The only thing I love more than Theatre is my faith. I am a Mormon. It has held me together when I had fallen apart and could not get up. It plays a huge part in how I plan and live my life. I know it is true more than anything else in the world.
All of my life, I have wanted to show my devotion and share the gospel with the world. I wanted the experience of receiving a call, my hands shaking as I opened the long, thick envelope that would tell me where I would be living and serving for the next year and a half. I wanted to get a tag that stated "Sister Hallett The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" that I would wear over my heart for my time of service and then slip onto the side pocket of my scriptures for the rest of my life to remind me of the experience I had. I hoped that I would go somewhere foreign so I could speak a language that would turn heads and raise questions, even if it was a language like Illongu, (which is spoken in the rural Philippines and I would almost never use it again.) I wanted to serve a mission. When President Thomas S. Monson announced the mission age change, I thought he was speaking just to me. I told everyone I was going out because I thought it was obvious that I would. After all, isn't there a scripture that says that those who have the desire to serve are called?
But then I prayed about it. Really, really prayed about it. But time and time again, the answer kept coming back as no. At the time, I thought I had found my reason why, but when that crumbled, I was angry. I prayed about it again and when I received the same feeling that going on a mission was just not for me right now. I became angry. I was jealous of people getting their calls. I listened to homecoming talks halfheartedly and snapped at my parents whenever the idea of me going out came up. It drove a hard place into my heart that took a very long time to get rid of. So, on August 23, I moved up to Weber State for school. I felt like it was my consolation prize. But I soon found out that living on your own, away from your family and ward you grew up in, is hard. I had a hard time making friends and felt like the gospel was slipping away from me.All I ever wanted was to be a sister missionary. I mean, look at that tag!
One night, after having campus police in my room twice in the same week (not for me, I promise!) I was laying in bed, angry, crying, wishing I could be anywhere else in the world but my little apartment in Ogden that had become a spiritual danger-zone. I fell asleep that night and woke a few hours earlier with the strangest images in my head. Pioneer clothing, old buildings, braids, dancing, and the gospel. After mulling it over for a while, I remembered a service mission that my bishop, a director and theatre kid at heart, had told me about when I was seventeen. I quickly pulled out my faithful little iPad and googled "Nauvoo Mission LDS." Reading through, I felt the spirit so strongly tell me "This is what you've been waiting for. This is your mission. But there was a matter of auditioning... I moved out of the Danger-Zone apartment, enlisted the help of a piano master that I went to high school with (Hats off to you, Natasha, you're still the best,) and picked songs. I practiced for weeks, recorded it, filled out the necessary paperwork and got it ready to send in. But as I was editing together my audition tape, I had the feeling that I needed to fill out a Technician application as well. I'd done tech in the past and doing it in college made me realize that I really enjoyed doing it, so I might as well. So I turned it in.
And I waited.
And waited.
And Waited.
(So it seemed. It was less than a week.)
Me, on December 1st. And 2nd. And 3rd. And 4th.Finally, I got an email from Sister Camp, one of the women in charge of the program. I had a simultaneous feeling of heat and cold and I couldn't make myself open it. Finally, I
I nearly cried, and just kind of paced around my apartment for a while until my roommates went in, read it and told me to keep reading."You weren't selected as a finalist,"
"Although you weren't selected as a finalist for the stage missionary opportunity, we would very much like to have you return as a Young Performing Technical Missionary finalist."I was elated! I screamed in excitement, was sad for a moment about not performing, but screamed again when I realized that I was still in the running to go.
I went to the callback, scheduled about a month later. I was totally petrified- I had gone into dozens of auditions and interviews before without batting an eye, but for some reason, this one seemed the most menacing. I paced around temple square for two hours, praying that I wouldn't be sick, or make a total fool out of myself or totally bomb it and have them think I was completely crazy.
I mean, isn't that intimidating?!When I entered the Joseph Smith Memorial building a sense of calm washed over me. I sat in the lobby until I saw a sister in a dark blue dress walking around looking as lost as I was. I went over, introduced myself and asked if she was there for Nauvoo too. Her name was Tressa Starrs and she was. (Thank heavens!) And so we teamed up.
Sister Hallett and Sister Starrs, who will take over the world one light change at a time.
February 14, 2014
The next day was one of the longest of my life. I fidgeted and fussed through church to the point my roommate took away my phone so I couldn't check it anymore. I took a nap to pass the time. I paced around my room. I paced around my apartment. I paced around the building. I paced outside the building. I texted Sister Starrs while we waited and we both had little fits of nervousness. Finally, on January 5, 2014 at 8:35 pm, when I had finally settled down just enough to have a normal-ish conversation, I got a phone call from an unknown number in Provo. I
The phone call only lasted about a minute and a half, but in that time, I got the news that I had been called to serve in Nauvoo with Sister Starrs.
I am so grateful for my amazing opportunity to serve. I cannot wait to get out there and feel the spirit and to stand where my ancestors have stood. I cannot wait until I board the bus in St. Louis carrying the other 40 YPM's and get to know them and grow together as a cast, crew, band and mission. I cannot wait to get to meet the wonderful people who come to see the city on the Mississippi, to talk with them, share my testimony. I love this gospel and the message of love and mercy it brings. Thank you all for your love and support and patience when all I would talk about is Nauvoo and how excited I am to go. (I'm looking at you, Smalls. <3 )
I leave the afternoon of May 2, 2014.
My darling mother will be posting my letters home and photos on here while I am gone. I will also post my mailing address. (Really though. I love getting letters more than a small child loves eating anything messy. Please write me.)
Much Love,
Sister Hallett
<3
