I grew up as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I can’t really say we were a model LDS family. Oh, in a lot of ways we were, but in some very basic ways we weren’t. We only ever had a handful of Family Home Evenings, we hardly ever ate dinner together, and never had family scripture study or prayer. Even though these types of things were missing from my home, there were some other very important things that were present. I think it’s a system of checks and balances. My parents were very good at teaching me the power of service and showing me an example of 110% effort in church callings. But my favorite gospel lesson came from my father.

My father was a very busy man. He traveled a lot, both for his work and for his church service. He got tired and he got grumpy. But, what I remember most are those special occasions when he would call us around him: sometimes at the kitchen table, sometimes in the living room, sometimes all piled on my parents bed. Then my father would smile and say, “Let me tell you what I learned about the gospel today.”

Sometimes it was something deep and profound. Sometimes it was simple observances. I can’t distinctly remember many of the subjects he sat us down to talk about, what I remember is – his face. When he would bring us to him to hear about the gospel his face would shine with happiness. Have you ever been around someone who is talking about a hobby or passion that they love? Did you notice how everything about them began to change as they talked and got excited about what the subject meant to them? That was my father. I’d see him more at peace, more content, and more joyful in those moments than any others.

Of all the Family Home Evening lessons I could have had, or any other gospel centered activity, his face was the message I would carry with me into my adult years. My father taught me that the gospel of Jesus Christ is about joy.

Because of the look on his face, the change in his whole demeanor I learned what is possibly the greatest principle. The gospel brings happiness. Even if every thing else in my life is in turmoil, if I’m focusing on the gospel, I have a source of peace and joy.

So yes, I may struggle in my own family to consistently have Family Home Evening, but I hope they’ll overlook that and leave my home with the same knowledge I gained in my youth.

Service is important.
Give your all to the Lord.
The gospel brings joy.

I hope that as I try every day to be an active disciple of Jesus Christ my children can see that same look of happiness and peace on my face.

It is common knowledge among my acquaintances that I have served a full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka the Mormons). What is not commonly known is why. Many assume that I was one of those girls who had planned on serving for as long as they could remember. That is not the case.

The truth is, that where I honored and respected missionaries and the sacrifice they each make to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with our brothers and sisters throughout the world (who are just waiting to find it), I never thought to be one of them. At least I never thought to do so in my youth. I thought that if I ever did serve it would be someday far into my future with my husband after we had retired. Yes, I had my future all planned out.

However, God's plans for my future were a bit different. I wouldn't start to understand this until April Conference 2004. I had turned 21 (the requisite age for a young woman to serve a mission) the previous November. I was currently working to earn enough money to go back to school, though I was considering other options for the coming future.

I had prayed about all my many options every day, seeking direction. I felt as if there was something I needed to do, but I just didn't know what. And so was the state of my life, when General Conference rolled around.

All of Saturday I listened and prayed for God to reveal to me His will. It wasn't until Sunday morning that I received my answer. (I remember it as if it was yesterday) I shut myself in my bedroom and turned on the radio to listen to General Conference. I felt a need to be alone. It was Elder Dennis E. Simmons of the Quorum of the Seventy's talk, entitled But if Not, that opened the door to the answer I sought.

"Faith is not bravado, not just a wish, not just a hope. True faith is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ—confidence and trust in Jesus Christ that leads a person to follow Him… Our scriptures and our history are replete with accounts of God's great men and women who believed that He would deliver them, but if not, they demonstrated that they would trust and be true.

He has the power, but it's our test.

What does the Lord expect of us with respect to our challenges? He expects us to do all we can do. He does the rest. Nephi said, "For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.

We must have the same faith as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

Our God will deliver us from ridicule and persecution, but if not. . . . Our God will deliver us from sickness and disease, but if not . . . . He will deliver us from loneliness, depression, or fear, but if not. . . . Our God will deliver us from threats, accusations, and insecurity, but if not. . . . He will deliver us from death or impairment of loved ones, but if not, . . . we will trust in the Lord." But if Not, Elder Dennis E. Simmons, April 2004 General Conference.

As I heard these words, I knew that God had been trying to answer me for a long time, but that in my fear of what He was asking of me, I had blocked out the answer. My Faith was weak. Truly humbled, I knelt down and offered a most sincere prayer to the Lord. In the past, I had included a mission as an option for my future, but only because I was 21 and not married, not because I wanted, or was even willing to go. This time as I prayed I told the Lord that if He would reveal to me His will I would follow it, even it that meant serving a mission, no matter my fears. I would trust in Him.

