Discovery.

When I was sixteen, I decided I was going to go on a mission.  My decision was derailed for a few years when I had no intention of talking about religion let alone go for a year and a half to be a missionary.  A few years later, and a lot of life lessons learned, I made it on a mission.
Almost immediately, I knew that I had made the right decision.  Being a missionary fit me like a cozy sweater.  It made me all warm and fuzzy on the inside.  (On the outside I was freezing, I was sent to Rochester, NY with one winter in Rochester and one winter in Buffalo, which makes me cold just thinking about it.)  One of my favorite parts of being a missionary was knocking on doors, in missionary lingo- tracting.  I loved this part.  Each door was something and someone new.  Some opened doors quickly slammed when they saw the black name tag.  Sometimes people yelled.  Sometimes the door was only opened long enough to say, "We're all set".  Sometimes my companion (missionaries come in twos) and I would spend hours on long country roads and not have one door open.   Sometimes the door opened and stayed open.  It was awesome to be able to talk to people all day about something I love so much.  Some of the most interesting conversations I have ever had in my life came from someone opening their door.  The best conversations came when there was a connection between myself, my companion, and the person we were talking to.  Sometimes this connection lasted a few minutes, sometimes only a fleeting moment.  There are people behind some doors I will always feel a connection to.  These moments changed my life, they made me more aware of who I am, discover what I am worth, and helped me to be more humble (still working on that one).
I loved being a missionary.  It prepared me for my life as a wife and a mother.  I am so grateful I decided to go on a mission; I know that it changed my life for the better.