Looks Like I'm Headed to Provo!

Yup. My visa didn't make it in time. I was at my brother's football game today and my stake president came and told me he got an email that said I am to report to the Provo MTC on the 1st. I'm a bit disappointed, but I'm praying my visa will come asap! I'm excited to see what lies ahead!

Temple Day!

I had the opportunity to go to the beautiful Boise, Idaho temple on the 29th of August for my endowments. It was a beautiful, sacred experience that hopefully I will never forget. I especially loved the way I felt through the entire day. I felt almost as if I had a bright light inside of me making me feel warm and fuzzy from the inside out. One of my favorite parts of the day was sitting in the Celestial Room with my parents, Grandma and Grandpa Neider, Aunt Nannette, and Uncle Abram. I was so glad they could come and share that amazing day with me.

The next week I flew to Utah to visit all the fam I have that live down there. I got to go to the gorgeous Mount Timpanogos Temple with them and it was so great to have them there to share that experience with me. Family is such an integral part of the gospel. Also on that trip I was able to go to the Provo Temple with my Aunt Wendy and we had a great time there. Three temples down, 140 to go! :)

THE CALL

The wait for your call is a hard one. It's one of those times when you realize if you have any patience or not. Let's just say I developed some patience waiting for that little envelope to arrive in my mailbox. Good times, good times.

The 22nd of May was a beautiful day. For realz though. I had the opportunity that morning to go do some service for a lady in the ward. My mom (RS Prez) and a couple other sisters went and cleaned her home. About lunch time I got a text from my dad who had come home from work for lunch. It was actually a picture of the mailbox. And the mailbox had something in it. A big, white, important looking envelope-y something. WOOOHOOO!!!

When I got home it was there. Waiting for me. I wanted to open it up asap, of course, but my mom told me to wait until 7:00. Yup. Let's just say the afternoon dragged like nobody's business.

Finally the awaited time arrived. Soo many of my friends and family were at my house to support me. I had several people on speaker phone listening and also on skype. My hands shook as I slid the paper out and read the words:

Dear Sister Bailey Annette Helm,

....you have been assigned to labor in the Brazil, Maceio Mission. BOOM. SPEAKING PORTUGUESE. Brazil MTC. September 24th, 2014.

WAIT. BRAZIL?! I had definitely NOT expected this. But I'm excited, we had a foreign exchange student from Brazil my senior year in high school and I got to know her pretty well. Brazil is a beautiful, amazing place and I can't wait to get there!!!!

Yes, I've heard all the stories about missionaries not making it to Brazil or waiting for their visas in the states for 10+ months. But my bishop (who actually was born and raised in Brazil and is fluent in Portuguese) promised me that I would make it there. So I will. I have faith in him and in the Lord.

*Note: I was notified several weeks later that my report date was going to be pushed back a week to October 1st due to a transfer extension. 

Replace Fear with Faith

I was not one of those people who always wanted to serve a mission. It never really entered my mind until I graduated from Primary and into the Young Women Program. The lessons change dramatically. You start learning soooo much more about the gospel. I began to understand missionary work and why we want to share the gospel with everyone we meet. It is because it is simply amazing. Nothing on this earth compares to it. I loved it then and I still love it now. And now I have the opportunity to share it with others and show them something that has made me happier than anything else I have experienced on this earth.

When I started high school I thought maybe I would serve a mission. However, at that time the age for sisters was still 21. A lot of things could happen before I reached that age. I decided that when that birthday was upon me I would think about it then. AND THEN MY PLANS WERE FRUSTRATED. DUN DUN DUN.

The age change. I actually didn't wasn't even watching General Conference that morning because I was in Student Council and we were setting up for the Homecoming Dance that was going to be that night. There were a lot of us Mormon girls setting up that morning and when we got word about the change the amount of shouting was crazy. All of us could hardly believe it. 

Fast-forward to my first year of college. BYU. The freshmen class at BYU is a bit messed up because of the age change for missionaries. We had a 5 to 1 ratio of girls to boys in my ward. So many people (girls) in my ward were filling out their papers and receiving their calls every week. My mind was going crazy. I had never planned for this. For much of that year it was all I could think about. I was praying and praying for an answer but I wasn't getting any answers....yet.

The 10 of January 2014 was a really, really late night (and when I say late night I actually mean early morning) and I was (finally) getting ready for bed and was starting on my nightly scripture reading when I had the strangest vision of myself opening up my scriptures randomly and reading from them. So I did. I randomly opened my scriptures to Alma 42:31 and read "...ye are called of God to preach the word unto this people....go thy way, declare the word with soberness, that thou mayest bring souls unto repentance...." BAM. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I was stunned and I think I sat there physically frozen for several minutes. My mind was going a million miles an hour. WHAT?!! IS THIS SAYING I SHOULD SERVE A MISSION?! WAIT. AREN'T THERE LIKE 50 BAJILLION SCRIPTURES ABOUT MISSIONARY WORK IN HERE? THIS HAS TO BE A FLUKE. I THINK. THIS IS A PRETTY SPECIFIC SCRIPTURE! (and so on and so forth)

So here I am. Just like that. I guess that sometimes I have to be hit upside the head to understand the answers to my prayers. YAY for missions!