Day 13: The great story

Day 13:  What are the 10 most significant events in your life?

1. My baptism.  That's pretty much when everything really started.
2. The choice at age ten to learn to play the violin.  So much of my life has been shaped by the friendships gained from playing in an orchestra.  
3. Every Priesthood ordination has been monumental, but for me it was especially so when I became a deacon.  It was on my twelfth birthday, and it was also the mission farewell of my older brother, who ordained me.  Holding the Priesthood has been such a huge blessing in my life.  
4. The youth conference when I decided at age thirteen that I wanted to serve a mission.  Many of the most important decisions of my life have been made around a campfire.
5. Reaching the rank of Eagle Scout at fourteen.  I considered myself something of a "runt of the litter," and worked very hard for every merit badge and rank advancement I achieved.  I gained so much from this--especially the knowledge that I could do hard things.  Victory was so sweet, and I got to share the Court of Honor with my best friend from childhood.
6. The Fifty-Miler.  We went on this hike every summer, and that's where I was tested the most physically (and in some cases mentally).  Having made this journey successfully, and more than once, other trials that come up now just seem so small because I know I've dealt with harder things and I've come out okay.  The Fifty truly was where boys became men, and its influence in my life continues to this day.
7. Receiving--and recognizing--an answer to prayer at age fifteen concerning the truth of the Book of Mormon.  It could have its own blog post if I wanted to give it one (actually I go into it a little here in an interview hosted by a fellow blogger), but long story very short, it changed my life.  I may have been devoted to the Church before, but now I could finally say I was devoted to Christ.  
8. Graduating high school.  Not because of the diploma, but because of how my entire world changed afterward.  As I entered the life of college and employment, my capacity for adventure increased as well and I have so many memories (and lessons learned) to enjoy because of it.
9. My mission.  In this I am also including my ordination to the office of elder, receiving my mission call, going through the temple, and all the preparation that went into my departure, because all of those things happened when they did as part of the process to actually go on the mission.  It would take much more than a blog post to express just how very, very much my mission has impacted my life.  
10. Coming home from my mission.  Everything before was more like a "prologue" to my life; now is the actual story, and it began that August day when I stepped off a plane in Salt Lake City.