As I've been thinking about that experience and my life since being home I've thought about what I gained from serving a mission, and how those things still affect me today.
If you're thinking about serving a mission, I have just a few things to say. It's between you and God when and if you serve - but you will never regret taking that time out of your life to serve others, grow closer to God, get to know yourself better, and have invaluable, life changing experiences. If a mission is not for you or you cannot serve, know that God can give you those experiences through other means.
The things I learned or gained from my mission:
- Learned what it's like to be an immigrant in the US - the culture and issues that those people face on a day to day basis.
- There are so many new and awesome things you can experience if you step out of your comfort zone - food, culture, schools of thought, people, skills, etc.
- How God communicates with me and some of the ways that I receive personal revelation.
- Establishing patterns in my life - scripture study, prayer, temple attendance.
- How to live the gospel as me - if God wanted robots to preach the gospel, we'd have an army of robot missionaries - instead he calls young individuals to teach. I learned that there were strengths (and weaknesses) that I had that others didn't - which was a good thing. We strengthened and complimented each other, and reached people who couldn't have been reached by others.
- Patience, diligence, and faith.
- God keeps promises.
- The gift of agency.
- The Atonement not only allows us to be forgiven of sin, but to overcome our weaknesses, and be enabled to do hard things.
- God's plan is much better than mine.
- Spanish.
Those are just some of the things.
I'm grateful for those two years, the companions I had, the people I taught, the experiences I had, and for the things I gained from serving a mission.
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