my choice to serve

President Monson announced the change of age in missionaries in the october session of general conference. my sister, my roommate, and i were watching it in my apartment, lounging around in our pajamas. first, he announced the age change in boys, and the spirit was so strong! i was so excited and had actually heard from a british boy in my french class (a few days or a week before) that 18 year old boys in england could serve. he then started talking about the sisters. i was on the edge of the couch about to squeal with excitement. he announced that sisters could now serve at 19 instead of 21 if they have the desire to do so. the spirit overwhelmed me and i was on cloud nine. holy cow...it was absolutely amazing and i will never forget that experience. as soon as he made the announcement i got a call from my mom, and then my older sister...all of us freaking out with this amazing announcement! i prayed about it and talked to my mom, but was not sure if i was going to serve or not. i have always said if i was single when i was 21 i would serve...but this came WAY sooner than expected! on sunday, between sessions, i called my mom and was talking to her, crying, not knowing what my decision would be. she told me to pray about it. i got off the phone and began praying, but realized that i had received my answer already. i had felt the prompting that i was supposed to go on a mission, after the announcement was made and i guess continually until i called my mom. i called her back a few minutes later and told her that i had already had my answer before. "i'm going to serve a mission." she had told me that she thought i had my answer because i was way happier/excited/full of the spirt than some might be after the announcement was made. i immediately texted my executive secretary in my ward and he made an appointment for me to meet with my bishop, who i absolutely love, on that tuesday. and that tuesday i began my mission papers...the preface of the next year and a half of my life!