Before my prayer was ended, I knew with every part of my soul, that my answer was to serve a mission. I knew that I had promised before I came to Earth that I would do so, that I had a work to do. I still had fear's based on feelings of inadequacy that I wouldn't be able to do a good job. However, my trust (Faith) in the Lord finally outweighed my personal fears.

It was just moments after coming to this realization that there was a knock on my door. My father came in, and the first thing out of his mouth was asking me if I had seriously considered serving a mission. I told him yes, and then shared what had just occurred. It was then that he told me that months ago in his concern for me he had prayed and received the impression that I was supposed to serve a mission. He hadn't told me of this revelation for it was my choice. As he spoke, I felt a confirmation that it was right. I had my answer.

This morning when I woke up a scene from a favorite new movie came to mind. I have pondered this scene more then once since having seen it over a month ago, for it was quite the wake up call to me. Let me describe it to you:

Here you have a dashing prince. He has everything he could desire. Except his one true love, the other half of his soul, his one coquet, the one who was meant to finish his song. Yet what does he do about it? (Other then dream and talk about her to all his friends?) He finds ways to pass the time till she will fall into his lap so to speak. This way he doesn't feel so empty, or lonely in the mean time.

What the prince is unaware of is, the sad fact, that though he only intended his troll hunting to pass his time till the girl of his dreams fell into his lap, that his troll hunting was actually filling his time and keeping him from finding his one true love at all.

Like this prince, I have seen many of my friends fall into this same adversarial snare. They want to find their one true love, their other half, their Eternal Companion. They talk about this to their friends and family. They think and dream about it. They pray about it, and seek priesthood blessings about it. Yet this is where their effort stops.

I must admit that too often I have found myself in this category. I know that marriage is important. I know that we have been counseled by those in authority that,

"The most important single thing that any Latter-day Saint ever does in this world is to marry the right person, in the right place, by the right authority." Elder Bruce R. McConkie

I know this. Yet like the prince in the movie, and like many of my friends, I have found myself doing nothing tangible about it. No, we have been doing things to impede it, by filling our time with projects, hobbies, and entertainment thing that we are only passing the time till our one true love will suddenly appear in our lives and we can ride off into out Happily Ever After.

I have received my wake up call. (Even if it did come from watching a Disney movie) Now it is to put what I have learned in action.

1. I cannot just put my life on hold while waiting for my Prince Charming to appear. I need to move forward.

"If you are just marking time waiting for a marriage prospect, stop waiting. You may never have the opportunity for a suitable marriage in this life, so stop waiting and start moving." Dating Verses Hanging out, Ensign June 2006, Elder Dallin H. Oaks

2. I must be careful not to unrealistically fall for the first thing even resembling a prince that comes my way. What I need to determine what sort of man I wish to DATE and thus MARRY.

"Your chances for a happy and lasting marriage will be far greater if you will date those who are active and faithful in the Church. Such dating is most likely to lead to marriage in the House of the Lord." Four B's for Boys, /Ensign,/ Nov. 1981, President Gordon B. Hinckley

3. I need to determine if the things in my life are preparing me or preventing me for an Eternal Marriage, and being an instrument in the Hands of the Lord.

"Prepare yourself for life—even a single life—by education, experience, and planning. Don't wait for happiness to be thrust upon you. Seek it out in service and learning. Make a life for yourself. And trust in the Lord. Follow King Benjamin's advice to call 'on the name of the Lord daily, and [stand] steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come' (Mosiah 4:11)." Dating Verses Hanging out, Ensign June 2006, Elder Dallin H. Oaks

4. I need to have courage to act. To go out into the real world and meet people, to date (this means asking, and accepting where the spirit prompts), and to open myself up to form friendships, and relationships.

"Once you make a decision concerning whom you would desire to marry, may you have the courage to move forward." Whom Shall I Marry?, New Era October 2004, President Thomas S. Monson

I pray that we can all take these powerful lessons to heart. That we can set aside the distractions of the world, to prepare ourselves, seek, and find our Eternal Companions. That we may fulfill the measure of our creation, and find joy therein.