32 Years

You may wonder why, every year, I post the anniversary of my starting and finishing my mission.  A couple of reasons.  First of all, my mission had a significant impact on my life.  It taught me so much because it was a lot of work and often difficult.  Yet I consider it one of the greatest blessings of my life.  The opportunity to serve a full-time mission for my Savior and His church was a huge privilege.

Secondly, not only was it a huge blessing and privilege to be able to serve a mission, but it was arguably my greatest accomplishment in life.  Therefore I consider it worthy of a blog post twice a year.

It was 32 years ago today that I entered the Provo Missionary Training Center and began my mission.  I spent three weeks in the MTC – from January 15, 1992 to February 5, 1992.  Then I hopped on a plane to Tampa Florida, where I spent the next 18 months serving the Lord full-time.  I returned home on July 23, 1993.

Fun fact: It's been longer since I embarked on my mission than I was alive before I was paralyzed.  It's been 32 years since I started my mission.  I was 31 when I was paralyzed.  Isn't that crazy?  

Another fun fact:  I've been paralyzed longer than I was old when I left on my mission.  I was 21 years and one month old when I left on my mission.  It's been 21 years and almost 4 months since I was paralyzed.  Insane.

Here are a few photographic highlights from my mission:

If any of you have the opportunity and privilege to serve a full-time mission for the Lord, I would highly recommend it.

That's my two cents.