A Review of the Last Few Weeks

Having a mission call has changed my perspective on so many things around me.  As I study my scriptures and come closer to my Savior, the feelings and the promptings of the Holy Ghost have also gotten stronger.  These past few weeks I have come to the realization of a lot of important things that I wish I could have realized sooner.

1. The Atonement is one amazing blessing in all of our lives.

Jesus suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane for our sins, our wrong doings, our pain, our sickness, our afflictions.  I have realized that if I don't use the Atonement by asking for forgiveness then I am wasting the power to be renewed.  If I don't ask for help in my trials then they are only going to get harder. The power of the Atonement is incomprehensible.  Having the ability to repent of something I have done and feeling that guilt be taken from me is such an amazing feeling.  Knowing that Christ has forgiven you and has forgotten what I have done give me peace and lets me know that I am loved by my Savior. 

2. I love the temple!

I had the opportunity to go through the Ogden Utah temple to receive my endowment on June 11. What an awesome experience.  I absolutely loved it.  The spirit in the temple is so strong and the veil is so thin.  I felt the love and happiness of my dear Grandma McMinn who is in Heaven.  I know she is proud of me and the decisions that I am making and that is exactly what I needed to feel especially from her.

The temple helped build my testimony of the Plan of Salvation.  That plan is perfect.  There is a reason for everything.  Our Heavenly Father loves us so much that He made a way for us to return to live with Him again and also to be with our families forever.  I don't think that heaven would really be heaven at all without our families.  It was so cool going to the temple and having so many members of my extended family there and knowing that they loved and supported me.  I am so grateful for the family that I have been blessed with.

3. Working has helped me realized how much I just want to be a stay at home mom.

I love my job so much.  I am a pharmacy technician and I have not had a job that I enjoy going to everyday until now.  It has helped me realized that I want to go into pharmacy when I get back from my mission.  The amount of schooling that comes with pharmacy does not excite me at all but being able to help people to get better without having to see blood and bones does.  More importantly I have realized that I just really want to be a mom.  When I have thought about careers that I want to go into the first thing that I think about is am I going to be able to be a mom at the same time.  I never had a set idea on what I wanted to be when I grew up but I have always know that I want to be a mom so bad.  Too bad I can't get a degree in being a mom... actually I wouldn't be surprised if BYU had that!

4. Having cousins and best friends on missions is the greatest blessing.

Monday is honestly my favorite day of the week.  Being able to hear from all of my favorite people who are being such great examples to me, their siblings, and everyone they come in contact with is so awesome.  I am lucky and have a lot of friends out and soon to be out.

Elder Tanner McMinn - Guayaquil Ecuador North

Elder Kayden Maughan - Guayaquil Ecuador West

Elder Josh Stott - San Jose Costa Rica

Elder Alex Bailey - Stockholm Sweden

Elder Devin Despain - Ghana Africa

Sister Shannon Pugh - Guayaquil Ecuador West

And soon to be missionaries...

Elder Eron Bates - Orlando Florida Spanish speaking

Sister Camry Erickson - Las Vegas Nevada

When I told all of the guys who were on missions that I was going to LA on my mission and speaking Spanish they got about as excited as I was.  The Elders who are currently speaking Spanish said they would help me learn.  My best friend/cousin Tanner now only emails me in Spanish and sometimes I really am not in the mood to try and figure out what he is saying to me but honestly it has helped.  The best part, though, is knowing that all these amazing Elders and Sisters support me 100%.

5. Lastly, Happiness is a choice.

Lately I have been struggling with being happy with myself, I am not going to lie.  I constantly put myself down and make my self feel worse.  Being surrounded by people who are "perfect," I always comparing myself to them and say, 'I wish I had there legs,' or 'Why can't I be like them?' Social media does not help at all either.  As much as I wish I could say that small things like that don't affect me, they do.  The littlest things make such a huge impact on my life mainly what others think of me.  I rarely think about how I am feeling about myself but more about what do others think of me when I walk by or do they like me. 

Heavenly Father did not want us to feel this way.  He loves us each individually and has made us so unique from each other.  What a boring world it would be if we all looked the same. Sadly the words and thoughts of others have more of an influence on me that the most important people: myself and my Heavenly Father.

This week I have decided that I am going to wake up every morning and think about what makes me happy and how I can stay happy for the rest of the day.  If a negative thought comes into my head I will immediately think of something or someone I love.  I am deciding now that I am gong to be happy. I know, easier said than done but I know that as I try to be happier and ask Christ for help I can do it.

Well, 46 days til I leave to Mexico and then to LA.  I am so excited to teach the people about what I have learned recently and also to bring happiness to their lives.

I love the temple.  I love missionary work. I love the Atonement.

