I Will Go Where You Want Me To Go

I only made it one month blogging in Spain. After my bag/camera was stolen I gave up on a lot of the documenting goals I had and just lived it up. I've been back in the US of A for almost 6 months now and although I will love those people and cherish those memories forever, it feels like a million worlds away.
In 6 days I'm off to my next adventure, which also happens to include international travel. However as I prepare for this one, I know that it will be a polar opposite experience to my Study Abroad.

On September 25, 2013 I will report to the Mexico City Missionary Training Center to begin my 18 month mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. After six weeks in the MTC I will be preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Spanish language in the Sacramento California area. This is a video that is a little glimpse of what I will be doing! A day in the life of a Mormon Missionary:




A few people have asked me why I want to go on a mission. I'd like to share a little bit of history behind making this decision.
I cannot remember a time that I did not cling to a 10 year life plan. I cannot remember a time when a mission was not nestled securely under the "Age 21" spot in that plan.
Everytime that I doubted that a mission was right for me, the Lord always brought me some sort of experience to reaffirm my knowledge that I am meant to go on a mission.
Most of these doubts revolved around the fact that Sister Missionaries were able to serve missions as early as age 21. However I was going to be able to finish my Undergraduate studies at age 20 and I was not sure how to fill that gap in time. I did a lot of worrying about timing, and a lot of revising and reorganizing of my 10 year life plan.
Then, in October of 2012, the leaders of our Church made an amazing, history changing announcement. The missionary age requirement was lowered, for Sister missionaries to 19 years of age. This was an answer to my prayers, and undoubtedly the prayers of thousands of Sisters around the world. It is an amazing and exciting time to serve a mission. Upwards of 50 new missions have opened up since that announcement. For the first time in history there are more sisters in the Missionary Training Center in Provo Utah than Elders. They opened a new MTC in Mexico City, where I will be attending in a week. I will be in the third set of missionaries to go through training at the Mexico MTC. Missionary work is picking up with more enthusiasm than ever before.
I began preparing for a mission wholeheartedly. However, questions of timing and doubts of my purpose eventually filled my mind once more. I decided that I didn't think it was a part of what the Lord had planned for me to serve a mission. However, in the same hour that I vocalized this decision for the first time, to not serve a mission, I received a letter from a friend who was serving a mission at that time. He hadn't heard from me in months and had no idea of the thoughts and feelings I had been having about a mission. And yet, somehow his letter directly addressed everyone of my concerns, reasons and excuses for not serving a mission. It was as though he had listened to the conversation I'd had only minutes earlier. The Spirit of the Lord testified to me in that moment that a mission is exactly where my Heavenly Father wanted me to be.
That experience was nearly a year ago, and I have had similar ones time and time again, always reminding me that whatever God has planned for me is so much better than the crazy ideas I get in my head sometimes. As far as my current feelings, I have to admit, I'm not 100% sure. I am not nervous. I am not even really excited yet. It doesn't feel real. But I do, for sure, feel ready to go. I got my call several months ago and I have had way too long to think, worry, stress and agonize over my mission. I have talked myself in and out of it and really struggled with the decision to go, even after my call came. I thought that these struggles would lessen once I got my mission call and things were set. I will testify that they got harder, and I truly struggle against the Adversary in his efforts to prevent me from serving. I never expected to feel doubt after my call was here and everything was official. That's how Satan works though, I believe. I believe he is desperate for me not to go on a mission because of the people I will touch. I believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ can bring a soul more joy and peace than any earthly substance or activity that exists. My Spiritual experiences and testimony are what have carried me through my emotional rollercoaster of a summer and have brought me to where I am now.
 One week away from leaving for the very mission that I have prepared for my entire life.
 So now you know how I came to a place in my life, when asked the question: Where in the World is Emily Hurley? I can definitively say: I'm exactly where the Lord wants me to be.