Holy Mackerel

I love General Conference! I think it is pretty much the most awesome thing ever that we get to hear the prophet and his apostles speak directly to us twice a year. I always come away from conference feeling spiritually rejuvenated, and pondering the talks that stuck out to me most.
This year's 182nd Semi Annual General Conference has had me pondering on things all day long; I feel like today's conference was an especially good one. I've been rereading my notes from Elder Cook and President Uchtdorf's talks from the morning session, and I really liked M Russell Ballard's and Neil L Anderson's talks from this afternoon. It is truly amazing how they knew just what I needed to hear!
This morning in the beginning of the session, President Monson made an extremely important announcement that pretty much flipped my world upside down. I'm kind of freaking out a little bit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_nfQUt7d2o


BAM. There it is. This was my reaction when I heard that- :O  ->  : )  ->  :'D. This has gotten me so excited for the young men I know, like Spencer, Colin, Luis, and Kevin, all from back home. All of them will be eligible to leave for missions in December! (Well, Colin, Luis and Kevin could go right now if they wanted!) It is so crazy and wonderful. Crazy wonderful. And then, to top it off, they lowered the age for women to 19. There were several shouts/tears of joy around my apartment, and we heard a bunch of other people through the walls too. It was truly a historic moment that will change everything, and I will never ever forget it. Even just thinking about it now gives me chills.
This has caused me to do a LOT of reflecting and pondering today. For some girls in my ward, the decision was easy. I know of like three people who have decided to go on missions, some after just this semester because by then they'll be old enough. There's also a girl in my section, Julie, who decided she was going to go as well. This is so amazing!
Here are my thoughts, as far as serving a mission goes:
1. I'll be 19 this April, so I would have at least this whole school year done if I were to go, which is excellent.
2. Every decision I've ever made in my life I feel has been very heavily influenced by people who are older than me in our family. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, it's just the way it is, especially because I've always been slightly indecisive. When I played trumpet in band, it was because pretty much everyone else did too. I tried out for drum major mostly because Beck did it. When I applied for college, I only applied to UGA and BYU, because that's where almost everyone else went. I feel like this will be the first decision I have ever made completely on my own. No one else in our family has ever had this opportunity before. I'll have people all telling me to do different things. But in the end, it all comes down to what I feel like the Lord wants me to do. There will be many prayers involved, and I'd appreciate them from yall also. : )
3. Financially, I don't know if it'll even be possible. I was talking to Spencer the other day, and he said for guys you're supposed to have $10,000 saved up. I assume for sister missionaries it's a little less, just because missions aren't as long... but yikes! I don't know if I'll EVER have even close to that amount of money any time soon.
4. I feel like going on a mission would be the best thing I've ever done. For the past while (since I graduated), I've just been feeling kind of lost. I very recently made a rough outline for my life (the whole physical therapy thing), but I just don't know- classes are SO HARD and I've been trying really hard, but I just don't know if I'm going to be able to make the grades to get into medical school ANYWHERE. I feel like if I went on a mission, it would help me to mature both spiritually and emotionally, as well as teaching me important things like responsibility and diligence, both of which could probably be improved from what they are right now, and those lessons would enrich my life forever. There's really no reason NOT to go, if I can get enough money saved up. Unless...
5. Dating. Obviously, this is something I have pretty much no control over what happens when, but it's been kind of lurking in the back of my brain all day long. What if while I'm on my mission, should I go, my husband is here at BYU just waiting around for me? Although, I guess the Lord wouldn't give me the green light if I was supposed to get married instead...

This is a very exciting but also very scary thing. Prayers are VERY much appreciated on my behalf, just so I can have some idea of what I'd like to do. I've got a while to think this all over, but I see no point in putting it off until my birthday. : )

This is so exciting! Hooray for modern day revelation! And missionary work! And general conference!

Oh, PS- If anyone knows where my black jacket is, you should let me know because I don't have it anymore. : ) I love you all!