Counting Down

Today is September 20th.
I leave on my mission September 28th.
Do the math--that is 8 days left. Yesterday I realized I was into the single digits, and it really is just unreal.
I am so thrilled, and excited, and nervous. I have no idea what to expect.
I was talking to a friend, and I realized that one of the things I am most nervous about is having everything live up to my dreams. I want so badly to love my mission that I am afraid that I won't love it as much as I want to. I know it is going to be extremely hard and that it won't be what I expect and all that, but I want to love it. I want to love it with my whole heart, and what if I don't?
I try not to think about that too much.
I'm gonna love it.
Then yesterday, out of the blue, I had a missionary experience. It was amazing. I think Heavenly Father saw me worrying a little bit about my inadequacies, abilities, and about whether or not I will like being a missionary and decided to give me a small, teeny, tiny glimpse.
I was sitting at a table in the LDS institute building on USU campus (yeah, I know--missionary experiences don't usually happen in dedicated buildings) and this girl came and sat at my table to eat lunch. I was reading in the Book of Mormon preparing for my farewell talk that is this Sunday.
I politely acknowledged her sitting at my table and went back to reading. Then she said, "Excuse me, but how do you know?" She was staring pointedly at my scriptures. "How do you know they are true?"
After the half second pause I had to take to soak in that, yes, this was happening to me, and yes, a person had just asked me a golden question, I threw together an answer about how happy it makes me feel, how it makes me a better person, and some other stuff. I'm sure I could have come up with a better answer, but I was surprised. Give me a break.
It started an awesome discussion. I asked her questions and listened, and she asked me questions and listened. I learned a little about her background. She was raised in a part member home, and was officially still a member, even though she had been practicing Islam for the past few years. She had never read the Book of Mormon, so she didn't know it was true, and didn't understand the significance of Jesus Christ.
However, talking to her, I think that she does know that the church is true. She's had a hard life, but she remembers how she felt in Primary and in her bishop's home. She's starting to go back to her Single's Ward.
We ended up talking for around 40 minutes until she had to go, and I really felt like we had a connection. It was amazing.
God really had a plan. Often He is in the details. He knew that she was on the brink of coming back and remembering what she knew, and that she just needed to talk to someone about it to remember and recommit. She promised me to give the Book of Mormon a one month try, to see if she could know, too. He also knew that I needed the confidence that came from testifying of the Book of Mormon to a stranger. Not only did it show me that I can, in fact, do it, it also showed me that I loved it. I felt full of joy as I was telling her what I knew. It was awesome. I guess I am ready to go next week.