Hello all, I just want to start this post, and give thanks to all who read my post and or comment. I appreciate the time you will have taken, as it is a valuable resource! A little about myself, I'm a 20 year old male, who left the church after high school to persue a college degree. About two months ago, I found my way back to church, and have never had so much joy in my life. My life was in ruins, and I felt without direction, and by way of the Holy Ghost, I was made known unto that the Lord wants me to serve a mission. I never had a desire to go on a mission, and was often asked under immense pressure whether I would go, since right before I turned 18, the church lowered the age from 19 to 18. I did not have a testimony of the Gospel then, and the pressure pushed me further away. Anyways, to the meat and potatoes of this thread. While attending college in the fall of 2013, I catastrophically failed, and walked away with a fair chunk of debt. In the range of around 10,000. Student loans only cover around 10 %, since I dropped out. The remaining 90 % is with a debt collection agency. Which I might add, will not take payments. They only want the full amount. I spoke with my bishop this week, and we got everything on paper. He was very encouraging, but even he had a hard time seeing the options I had available. I found it terribly difficult to even tell him I wanted to serve, because I knew this issue was going to hold me down. I'm searching for advice. In regards to the mission fund itself, my father recommended that I reach out to my extended family (many of which, prior to my coming back to church, voiced their willingness to support me financially for a mission in some way). He also said he would maintain any payments I had while I was gone. However, I'm still very unclear on how this would work. He says that while my sister was on her mission, he paid her student loans. That would be all well and good if I owed the full amount to the Federal Government. I owe the majority, however, to a debt collector. I've looked into personal loans, which don't look promising.. And to be honest every time I think about it, I get an overwhelming cloud of fear. I think I've pretty well explained my situation, and I don't expect a crystal clear answer from anyone, but any advice is much appreciated. I've been praying a lot, studying my scriptures a lot, and fasting. I have tremendous faith, but I fear my doubts outweigh my faith.
