in my life-- even if it is only for a short period of time-- that help develop me into the person I will one day become. There are friends that pass through the stories of my book, who flit in-between the pages, or people who I barely realized have touched me until they are gone. But nonetheless, they touch my life for a reason.

So, in the days since I read that I would be serving a mission in Asia, I have thought a lot about the inspired nature of friendships and the meaning that comes with meeting someone new every day. Every person that I meet is a child of God, and has a story, a family, a background, ambitions and dreams. Perhaps one day that girl I passed on the street as I ran towards Lake Barton will sit down with me in the kingdom of our Father and together, we will rejoice in sweet fellowship. What a blessing it is to look around and see the hundreds of people bustling around and know that somehow we are all interconnected. There is a plan for each of us, and someone has been called to introduce them to the everlasting truths of the Gospel of Christ.


1 comment:

  1. AHHHH I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! (: This post/blog makes me so happy. Our friendship was definitely inspired-- Heavenly Father's tender mercies are everywhere. SEE YOU AT THE MTC IN LESS THAN 2 WEEKS! <3

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