Love,

Kali

Called to Serve

April 10th was one of the longest days EVER!  The day before my dad had checked the progress of my papers and it had been assigned!! Now I just had to wait.. which I am not very good at.  I knew that my mission call would probably be there the next day so, of course, that is the only thing that I was focused on.  On April 10th I texted my brother and my mom many times to go and check the mail just in case the mailman decided to come a little bit early that day.  Finally I got this picture from Kyle!!

Probably the best selfie that I have ever received!  You should have seen the dance I did and the many tears of joy! And the hardest part... I still had to go to Chemistry!  Luckily my call went to my house and I was in Provo so either way I had to be patient. Again!  

Finally after what felt like an eternity Chemistry was done and I was hoping on a train to take me to Layton to meet my family and finally open my call!! :) I have never been so nervous yet so excited for something. I had the hardest time opening my call because I was shaking so much! 

Now the moment of truth....

Dear Sister McMinn, (cue tears)

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 California Los Angeles mission.  It is anticipated that you will serve 18 months.

You should report to the Mexico MTC for Wednesday, August 5th, 2015.  You will be prepared to preach the gospel in the Spanish language.

WHAATTT?!?

AHHHHH!

I am going to California AND speaking Spanish!! I secretly really wanted to stay stateside but I also wanted to learn a new language... I got the best of both worlds!

Right before I opened my call I went into a quiet room and prayed to my Heavenly Father asking if He would help me to know that no matter where I was called I would know that my call is inspired, that I will know this is where I am supposed to go and that I will love these people that I am going to serve.  As I read Los Angeles I immediately felt a love that I have never felt before.  I love these people that I have never even met and I can not wait to finally meet them and teach them all about the gospel and the happiness that it will bring into their lives.  I know, without a doubt, that LA is where I am supposed to go.   I am so grateful for the opportunity I get to serve a mission to not only bring these amazing people to Christ but also to bring myself closer to my Savior! 

I love this Gospel.  I love my Savior.  I love my family.  And.. I love the people of Los Angeles!

Love,

Hermana McMinn

Why Serve?

I have been asked a few times... why are you serving a mission? You leave your family and friends for 18 months, you could be finishing school and are giving up all your social media and contact with all your loved ones.

My answer is because my Savior has given me so much in this life so the least that I can do is serve Him for 18 months.  Jesus Christ suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross so not only can I be forgiven of my sins and wrong doings but He also suffered our heartache and sickness.  He knows exactly how I am feeling and how I am going to feel when I am missing my family.  I know that I can always turn to my Brother Jesus when I am struggling with anything.  He knows what I am feeling and He wants us to turn to Him in our times of need and struggle.

Yeah I will miss my family a ton. I am going to miss checking up on Instagram every once in a while and I have no works for school but that will all be here when I get back.  Luckily we have email and can write letters to keep in contact with each other but in the end it completely worth the sacrifice and Christ will be there to help me along the whole way.

This gospel has brought so much happiness into my life that I want to share that joy with others who need it most.  At some of my lowest points in my life I was reminded of the Plan of Salvation and that we are going to live with our loved ones who have passed away again.  I am reminded that, "One of God's greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again... for no failure ever needs to be final." Thomas S. Monson is a the living prophet on this earth today and he receives direct revelation from our Heavenly Father.  I am mainly reminded that our Father in Heaven does not want us to fail.  He wants to see us succeed and return to live in His presence again.  He has given us all the tools that we need - The Book of Mormon, a loving family, a living prophet, the Atonement, the Holy Ghost, and much more - to make it back to Him.

I have never had the most confidence in myself growing up.  I doubted myself constantly and always thought that I was not good enough.  One thing that I have ALWAYS had confidence in is this amazing gospel and that Jesus Christ lives and loves every single one of us.  When he was in the garden He saw every one of us and suffered for everything that we have done wrong and every pain we have felt whether it was actual physical pain or heartache and doubt.  I can't wait for the day that I see my Savior and run up to Him and give Him the biggest hug that I possibly can.  There is no way that I can thank Christ enough for everything He has done for me.  I love my Savior with my whole heart and I think one thing that I can do to thank Him is serve a full-time mission and help bring His missing sheep back to the fold.

As I have been thinking about serving a mission I have decided that there is nothing bad that comes out of serving.  It is going to bless me for the rest of my life.  I will learn how to be more outgoing, more loving of people I don't even know and less judgmental.  It is going to help me come closer to my Father in Heaven and also Jesus Christ.  A mission is going to help me be more sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  Not only is it going to bless me but it is also going to bless my family and my future family.  All I have ever wanted to be when I was older was a mom.  Going on a mission is only going to help me be a better mom and wife to my future family.  I am will be a better teacher, more patient and also more loving.

I know this gospel is true and that my Savior lives and I can't wait to share that message with the amazing people that I am going to serve... and hopefully I find out who those people are soon!!

Remember who you are and what you stand for!

Kali :)