It's time!

Oh my goodness, I leave for the MTC tomorrow. I will be set apart in the morning and then head down to Utah to enter the MTC where I start my training to become a full time missionary. At this moment I am so excited. I know this is what I am supposed to be doing right now and I am looking so forward to this next year and a half. It will be the best part of my life so far. When I woke up this morning it finally hit me that I was going to become a missionary in the next few days and I just got so excited. The nervousness I had before has mostly disappeared and I can't wait for this next stage of my life. Hurray! While I was giving my talk last Sunday I just got so excited to teach the gospel to those who wanted to know the truth and it hit me so strongly that I have been taught the truth and know the truth and I rejoice in the truth. It is so comforting to know the truth and to have faith in Christ. Believing and trusting in Him brings so much peace no matter what else is happening around us. It is such a good feeling. I know that God is aware of each of us and wants us to have faith in His son Jesus Christ and look to Him always and cast our burdens upon Him and put His yoke on us for it is light. We are blessed when we do. God is so good and so kind. I look forward to teaching the people in Germany about this gospel. Hurrah for Israel! Also I want to thank those of you who have been such good examples to me and have been such good friends and have supported me. It means so much to me. I am so grateful for what so many of you have done for me. Thank you and merry Christmas to you all! Here I go...

The Temple

When I was little I remember singing the song, "I love to see the temple, I'm going there someday..." Well that day has come and it was everything I hoped it would be and more. I had the wonderful experience of going through the temple for the first time a couple weeks ago. That is one of the blessings of going on a mission. Although it wasn't exactly what I had expected entirely, I know that nothing brings greater joy than the peace felt in the house of the Lord knwoing you are worthy to enter. That is very humbling and yet enobling too. Being able to go through the temple gives you so much strength and more purpose in life than before. The Lord's spirit is so strong there and after going there I just want to live my life so much better. I am inspired to do my best, and to be my best self. After going through I realized that I have a long way to go, I have much to improve on, and a lot more to learn. But I know it is of God because even though I came to that realization, I felt at peace about it and I knew that Heavenly Father would help me. During my time there I completely felt at peace and loved being there. The temple is such a holy place and I know it is the Lord's work. As we continue to be faithful and keep the commandments we help the Lord's work roll forward, we help to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). I know that God is and that He loves us all and cares about the details of our lives and wants us to return to live with Him someday. I know that God lives and guides us and that He hears and answers our prayers. I know that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ. I know that as we live righteously we can enjoy the blessings of the temple, which help us so much in this life.

Welcome to my mission blog and my pre-mission thoughts

Wow, I Melinda Fitzgerald have been called to serve an LDS mission in Frankfurt Germany! I received my call on October 11, 2008. I was at work in the potato fields when it arrived. My mom drove all the way out there to find our crew to show me the envelope. When I saw it my anticipation grew and I couldn't believe it had already come. I had just submitted my missionary application on September 30, so it had only taken a week and a half for my call to come. The Stake President had told me it would take at least two and most likely three weeks for it to come so you can imagine my pleasant surprise when it came so soon. That was an exciting day waiting in anticipation to open it.

I figured I had probably been called to Canada or the United States. I was hoping for Nauvoo just because I had spent the past summer there and had loved it so much that I wanted to go back and serve as a missionary. When I finally got to open the letter it was 12:45 am October 12 (we waited for my dad to get back from work). As I read through I squealed with delight as I read I had been called to serve in the Germany Frankfurt Mission. Germany had passed through my mind just because I had a friend that got called there a few months before. We had both thought how neat it would be if we got called to the same country and it happened! Although different missions, at least we would know we had a friend in the same country.

Since then I have been busy preparing for this wonderful time in my life. Back then I thought two months seems so far away I wish I could just go now. At this point in time I have about three weeks left before entering the Provo MTC on December 17 and I am thinking, wait there is still so much to do, time is going too fast. Sometimes I can't believe that I am really about to leave for a mission. Growing up I never really had the desire to serve a full time mission. Once I got into college there were a few experiences I had that made me want to serve a mission, but not until I went to Nauvoo Illinois this past summer did I really decide that a mission was what I really wanted to do and what I felt the Lord really wanted me to do. Many things went in to making that decision. It was definitely a process. Now that the decision is made though and as I look back I see all the things the Lord did to prepare me for this. I know He was truly guiding me all along, all the experiences He let me go through have helped me make this decision. I look forward to this mission experience, I know that it will be hard but I also know that it will be good.

I know that this is the Lord's work and He will not leave us alone to accomplish it. He will send His spirit to help us, to guide and direct us. Yes, this is the Lord's work and this The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is His true church restored to the earth once again through the prophet Joseph Smith. His gospel is here to help lead us back to live with Him. I know that families can be sealed for time and all eternity in the temple and that they can be together forever. I know the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. Thomas S. Monson is His true prophet that has been called of God to lead this church on the earth today. I know that as we keep the commandments of God we have true happiness and experience more joy than anything else in this world. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Redeemer of the world. I am grateful and feel honored to have the priviledge of serving as a full time missionary for this church.

This blog will be updated each week while I am on my mission by a member of my family as I email them each week. Then if there are any comments a member of my family will mail them to me. I look forward to hearing from you!