Preach My Gospel

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always wanted to serve as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Today, I got a little taste of that as I spent my day with the sister missionaries.
The day in the life of the sister missionaries:
My alarm went off at 6:30am this morning, same as the sisters. The sisters get up at 6:30am and exercise for thirty minutes and then get themselves ready for the day. They picked me up at 7:45am.
Once in the car, I could already feel that this was going to be an amazing experience. Gentle church piano music was playing and gentle conversation was made. Their voices were calm and soft spoken, however they laughed and made jokes with one another. They discussed their day and the people we were going to see.
When we stopped at a red light, one sister wanted to get out of the car and hop over to the car next to us. "I wonder if he wants to get baptized?" she laughed. So eager was she.
Their apartment was clean, orderly, and calm. We pulled up chairs to their table and began our personal study with a prayer.
The missionaries start their day with an hour of personal study. They can study from the scriptures, conference talks, True to the Faith, Our Heritage, Our Search for Happiness, Jesus the Christ, and of course Preach My Gospel.
As we studied, I observed them marking scriptures, cross-referencing, and taking notes in journals. I did the same.
When the hour had gone by, we discussed what we read and learned. We shared scriptures and thoughts about what we liked and bore testimony that it was true.
We then sang a hymn together. We sang "Because I have been given much" (Hymn #219) One of my favorites.
We then knelt in prayer together before companion study. Then we stood and recited their San Antonio, Texas Mission theme in English and Spanish. The sisters had it memorized, but gave me the paper to read from.
Then we recited Doctrine and Covenants 4, (which they also had memorized)
"Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men. Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day. Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work; For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul; And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work. Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence. Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen."
Next we read a section from the white missionary handbook.
For companion study, we read from the Book of Mormon to each other and discussed the chapters and other relating scriptures.
Roll playing with the sisters was such a neat experience. After we had companion study, we pulled out our "Preach My Gospel" manuals and discussed how to invite the investigator to be baptized.
"Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God? We will be holding a baptismal service on [date] Will you prepare yourself to be baptized on that date?" (Preach My Gospel page#75)
Missionaries are truly amazing.
The sister then had language study for an hour. Because I am not very familiar with Spanish, I continued to study from my scriptures and the other books.
For the next hour, we ate lunch and the sisters made several phone calls and scheduled appointments and followed up with members and investigators. Their planners were neat and tidy; they were organized, prepared, and on top of things.
I observed that they would hum and sing hymns and primary songs as we transitioned and throughout the day they harmonized with each other. They both have lovely singing voices, and have sung together in church before.
At noon, we set out to their various appointments. On our way, we pulled over several times and got out to talk to people on the side walks and in their driveways.
Most people in Texas are very kind, and most people are already very religious. Some took the pass-along cards and talked with us and others wanted nothing to do with us.
Our first appointment was with one of the investigators who is getting baptized tomorrow. He lives at home with his parents and older brother. The older brother has been newly baptized and has a wonderful spirit. Still learning, but so eager. Their father was an older man who had been baking bread before we came and gave us some from his new recipe as we walked in the door. He was a sweet older man who showed us his beautiful paintings that he had done that were on the wall, and offered for the sisters to come over again so he could teach them to paint. Their mother was sick, so she did not meet with us, but the sisters, these two brothers and their father, and I began with a prayer and then read from the scriptures.
We taught them about Lehi's vision of the tree of life, and challenged them to continue to read and to pray to know that it is true. We also challenged their father to quit smoking.
It was so interesting to me to hear what they had to say. Both to hear their questions and to listen to the answers from the sisters and from the Spirit. It was amazing.
Our next appointment was with a single mother and her eleven year old son. We met with her in her kitchen and taught her the plan of salvation. She was so amazed. I was so amazed. There were so many things that she already knew and believed in that were similar, but not complete. Again I was amazed to see her point of view; not knowing the gospel, and we were teaching her!
We bore testimony and invited her to come with us to church tomorrow. She said she would continue to pray and read from the Book of Mormon, but she was not quite ready to come yet.
Our third appointment was with a man, his wife and son. We mostly talked with him, while his family was down stairs. Their family is moving, so we helped him pack a few things from their family room and moved boxes down stairs for him. He had been feeling sick, and asked for a priesthood blessing. We called a member from the ward who came right away. It was neat to discuss the priesthood and blessings. We bore testimony of the power of God and of priesthood power.
Between appointments, we would often pull over and walk through the neighborhoods and talk with people who were outside. We made more appointments for the following weeks and followed up with other members at their homes and other investigators. We prayed in the car each time before we went in for an appointment, and afterwards when we came back in, we discussed how it went. We visited with many.
At 6:00 they dropped me off at home. They had a dinner appointment with a member in the ward and I needed to be back.
It was overall one of the most incredible experiences of my life; the sister missionaries have the Spirit with them. I loved observing them; watching how they handled situations and conversations, how they initiated challenges and invitations, how they promised blessings, and taught with the Spirit. They were friendly to all and ready to serve however they could. I was so grateful to be with them and it filled me with peace.
I hope they call me on a mission...