Good morning brothers and sisters.
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Erica Moore and in 15 days I
will be set apart as a missionary for this amazing church, the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints. I still can’t believe this is real. Can I just say
first, I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. He made it possible so that I can
have joy for eternity. And He is my best friend.
I feel so incredibly blessed to be
standing here at this pulpit right now—regardless of how nervous I may feel! I
am truly overwhelmed when I think about all of the people, events and choices
that led me here and continue to direct me everyday. Its funny how the smallest
things in our lives contribute so largely to our destiny. Today I want to share
a few moments in my life that prepared me for what will be the greatest
adventure of my life thus far. And of course I am talking about serving as a
full-time missionary.
Alright, let’s go back to August
2011, I think that is when this whole journey started. I had just started my
freshman year at BYU. It was such an amazing, fun experience. Everything about
college just enthralled me! So many new people, fun classes, a huge campus to
explore, roommates, dessert for every meal! It was crazy to say the least. And
then during the first week of school, amidst all of this, I got my first real
world calling from my singles ward bishop. I still remember the confusion I
felt when my Bishop called me to be the Ward Mission Leader along with another
student in my ward. However, this confusion lasted about 3 seconds and then I
just felt this calm excitement, if that even exists? As my Bishop explained my
duties I became more and more excited, and by the time I left his office I was
sure that I had just been called to the single greatest calling in the church.
And honestly, that was the most perfect calling for me my freshman year of
college. I was introduced into this new exciting world of missionary work.
Normally, people in this calling
would work with the full-time missionaries in the ward on missionary work.
However in a ward where every person within the ward boundaries was an active
member and there were no missionaries assigned to our ward, my calling was a
little different. As part of my calling I taught the mission preparation class
on Sundays for anybody who wanted to attend—but specifically for the young men
in the ward since all of them were headed off on missions of their own at the
end of the year. Teaching that class was such an incredible experience. My
favorite part was when we did role-play missionary discussions.
I was going through my journals while
preparing for this talk and found an entry that I would like to read. And just
a caution, I am an AVID journal writer so I am going to read a few excerpts in
my talk today. So this is from October 2011
“Have
I ever told you that I love missionary work? Anyways, in mission prep today we
let everyone teach each other. It went great! I stepped in on one and attempted
to show them an example. I was so astonished at how much came out. I didn’t
even know what I was saying. The spirit truly works wonders! It was incredible.
I can be a missionary now.”
I also was encouraged to find
missionary opportunities for members of the ward outside of the mission prep
class. This led me to volunteer as an investigator at the Missionary Training
Center, which was only a 5-minute walk from my dorm. Basically I would go in
and pretend to be a non-member while two brand new missionaries would teach me
the gospel. I think I must have been taught the “first discussion” over 50
times during my time there. And let me tell you, every single lesson was
different! There was even a few times when the missionaries would teach me, the
fake investigator, about something that I needed to hear in my own life. They
always followed the spirit no matter what persona I took on. They seemed to
always teach me the perfect gospel truth for my particular made up scenario. I
hope that when I'm on my mission I am able to follow the spirit every time I
teach someone like those missionaries did.
Now, my freshman year wasn’t all rainbows
and butterflies as I have made it sound. Along with this incredible and
honestly, overwhelming enthusiasm came some other emotions—namely frustration
and impatience. During the time that I held this calling I was 18 years old. 3
whole years shy of being eligible for missionary service since the age
requirement was 21 for women. I saw countless friends open mission calls and
prepare to serve in the immediate future. And here I was, expected to just wait
around for three years? I felt so ready to go. I had these righteous desires,
why couldn’t I go?
After many prayers, lots of temple
visits and reading my patriarchal blessing I came to a conclusion. My journal
entry from November 5 2011 reads this:
“I
think I am slowly accepting that I may not go on a mission at this time in my
life, something that I do NOT want to accept, but I think I need to…
Priorities. And no matter what my priorities are, the Lord kind of has a say.
And His say counts to me. So if this is as close as I am getting to missionary
work in my life, so be it. Ouch that hurts to say.”
