7 of 8

Sister Ranucci -The beautiful singing Italian.

I wasn't sure if I liked her at first if I am honest.  She was very pretty and self-assured.  She sang like an angel and made me feel like that was only one of the ways she outshone me.  Like so many of them did in the beginning, she intimidated me. But I was interested to talk to an Italian since I'd loved so much about the place when I had visited, so I told her so and we started a conversation.

She said she had always wanted to visit Scotland, especially since her boyfriend had met someone from Scotland in the missionary training centre.  Apparently they had gotten on well and made plans to visit each other when their missions were over.  This pricked my interest, surely I would know this Scot?  Soon the coincidence was revealed.  The boy he had met was Gary!

The more we talked the more we had in common.  So much so that when I wrote Gary that week I told him we had met our Italian twins!  Honestly there was so much about us that was similar it was downright spooky!  It was strange to think of them living their lives in another country, with a different culture, speaking a different language and here we now were together in another part of the world and so were our boyfriends! It was hard not to feel we were always meant to meet.  Finding the commonality between us felt comforting for lots of reasons.

And so it was that my mission taught me this lesson over and over again.  "You are these girls equal, you are not better but you are no worse. You are enough!"

My mission has had a massive impact on me and did me immeasurable good.

I'm one of those black suited dots! Can you tell which is me?

There were all kinds of young women there, those who's backgrounds would make mine look like a walk in the park to those who had been afforded every privilege this world could give them, and there was also everthing in between.  I know this because I heard many of their stories.  Despite others willingness to be open with me I can count on one hand the times I shared fully or even in part, the journey I'd been on to get there.  This was my choice, I think, and a little instinctive but I realise now the feeling that it should be a secret was also unhealthy.

There I met hundreds of young women of my own age who came from all over the world.

There were instant friends among them and inevitably those that challenged your ability to offer friendship too, it wasn't Stepford!  But generally the work was unifying and a feeling of sincere sorority existed.

It is often said that you get far more than you give on a mission, and for me I'd agree that's how it was.  The work was demanding in every way work can be.

I gave my every effort and worked hard, I stood shoulder to shoulder amongst those I served alongside.  This taught me a great lesson and began to ease my feelings of inferiority.  I grew in confidence and self- esteem.

I enjoy hearing about how life is going for those women I met and through our connections on social media their friendship continues to be important to me.

I could go on and on, but thats not why I have extended my 7 out of 7.  I have a theory on what all this has been about and thought I might share.....