naebug

Older can be awesomer! I can't help grinning at the way you make 21 sound like a decrepit 80 yrs. If you are stabilized, then I would say go ahead and put it in gear to start the mission process. If all that is holding you back is feeling too old and a fear about debilitating depression that may or may NOT recur...I say go for it! Good luck, and prayers for you.

Congrats and well wishes!

Good luck and well done!

Hello Sena. The other posts are spot on and I would say listen to them. Living with fear is far worse than facing what is causing your fear. Dread creates so much foulness. It is like foulness squared, because your actions, while over, are still creating more and more darkness and sorrow and foulness inside you. This is the terrible beauty of the Atonement. Repentance brings about peace, so that you can stop making wrong choices, stop living in fear and dread and come back to Heavenly Father and the path that will take you to him. Repentance and forgiveness and restitution allows you to walk forward away from this, while taking the hard knowledge you have learned with you. Wisdom is highly rated and prayed for but GAINING it is glossed over a bit, eh? Go talk to your Bishop. I sympathize with you. You can do this. You will also find the relief you are seeking.

Glad you liked it Beefche. Oh, and you are very welcome Edge. Tickled I could help. Honestly if I could stand outside the MTC one day and just tell each Elder And Sister what a wonderful choice they had made and how excited and proud I was for them I would. Somehow I dont think the management would be down with that though. That and I live so far from Utah. hehehehe.

I have to de-lurk here and contribute. I ditto everything already said above, and I would like to add something. Speaking as a convert who just one month ago reached her one year anniversary I say even when you are nervous or afraid or lonely keep driving on. The missionaries who taught me and my son and baptized us are forever in our prayers and I know there are so many people you will benefit as you go out on your mission. One more big thing to remember (IMHO) is that even if you do not SEE results do not let discouragement eat you up. You will never really know what seeds are sprouting after you have finished an encounter. One missionary left before I even went to church once, but his teaching and his love impacted my choice to be baptized and grow in faith. So if you get down, remember that. You may have planted the seed another missionary will tend to later. I am so excited for you and I will keep you in my prayers. There is a verse in D&C 50...it is about he that reeiveth and he that teacheth, both are edified and rejoice. (from memory, so could be very off on the wording) but it is true. You will see and you will rejoice with those you teach and help. PS I write letters to lots of friends and family. If you would like shoot me a PM with your mailing addy when you get it and I will add you to my snail mail zoo.

Hello and well done becoming a missionary. I am a brand new member. So new I still squeak when I walk into the chapel. Your worry and concern speaks well of you and your future ability. I agree with all the advice already listed above but I would also add one more thing. You will be coming into contact with so many different kinds of people. Do not get judgemental. Dont be a pushover,either....but especially with the difficult people find a way to know them as your brother or sister and love them. Then get all missiony and teach....but look for love and mutual respect first. Your investigators will always remember their elders. Oh, and also...if you do get discouraged, dont give in to it. Remember you may not be there to teach and baptize a person, but only to be the farmer planting a seed for a future harvest. In fact, you may never know or find out how you layed a foundation for someone to make this step years after you left....there is one elder due to transfers and going home that I think does not know that I did the dunk, and that he was part of this....so...never ever give in to discouragement, despair or worry that you are wasting time. Be well soon-to-be elder

The article was a good read, and I do appreciate how the writer put it out there hoping for discussion. I disagree with him. Women are the most vicious towards women. I know, I am one. When i find myself being that way I shut it down as quick as I can. The trick is becoming aware of it. I find the older I get the more I notice it in myself and work on changing. This is not the fault of males. We need to stop blaming males for all the troubles in the world and in our homes and in our relationships with each other, self and god. I resent listening to so many other women man-bashing. I love my son and do not want him to grow up into such a world. I speak as an older, non-surgeried, slighlty overweight convert single mother. Whenever I hear such degrading thought-loops rolling in my head I cut them off, I do not blame men.

Hey there. Just a quick note of encouragement from me. I dont have an answer for you,s orry. I am also biased. I am a new convert and owe quite a bit to all the missionaries that came throughmy door. From the receiving end I can tell you how very important the missions are. I was also in the Army a very long time ago. It was hard, difficult irritating and great and wonderful and I learned so much....all at the same time. Pray. Pray about it. Then take some time. Do the CPR for the soul....Church, Prayer, and Reading your scripture....then take it again to the lord. My personal bias would be....get right, serve a mission, enlist. Just cuz.... Good luck

Thanks slamjet. Your input is great and NOT flip at all. I already do that. Sometimes I fear I may irritate them at times...I sign up regularly to feed them and I ask once a week if their meals are full for the week and if not I tell them to come on and eat, do they need cleaning/paper goods for the apartment, medicines...I stop sometimes in the middle of my sentence and apologize if I am irritating them...i just want to make sure they have what they need. I do go when they ask....I just realized when reading this young mans post that maybe I was not doing enough and could do better. I really am blessed and feel a responsiblility to assist/help/feed the missionaries as they transfer in and out. I also figure it isnt just because I owe them, but I want to help others go out and meet and teach others who are now like I was... ps Part of my question was because I have trouble sometimes with the feelings/emotion thing...this post made me remember that they may be feeling low/down/stressed....I was curious as to what else helps....dont most missionaries get tended and fed by their wards? thanks

Hi there. I am a recent convert and lurker here at the site. I decided I needed to chime in with some support and a question for you. I hope I help, and that you can help me. As I was going through lessons the transfers whizzed and one of my original elders never even knew I had converted and been baptized, and I will most likely never be able to tell him thank you personally. So keep that in mind. You may not know what effect you have had on a person as you pass through there life but odds are you have positively and lovingly affected them. ok, my question. How do I spot a missionary who may be having a hard time, or a despondant time, or just need some form of support so they can buck up and go on? I mean, I OWE missionaries quite a bit, and if I could give back in the future and help support them in their task I would love to know how. thanks.

Merry Christmas! I am at work and tooling around the site to help stay awake. I just wanted to say I watched the presentation and liked it, as far as it went. It is ironic too because I am very firmly in the stage 3 grouping and decided to move into the stage 2 zone before seeing the presentation. At least now I have a name or label to hang onto my singleness issues. Thanks for posting it.

thanks everyone.

Hi everyone. Not only am I new here, but I am a brandnew Mormon as well. I was baptized in September. I figured I would say hi as I start tooling around the site, poking and reading. Hi everyone!