So this is Kaitlyn.
I just wanted to post on here a little bit about my missionary experience since a lot of people have asked me about it. I don't think words can quite express how grateful I am for the opportunity I was given to serve in the New York, New York North mission. The best mission for me!
So for those of you who don't know I served as a sister missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the past year and a half. I was called to serve English speaking in the New York New York North mission. This mission covered the burrows of Manhattan, the Bronx, upstate NY up to Poughkeepsie and a small corner of Connecticut. My mission has a wide variety of languages and so there were missionaries there who spoke English, Spanish, Portuguese, ASL, and Chinese. Not to mention the fact that we had loads of foreign missionaries who got to preach in their native tongues also (French, creole, twi, Japanese, Russian and so on). Within our mission we had the poorest zip code in the nation AND the richest. So needless to say NY is very diverse and boy did we have to always be on our toes. I was lucky enough to serve my entire mission in the city. I spent 15 months in Manhattan and 3 months in the Bronx. Yay for NYC transit! I met people from all over the world and loved it!
So enough silly background. Like I was saying before it would be a great task to describe to you each experience and blessing that I had during my service (maybe i can rent out my journal for people who are really itchin for details... pretty sure that person doesn't exist). So instead I will just hit a few key points that I feel are worth mentioning.
First of all and prob one of the greatest things that I gained more and learned more on my mission is that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He is the way. Not just like... o it might be a nice idea to follow Him... No He is the ONLY way to true happiness, peace and fulfillment in this life. Only through Him and by Him is it possible for us to reach our full potential. He can heal and cleanse us. He makes me whole. He really is my everything.
Another thing that I was challenged about is my belief in the Restoration of the fullness of the Gospel. Now what that means is I believe that because God loves us and wants us to return to live with Him, He has brought back every detail that we need in this life (in a clear, simple way) so that we can have knowledge of the path that will take us to Him. How He has done this is what was often hard for others to believe. But its God, He can do it all and the truth is, its not anything new. God called prophets and gave them authority to act in His name long long long ago all the way back to Adam, Moses, Noah and so on. So part of my belief is that after a time of darkness God has called a prophet again on the earth to communicate to us the information that God needs us to know. HOW GREAT IS THAT????? O it just makes me so happy! Joseph Smith was the first of our more modern prophets (You can read his whole story on www.mormon.org). While serving my mission I had the opportunity to share this good news with the people in New York. It just makes sense to me that our Heavenly Father wouldn't want us to be in the dark, so He calls prophets to be like a light house to help us understand more. Through testifying and learning my testimony of these things has been strengthened.
Ok so I have realized that I am not even scratching the surface. So I have decided to just insert here some of what I typed up for my mission president about my mission experience: TA DAA
Becoming An Instrument In His Hands “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee… saith unto them, Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed Him” (Matt 4:18-20). I have always admired the apostle’s willingness to quickly drop everything and do as the Lord commanded them. These nets represented their lives. It was their job, their source of income and life but they knew, through their faith in the Savior, that they had been called to a greater duty. They quickly abandoned those things that they thought were of most worth to pursue that which they could not yet see. What they did know was that what the Savior had to offer was much more than what they could receive with their own nets. As I was thinking about serving a mission the spirit confirmed to me that my Heavenly Father needed me to go. I realized that this was my call. It wasn’t the best timing or the easiest route I could take at that time of my life but because God had asked me to I decided I needed to straightway leave my personal “nets” and follow Him. I left on my mission more swiftly than I had intended, wondering how I would do something I didn’t quite feel prepared to do, but I like the apostles of old knew that even though my “nets” may have been what I thought was good enough, God had a greater duty and a greater plan for me. I cannot express how grateful I am to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to have this opportunity to serve as His missionary but I will do my best to as I describe some of the ways I have been blessed by my service.
At the start of my mission I knew I had a lot of things I needed to work on but as I have continued my service I found that list of shortcomings continued to grow. I often struggled with my inability to be perfect and finding a balance between pushing myself and being satisfied with my efforts. Luckily one of the greatest lessons I have learned while on my mission is that with the power of the Atonement we can overcome all shortcomings. We are not set in stone. With Christ we have the power to change. Every quality and characteristic that Christ has can be developed and this is the purpose of this life. We can rely on the Atonement in all aspects of life. We can draw upon its healing power to help us for all things imperfect within us. Heavenly Father did not set us up to fail. He will qualify us and support us. I am grateful for every opportunity to change through the Atonement’s power.
