I Hope They Call Me on a Mission....

I had the coolest experience the other day that I always want to remember, hence I add it to my little e-journal I've got going here.

I never went on a mission, but have always had such a great respect for the wonderful people in my life who did serve. I've never considered myself a missionary, and in fact have always been so nervous about sharing my beliefs with strangers. I always get to upset with myself about that, because if I truly believe, then I should have no problem sharing it with others regardless of them accepting it or not- Something I have been working on. Well, recently our ward has been doing a continous fast to help boost our member missionary efforts. Our family took our turn a few weeks ago and I KNEW that opportunities would surely come, so I am going to have to get over this little shy thing of mine. Well, the other day my doorbell rang, and there stood a cute little black lady selling some cleaner of some type. She introduced herself and was really so sweet. So I listened to her schpeel on the cleaners and throughout the conversation just tried to make small talk with her. She was actually really fun to talk with and we laughed a little bit here and there. It wasn't too long into the cleaning demo I had an instant impression I needed to make a missionary opportunity out of it. I started asking questions about her and her job and found out that this cute little black girl was 20 year-old Carmelita from Detroit, Michigan who was hoping to start nursing school in January. We laughed at how our culture out here was pretty different from what she is used to back in inner-city Detroit. As the conversation was winding down, I asked her if she had heard of the church while being out here. She hadn't, and I continued to ask her if she belonged to any church of her own. She didn't. Now was my time. Normally, this is where my heart starts thumping out of my chest and I can't get myself to talk. But this time was different, and I suddenly felt like I knew just what I needed to say and the words just rolled out. I told her we belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and we believe in the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ which is a companion to the Bible. She was so cute and pulled out a paper and wrote down the name of the church and also the church website. (This is where I needed a spare copy of the BOM, and will definitely get some). I invited her to look it up when she gets back home, and if she has a chance on Sunday to find one of our churches. (She is staying in Beaver for a few weeks while they go around selling their cleaners). She was really open to hear me out and left with a smile. As the door closed, I realized I was feeling the Spirit so strongly and that I had truly been guided through my little missionary experience. I may never know what turns out with cute Carmelita, but I pray she also felt the Spirit and that a little seed was planted that hopefully in time will grow to give her the most incredible gift she could ever have. In no way do I mean to boast, because I have a LONG way to go. I also realize there was a lot of things I could have done differently. I konk myself over my head not finding out where she lived in Michigan so I could get the missionaries to her door. But I was so grateful for this little experience, as small as it was, to teach me that I can be a missionary. I look forward to future opportunities and hope that whenever someone comes to my door, even if they are trying to sell me cleaner, they will leave with much more than they came with and hopefully will be touched by the Spirit. I challenge those of you reading this to find missionary opportunities of your own. I would LOVE to hear your stories! Thank you to all you wonderful people out there who are such great examples to me and help me strive to be better.