For as long as I can remember I’ve always had the feeling that before I came to Earth I promised someone I would find them and help them. I’ve never been able to shake the feeling, but I didn’t think I would find that person through a mission.

I met my boyfriend Johny the last semester of my senior year at the end of December 2014. He was 20 at the time and had never served a mission. After we had been dating for a few months I told him I was getting promptings to serve a mission, but I really didn’t want to go. So I just shrugged them off. Towards the end of my senior year my dad asked me if I had ever thought about going on a mission and I told him, “Well I get promptings all the time but I just tell them to go away.” My dad reprimanded me and told me I needed to take promptings from God seriously and that I should always act on them. So I decided to pray about serving a mission.

After praying about it for a few weeks I started having panic attacks every time I thought about serving a mission. Then it got to the point that I was having nightmares every night about a mission. I was so confused and I didn’t want to go, but I had the strongest feeling that I was supposed to find that person I promised I would find. About a month after I began praying Elder Christofferson came to speak at a fireside at my school. He was doing a question and answer and one girl asked, “How do you know if you should serve a mission or not if you’re a sister?” And Elder Christofferson answered, “Sisters you can go either way. If you have the desire to serve then go, we love having you out there and you always do so much and bring a special spirit, but if you don’t have the desire to go then don’t. God has another plan for you and if someone is supposed to be in your life he will put them there whether you go on a mission or not.” That was my answer; I didn’t need to go on a mission to find the person I promised I would find. A mission isn’t for me.

Time went by and any time someone said anything about a mission to me I told him/her I wasn’t going and I got my answer from an apostle. No one dared argue with me after I told him/her who gave me my answer. It got to a point where everyone knew I wasn’t going on a mission and no one said anything to me about it anymore.

Johny and I still dated as the year went by. When fall came I moved down to Provo to attend Utah Valley University and Johny was getting ready to leave to Colombia for a study abroad to learn Spanish. Two of my roommates were RMs and Johny was working at The Garden Restaurant in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. One day while Johny was serving, Elder Christofferson came in and Johny served his table. One of the men eating with Elder Christofferson said, “John, did you serve a mission?” And Johny told him no. He then asked Johny, “What are you doing with your life right now?” Johny told him how he was leaving to Colombia in a couple weeks to learn Spanish. The man then said, “Don’t go to Colombia. I promise if you serve a mission you will go somewhere Spanish speaking. You don’t need to go to school to learn Spanish, go on a mission and you’ll learn it.” Johny went to Colombia two weeks later.

School went by for me and Johny’s study abroad adventure continued. Each day we read two general conference talks together and discussed them. We grew spiritually stronger as we did this, but we also grew closer together. So finally one day we talked and we were wondering what our futures had in store for us. Were we supposed to get married? Were we supposed to just keep dating? What was the right thing for us to do? So we started to pray about it. And as I started to pray about it promptings to go on a mission started to come back but I didn’t tell Johny. I thought if I’m having promptings I better take them seriously and pray about it. So I asked my Father in Heaven if I was supposed to serve a mission. The promptings continued.

The first week in October my family went to Disneyland and I’m not the type of person to talk to random strangers but the whole trip I was talking to everybody. One day while we were there, there weren’t enough chairs at the table we were eating at for lunch so I went and sat next to this random guy on the bench and ate by him. We talked about golf for 20 minutes and I was showing him all these golf videos and we were having a good time. After we were finished talking my mom took me to the side and said, “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but I think you would be such a good missionary.” And I knew right there that that was my answer. That I was now READY to go on a mission and that’s what I NEEDED to do.  So I texted Johny and told him that I thought I had my answer and he said he had his too. I told him I needed to go on a mission and he said that was his answer and that he needed to serve one too. So I came home and started my papers right away. Johny came home from Colombia a month later, received his patriarchal blessing where it confirmed his choice of going on a mission was right, and then he started his papers.

I received my call to serve in the Kentucky Louisville Mission Spanish Speaking. I report to the Provo MTC on March 23, 2016. Johny received his call to serve in the Guatemala Guatemala City South Mission Spanish Speaking. He will report to the Guatemala MTC on April 20, 2016. I can’t believe the blessings I have received since I decided to serve a mission and how happy I am. I know that God has a plan for me, but he also has a plan for everyone. I now know that there is no such thing as a coincidence. God knew I needed two roommates who were RMs to help me understand missionary work better, and he inspired that man who ate with Elder Christofferson to say to Johny what he said. I’m so excited to find the person I promised I would find and I’m so happy it’s in Kentucky. I know that this is one of the hardest things I will ever do, but I also know it will be one of the most rewarding. I’m so grateful I have the opportunity to serve my Heavenly Father, and I’m also so happy that I have the chance to teach people about true happiness. I know that everything with Johny will work out and that a mission at this time is the right thing for us to do. I love God’s plan and I know He can make a lot more out of my life than I could ever make of it myself.