I'm in a curious situation right now. It's one of those weird things that justify the cliché saying "and then it hit me."
In 18 days I will be flying out of the country. I mean, it's a pretty big deal when I think about it. I've only flown once before [it was to Sydney and for my US Visa interview. Also, it was awesome], so flying international is reasonably impressive to me. In addition, the furthest I've traveled is to Canberra in the ACT.
I'm feeling very much the Toowoomba Country Bumpkin at the moment. I mean, I know I'm Brisbane born, and I've lived there for the past three and a half years, but being back home has made me feel decidedly small.
So yes. In eighteen days, I will be leaving Australia. I will not set foot on Australian soil for two years. I still can't even imagine what that's going to be like. It's too big an idea still. I love my country, I'm a country boy [well, people from Roma and Alice Springs will dispute that and call Toowoomba the "Big Smoke," but I live in a city where people still wander around in Akubras, jeans, flannel and think "Rivers" is pretty metro].
On the 6th of November, I'll be flying for 18 hours to LA, and then transferring to Provo. Where I will freeze. I'm cold tolerant for Australia, so I'm assuming I'll[strike]not[/strike] freeze to death.
My first white Christmas [So so weird. How can you have Christmas with snow? Without the traditional waterfight? Without Pavlova?]. It'll be my first Christmas without my family, too. That's another big idea that isn't fitting just yet.
I'm sure I'm sounding like a child at the moment, but I'll assure you that I'm an adult. I'm just voicing petty concerns. I've lived independently [which is more than I can say for others in my situation] for a long [ha!] time. I truly am looking forward to this experience, the flight, everything. Knowing what I'm leaving behind or exchanging...it's just so odd.
So first stop, the US. Provo. Salt Lake City.
Fortunately, I was wise enough to follow advice and apply for an early flight. This means that I will have time to sleep before I hit the MTC [Missionary Training Centre], so I don't die. Again. Personally, I love SLC. It is a huge [and integral] part of the Church's history. I want to use those 4 extra days [3, after sleeping for one of them] to soak up the history that's there.
There is another concern though. I'm a small town kid, again. Which means I was the only member of the Church in my school of 1000 when I was at Downlands College. Throughout my home life, I was in a small ward. The majority of my friends weren't members. I didn't find this to be much of a problem, to be honest. It was hard, sure, but I appreciated my faith more. My testimony grew because [in some cases, quite literally] each day was a test. I knew I was different from my class mates. Faith is a key part and core of who I am.
Being in such a situation all of my life means that I've had all the trials that were the make or break "do I want this?" There isn't a shadow of a doubt in my heart that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
It's going to be weird to go to an area with such a high concentration of members of the Church. I mean, I always crack up at "green" Missionaries who are sent to Australia and they have absolutely no idea. They are so used to being in Wards [ie: equivalent= parish] where there are hundreds of members...and then they are assigned to Wards here where there are maybe a hundred members. And that's it.
I'm a small [figuratively. Literally I'm rather tall ;)] guy from a small town, a small ward, from a comparatively small group of LDS members.
How am I going to react to being immersed into something so, well, big?
I am such a pansy for thinking that.
I'm sure I'll cope. Australians are appreciated everywhere [even Gallipoli], I'll sneak in just fine.
After MTC training and language training, I'll fly out to Berlin, Germany Deutschland.
As if the concept of flying to the US wasn't large enough..
So in 18 days, I will leave Australia for two years. I will put my secular life on hold for two years, I will not be speaking English for two years. Most importantly, I will be a Missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for two years.
It's what I have been wanting to do for all of my life. It's something I have been looking forward to, especially in the agonizingly long waiting period from when uni finished [around November last year] until now.
This may be a surprise to the internets, but I am a religious person. This is because of my childhood, sure, but as I mentioned before, it is because I made the decision in my youth to ask for myself if the Church was true. It is. No small sentence or blog update or whatever can fully justify and display the weight of the words that I will speak and share as a Missionary in the Berlin, Deutschland Mission.
I've been brought up on this before, so I guess I'll need to do a brief explanation. I know what I am, and will be, testifying is true because I earnestly asked for a sure knowledge in my youth. It's a hard thing to do as a kid, to appeal in a silent prayer to your Father in Heaven to know if He exists, to know if His Son did truly live and die for the remission of your sins. Asking in Faith is a big ask [pardon the awful pun], it was hard, but it would have been harder still to just rely on my parent's faith and just assume that everything was sweet.
I know that this is the true Church. I know that Christ lives, I know of the reality of the Atonement. I know Joseph Smith was a true Prophet, who asked in faith and received and translated the Book of Mormon, another testimony of Jesus Christ.
Such things are special and sacred to me. This is why I avoid the Lounge, to be honest. Any semblance of faith or religion or devotion is immediately and apologetically crushed. People are allowed to be who they are, but if they have a Faith in God, then that is just silly. Trolls love and grow on such affirmations, so I should know better than to feed them.
Why am I mentioning such things on an Otaku World, then?
I don't rightly know, to be honest. I've touched on such things in myOtaku, especially the poignant moments in my life where I've had my testimony strengthened for whatever reason, so this isn't a real break in the trend. I guess the reason why I'm writing such things in my new World is because I like to be honest with people. I don't think there's a person who knows me in real life that doesn't know that I am a religious person. For years I was known to my best friend's older brothers as "The Mormon".
I want to be honest with you guys. Those that are reading with are most likely the intellectual giants that I've grown to acknowledge and appreciate for their dedication to this online community Allamorph: if you pull me up on my punctuation in this post, I will...acknowledge my use of commas is somewhat unorthodox....
I disappeared off this community for the three years of my degree. Sure, I was posting once a blue moon and updating myOtaku occasionally, but I wasn't really involved. Since being back "full time" [Graduating helps], I've been blown away at how quickly I've been re assimilated. We have genuinely friendly people who will go the extra mile for anyone. You've made an 7 year oldbie feel welcome again.
This is who I am. It's a part of me. It's not something I do on weekends or something that I can put down and step over, my faith is the part of me. I live it, and it shapes who I am.
It will also explain to those who wonder where I've gone, why I've gone.
In 18 days from the time of this post, I will have left the country [And the Internet] for two years to serve as a Missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Berlin, Germany.
And cheers for reading through all that :)
