Are you seated comfortably? Then let's begin.
I have big news:
Elannah has decided to serve a full-time mission!
Yes, she's dating a very nice young man, and yes, she is working herself into a career in elementary education (she decided that--despite her talent--a dental career is not for her), but she has made the decision to serve a mission.
It wasn't an easy decision for her. In fact, the Lord had to push her a bit, and He used me to do it.
A couple weeks ago, we were sitting in our Sunday church meeting when I had a quiet but distinct impression that I needed to ask Elannah if she had thought about serving a mission. At the time, that was a strange question for me to ask her. I've asked her that before, and she wasn't enthusiastic about it, even though she has a strong testimony of the gospel. Her boyfriend, who is a returned missionary himself, was planning to propose in the next few months, and she was thinking she would say yes, even though she is only 19 (nearly 20). She loves her job as a preschool aide, and the district is paying her to get the education needed to become a preschool teacher.
Yet the thought persisted.
I've learned to pay attention to those thoughts. Revelation usually doesn't come with thunder and lightning. For me, it's often a quiet thing, easy to dismiss if I'm not willing to pay attention; but these little revelations also tend to stick in my head. There's a slightly different quality about them, as if someone is whispering patiently but persistently in my ear to pay attention to this even while other thoughts race through my mind and I'm distracted by daily life. The last time something very much like this happened, the prompting I got led directly to Gabrielle meeting and marrying her amazing husband. I definitely want to be open to these inspirations and revelations as a mother.
Anyway, after the meeting, we were standing together as a family group when I blurted out the question to Elannah. There was no time for her to answer as we needed to go to the bishop's office and get Joseph and Little Gary ordained as a priest and a teacher, respectively, and I didn't bring it up again until the next day.
The next day, we were in the car together as she drove me to work, and I asked her again. I told her that I was asking her this question right now because I felt prompted to do so. She was a little upset and stressed, and the question bothered her quite a bit all day. She also talked to Husband about how it stressed her out (which he confided to me that evening). The day after that, Tuesday, in the car again, Elannah told me how stressed she was by the question because she felt like she had her life kind of worked out for the short term. I told her again that I felt prompted to ask and I didn't know why but that if the Lord was prompting me to ask her, there must be a reason. I also told her that I would pray and make sure I was truly being inspired to ask her, but I already knew the answer. As soon as I said it, I knew it was the right thing to do.
Something happened between Tuesday and Saturday last week that completely changed Elannah's mind. It's not my place to share what happened as it's not my story to tell, and it's quite sensitive or I wouldn't be so vague, but suffice to say that Elannah received a revelation that yes, she is supposed to serve a mission. Between one Sunday and the next, Elannah's entire plan for her life has radically changed.
I give Elannah a lot of credit for how she's handled this. Once she knew what she was supposed to do, she jumped into that water with no hesitation. She's always been able to laser-focus on what she really wants, and she is not easily deterred when she is on a course and a mission. As just one example, when she was in elementary school, she constantly struggled with her lack of organization. By sixth grade, when she was 11, she was fed up with always having to play catch-up on assignments, and she wanted good grades. She told me she was going to change, and she did! By the end of her sixth grade year, she was getting her assignments in on time--often early. She got straight A's. In seventh grade, she struggled again but once more applied her stubbornness to fixing the issue, and again she organized herself and received excellent grades. This became her habit in life. In her high school career, she was able to participate on the ballroom dance team, in back-to-back theatrical productions, and in Show Choir while getting her assignments completed and keeping her grades very high. I have loved watching her grow like this. Her stubbornness and determination often manifest as positive focus and action
Now that she knows she is going to serve a mission, she has immersed herself in the study of the scriptures, which wasn't something on the top of her priority list before. She studied, but not with real conviction; now, she told me, she listens to the scriptures in the car all the time and she's thinking about the stories and the messages all day. She loves the effect this studying is having on her daily life. She feels like she's suddenly able to receive revelation like she's never been able to before, and her days just go more smoothly. She is excited to get her mission application papers filled out so she can help other people learn that they are loved by God and find peace and comfort in that knowledge.
I was telling my mother this news, and my mom reminded me that when I was pregnant with Elannah, I once told her that I had had a revelation that there were multitudes in heaven who were so excited and anxious for Elannah to come to earth, that she was so, so loved and admired, and that her mission in life would bless so many people. I had forgotten I said that, as I probably didn't write it down at the time, so I'm grateful my mother remembered me telling her. Hopefully that will be a thought that buoys Elannah up when hard times hit.
Sophia, her older sister, is being very supportive, but she did warn, "She better not leave before my wedding!" Elannah has also been gently breaking this news to her boyfriend, but I think he is being supportive about it. At least on the outside.
I'm proud of her. She's accepted this total change in her life with grace and aplomb (though not without some anxiety). She'll be a great missionary.
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