Three Years Ago

May 7, 2013

Three years ago on Mother's Day i gave my home coming report in the Washington 4th ward sacrament meeting. I can not believe that i have been home for 3 years! In October that will mean its been 5 years since i entered the MTC... Its crazy how time goes by. Matt's Aunt Carol Dawn has been putting together a project that requires all those people in the family who have served a mission to give a little synopsis of our mission experiences. Below is mine. Enjoy! 

My full name is April Chamberlain Clegg. I served in the Minnesota Minneapolis Mission (MMM) from October 2008, till April 2010. I was blessed to have President Thomas S. Monson sign my call letter.

My mission was the best thing that ever happened to me. Sister missionaries usually have a unique story or background as to why they decided to serve a mission because it is not a church duty to be fulfilled. Mine started when I was attending Dixie State College. I began to date a guy and sent him off on his mission about 8 months after we had been dating. I decided to wait for this guy to get home. This choice took me a whole summer to decide on. I fasted and prayed for several months to know whether I should wait for him, and one night during my earnest prayers on the matter I received a clear as day answer that YES I WAS TO WAIT FOR HIM. Thus began my endeavors to finish my generals, pay off my car debt, and work a lot to get a savings ready for when the wedding would take place the summer following his return.

Well, he came home and things just weren't working out between us. Eventually we had “the talk” and decided we needed to go our separate ways. I was in complete shock. Why did Heavenly Father tell me 18 months prior, that I was to wait for this guy? I could have been dating all kinds of other guys, I could have traveled more, and I could have done all these other things during that time, but decided to save my money for a wedding that now wasn't even going to happen. 

A week later my parents had a little talk with me out in the back yard. They told me that perhaps the Lord’s answer to wait was His way of getting me to prepare for something else He had in mind for me. They then told me that if I decided to serve a mission that they would fully support me in whatever I would be in need of. I fasted and prayed to know if this was the plan He had for me, and sure enough with a resounding yes I began my mission papers. I received my call in August 2008 and by October that same year I was at the MTC getting ready to serve as one of the Lord’s missionaries. 

I like to share this experience because I feel that no matter what we may think the Lord has a specific plan for each of us. He masked mine by the way my prayers were answered, but thanks to wonderful, insightful parents the way was shown to me. I have no regrets and no doubts about the way I lived my life, saving my money (enough to pay the majority of my mission), and finishing school and worked hard. In fact serving a mission was the next obvious step for me in my life; and it was my 18 month service that has changed my life and molded me into the person I am today. 
When President Whitney (my stake president) set me apart as a full time missionary, he specifically said in my blessing that my mission would not only be to preach the gospel to those who are lost, but that a major part of my mission would be to strengthen and serve my companions and other missionaries in my areas. I didn't really know what this meant until I got to the MTC and God didn't waste one minute on getting me started on that assignment. I had struggling companions throughout my entire mission save 5 transfers. 

My first area was Rochester MN, a city about the size of just Provo UT. My trainer was Heidi Baker from Pocatello ID. She was the funniest and most inspiring sister and perfect for my trainer! She taught me everything I needed to know about being a missionary. 

Proposition 8 was a huge influential current even going on during my first transfer. You wouldn't think this would affect me in the Midwest, however MN has quite a support group for same sex attraction participants. In fact many of the same sex attracted people will move to MN just to get away from the ‘persecution’ of other states. This affected the way we had to prepare to talk to people. We had to really educate ourselves on the politics of it all so we could not only share the gospel but set people straight on what the LDS church believes and supports on the matter. 

My 4th transfer in Rochester I was called to be a trainer. My first greenie was a sweet sister from Orem, Utah named Karissa Ostler. I would call her sister octopus some times because I couldn’t remember her name! She was a dear sweet sister that just wanted to do everything so perfectly the first time. I learned so much from working with her about the Atonement. We discussed it a lot between the two of us and how it helped us individually as missionaries. For Karissa, she needed to allow the Atonement to help her accept her imperfections, and to just strive to do her best and allow the Savior to do the rest. I watched her bloom into one of the most influential sisters in the MMM.

My 6th transfer rolled around and took me to the Uptown Singles Ward. This is where I was again called to train, this time my greenie was a 6’ 2” BYU basketball star of 4 years by the name of Cassie King. This girl quickly became my best friend. We would joke that she pushed me out of heaven a couple seconds before she made the jump herself and said, “See you in the MMM in 20 years!” We served 5 transfers together and loved every minute of it! The wards we served in together called us the dynamic duo! Where ever we went broke mission records on how many weekly contacts and weekly lessons taught. We held at least one baptism each transfer together as well. The King and I knew how to work, we knew how to teach and the members trusted us to do so. The greatest lesson I recall being taught by her was the faith of a greenie. 

We were out one day ‘pre-tracting’ which is basically going to an area and leaving info cards on the doors telling the people that we would be back in the area on a certain date at a certain time to answer questions and give more info if anyone was interested. We stopped at one house and a guy (mid 30’s) opened the door. During our short introduction we learned his name was Mark Spavoli and he was a Catholic priest that wrote the sermons for the east coast catholic congregations. We set up another meeting time with him for the following week to give him the first discussion. Cassie was so excited about having found someone to teach and I was so scared and nervous that it wouldn’t go well because of his back ground as a priest. I had had other experiences with religious leaders and they were not good memories. Well the date arrived and we drove to Mark’s place. I offered a prayer in the car that all would go well. Mark answered the door and the lesson went so well! He had lots of questions and allowed us to teach without skepticism! I couldn’t believe how well it went. Afterward I felt the Lord chastising me for my lack of faith, and I admit that I deserved it. Mark never got baptized but he fully admitted that he couldn’t pray about the book of Mormon because he knew it was true, and if he knew it was true that would mean change for him, and he wasn’t ready for what that would entail. I will forever remember Cassie’s strong greenie faith! Nothing could shake her! Nothing! 

I could go on and on about the many wonderful experiences that I had while serving as a missionary, and I have gotten lost in my mission journals remembering the good times, crying again remembering the difficult times, and standing in aw remembering the many miracles I witnessed. As all returned missionaries will tell you, my mission was the very best thing that I could have decided to do with my life. I came to know my Savior at a much deeper level as I worked side by side with him. I came to have a greater level of charity for all of God’s children no matter their shape, size, culture, habits; you name it, it didn’t matter to me. I have often thought about a theme or title for my mission and honestly the title I would choose this, “The ups and downs are what make Roller Coasters fun!” While serving in a difficult area I wrote home about my adventures and without a second thought I wrote this one liner, because it summed up the precise point I was trying to make. Months later when I got home my mom had it hanging on the fridge. I asked her who said that and told her I liked it; she reminded me that I had wrote that to them in a letter and said it was a very influential letter for her and the whole family at the time. It has now become a reoccurring statement in my family. 

Looking back over my mission I would say this sums it up perfectly! My mission had so many ups and so many downs, often we would go through several really highs and really lows in just one single day! A roller coaster with no big hills or twists and turns would be so boring and not worth your time, but because of the many ups and downs and the unexpected twists and jerks, it makes for a most exciting experience; as my mission was for me.

Post mission has been a whole new world. New adventures new people new goals, new dreams, and my mission has been the back bone for my success at it all. It was during my mission that I came to know that I should be a Family Counselor someday. It was during my mission that I learned to teach, and learned to lead, both of which I used while I acted as the Relief Society President in the singles ward for 2 years after I got home. I could tell you much more about how influential my mission has been in my post mission life, but suffice it to say serving as one of the Lord’s chosen is a sacred calling that I know has and will continue to bless my life for years to come!