I know, I
know… I sound real thrilled about my conclusion. But, as time passed over the
next few months I began to focus on other things and search out my next big
adventure in life. If I wasn’t going on a mission, then there must have been
some great work the Lord had in store for me, right? The missionary fire inside
of me did not die, it was just tamed a little bit. During this time I learned
so much about myself and had countless experiences that molded me into the
person I am today. For example I learned a lot about my divine nature as a
woman. Last time I spoke in this ward a little over a year ago, I talked about what
motherhood means to me. In one of my journal entries I talked about how much I
loved the gospels emphasis on families because women have such an integral
role. With this, came a new and enriched understanding of the priesthood too. I
love how everything in this gospel fits so well together. My testimony has
grown so much and I am actually grateful for the time I had to wait to serve a
mission…Never thought I’d hear myself say that! But, I tried to fill my life
with goals and plans that all led me to my happily ever after.
One of these plans was a study
abroad to Spain. This had been my dream since I first took a Spanish class in 7th
grade. Finally, I was getting to a time in my life where I could actually go.
But yet, it seemed like every problem or obstacle that could get in the way,
did. By the time my sophomore year at BYU begun, I found myself very
frustrated… AGAIN. Again I was faced with the dilemma of wanting something so
badly that just didn’t have a place in my life. I was also facing some
confusion on my major. I remember It got to a point in September of 2012 where
I had given up on doing a study abroad and I was talking to my mom and I just
said, “mom, I am not working towards anything anymore. In high school I was
working towards BYU. Up until now I have been trying to work towards this study
abroad. I have no idea what to work towards now.” I felt directionless. I even
stopped journaling for a time because I just didn’t feel like I had anything to
say. Being the goal-oriented person that I am I just didn’t know what to do.
I was sitting in church one Sunday
in early October and someone talked about a general conference talk from
President Eyering from October 2007. He told a story about how, when he was
going through a hard time in his life, everyday he would write down an answer
to this question: How have I seen the Hand of God in my life today? The result
in his life was miraculous. Of the experience he said,
“More than gratitude began to grow
in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly
Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and
refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I
grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our
remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they
happened.”
When I heard this, I decided that
this was something I needed to do, so I went to the bookstore the next day and
bought this journal. On the front it has a quote by Marjorie Pay Hinckley that
reads, “Everything you are learning now is preparing you for something else.”
how appropriate.
Lets see, I started this journal on
October 1,2012. Just 5 days later was The General Conference of our church. My
roommate and I had kind of made it a tradition to attend at least one session
of General Conference live at the conference center in Salt Lake since we were
only 45 minutes away. We decided to attend the Saturday morning session, even
though we didn’t have tickets. We scalped tickets outside the conference center
and somehow scored the best seats I have ever gotten!
I remember driving down to
conference that morning with Lindsey. We were both so looking forward to
conference and the answers we would receive there. I felt like I was wrapping
up my problems in a bag and giving them to the speakers at conference, knowing
that I would receive an answer. Lindsey and I were talking about this and other
things on the way up when we started talking about how cool the sister
missionaries at temple square were.
While waiting in line to get in we
were like “ahh how cool would it be to be missionaries right now!” We got to our seats and we were
surprised when the ushers kept ushering us forward. By the time we got to our
seats I realized that we were 20 rows away from the Prophet. We felt pretty
lucky. We were sitting next to this sweet lady from the Phillipines and it was
her first time attending conference. We chatted with her a little bit about how
awesome it is to see it live. So we sat and conference started. I had this
journal in hand and I pulled it out to take notes on the talks. I'm going to
read to you guys what I wrote that day.
But first, I want to read
something. As many of you know, President Monson, our prophet, was the first
speaker that day. He made a huge announcement that young men could begin
missionary service at age 18 instead of 19. When he said this I freaked out.
I'm pretty sure my jaw literally dropped. And then the idea of lowering the age
for sister missionaries popped into my head. And then, as if he heard my
question, President Monson said,
“As we have prayerfully pondered
the age at which young men may begin their missionary service, we have also
given consideration to the age at which a young woman might serve. Today I am
pleased to announce that able, worthy young women who have the desire to serve
may be recommended for missionary service beginning at age 19, instead of age
21.”
