Why I served a mission Part 1

When I was baptized at twenty years old, the man who baptized me asked me if I had thought about serving a mission as we got dressed in the dressing room. I told him that I wasn't planning on serving a mission and had other plans. I had already enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and that was where I planned to serve any kind of mission. When I was received the gift of the Holy Ghost I was blessed to serve a mission and I thought I was being coerced into it with the priesthood and that pushed me even further away from it.

It seems at times when we are pushed towards doing something that we become as stubborn as mules but when we decide something on our own that almost nothing can dissuade us from following our new course and so it was with me.

About a week after I was baptized I decided that I needed to have the Arronic Priesthood. So I asked Bishop D what I needed to do to get it and he said come to church, be active, and worthy. "Well," I responded, "I am doing all those things, so when can I get it." So two weeks after I was baptized I received the Arronic Priesthood from Trevor Alvold.( I think his names spelled wrong there) I then had the opportunity to pass, prepare, and bless the sacrament along with the obligation to start something called Home Teaching. The Sunday after I received the Arronic Priesthood I was called upon to pass the sacrament which was a pretty scary thing for me but I did it and didn't drop either of the trays with the bread and water despite my hands shaking.

The very next week I was asked to bless the sacrament. Now this was beyond scary. How was I going to memorize the prayer over the bread and water in a little under 15 minutes.(I didn't know they had printed copies of the prayer up at the table) So I sat in a chair behind the table and waited for what was quickly becoming a very scary but awesome event. The person at the table with me(I think his name was Ryan) asked me which I wanted to bless. I said I would bless the bread so I could go ahead and get it out of the way. I dropped to one knee and started to read the prayer. As I started to speak it felt like a golden pillar of light was coming down from heaven giving sanction to the ordinance I was performing. I had never felt such power and love in my life. However despite this outpouring of love and power from God I was afraid I was going to mess up what I had to say. My fear was confirmed when I looked up to see Bishop D motion for me to bless the bread again. I felt so embarrassed. What did I do wrong? So I got back down and read the prayer again with a little more apprehension this time. Once again when I was finished Bishop D motioned for me to try again a third time(apparently the prayer had to be said exactly verbatim without any changes. See how little I knew.) This time when I finished Bishop D didn't tell me to it again so we gave the bread to the guys who were passing it to the congregation. However I was still shaking both from embarrassment as well as the giant spiritual step I had just taken.

Around three or four weeks after I was baptized I received my patriarchal blessing. When I first heard about patriarchal blessing I asked the young lady who showed hers to me if a patriarch was some kind of Mormon fortune teller. She was rather apprehensive in sharing her blessing with me for I was not yet baptized and she was afraid she might be casting her pearls before swine. Even though at that point in my life I didn't believe in God or anything like that I knew that she felt that her blessing from some old Mormon gypsy was important to her so I didn't belittle it or make fun of it. It talked of her attributes she had and the ones she should develop as well as paths in life that she should take and what kind of life she could have. I still thought it was weird and asked her if the patriarch had a glass ball of some kind or if he tossed bones in the air or read cat guts to learn this stuff. She tried to explain blessing to me but I still didn't buy it.



But getting back to three or four weeks after I was baptized I had decided I wanted to visit the Mormon fortune teller and get my fortune. I bothered Bishop Donaldson until he finally interviewed me and decided that I should get my patriarchal blessing. I was really excited about going to get my blessing. Part of me wanted to know what my future had in store for me and other part of me wanted to see if this guy was for real.

Well I asked my father and step mother to come up for my blessing I also asked Bishop Donaldson to be there because I looked at him like a second father and I asked Sheena my girl friend at the time to come as well.

Well we all showed up to the patriarch's house that night and to my surprise it wasn't in some shack surrounded by goats and he wasn't a gypsy. He was a cute little old guy who had this special look to him. There was just an aura radiating about him that seemed different from anyone else that I had ever met before in my life.

After we made small talk for about five minutes he asked me if I was ready for my blessing. I responded that I was. He then had me sit in a chair that was in the middle of the room and he placed his hands upon my head.

A feeling of peace and happiness entered into my body from the top of my head and swirled down towards my feet. The patriarch then began to speak. My eyes were open at this time, I didn't know if I was supposed to close my eyes or keep them open during blessings. Everyone eyes were shut tight so I decided to shut my eyes and listen to what this old man told me. He talked about many things but one of the things was how I would serve a mission and preach the gospel. I got kind of upset at him talking about me serving a mission. I had already told President Clark that I wasn't going to serve a mission and I was going into Boot Camp May 15th of 2003. I wondered why President Clark didn't tell this old guy that there was no way no how that I was going to serve a mission. Even if I wanted to I was already committed to something else. So he continued on spending around fifteen minutes talking about me and preaching the restored gospel. I just kind of wrote that part of what he said off.

When I got into the car with my father after it was all done and you have to remember that my father isn't to favorable disposed toward Mormonism he asked me if I was going to go on that mission thing. I responded that I couldn't because I had already joined the Marine Corps. He then told me the only reason that the patriarch told me to go on a mission was because my dad wore a nice bola tie and had nice cowboy boots on.

As the next week drug on and I started to think more about what he had said about me serving a mission I decided he wasn't talking about me serving a mission as a young man but rather as a senior citizen. That the part of blessing regarding me preaching the gospel was talking about me many many years into the future.

Several times during the months preceding me entering boot camp the idea of me serving a mission crept in from many places. Bishop D mentioned it a few times. Sheena mentioned it. President Clark advised it. The misisonaries bore testimony about how great serving a mission was and many others would try to convince me serving a mission was the right thing to do. However I had stood of my own free will and volition and swore before God and witnesses that I would enter the Marine Corps and that I would defend the constitution from all enemies both foreign and domestic. I saw no wiggle room I could not serve a mission and retain my honor. I had given my word that I would do something and I wasn't about to go back on my word.