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The 18-Month Choice
I was baptized on April 6, 2019. Four years later, in 2023, I received a call to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Jamaica Kingston Mission. Before I left my beloved Guyana, my journey took several troubling turns.
How did it begin? I completed my mission recommendation forms and received my call. Everything went smoothly until my parents heard I’d be going to Jamaica. It was so far away! My parents, mostly my mother, decided I shouldn’t go. “No, you’re not going!” she said. “You have to start school and work, and it’s too far away! It could be dangerous. A lot of things can happen.”
I was sad to hear this. I tried explaining that I would be safe and that when I got back, I could continue school. My mother still disagreed and gave me two options: “One, you stay here at home, work, and go to school, or two, you choose to serve this mission and forget you have a family. What’s your pick?”
I was shocked upon hearing this, and the conversation ended that night. I continued to prepare for my mission with the help of my stake president and district members. I was concerned that I would break the commandment to “honour thy father and thy mother” (Exodus 20:12) if I went. I was told to trust God and ask what He would have me do. I remember calling my stake president twice, telling him I don’t want to serve. I wasn’t just troubled by my mother’s words but also by other personal conflicts of feeling inadequate and leaving behind people I loved and things I wanted to do.
Several weeks later, my stake president called and asked if I still wanted to serve. He invited me to pray and ask God if a mission was right for me. After three days of pondering, I decided not to serve, but I hadn’t called the stake president yet. The next day, he called again and asked, “So what’s your answer—do you want to serve?” Without hesitation, I said, “Yes, I want to serve a mission!” Though I had decided not to serve, the Spirit led me to say yes.
I could not fully understand what happened to me in that moment until I was in the mission field. When I left, my mother stopped trying to tell me not to serve and said, “You’re old enough to choose, so go ahead and do as you want.” My father said, “Good luck.”
One week later, I was on a plane to the missionary training center. While I was in the MTC, my mother wouldn’t speak to me on my preparation days, but on the last day, before I left the MTC, my mother called. From then on to the end of my mission, we talked, maybe not every week, but I was grateful that my parents could finally allow and support me in choosing to serve God.
In Doctrine and Covenants 84:88, the Lord Jesus Christ promised to all his faithful servants, “I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.”
I learned so much on my mission and saw so many miracles. It helped develop my testimony and helped me grow into who I am today, a covenant daughter of God, willing to surrender to Him. The Lord has blessed my relationships and given me wisdom. I know He qualifies those whom He calls to serve. I know that the Lord takes care of those who choose Him over the things of the world. Because of Him, we are blessed to have families that love us. I know this to be true.