“And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith.” Alma 31:38

Serving a mission was a difficult decision for me because I lacked the faith that I could be successful. Or in other words, I was afraid to fail. But, in time, I received an unmistakable answer that I should go.

Once my papers were in, I prayed that if the Lord believed I could learn a foreign language, then let me go abroad; but I understood if He didn’t think I could do it. I was called to serve in Mexico and to speak Spanish. It terrified me; but I believed the Lord had faith in me.

The language training in the MTC humbled me from the start, and I soon learned what true failure feels like. I had to remind myself often that the Lord had shown His faith in me by sending me abroad. Over the next six months it took many more failing moments of humiliation and embarrassment to find real success, but the Lord showed his tender mercies all along the way.

The Lord blessed me with patient companions and a loving culture of people. The Holy Ghost filled my heart and cleared my head. Within four months of being in Mexico I not only loved the language, but also it became my first language. The scriptures, the gospel, the love of Christ came to life in both languages.

My mission was filled with many difficult challenges, all of which taught me great lessons. But my language has become one of the greatest blessings of my life. It showed me that when I put the Lord first, failure is part of the journey. It afforded me the opportunity to teach incredible children in the inner city of Los Angeles and wonderful youth in Washington. Mostly, I learned that taking steps of faith in to the unknown invite blessings from the Lord beyond measure born of trials and tribulations; showing that all our afflictions can be “swallowed up in the joy of Christ”.