Silver Anniversary

Happy silver anniversary to me!  25 years ago today on January 15, 1992 I embarked on my full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints as I entered the Missionary Training Center.

It's hard to believe it's been 25 years already.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  The best decision I've ever made in my entire life was to serve as a full-time missionary.  It certainly wasn't the easiest 18 months of my life but nothing worthwhile is ever easy.  I know it's cliché to say but I can say that it was the best 18 months of my life.  Full of growth and learning both temporal and spiritual.

I feel extremely blessed and privileged to have had the opportunity to serve a full-time mission for the Lord and His Church.  Full-time missionary service really is a rare privilege and blessing that not many people qualify for.  And even amongst those who do qualify, there are many who choose not to accept the opportunity.  They have no idea what they're missing out on and passing up.

I would certainly encourage anyone of missionary age to do what is necessary to qualify to serve a full-time mission.  You will never regret it.  It may be a difficult road to take but it will certainly be worth it in the end.

Here is a stroll down memory lane :-):

Me with Grandma and Grandpa Sabin after my Missionary farewell on January 12, 1992, three days before I entered the Missionary Training Center.

 *By the way today would have been Grandma Sabin's 90th birthday.

Me with my missionary companions in our MTC classroom.

Where I spent the majority of my threes weeks at the Missionary Training Center.

Sister Paulson, Sister Parent, Sister Stone

standing in front of the Provo Temple during preparation day while at the MTC

Another picture of me with my missionary companions in our MTC classroom obviously by the date stamp this was January 20, 1992 -- five days into my mission!  :-)

My MTC district

one of our teachers, Sister Pew, in front with a white name tag.

A tradition at the MTC -- me pointing to my mission on the world map

Me with another one of my teachers.  Notice the commitment pattern poster in the back.  :-)

Writing letters during P-day in the MTC laundry room.

At my desk and my MTC bedroom.

Personal study before class at the MTC

Another preparation day at the MTC writing letters in the laundry room.

It's hard to believe this was 25 years ago!  My how time flies. It brings to mind a scripture I listened to this morning:

Alma 34:32-35
 32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors. 

 33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed. 

 34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world. 

 35 For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.

Life is too short and goes by way too quickly to procrastinate the day of our repentance.  This life is the time for us to prepare to meet God.  There is no time to waste.  The Prophet Alma doesn't mince words -- if we lollygag and procrastinate the day of our repentance, we are doomed.

Anyway that Scripture came to mind because I was thinking about how fast time goes by and how our time here on earth is so short.  Yet our whole eternity is determined by what we do here on Earth and how we spend our short time here. Do not squander your gift of mortality.  Do not procrastinate the day of your repentance.  Do your best to follow God's commandments and live His gospel.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to serve a full-time mission.  I'm thankful that I chose to take that opportunity.  It has blessed my life immensely.

Happy Silver Anniversary to Me!!!  :-)