All my life, I have gone on and off about wanting to serve a mission. Three of my aunts have served and they have always been role models in my life, but sometimes I just didn't want to serve. For those of you who know about patriarchal blessings, mine was pretty specific that I would serve before I get married. I still went on and off about wanting to serve. The fall semester of college was a little bit difficult for me. I am in the Marriage and Family Studies program at BYU-Idaho and I learned a lot about motherhood and knew that was something I was supposed to do. But I was purposely putting aside marriage possibilities in order to serve a mission. You see, at this time men had to wait until they were 19 to serve a mission and women until 21. I felt pretty confused. As General Conference was coming up, I decided to pray about missions. The Sunday before conference, I fasted to know if I should go and if it was my choice. That whole week was pretty hard for me. I was getting mixed signals, but also some great advice from family members. On Friday night, I knelt down and prayed to my Heavenly Father about serving a mission. I said, "Heavenly Father, if I could go right now, I would leave. But I don't want to wait a year and a half to go. I know you want me to serve, but I need some counsel during conference this weekend to help motivate me to serve a mission." The next morning I said another quick pray, got ready, and walked to the Taylor building to watch conference. When President Thomas S. Monson got up to speak, I got a little feeling that this was going to be important. He was talking about temples, which is always exciting to hear about. Then he started talking about missionary work. I knew this was going to be my answer. I didn't know what was going to happen, but I knew a big change was coming. Then he started talking about 18-year-old missionaries and I knew the age was going to change. I didn't know what to think when President Monson announced that women could not serve a mission at the age of 19. I literally sat there in shock. One of my best friends, Chelcie, called me a few times and then sent me a text telling me I had to pick up the phone. I was still in shock and couldn't tell you what Elder Cook was talking about, so I stepped out and called her back. All she said was "Wynter." over and over again. Then she asked, "What are you going to do?" It was then that the words of my prayer the night before echoed in my ears, "If I could leave now, I would." I worked at the Online Support Center at the college and had just that week told students about the tuition refund policy. I knew that if I left school that Monday, I could get enough refunded to make it worth it. Financially, I would be better off if I left right then. I talked to my friend about it and got off the phone.
After the session ended, a friend and I went to lunch. I couldn't eat much and we talked about my options. I called my Home Teachers and asked them to give me a priesthood blessing. They said they would come over that night. I spoke with my family and they said if I wanted to come home, they could pick me up that Friday. Everything was falling into place. On Sunday, I fasted to know if I should leave, but I basically knew at that point that I would be moving home. Sunday night I talked to my Supervisor at work and told her I might be leaving. She said she had a hunch and we'd work it out on Monday. I went to my last shift at work and then sat down with my boss and did what I could to help him find a replacement as well as pass my work on to other coworkers. I talked with admissions and accounting and then dropped my classes. I talked to my boss at McDonalds back home on Facebook. She said my brother already talked to her and she would put me on the next schedule. I also talked with my bishop at home and he said I could meet with him about starting my mission papers on Sunday. Tuesday morning, my mom called and asked if they could pick me up Wednesday! I frantically packed and invited basically all of my friends over for dinner that night instead of spreading my time out between them all. Wednesday afternoon, my parents showed up, packed my stuff into the car and we drove home that night. In mid-December I got my mission call to the Canada Toronto Mission leaving February 13, 2013.
Now here I am, just over 3 months since the age change and less than a month away from leaving to the MTC. I can't believe how much has happened in such a short period of time. I am so excited to serve the people of Canada. I am also so grateful for the support system I have at home and the help they have been to me. I try to keep everyone posted on my address and how life is up there. Thank you all!
