I received my mission call to the Arizona Mesa Mission.
I was studying in the MC building at BYU-I when I received a phone call from my roommate, I answered the phone to hear excited screaming on the other end... Somehow among-st the screams I deciphered, "Your mission call is here!!" My hands started to shake as I tried to pack up my laptop and books. My heart was pounding and as I rushed to leave, my hand hit my fruit cup -- sending pair and peach chunks flying all over the table... Classic me.
I ran from the MC to our apartment, frosty Rexburg "spring" air blowing my hair all directions. I made it home and my roommates were thoughtful enough to leave my call in the mailbox so I could open and take it out myself -- so sweet. I called my mom to let her know and then...... the wait began. (I had to wait for my dad to return home from work so I could Skype my family as I opened the call that held the news for where I would spend the next year and a half of my life)
A few hours later, I tore right into that packet! My heart was pounding still and I felt as if I was having an out of body experience (so dramatic, right?) My lips stumbled as I tried to read aloud the words, "Dear Sister Kohler..." A bit of disappointment hit my stomach when I read the words, "Arizona Mesa" and then shock when I read "Mesa Temple Visitors' Center".
For anyone who asked me where I wanted to go, I had three responses: foreign, or anywhere Spanish speaking, and NO visitors' centers!
I WAS so excited to finally have my call, there was never a thought to not accept it. I had a testimony of prophets and of modern day revelation, I knew my call came from God. But was I not good enough to go to Germany, or to learn Spanish? Was I just a nice girl, to be the "face of the Church" in a visitors' center, as some people had said?
I remember talking to my older (and wiser) brother, and sharing these feelings with him. Then he asked me a question that I already knew the answer to but that really shocked me at the time, "Bekah, why are you serving a mission? Is it because you want to have an adventure? Or is it because you want to serve the Lord?" Of course I wanted to serve the Lord! I would go anywhere and do whatever He wanted me to do. And that became enough.
>><<
March 8, 2015
A year later and eight months into my mission...
"... whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." D&C 1:38
There is no question in my mind whether I was called by God or not. Whether this is where I'm meant to be at this time or not. I have witnessed many miracles. I have seen people change, most of all I have changed. I have gained a stronger assurance now, more than ever before, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; that the Book of Mormon is true and it is the word of God, that Joseph Smith is the prophet of the Restoration, that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet today, and that God surely does love His children.
I am meant to be here, yes in Mesa, Arizona; spending half of my days so near to the house of the Lord. I wouldn't trade this time for anything else in the world. For this is where I have come to know God.
Your call, where ever it may be, whether it's where you wanted to go or not will become a sacred place for you, if you will let it. You might find yourself calling it "the promised land" or "the waters of Mormon" or even "Zion". You will never love any place quite the same as the place where you have been called to serve.
"... whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." D&C 1:38
There is no question in my mind whether I was called by God or not. Whether this is where I'm meant to be at this time or not. I have witnessed many miracles. I have seen people change, most of all I have changed. I have gained a stronger assurance now, more than ever before, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; that the Book of Mormon is true and it is the word of God, that Joseph Smith is the prophet of the Restoration, that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet today, and that God surely does love His children.
I am meant to be here, yes in Mesa, Arizona; spending half of my days so near to the house of the Lord. I wouldn't trade this time for anything else in the world. For this is where I have come to know God.
Your call, where ever it may be, whether it's where you wanted to go or not will become a sacred place for you, if you will let it. You might find yourself calling it "the promised land" or "the waters of Mormon" or even "Zion". You will never love any place quite the same as the place where you have been called to serve.
