Well, Jypsy. Explain yourself!
It's pretty simple. I went on a mission.
What? Did you join the military or the FBI or CIA??
Well, not exactly. I went on an ecclesiastical mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, also well known as the Mormons.
What does that supposed to mean?
To put it simply, I went out to go teach the people about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Meaning to say, I was wearing the black name tag with a name of an Elder _____ (and of course, mine was Casia), together with the name of the Church.
I was assigned, as previously posted, to the Alaska Anchorage Mission. But on the side note, I was held here in the Philippines for awhile due to some delays with the arrival of the letter for my visa. While waiting for it, my stake president (a lay minister who oversees on the bigger geography on a city or clusters of cities) was inspired to request from the Area Presidencies to assign me immediately on a temporary assignment. And alas! I was assigned in the Philippines Quezon City North Mission. For the span of 4 months, I was waiting for my visa and all that jazz in order for me to enter into the US. A lot of prayers was rendered by me and fasting in order for me to get out to my assigned mission. I'm not saying that I didn't like being here in the Philippines. I was just more excited to go on my original assignment. But I have to admit, I sure learned a lot of things while serving in that mission. Not to mention, I was assigned to 3 different areas. My first area was in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan. In that area, I was there for about a good 3 months with 4 companions. Next one was at Camarin, Caloocan. In there, I was about 2 companions for a month. And my last area in the Philippines was Fairview, Quezon City. Perhaps, that is the shortest time in an area that I have been to. Well, maybe one of the shortest. There, I was with my last 2 companions, and I was near the mission president, his assistant's (who are also missionaries), and the office missionaries. And after a week, and almost a half, I flew to Salt Lake City to head to Provo for my training in the Missionary Training Center. There, I was with about more than 9,000 missionaries who are going through their training before heading to their field of labor. There, I was trained with the fundamentals of what we teach to people.
Then I went to Alaska!
If I wasn't a missionary, I would have considered it a vacation.
Why is that?
Let me tell you.
My first area in Alaska was Ketchikan, the fishing and salmon capital of the world. I have spent about 4 and a half months in there. In missionary terms, I was there for 3 transfers. Then the next stop, the Tongan area in Anchorage! I love serving in the language areas. You go beyond the city limits sometimes, which I love to do. I was in there for only a month and a half, 1 transfer. And then, I got thrown in Dutch Harbor, . I would honestly say that perhaps, Dutch Harbor was the place where I struggled, and grew in the knowledge of the gospel. I was there for about 2 months, and we left back to Anchorage in the middle of the transfer, putting me in the Spanish branch for about 3 weeks before the transfer ended. That was pretty brief, but I sure had fun learning Spanish at the same time. It's funny because some Hispanics were shocked to see an Asian kid speak Spanish to them. No later than expected, I got transferred to another language speaking area, which I wasn't really desiring to do. I got thrown to the Hmong branch, where I have stayed there for 7 and a half months straight. But included in that time was when I trained a new missionary. Afterwards, I was assigned somewhere else in Anchorage with a limited boundaries, and limited mileage at the same time. I was sent to the Turnagain ward, near the Turnagain straight. There, I was called to train another new missionary for 3 months, putting it into a 2 transfer cycle area. Then after, I got transferred to the ultimate Filipino area, Kodiak islands. There, I finished my last 6 months in that island, working with a lot of Filipinos, and actually using my mission language (which is Tagalog) to teach the Filipino people. I thought that having an island fever for 2 to 5 months was bad, 6 months was a bit too much for me! But hey! It was all worth it. I did all that I can, despite the challenges that came to our companionship, area, and people that we are teaching.
Sometimes, it's hard to admit that you had a successful mission due to the fact that you see a lot of success of a missionary through how much baptism's they had, or how many people they have reactivated to come back to church, or how many families you have witnessed to get sealed for time and through out all eternity in the temple. But now, and with a lot of testimonies of so many people, I have planted the seed of the gospel into their hearts. Now, it's up to them what they want to do with it. And several times, the Lord has answered my prayers that I have done well. Even a member of the mission presidency and my mission president himself were the answers I got.
I can never describe my over-all experience as a missionary. There are so many things that has truly changed my life for the better. But of course, I shall never forget the root of all the good things that I experienced in my mission: my family. I have seen how the gospel has helped them. It's my turn to help the people receive the gospel.
Oh man, I love my mission so much!
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