My greatest desire as a missionary has been to be a trusted tool in God’s hands. I have wanted so badly for Him to know that He can count on me. I wanted be an instrument that would always be ready when called upon and that the job would get done right. This desire has helped me to realize the importance of obedience. As we live by the laws that our Heavenly Father has given us He is bound. He cannot withhold blessings if we have qualified for them. As a missionary there are many rules to live by, which to some might become burdensome or tiring. My missionary service has taught me that the commandments are gifts that provided us with access to the blessings that our Heavenly Father so anxiously wants to give us. One of the blessings that come from obedience is greater faith. In the bible dictionary it states “strong faith is developed by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ”. I know that God loves us because as I have followed His commandments I have been happier, my life has been more successful and the spirit has been with me more fully. I have learned that if you want God to trust you with big and exciting things, He has to know that you will handle it correctly and by living by His laws. That is a simple prerequisite. I learned that if you want to know God and our Savior’s love more deeply in your life, it will come as we live by Their teachings. I am grateful for every opportunity to do as He asks.
My love for the Savior has grown tremendously while serving here. Numberless times, day after day, people would say harsh things to me or ridicule my beliefs. At first it was really difficult for me to have others tell me that I was wrong and attack the things that I love most. Then through study and prayer I realized that had been given the opportunity to stand by my Savior. I was able to have a small taste of the pain and anguish He went through during His mortal ministry. These experiences have blessed my life because they have developed my love for Jesus Christ. I love Him more because I know what He did was hard because it was hard for me. It’s not easy to be the only one standing up for what is right. This has changed my outlook on the opposition we face, and I have been blessed for a chance to stand by Him who has stood by me in all my times of need and it. Although my experience was much less intense than His, I am grateful for every opportunity to have felt a bit of what He felt and to know what it takes to stand by Him.
My perspective on the gospel has changed during the duration of my mission. I have developed a greater understanding of how exciting this work is. I remember the moment when I realized that this is no simple thing we are proclaiming. I had this fire burn within me and this great desire to yell from the top of every building to let people know the exciting news that the truth has been restored. We believe we have a modern prophet, that God has revealed new scripture, that we have the keys to Salvation. These are exciting things and I am excited to share it. I knew that it was important before but it brought on a whole new meaning when I saw the joy that it brought to a wandering soul and the clarity it provided to someone who was lost. Being born into the church these exciting truths became normal therefore it was so enriching to grasp how glorious this gospel really is. I am grateful for every opportunity to share this exciting news.
Something I have learned to be thankful for is that I was able to serve in the United States. Due to the strength of the wards here it made it more possible to see the importance of member missionary work. I have learned the excitement and focus a ward needs to be ready for converts to come flowing in and to stay active. It has made me really excited to continue to serve throughout my life. If we want missionary efforts to successfully move forward it needs to start with our members. I am determined to make missionary work part of my everyday life. I am grateful for every opportunity I have had to learn how to continue my missionary efforts throughout my life.
One thing that has brought a lot of peace to me during my mission is knowing that God is in control. He did not send me here by accident. My mission was planned and prepared perfectly for me. It was planned in a way that it would give me the greatest opportunities to become more like my Savior. Every challenge, every success, every companion and conversion were perfectly picked by a God who knows who I am and what I will become. He has perfectly planned our paths. Each missionary is sent to where they need to be and where God needs them to be, so there is no use in comparing. I know that God needed me here and more that I needed to be here. I can go on forever about the things I have learned but the greatest thing I have learned is that if we take upon the “nets” that our Savior calls us to bear we will become significantly more than if we had held tightly to our limited personal nets. I know that I am full of imperfections and inadequacies but with Him I am made perfect through the Atonement. An Atonement that I know is boundless and without end, so I may constantly draw upon it. I am and forever will be grateful for the call my Savior has made to me and for this time He has given me to be refined and polished under His watchful care. I am grateful for all of these opportunities.
Well I hope this satisfies yall. I truly loved my mission and can't wait to see what experiences and opportunities God has waiting for me now. If you have any questions or want more details feel free to email me or comment here!
LOVE SISTER WADSWORTH
