Mission- Week 1

I have elected to keep a blog rather than send out group e-mails, because let's be honest--you don't always read those. I will, however, endeavor to make my posts both informative and enjoyable since I believe reading should be enjoyed.

First Things First: I am Young Church Service Missionary or YCSM.
I have discovered that most people don't know very much about YCSM's. I certainly didn't when I started. The church wants anyone who has the desire to serve to have the opportunity and so they are developing the church service missionary program. Each mission is designed to accommodate the needs of the missionary. I need an unusual amount of sleep to keep from getting sick so my mission schedule allows for more hours of sleep than a typical missionary. They gave me a huge list of ways I could serve while living at home. After praying and visiting different opportunities, I decided that I needed to be in Publishing Services.

Publishing Services handles everything the church produces: all church websites, videos, magazines, and other publications. I get to be in the middle of it all, as the assistant to the administrative assistant and as a part time writer- something I never thought they would let me do. I will be commuting to the Church Office Building on Temple Square four days a week but I will get to stay in my family ward where I am currently teaching CTR 7. Also, my first article is set to be published July 11, and I am really excited. You will be able to see it on the interfaith blog, faithcounts.com. 

I will be serving full-time for 18 months. Service Missions are available to people with a wide range of abilities, so some missionaries serve for shorter periods or part time, but you can expect me to be serving until 2018.

LOOK!

I think my jewelry box looks pretty fantastic with its newest accessory. Actually, 2nd newest. I also got a card key for all the rooms I need access to on Temple Square and to park at the conference center. But it is not as photogenic.

I learned a lot this week as my supervisor, Trina, trained me in a lot of the things I will be doing before she leaves on vacation. She is the administrative assistant to the Director of Publishing Services. I will be helping with delivering the mail, scheduling meetings and conference rooms, ordering and organizing supplies, and answering phone calls. These calls can come from people pitching their big movie idea to the church (hint-don't, they aren't interested right now) or from a general authority. Honestly, I am more afraid of getting a call from a general authority.What if I drop the prophet's call while trying to transfer him!?

Not so News Flash: Missions are hard. I am still figuring out how to meet my needs while on my mission. I am going through literature withdrawals. However, I am blessed to have gone to BYU where my professors have shared some beautiful religious poetry which I have been adding to my studies. I can also listen to things that are uplifting during my daily commute which is about an hour each way. 

I don't have a companion, which is a huge blessing for me. I always knew that having a companion with me all the time on my mission would be one of the hardest parts of my mission. However, the Lord has not asked that of me. I am blessed to be able to come home and soak up some alone time in my room as I nap or study and then eat dinner with my family. My family has been incredibly supportive and I am so grateful for them. This would be so much harder without them.

Some of my favorite poems this week:

Love (III)

BY GEORGE HERBERT

Love bade me welcome. Yet my soul drew back

                              Guilty of dust and sin.

But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack

                             From my first entrance in,

Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,

                             If I lacked any thing.

 

A guest, I answered, worthy to be here:

                             Love said, You shall be he.

I the unkind, ungrateful? Ah my dear,

                             I cannot look on thee.

Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,

                             Who made the eyes but I?

 

Truth Lord, but I have marred them: let my shame

                             Go where it doth deserve.

And know you not, says Love, who bore the blame?

                             My dear, then I will serve.

You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat:

                             So I did sit and eat.

Death, be not proud (Holy Sonnet 10)

John Donne, 1572 - 1631

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so;
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.
Thou’art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy’or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

As Kingfishers Catch Fire

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BY GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame; 

As tumbled over rim in roundy wells 

Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's 

Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name; 

Each mortal thing does one thing and the same: 

Deals out that being indoors each one dwells; 

Selves — goes itself; myself it speaks and spells, 

Crying Whát I dó is me: for that I came.

I say móre: the just man justices; 

Keeps grace: thát keeps all his goings graces; 

Acts in God's eye what in God's eye he is — 

Chríst — for Christ plays in ten thousand places, 

Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his 

To the Father through the features of men's faces. 

I love you all! Don't forget to write me!