MY Mission Decision

As I think everyone knows, I have made the decision to serve a mission and my papers will be finalized and submitted next week. I HOPE to have a call within the next month. :) As excited and thrilled as I am to go on a mission, the decision didn't come lightly. It came with lots of tears, stress, phone calls, and prayers. There were lots of factors for me to consider:
-Did I really want to go on a mission? Absolutely!
-What about school? I can easily defer my scholarship and pick up where I leave off.
-Can I afford it? Well, within the last week I now have myself up to 3 jobs, so the Lord is definitely on my side and blessing me with the capabilities to pay for a mission.
-What will my parents think? This was probably the biggest concern for me, as I was so very concerned and mindful about what they would think about putting school on hold to leave to go serve. But, even though it was a shock, I am glad I have such loving parents who understand that this is what I want to do and what makes me happy.
- What about my school loans? Weeeelll... I still have to figure out this part, but from other sisters I have heard that it isn't too hard to get them deferred, it's just a matter of the interest that will still accrue while I am gone. I have faith that it will all work out though.
It was a lot of prayer and considerations that got me to these answers.

My story:
     I never thought I would be someone who would want to serve a mission. I was only baptized a little over a year ago, and as far as I was concerned, I had my life pretty much planned out. Go to college, hopefully get married in my senior year (or shortly thereafter), get a job, and have a family. A mission was never a consideration for me. I remember waking up one morning a couple months ago, and I just had this overwhelming feeling that I needed to go on a mission. I couldn't shake this feeling for about two weeks. It consumed all of my thoughts. I went and talked to my bishop about starting my papers, but that I wanted to research a little more into the school portion of things before I started them. I found out pretty quick that it would all work out well. During that time I had gone with the sister missionaries in my ward a whole bunch. I absolutely love the spirit I feel when I am with them and the happiness it brings.
     As I began to think about it less when school and work got busy, I brushed the entire thing off and put it out of my mind. Who was I kidding? Me? A sister missionary? Ridiculous! And this was my mentality for about a month.
     But, surely those thoughts came back again. I went and talked to bishop, and had him get my missionary account started. I was going to do this. And as my favorite person told me, "do NOT double cross when the answer comes. Stick with it!" And I remembered that. When I told my parents, I had been praying like crazy, fasting, and I went to the temple for a couple hours. I love the spirit the temple has and how easy it is to be guided by it.
     I told my parents, and now here I am, almost done with my papers! I am so excited for this adventure I will be able to go on to serve the Lord and share this gospel with others! I for one know that it has made me so happy, and even though some may think the church is "restrictive" (that's a story for a different post), I love the guidance the church gives and I know that it is just for my protection, and ultimately, these guidelines provide me with more freedom by being able to keep my agency.
    
     I am SO excited to be able to know where I will be going! Hopefully less than one month! Eeeep! My excitedeness is just too much!

With love, Olivia!

P.S.- Any helpful tips on preparing in general? Things you are doing to prepare/wish you had done? Good scripture marking guidelines or ideas? Please leave a comment if you do! <3