Into the Wilderness

Hi, my name is Abby Slade. I'm from a small town called Mendon found in Utah. Yes that's right Utah, land of the "Mormons". Not too long ago I was attending Utah State University studying Theater and attempting to get a double major in English. I went to school for about 2 years until this past summer my family decided to take a trip to Detroit, Michigan to visit my grandparents who were serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. For most of my life I was never planning on going on a mission. I thought it was pointless for girls to do and I didn't understand why anyone would want to give up 18 months -2 years of their life basically filling up a waist of time. It wasn't until my grandparent's decided to take us on a little road trip while we were their that my feelings towards a mission began to change. I had the opportunity to visit some of the old LDS church sites such as the Sacred Grove, Joseph Smith's childhood house, and the Kirtland temple. I was walking down the dusty pathway from the smith home and I begin to have an overwhelming powerful feeling of love pour out to me. It is unlike anything I had ever felt before. That is when I knew how much my Heavenly Father loved me, and I wanted to show him how much I loved Him. If he loved me that much, why can't I give up 18 months of my life for Him? So that's when I decided to uproot my life in a months notice (quit literally) and shipped myself off to North Carolina when I got the call. And right now I feel a lot like Ammon (Book of Mormon reference), going into the wilderness (of North Carolina) to teach people I do not know but feel an overpowering love for.

Alma 17:8 " And thus Sister Slade departed into the wilderness with their numbers which they had selected, to go up to the land of North Carolina, to preach the word of God unto the lamanites."