In my journal I wrote…
I remember sitting there after he
said those words and not being able to stop the tears. Our newfound friend next
to us from the Philippines leaned over and said, “how old are you?” and I
responded “19.” I, at that moment, was suddenly old enough to serve as a
full-time missionary. I honestly don’t remember what any other speaker said
during that session. The entire time I just felt this peace and a knowledge
that I was supposed to serve a mission.
After the session ended, I looked
down at my phone and had about a million messages from my family. So, Lindsey
and I came out of the conference center and split up for a little bit to call
our parents. Before I called them I sat down for a minute on a bench right next
to the Salt Lake Temple and I said a prayer and asked if this was the right
thing for me. I have never felt a stronger YES in my life. I sat there just
overjoyed looking at the temple. I called my parents and it was just the
sweetest moment because I didn’t have to say anything and my mom and I just
cried on the phone to each other. When we could finally talk my mom said
something like Erica, you are going on a mission. And I said, I know.
In the months following that day I
have had hundreds of confirmations that this is the right thing for me to do. Its
funny how easy it felt to prepare for my mission during the past few months. And
I truly believe that this was because I had been so prepared throughout my
life.
If I were to attribute all of the
things in my life that prepared me for my mission it would be Proverbs 3: 5-6,
which says:
Trust in the
Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy
ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
This scripture helped me so many
times during this process. Especially on a night this past January when I had
been expecting my mission call for two days… and it still hadn’t come. I was
pretty devastated; looking back I'm like uhm why were you so sad it was in the
mail! But it was a really sad day for me. Its actually kind of funny, when I
checked the mail that day for my call, all I found was a letter from a friend
on a mission with Proverbs 3:5-6 on it. Little did he know that that scripture
would get me through not only the next 24 hours until I got my call, but
basically every day since then. When I read it that night it was like the
biggest light bulb moment ever! Lean not unto thine own understanding. YOU
don’t know what ahead. But you know who does? The Lord. And He would LOVE for
you to talk to Him about it. I truly believe that when we align our will with
the Lord, We will find more joy than we have ever experience before.
Thanks to my experience teaching
and being in mission prep classes I haven’t really worried about teaching or
knowing how to teach effectively. I have just been so prepared! In my
volunteering at the MTC I got to experience missionary-work firsthand and it
made it so much less foreign to me.
Even with the language I haven’t
worried much. I always wondered why I had such a desire to take Spanish classes
during middle school, high school and college. I honestly think it was so that
I could spread the gospel in that language. I am hoping that learning the
language won’t be too hard since I have a pretty strong foundation of the
language.
One amazing part of my preparations
to serve a mission was realizing how much support I had, which really enabled
me to reach new heights in my spirituality. When doubts came my way, they
didn’t stand a chance because I always felt so surrounded by positivity and
support. I have amazing friends and in my moments of frustration, which, as you
heard, occurred quite often over the past two years, their support has gotten
me through. I could never thank you guys enough for your words of wisdom. I
feel like a completely different person than I was before I started college—and
it’s all thanks to the amazing examples that I am privileged to call my best
friends.
And most importantly I know that I
will have a successful mission because I know how to receive help from the Lord!
My parents taught me from day one to involve the Lord in every part of my life
through prayer. Having to make such a huge decision of whether or not to serve
a mission couldn’t have even happened without my parents. I was so guided by my
parents to turn to the Lord. With their help and support I received my answer. Without
them, this journey would have been so much harder. I have never doubted that
every member of my family supported me in my desires to serve a mission. And
that, is a huge blessing. They have been my rock always, and I know that they
will continue to support me while I am in Guatemala.
Even though I didn’t know it, the
Lord has been preparing me to serve a mission now my whole life. I never even
thought it was possible! The day I opened my mission call was truly the
happiest day of my life. Until I went through the temple, then that was the
happiest day of my life. I have never felt so guided, confident, happy and
close to the Lord in my life. I can truly testify that as we align our will
with His will, we are the happiest we could ever be.
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