Even Pocatello, Idaho

My mission call has been assigned. There is an actual place that I will be going for the next 18 months. This is real life. I am so excited and nervous to see where the Lord would have me serve! I've never been out of the country, so a foreign mission would be way cool! I'm not sure of the church's protocol concerning amputees so it's possible that I will be called to serve in the states for medical reasons, but I've never been to a state that wasn't bordering Utah, so that would probably feel foreign to me too. Everyone always jokes about getting called to Pocatello, Idaho. What if I get called there? That would be sad. I would love to learn Spanish. I've always wanted to go to Italy. One of the new missions would be cool. There are just so many possibilities! These are the thoughts that are going through my mind right now.

But I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and I've come to a conclusion: It doesn't matter. I am not serving a mission for me. I am serving a mission because I want to serve my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I am serving a mission because I have been blessed with something that makes me so extremely happy and I want everyone else to know what I know so they can be happy too. I am serving a mission because the Lord wants me to. I am serving a mission because God loves each of His children and He wants them to know that. He wants ALL of them to return to Him. All of them. It has been stated that "This gospel shall be preached unto every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." (D&C 133:36) We are all included in that, every single one of us. I'm from Utah, Mormon central, and how many people do I know that have yet to hear this glorious gospel? The answer is a lot, including members of my family and some of my closest friends. 

So you see, it doesn't matter. No matter where I go, there will be people that our Heavenly Father loves more than you or I can even imagine. Even in Pocatello, Idaho. No matter where I go, there will be people who need the gospel of Jesus Christ. Even if it's Pocatello, Idaho. No matter where I go there will be people who are searching and "are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it." (D&C 123:12) The Lord has a work for me to do. It may be in Spain, or Italy, or Australia, or it may be in California or Wisconsin but no matter where I am called, I will be happy. Even if it's Pocatello, Idaho :)