For those of you that have served missions, you understand the exponential blessings that come to you and your family from your service. In your sacrifice you gain parts of yourself you never thought were possible and lose parts of yourself you never thought were detrimental. You come to find yourself in more ways than one can portray in a lifetime, let along a blog post. The following points are skills I gained from my service as a missionary that carries me though my life.
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1. making correct decisions | this has a lot to coming to know God and His light. He has given us Jesus Christ as an exemplar for each of us. I now know how to make correct decisions for my life, whether it be my major in college or the man I married. That is a whole other story, but let's just say I chose correctly and my consequences support that.
2. understanding my needs | I was always a people-pleaser growing up, not ever standing up for my own beliefs. I wanted to be accepted and so I went along with whatever was going on. Yet throughout my teenage years, I made great decisions. I grew to learn to respect myself. No drugs, sex, alcohol, etc. On my mission, I understood them greater and you want to know how I did that? By serving other people. I learned the most about myself when I was serving strangers.
3. building confidence | I could knock on strangers' doors and have them invite me in. I did this on a daily basis. I could challenge people to keep commitments and follow up with them. I could talk to people on the street. I discovered why I was out there and held true to my faith. I discovered I could do anything if I took the right path. I built confidence by coming to know my Savior, serving other people (amazing the repercussions of that choice), and learning I have a purpose.
4. knowing how to connect with people | Listening is the heart of any relationship [missionary work] I think. If you can learn to listen, you can instantly win the hearts of anyone in the room. You stand out. It's normal for us as human beings to want to be heard. It's takes patience, temperance, and love to listen, and really listen to what others' are saying. When you truly listen, you start to understand them, that that is the beginning of your connection.
5. organizing goals and priorities | Every day for 18 months I wrote down my life in a pocket-sized spiral notepad. Every evening my companion and I sat down and make goals on how many people we would talk to, which people we would extend commitments to, and personal spiritual/physical/mental goals. We then got into more depth every week in a weekly planning session. We even changed ideas and wrote down thoughts throughout the day. However, I only learned the importance of goals because I learned how to work.
6. how to work | Sadly, there are some people that do not know the value of work. My dear husband is one of those people that does truly have a testimony of work. Not just hard work, which is needed, but smart work. Learning how to get up, make goals, and to go work is invaluable in life. And I learned how to in Missouri.
7. strengthening relationships | I mentioned before how listening is truly a lost art and can take you miles. While I learned to gain trust and to trust, this point is mostly based on my family. I missed my family. I think it's true that absence makes the heart grow fonder. While I only heard from my family via a single email every week, I learned so much more about them. We actually had to tell each other stuff. We actually got to share our trials and hardships. We shared our feelings. It got raw and deep and beautiful. I learned how to connect with people, and in turn I learned how to strengthen the relationships that matter most.
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As I was preparing to leave the mission field and become a civilian again, many would ask this question: "What was the most important thing you learned on your mission?" If you've ever been asked that more than once, I bet you have answered differently each time. I know I have. But now that I've been home over 3 years, I think I have pinpointed the most important thing I have learned. I learned what the gospel is truly about: relationships. Relationships with strangers, with acquaintances, with co-workers, with friends, with family, with yourself, and most importantly, with God and Jesus Christ. The more I study, the more I am convinced.
What have you learned from your service?
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