As many of you know, I will soon be embarking on one of the most grand adventures of my life, namely, a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Nevada Las Vegas Mission! I cannot even begin to express to you how thrilled I am for the wonderful opportunity this will be for me. I know that as I serve our Savior I will be blessed beyond measure, and I hope to be a blessing to His children as I try to share his light and his love.
Despite my efforts in trying to prepare myself for my mission, I'm not sure I will fully appreciate and realize the change it will have on my life until I'm there. And I really don't think I can prepare myself enough. In any case, I'm trying to put myself in more of a missionary mind-set. Not only regarding the preaching the gospel aspect of it, but in the habits and routines that I will have to change. LDS missionaries follow a strict schedule and set of rules that most definitely make the missionary population a culture in and of itself. Therefore, in my efforts to avoid what might be an inevitable culture shock, I've started to give myself a bit of a life makeover, if you will. This blog is part of that makeover.
This blog was born for the purpose of a scholastic journal for a class I was taking a few years ago in the Occupational Therapy program at ISU, and once the class had ended I continued to write in it for more personal reasons. Up to this point it has held the title of "Once Upon an Occupation" with this description:
"Occupation: Things we do to occupy our time. Every day we engage in occupations. Some things we have to do, and some things we want to do; they add meaning to our lives. This is a blog about the things I do that add meaning to my life. My adventures, my sentiments, my discoveries, my goals...the things that keep me going. This is me trying new things. This is me having an open mind. This is me exploring the world of occupation. Watch me grow."
As I transition into this next stage of my life, I would like to dedicate my blog to the recording and emission of my mission experiences. A friend of mine will be responsible for transferring my weekly emails onto the blog and posting to social media for anyone who would like to read them. This way I do not fill up your inbox's with emails you might not actually ever read, but that you would feel bad deleting! :)
My patriarchal blessing tells me that I will make constructive transitions from each season of life into the following one and will find opportunity to serve and contribute in each succeeding set of circumstances. I have to confess to you that I'm leaning on that phrase for a lot of support right now. I'm leaving behind an amazing and wonderful man who says he will wait for me, a good job that I absolutely love, an amazing ward, and my comfort zone. I have no money. I don't feel prepared. I might not like my companion. I'm going to sweat to death down there. I'm just a little... scared. However, I know without a doubt that as I replace my fear with faith and trust the Lord's will, he will provide for me in every sense. I will be just fine as I prepare, as I go, and as I come back. I will be more than fine! Because I am doing his work. I am willing to build his kingdom, and he will be with me every step of the way.Part of my previous blog description still stands: Watch me grow!
Yours Truly,
The future Sister Porter
