Called to Serve

     So I have decided that for this month I am going try something new. I am going to share some of the experiences that I had while preparing to go on my mission. I am going to start of with getting my call to serve in the Tennessee Nashville Mission.
     As many of you know, young men in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, at the age of 19, generally go on a 2 year full-time mission to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who will listen. For as long as I can remember I have wanted to serve my mission. At a very young age, so young I couldn't tell you how young I was, I decided that I wanted to be one of these cool guys that were called "Elders," and what do you know, here I am in the good ol' Bible Belt. Sometimes I as myself, "How did I get here?" Well, about one year ago exactly at BYU, I was approaching the time where I needed to send in my papers, a bunch of forms that you need to complete and send into the Church Headquarters so they can know a little bit about you, in order to get my call to go on a mission. (For further detail about this process read this link.) Well, I got my papers finished and got all the interviews I needed and my papers were sent off.

     Most people get there call letters withing 2-3 weeks of sending their papers in. The few weeks before I got my call letter, my mom made this big map and had everyone and their dog guess where I was going to go. Well, I was one of those many people who got their calls 2 weeks later on a Thursday afternoon and I was so happy, but then it hit me... My parents were on a field-trip to Yosemite with my little brother, Blake, and they would not be home till Friday evening and I promised my mom I would not open it without her. That large white envelope sat on my counter all day and all night and all day the next day and the only thing I could do was read "Elder Blair Vernal Moser III" on the front. There were times where it was just too tempting so I had to just walk over the my best friends, the Smiths, and hang out with them, but still all I could do was think about those few words on the front address and where I could possibly be going.
     My parents finally got home but I still had to wait even longer. The Smiths came over and we used just about every phone and cell phone we had in order to get a hold of all the different family members and what not that were not close enough to come. This is probably just as exciting of an event for us members of the church as is the last minute of the world's greatest super bowl game. I finally got to open it. I pulled out the many papers and other such things in the envelope and found the letter. I guess it is tradition that you have to read the whole thing you can't just skip to the place you are going to serve. I started reading and my hands were shaking, even my voice was shaking, and I don't even know what I read until I said the words "Tennessee Nashville Mission." After that all I can remember is screams from everyone all around me. After about 5 minutes of straight cheers I finally got to continue. I was going to speak English and I would report into the MTC (Missionary Training Center) on August 17th 2011.
     I am going to be honest, at first I was a little bit bummed because I wanted to serve in Australia or in South America and learn a new language, but the more time went on, the more excited I got. I also came to realize that I am serving in Southern America and I have to learn how to speak Southern English so God did give me what I wanted...haha.