my farewell

Hello, friends! Here it is-- my mission farewell talk given in sacrament meeting last Sunday, March 16, 2014. I thought I'd put a copy of it up for anyone to read, because I know many of you couldn't make it there! 

Missionary work is awesome. I can not believe how fast that this 5 months has gone since I got my call. It FLEW by. Here I am... 19 days until departure! I am so incredibly excited to serve the Lord and the people of the Dominican Republic. 

¡La Iglesia es verdadero, el libro es azul!

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B12f2-Huo3T_TXd4WXNjNUxxT1U/edit

stake conference talk

I had the incredible opportunity of speaking at the Saturday evening session of the Loveland, Colorado Stake Conference on January 18, 2014. I was asked to speak about my conversion story and my decision to serve a mission. I had a wonderful time preparing, and I felt like the talk itself went incredibly well! I have had many people ask me for a copy of it, so by popular demand, I am posting it to my blog! Feel free to read it, print it out, share it, I don't care! I did not change anything. The link is below. Enjoy!

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B12f2-Huo3T_M1kzb3JLYjhVRzg/edit

the mission decision

Here we were-- September of 2013, a year after my baptism. In that year that passed, I received my patriarchal blessing, received my temple recommend and participated in baptisms for the dead, received my first callings in the Church, got a job as a cafeteria worker at the Missionary Training Center, and began my education at Brigham Young University.

I had not yet had any desire to serve a mission. I looked at myself as one who did not know enough or was too new for it. It seemed scary, and I didn’t want to give into any pressure I was getting from other members to serve. I wanted to be here waiting for Quinn, or Elder Benson (who is serving in the California Fresno Mission), when he got home. I had (in my mind) decided that I was not going to serve a mission.

Well, Heavenly Father had a different plan for me. Every Sunday night at BYU, I went to tunnel singing, where a very large group of students get together and sing hymns in the huge tunnel by the Marriott Center. It is a magical experience. The Spirit is always so strong. In the middle of our singing, everyone who had recently received a mission call would stand up and announce where they were going. I had gone to tunnel singing for several weeks already, and had not felt anything more than happiness for these future missionaries. But one week in particular, I did feel something more. The Spirit was so strong. I suddenly felt this overwhelming desire to serve a mission. I could see myself standing up and announcing where I would be called to. As soon as tunnel singing was over, I tried to convince myself that it was not a big deal and that I couldn’t change my mind about not serving a mission. It didn’t work, though.

After that night, a mission is all I could think about. A few days later, I confided in my roommate and told her about my feelings, and that night, we stayed up until 2:00 in the morning talking about missionary work. After that, I knew I had a lot of thinking and praying to do. All of that week, I kept thinking about it. I just couldn’t get it out of my mind! It was not a very subtle way for Heavenly Father to let me know what he wanted me to do—that’s for sure!My roommate and I both had big decisions to make that week and decided to spend that next weekend going to all the temples in the area so that we could clear our minds and sort out all these feelings we were having. We decided to go to the Salt Lake Temple on Friday night, September 27^th. We went and sat in front of the Christus in the visitor’s center so that we could have some time to study scriptures and really ponder all our options. At this point, I knew that serving a mission is what Heavenly Father wanted me to do. He made it pretty obvious. What I was struggling with was finally telling myself that it is what I was going to do—I needed to make the decision and act. Honestly, I was scared. I didn’t feel qualified.

I read through several scriptures—Doctrine and Covenants Sections 4 and 31 are incredible sections for missionary work. There is one verse in particular, though, that stood out to me as I was reading. My favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon is 3 Nephi 11. I seem to always find answers and help there. For some reason, I received a prompting that I should read this chapter again. I thought, “Silly Spirit, I have read this chapter many times. There is nothing about missionary work in it!” Again, I felt as though I needed to read 3 Nephi 11, so I did. And when I got to the last verse in this chapter, I began to cry. It says, “Therefore, go forth unto this people, and declare the words which I have spoken, unto the ends of the earth.” After reading this, I set down my scriptures and looked up towards the Christus standing in front of me. There He was—His loving arms outstretched offering me comfort and solace. I knew that it is what I needed to do. As scared as I was, I knew that my Savior, Jesus Christ would always be there to comfort me and help me to preach His gospel. On that night, the day before the one year anniversary of my baptism, I decided to serve a mission.

I made an appointment to meet with my bishop that Sunday, and he was rather shocked to say the least. We began my papers, and I submitted them three weeks later. On November 6, 2013, I received my mission call.

I have been called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have been assigned to labor in the Dominican Republic Santo Domingo East Mission for a period of 18 months speaking the Spanish language. I report to the Dominican Republic Missionary Training Center on April 9, 2014. I have been recommended as one worthy to represent the Lord as a minister of the restored gospel. What an honor this is.

I am so excited to serve a mission. I know that it is what Heavenly Father wants me to do. It is my responsibility to help bring the restored gospel to all the world! How exciting it is that I get to share my testimony with the people of the Dominican Republic so that they, too, can feel the love from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that I feel. I am so grateful that someone as imperfect as me is able to share such a perfect message. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true restored church of Christ here on the earth, and that Heavenly Father loves all of His children unconditionally. I am so excited to be Hermana Lang!

Thinking about a mission? Pray. Read your patriarchal blessing. Pray. Study scriptures. Pray. Heavenly Father knows what is best for you, and will help you to make the decision. If it feels right, start your papers. You will quickly find out whether it is the right decision or not. For me, it was, but you must be willing to follow the Lord's plan for you-- not your own. 

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8-9