Revelation is a Reality

"The familiar observation that "timing is everything" surely overstates the point, but timing is vital.

We read in Ecclesiastes:

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

"A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;...

"A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

"...A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;...

"...A time to keep silence, and a time to speak" (Eccl. 3:1-2,4-5,7)

In all the important decisions in our lives, what is most important is to do the right thing. Second, and only slightly behind the first, is to do the right thing at the right time." Dallin H. Oaks, Timing, Oct 2003.

When I was little, I would listen to a CD full of primary songs when I went to bed at night. I looked forward to it. It comforted me.  The songs would softly float in the atmosphere, gently soothing me to sleep. I loved the song I Hope They Call Me On A Mission. I always felt something in my heart that was different than when the other songs would play. It intrigued me, and I always wished it would play one more time before moving onto the next. At the time, I don't think I really knew that Sisters could serve, or at least I was too young to really understand. But the song made me happy, and the words would continually touch my little heart.

As the years passed, the thought of a mission wandered aimlessly throughout my mind. The thought of young adults getting sent around the world to spread the Light of Christ was so exciting. I loved seeing the Elders and Sisters walking around, and I always thought that maybe that could be me if my circumstances allowed. I loved picturing my boys (friends) in a shirt and tie with that special little badge on their chest, and I looked forward to the day it was their turn.

The point of my life when the missionary age change was made would have been the perfect time for me to serve. I was 19,  my friends were all serving, I wasn't attending school, and I only worked part time. There was nothing keeping me from serving, but I wasn't supposed to. Not then. So I attended many Institute classes which I loved. I wrote my missionary friends religiously, and that was that.

Every now and then I would have a fleeting thought of serving, but I would push it aside. It made me nervous. I was content with my life the way it was. So I forgot about it. That is until another thought would find it's way into my head. I knew I should pray about it, but I never did. I didn't want to. It wasn't something that I really wanted anymore.

Time flew really fast. Friends were preparing to return home from their missions, and I hadn't even given a mission a second thought. November found it's way into the year, and my family was hit with a life changing trial. At this point I knew there really was no way I could go. I needed to stay home, I needed to be with my siblings, and I definitely couldn't just leave. Struggling to adjust, I continually turned to my Heavenly Father. I knew things happened for a reason, but it was hard to get that to settle in. After a few months, I decided to serve a mission. All in the middle of family trials, friends returning, and other things. But why? Why now?

In the talk In His Own Time, in His Own Way by Elder Dallin H. Oaks it states, "Revelation is a reality. It comes in the Lord's way and according to His own timetable... We will get promptings of the Spirit when we have done everything we can, when we are out in the sun working rather than sitting back in the shade praying for direction on the first step to take. Revelation comes when the children of God are on the move. So we do all we can. Then we wait upon the Lord for His revelation. He has his own timetable... In most cases, "His own way" is not the thunderous interruption or the blinding light but what the scriptures call the "still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12; 1 Nephi 17:45; D&C 85:6)... We need to know that the Lord rarely speaks loudly. His messages almost always come in a whisper... "Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. "Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation" (D&C 8:2-3; emphasis added). We should understand that the Lord will speak to us in His own time and in His own way."

This is something that I have tried really hard to work on. Trusting in the Lord's timing. He has a plan greater than we can comprehend, and we need to have faith in Him, in His plan, and in His timing.

Sure, I could have gone right as the mission age change had been made, and I'm sure I would have taught many incredible people. I would have been preparing to return home by now, been able to see my friends as they began to come home, but the Lord knew I needed to wait. Maybe it was to be home with my family during the hard time, maybe it was to prepare myself more, and maybe not. Maybe I don't know the reason yet, but what I do know is that the Lord knows what He's doing, and if I trust in His timing, and have faith in His plan, I will be blessed.

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"The most important principle of timing is to take the long view. Mortality is just a small slice of eternity, but how we conduct ourselves here--what we become by our actions and desires, confirmed by our covenants and the ordinances administered to us by proper authority-will shape our destiny for all eternity." -Dallin H. Oaks, The Right Thing at the Right Time.