I decided to wait till I got home for the summer before starting my mission papers. I didn't want to deal with the hassle of transferring everything over between two different bishops. Those three months before coming home were tough. I went back and forth on my decision to serve. Thank goodness for my wonderful mom who patiently would listen to my new reasons for not serving and then follow the Spirit in guiding me to stick to my commitment. I don't think I would have served if it weren't for her and my dad and their loving persistence.
I got home and began my mission papers. Again, my parents helped keep me going with making doctor's appointments and scheduling interviews and everything. The Lord was very actively involved during that time as well. I got a job working at a manufacturing company owned by someone in my home ward and began saving up for the mission. My original plan was to return to school that next fall semester and then leave on my mission because I would have the guarantee of deferring my enrollment and being able to return to school after my mission. One day, my boss came up to me and told me about a project our company was getting involved with. He wanted me to be the project leader over it and told me I would travel to the company who's project we would help develop and manufacture to receive hands on training and help with transferring the project down to our company location. He promised me a raise and told me he really felt like I was the right one for this job. I started getting excited! And then came the kicker. The only way he would give me the position was if I would commit to stay and work on this project till I left on my mission, whenever that would be. That meant no coming back for Fall semester. He told me he'd give me a couple days to think about it and then he needed an answer. I told him I'd let him know and promptly went into the bathroom, checked to make sure no one else was in there, burst into tears, and called my mom and told her the situation. I must have sounded ridiculous! Who would turn down an opportunity like that!? Again, she listened and we talked for a while until we both agreed this was the right thing to do and would really help me and the company I was working for. I told my boss the next day that I would take the position and stay till I left on my mission and that was that.
It was by that time that I started acknowledging that Lord's hand in my preparation for a mission. I didn't deserve it one bit. I was being stubborn and bitter at His direct call for me to serve. But He never gave up on me. He continued helping me and providing everything I'd need. He provided a fantastic job that would allow me to save enough to pay for my entire mission and get me started in school again when I returned. He gave me wonderful parents who helped and encouraged me the whole way. He sent a few special people to further that encouragement. He kept me epileptic.
That's a story in and of itself. I had been diagnosed with epilepsy about 3 years previous to working on my mission papers and had actually been having seizures for about 4 years before my official diagnosis. I was on medication that I had to take every day. My neurologist and I for the last couple years or so had been working on slowly lowering my dosage, with the hopes that I could get off of it completely within a few years time. Before submitting my papers, I wanted to be able to put down that I was previously epileptic, but was cleared of that. I felt pretty good about that decision. It would be so nice to not have to take medication or worry about epilepsy while I was out serving the Lord. So I scheduled and EEG and went in to have it done. The test went fine and a couple days later, I got a call from my neurologist. It came out positive. I was disappointed to say the least. But I decided that there must be a reason. As I thought and prayed about it, I came to the conclusion that maybe this was the Lord's way of keeping me safe, making it so my family and I wouldn't have to worry about me potentially starting to have seizures again. I learned on my mission that it actually also helped me to connect with a lot of people because I was epileptic, which was also a tender mercy that came from my calling to remain epileptic and on medication through my mission.
In time, I completed my mission papers and submitted them to Church Headquarters. I waited a few weeks and one day, came home to a large envelope sitting at my spot at the table. It had come. We invited family and friends over that evening for when I'd open it. I remember sitting on the piano bench, holding that envelope addressed to Sister Christine Faulk, and realizing my fate for the next 18 months lay in that envelope. I had no control over my future. My dad sat down and talked with me. I was scared. I don't like letting go and not knowing what's going to happen. I don't like the unknown. And that was what I was stepping into the moment I would open that letter and find out my assignment.
The evening finally came and our family and friends had arrived. Here's the video of my opening my call. I don't have it saved on my computer anymore and can't figure out how to download it from Facebook. So click on the link and it should take you to the video of me opening my call.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=340617509355407&l=7467984980672396614
I was relieved to say the least. Not only was I staying in the U.S., but I also was speaking English and was leaving at a time when I could easily defer my enrollment and return to school without any serious complications. There were a couple things I wasn't so excited about with my call. On top of still being rather hesitant and more nervous than excited, I'd have to wait 4 months before entering the MTC. That's a long time. Further down in my call, I was informed that I would have to buy a bike for my mission. My stomach churned. On top of already having to wear church clothes every day of my mission, as well as the fact that I hadn't ridden a bike in years, I would have to figure out how to ride a bike...in a skirt!!!! My mom and sister on many occasions encouraged me to put a skirt on and start practicing on one of our bikes at home but I stubbornly refused. I would figure it out when I got there. Should I have listened? Yeah.
I continued to hyperventilate for a solid 30 minutes or so, having to sit down a couple of times and drink some water because I kept getting light-headed. I couldn't calm down. My dad immediately handed me a little money and told me to go play some mini-golf to get my mind off my call, which I did after giving him and my mom both big hugs. That evening, I cried. (Big surprise there.) Too many emotions. I needed to get them all out. It took a while to fall asleep that night. And the adventure leading up to my mission was only just beginning.
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