Putting God First

Sister Kenia Ainsworth
is currently serving in the
Arkansas Little Rock Mission.
She is the daughter of Heidi Long.

I have loved running for as long as I can remember. It had always been my dream to run in college. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to run at the College of Southern Idaho.

However, in my 3rd race of the season, I ended up breaking my foot. I was very frustrated at God for a little while. I didn't understand why this would happen to me after I had worked so hard to get to the point where I was.

After long nights of praying and reading my scriptures, I suddenly had the thought to pray about serving a mission. General Conference was the following weekend in April 2022, and I knew afterward that I needed to serve.

I'm so grateful that God has a perfect plan for each of His children. That experience was a huge wake-up call to me that I needed to put God first in my life. Over these last 15 months serving a mission, I have been so grateful to build my testimony and help others build their testimony in Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. I know as we strive to align our will with the Lord's we will find more joy, purpose, and direction in our lives. I'm so grateful that I acted and followed the prompting I had to serve a mission. I know that this experience will help me for the rest of my life and into the eternities. If you are wondering if you should serve a mission. Pray about it and see! I know God will answer your prayer.

-Sister Ainsworth

P.S. The picture is with the missionary I trained and she is one of the big reasons that I know I needed to serve a mission!