mission calls and a special halloween.

 Much of our Halloween was the same as most, we (Lee) dressed up, we had our bowl of treats ready for the trick-or-treaters and we had our traditional chilli, hot cider and doughnuts with family.  But the beginning and end of the day were what set this Halloween apart from others.  At 6 am Kev and I got texts telling us that our sister, Annie, had gotten her mission call. (In our neighborhood, missionaries get a call as soon as the mail is sorted in the morning.)
So, as if it were my own mission call all over again, I had a hard time sleeping after that.  But Annie (and everyone else) had obligations that kept us from finding out where she'd go until 7:30 that evening. 

*How quickly this is all devoured. :)*

Needless to say, having Annie decide to serve as a full-time missionary for our church for a year and a half has brought back tons of memories from my own experience both from deciding to serve a mission and as a missionary.  Serving as a full-time missionary is absolutely a unique time in a person's life and one that would be impossible to forget.

 Here are some of the moments Kev captured as Annie read and shared her mission call with all of us. (several computers and iPhone facetime-s were also set up so friends and extended family could participate.)

*Perth Australia Mission. *

Our cousin got her mission call the same night and is also called to serve in Australia. (in the Sydney mission) She and Annie report to the MTC on the same day.

(Here's a New York Times article that Annie was featured in regarding her decision to serve.)

 Since Annie's call I pulled out my missionary journal and started to read through the first few entries.  My mission is the one time in my entire life that I have consistently written in a journal daily and now I cherish the recorded memories. I was shocked at how many emotions I felt as I re-read my entries from MY first few days in the MTC.

*my missionary journal.*

*entry from my first full day as a missionary.*

As I was reading through entries from my first few days in the MTC I came across this entry;

-march.19.07 monday-
"...It's been a good day.  I felt so strongly today that I'm completely inadequate to share the Gospel, I can't do it myself...this scripture in Matthew really struck me, 

"I will make you fishers of men..."

It just hit me, Christ makes us missionaries. We really aren't alone."

As I read this today I was again struck by the power of Christ's promise in this scripture, He will make us capable of whatever it is that He has called us to do, whether it be full-time missionaries, wives, mothers, sisters, teachers, friends, leaders, daughters or whatever else we may be called on to do.  We don't have to become on our own.  Christ's Atonement enables us to be whatever it is that we need to be.  Just as He helps us as missionaries, so He helps us in every day of our lives as we struggle through our weaknesses and imperfections to serve Him.