So this is the process of how my mission papers went down, from start: releasing my papers, to finish: receiving my call.

For those of you that don't know how an LDS mission works, the missionary has to fill out their papers, which is like an application, so the missionary center knows the basic information of the missionary, before they can assign them to an area. Once you fill out your health information and have a check up at a doctors and a dentist, you need to send your papers to your Bishop. You meet with your bishop and you two go through your papers and make sure everything is correct, then he interviews you to make sure that you are worthy enough to serve a mission and if it is the right thing for you to do. Then your papers get sent to your stake president. You then meet with your stake president and go through the same process with him as you did with your Bishop. You then if you have a wonderful stake president, you personally get to click the submit button with him and then you know that your papers are submitted.

So that is the gist of how the process goes down. My process was basically the same but it happened a little different. So you can only submit your papers 120 days before you can leave. Which for me is August 11, so the day that I could submit my papers was April 11. Since that was so close to when I was going home for the summer I decided to wait until I was done with school so I could do everything with my home bishop and stake president. Honestly it was a hard decision to make to wait almost another month to submit my papers, but it helped me learn patience, and I needed to learn some patience.

My bishop texted me on Sunday April 26, and said, "I just released your papers, here is your login information, you can start your papers..." Basically I couldn't sit still the rest of the devotional I was at. So as soon as I got back to my dorm, I started to input all of the information I could without my parents. As soon as I got home once school was done, which was a week later, my parents and I filled out all my paperwork in one night. I then went to the doctors and dentist, on Monday May 4, for my appointments. Funny story, so at the doctors I had to get my blood work done, I didn't know that before hand, so of course earlier that morning I ran 3 miles and barely ate anything. I am checking out of my appointment and all of a sudden I pass out... Yeah that happened. My mom had to come pick me up and drive me to the dentist... Awkward. Then my dentist said that he would only sign my papers if I told him where I was going, well obviously Dr. Sean, you're a family friend. I then had my appointment with my Bishop, Wednesday May 6, and everything was good, except we realized that I never got a breast exam at the doctors... face palm, so basically my bishop asked me if everything was normal, most awkward conversation ever.

Then I made an appointment to meet with our stake president the following Wednesday, April 13. I then waited the long week until Wednesday finally rolled around. The meeting with my stake president went well. It was a little emotional because I am on medication for stress/anxiety and sometimes you cannot serve a mission when you are on certain medications or you can't go to certain countries because that medication is unavailable. So we talked about how stable I am with my medication and if I honestly think I can handle a mission. It was tough, but it made me realize that I am meant to serve a mission. I know that it will be hard but I know that I can handle it to the best of my ability. I then got the blessing of clicking the submit button. After my meeting with President Gates, my parents and I talked about my medication. It really strengthened my testimony on the idea that everything happens for a reason. If I can't serve a mission it is because I am not supposed to serve a mission at this time. If I get called to Boise, Idaho, its because that is where I am supposed to go serve my mission. I have faith in my Heavenly Father that He knows what is best for me.

16 days later. MY CALL HAS FINALLY ARRIVED!! But let me tell you a funny story real quick, so on Memorial Day I am at work at Wet N Wild and I try to see if I can log onto MyLDSmail account, because if you can log on to that then that means your call has been assigned. So I was able to log on, and lets just say that I was very anxious from then on. Anyways, I have been called to serve in the SALT LAKE CITY MISSION, Spanish speaking. Now this may not seem like an exciting mission but I know that this is where I am supposed to serve, and I could not be more thrilled about it. To be honest, when I read my call, my family and I all busted up laughing. haha it was great. But another funny story, so 5 years ago, one year after I was baptized, my family and I went to Salt Lake City to go to our LDS general conference and check out the city. While there I thought to myself, this would be a really cool place to serve a mission... Well the Lord liked my idea so much that He sent me there. Guess I'm His favorite because He gave me the mission I wanted haha I report to the Provo MTC on August 26. So in like 60 something days, pretty crazy stuff! I am so blessed to have this opportunity to serve as a missionary for my church. I am very excited for this journey for me and I cannot wait to see how I grow and become better. I love this gospel and I am to grateful that I can share it with many others.

con amor,
Hermana Olivas