Sister Missionary To Be!

For the last few months, I've had the opportunity to teach several Gospel Principle classes. And may I just say, I LOVE IT! I love seeing the faces of my friends, and of people that are investigating the church and I share with them the lesson of the week and sharing my testimony of them. Throughout these last few months, I've had several opportunities to teach several classes, whether it was my Pathway class or Gospel Principles, and I've been told that I have a knack for teaching. So whenever I get the opportunity to, I take advantage of it with nothing but positive intent.

The joy that I feel, knowing that I am helping strengthen somebody's testimony and helping lead them closer to our Father in Heaven is one of the sweetest gifts I think I've ever received. I honestly love knowing that I am doing what I am suppose to do while here, and that's serving and loving others. Which leads to the topic of MY MISSION!!! I honestly can not wait, I have two years to go until I am old enough and this is the time that I am going to need to exercise patience like a mad woman! Which is a battle I definitely will be battling for years to come, and I know that for a fact. My age has always been a struggle for me, my entire life that's what I've been the most self conscious about surprisingly! I've always been the youngest, and now that I am a member of the church and everything has gone so well, smoothly and quickly; I feel like the next step is to go through the temple and go on a mission. But of course, I'm too young. And that is probably going to be the most excruciating thing I'm going to have to deal with for the rest of this time. But I definitely have some pretty exciting things to help occupy myself until then! Like UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY! I'm EXTREMELY stoked about that, I get to go to college finally, I am going to be closer to my best friends Savannah and Emily AND several of the great missionaries that I've gotten close with since their on their mission down here [including Elder Saager] will be up in that area shortly after their missions. So it's not all that bad!

Now, back to the mission thing. Something that my lovely Relief Society President Jeni Perez told me one day really touched my heart and I feel will honestly help me through these next two years. ALONG with a story she shared with me when she heard about my relationships with my missionaries.

So, when I was expressing my frustration in not being old enough to go on a mission and she told me that there is a reason for that. Out there somewhere are people that are preparing to be ready to receive the Gospel and they are being prepared for me. Me, Mary-Kate, I am going to be the one that will be ready to share the Gospel with them and help lead them properly into the waters of baptism. There's always a reason for everything and I am very thankful for her sharing that with me.

THEN, there's the story. Which I've heard several times before she shared it with me. I am so thankful for this story, because I truly believe that my missionaries, Elder Saager and Elder Malietoa were my close friends in the preexistence and this story is very applicable to my conversion story, my life now and my friendships with my missionaries.

The following event took place in a ward in Salt Lake City in 1974. It ocurred during the sacrament meeting and was told to me by a regional representative of the Twelve who was in the meeting. A young man, just before leaving on his mission stood in sacrament meeting and bore in essence the following:

Brothers and sisters, as you know, the past two weeks I have been waiting for my mission call. During the time I was waiting I had a dream. I knew it was not an ordinary dream. I dreamed I was in the pre-existence and awaiting my call to come to earth. I was filled with the same anticipation and excitement that I had before I received my mission call. In my dream I was talking to a friend, and I felt a special closeness to him, even though I have never met him in this life. As we talked a messenger came and gave me a letter. I knew it was my call to go to earth. In great excitement my friend and I opened the letter. I gave it to him and asked him to read it aloud. It said:

“You’ve been called to go to earth in a special time and to a special land. You will be born to the true church and you will have the priesthood of God in your home. You will be born into a land of plenty, and a land of frreedom. You will go to earth in the United States of America.”

My friend and I rejoiced as we read my call, and while we were rejoicing the messenger r eturned. This time he had a letter for my friend. We knew it was his call to earth. My friend gave me the letter to read out loud. His letter said:

“You’ve been called to go to earth in circumstances of poverty and strife. You will not be raised in the true church. Many hardships will attend your life. Your land will be fraught with political and social difficulties which will hinder the work of the Lord. You will be born in Costa Rica.”

We wept, my friend and I, as we read his call. And my friend looked at me with tears in his eyes, and said, “When we are down on earth, you in your choice land and me in Costa rica, my friend, please come and find me.”

Then this young missionary, with tears in his eyes, said. “Brothers and sisters, I have received my mission call, I ‘m going to Costa Rica.”

There is a sequel to this story. About a year after the sacrament meeting, the bishop received a letter from the missionary in Costa Rica. The letter had one sheet of paper in it and on that sheet written in capital letters were four words:

I FOUND MY FRIEND

My testimony continues to grow and strengthen with every day that I choose to live a Christ like life and follow the commandments. I also can not wait to go forth and spread Heavenly Father's word with the rest of the world! But until then, I'll prepare myself for that time, so then things will go just the way they need to be.