In the beginning...

As you may know, I've been called to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the China Hong Kong Mission. I start on May 23rd, and will be gone for 18 months sharing the gospel in Cantonese. I've set up this blog for my family to post my letters to them (minus the family stuff, obviously) on here so people can read my weekly letters without spamming their inboxes.

So how did all this begin?

First off, let's explain a few things. Though for young men in the church it is generally expected that they serve missions, for the women it is completely by choice. Guys go when they are 19 for 2 years, and girls go when they are 21 or older for 18 months. We don't get to choose where we go; it is chosen by church leaders guided by the will of the Lord. I won't have access to facebook, and can only email my family, meaning that old-fashioned letter writing will be my primary form of communication with friends. (Or for those of you that are more hassle-averse, dearelder.com is a great and easy substitute!)

Both of my parents served missions, my dad in Taiwan, and my mom in Hong Kong. When I was little, I assumed I would go because my mom went. My sister told my mom today that she remembers me saying when I was little that I would go on a mission to mainland China, where the communist government has banned our missionaries. But now that Hong Kong is part of China, I technically will be!

As I got older and realized how difficult a mission would be, however, I became less enthused about the idea. I decided that unless I felt prompted by the Holy Ghost to serve a mission, I would be content to stay home and live my life out in peace.

About a year ago, I attended a missionary prep Sunday School class that my ward (congregation) was holding. At this point I wasn't even planning on thinking about a mission for another 3 or 4 months, but figured it couldn't hurt to go. In this first class I felt the Spirit of God pour out upon me, testifying to me the importance of missionary work and filling me with excitement over sharing something that has brought such great joy in my life with others. That's when the thought hit me like a ton of bricks: "Audrey, this is for you."

Later I tried not to think about that thought too much, attributing it to being caught up in the spirit of the lesson. However, it kept pestering me and guilt-tripping me to the extent that I knew that it was more than that--that this was the voice of the Spirit. After struggling over this prompting for some time, I finally decided to go. At that moment I felt the Spirit overwhelm me so that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that serving a mission is what God wants me to do.

Fast forward to the end of February--I get my mission call to serve in Hong Kong.

It was like all the pieces had suddenly fit together. I was really into China as a kid because I thought the Great Wall was the coolest. Both my parents served Chinese missions. The first person I gave a Book of Mormon to was Chinese. I had 3 Chinese friends get baptized between October and January, and I had begun to get so excited about how wonderful and awesome and open-hearted the Chinese people are. When I read "Hong Kong," on my mission call, it was so unexpected, but felt so perfect.

I'm slightly nervous, but mostly excited. I know that because this is what God wants me to do, and because He loves his children and wants them to hear the glorious message of the gospel, He will help me every step of the way.


Also, I think this would be a great time for you to start having a pen pal.