Nora Campbell is Called to the Work

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Justin Barton: Welcome to the Called to the Work podcast. I'm Justin Barton and I am spoiled rotten to be the host of this podcast where I get to talk with freshly called and in some cases freshly set apart missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints and today's one of those really cool opportunities.

Justin Barton: I get to meet somebody I've never met before and have a quick conversation about her preparation for and Ideas about what her mission is going to look like. And this is sister Nora Campbell. So sister Campbell, why don't you tell me just a little bit about yourself, your family, where you're from, and maybe some hobbies that you enjoy doing.

Nora Campbell: Yeah. So like you said, I'm sister Campbell and I've been living in Spokane, Washington with my family for, I think the last like 13 to 15 years. And I just got set apart as a full time missionary, which is so [00:01:00] exciting Honestly, I didn't think I would ever be a missionary, but here we are.

Nora Campbell: I graduated high school in 2023 with my associate's degree, I didn't really know what I wanted to do for college or anything. So I started gallivanting around the world. I've worked in an orphanage in Romania and traveled around Europe. And then I was a au pair in New Zealand for about six months.

Nora Campbell: And so that was really cool as well.

Justin Barton: Very cool. So you and I have something in common. I've also worked in orphanages in Romania when I served my mission in Romania a hundred years

Nora Campbell: ago. Really? That's super cool. What part of Romania were you in?

Justin Barton: Bucharest and Ploiești

Justin Barton: and where were you at?

Nora Campbell: I was in iași. Very cool. Yes. Right by the Moldavian border. But we went to Bucharest all the time and we really loved it.

Justin Barton: Yep, I love it. That's so cool that you took that opportunity to do that. Alright, so [00:02:00] tell me about Where you were assigned on your mission and obviously you report now because you were set apart yesterday, but tell me a little bit about that.

Nora Campbell: So I was called to serve in the Tahiti Papayet mission. So that's in Oceania and they're about, I think my mission president said there's a couple dozen islands I can be assigned to.

Justin Barton: And I assume you'll be speaking French in Tahiti, correct?

Nora Campbell: Yes. Actually as of a couple of years ago, they started.

Nora Campbell: Having missionaries learn two languages. So I'm going to be speaking French and Tahitian.

Justin Barton: How cool is that? Do you have any background in either of not Tahitian I'm assuming, but do you have any background in French at all?

Nora Campbell: French? Yes. I took two years in high school.

Nora Campbell: And then when I was in New Zealand the native language is Maori. So I learned a little bit of that. So Tahitian is similar. It's not for anybody that comes for me, they're not similar, [00:03:00] but they have the same.

Justin Barton: You mentioned at the beginning of this, you're like, I never thought I would serve a mission. So why are you choosing to serve a mission? What made you decide to do that?

Nora Campbell: I think I just took that as it's my decision, whether I serve a mission or not, and I just was never really interested in it.

Nora Campbell: But as I started traveling and especially. Before Romania, I travel with HXP, which is where you go help build a school. So I went to Guatemala and I really loved that service. And then I traveled to Romania after that. And with that program, I wasn't going to church as much.

Nora Campbell: It was the first time where I was deciding for myself how faithful I wanted to be. And I wasn't going to church as much and I realized that I was sitting at a spiritual low and so I just made it a goal to read a conference talk every day on my way to my kids in Romania.

Nora Campbell: And [00:04:00] I can't remember who said it, but it was in, I think, October of 2023 at the conference. He was speaking to senior missionaries, but he was like, we need you we need you out there. And I was like, Oh, that doesn't. Really applied to me I'm not a senior missionary, but I just had a feeling that I needed to go on a mission.

Nora Campbell: And so I started researching it and the biggest thing for me is I had zero desire. And so I started praying for the desire and by the time I got my mission call about five months ago, I was so ecstatic. I was so excited. So I feel like I was really blessed. And I'm just so excited for my mission.

Justin Barton: Now, you said you had zero desire at the time and you just prayed for it.

Justin Barton: What did that evolution of desire look like? And how long did it take for that desire to grow to the point that you were super excited about it?

Nora Campbell: It wasn't something that I noticed overnight. it was it was pretty slow. I [00:05:00] was researching it and I looked at what it would take to start my papers and everything.

Nora Campbell: I moved right to New Zealand afterwards and I was in a small town called Raglan on the North Island. It was a beach town and so I had to travel to get to church and everything. And I met a friend there and she said, you should come to temple and missionary prep. And so I started going and that's when I noticed the desire to serve a mission, , so I remember there were nights that I was praying and I was like, please I need this desire to serve a mission.

Nora Campbell: And then there were some things that kind of held my papers up that I wasn't expecting. And I realized I like started to freak out and that's when I realized, oh I have a desire to go on a mission because I'm very worried that I will not be able to go on a Mission.

Justin Barton: Thank you for sharing that.

Justin Barton: As you look back at that, do you see God's hand in this and guiding you different places and connecting you with [00:06:00] different people to, make this decision happen?

Nora Campbell: Yeah, for sure. Especially, I feel when I was waiting to submit my papers and there were some issues with them , I feel like the old Nora would have definitely been like, Oh, this is like my out, but I really pushed and I was like I need to serve a mission.

Nora Campbell: Please send me on a mission. So yeah, I feel like Christ and, Okay. He just really helped my desire with that. Yeah.

Justin Barton: Yeah. All right. You received a call about six months ago, right?

Nora Campbell: Yeah.

Justin Barton: It's been quite long

Nora Campbell: time.

Justin Barton: . During that five or six months, what are you doing differently in your day to day life to prepare for a mission since you received that call?

Nora Campbell: Something I was doing which people might not jump right to, but I've done a lot of therapy in the last couple of years and there were still some issues I wanted to resolve. So I started talking to a [00:07:00] life coach, which I think is I dunno, I hadn't heard of a lot of missionaries doing that, but I was like, I want to be able to deal with tools when I go on my mission.

Nora Campbell: And that was. The biggest part, because I think before that I had really studied. I, and I also did other things to spiritually increase my knowledge. Like I read the book of Mormon again, and I went over the missionary standards and all that, but I think the thing that helped me the most even spiritually was.

Nora Campbell: Going to that life coach and receiving some tools that could help me change my mindset and expectations for how I thought my mission was going to go.

Justin Barton: That's, cool. And I don't know that I've ever spoken with anybody who in preparation for their mission went to a life coach.

Justin Barton: So

Nora Campbell: yeah.

Justin Barton: And it sounds like you had a positive experience correct?

Nora Campbell: Yes. Very cool.

Justin Barton: Is that something you would recommend to somebody else to do.

Nora Campbell: Yes, for sure. And I think especially with the long wait [00:08:00] because it's just such a stilted time you have your call, but I wasn't going to school because I had traveled before that and I was working, but my hours were decreasing cause I was a nanny and she wanted to switch over to a full time nanny, I feel like if I would not have done that, I probably would be freaking out right now. So yeah, I would highly recommend it. I think there's also a therapist you can go to that for missionaries who do have long wait times as well. So I think that's pretty cool.

Justin Barton: , Those are some cool resources that I honestly, I didn't, well, I know that there are life coaches and I know that there are therapists, but I didn't know that there are people that may specialize a little bit in this, type of area. So thanks for sharing that. What kinds of fears do you have about serving?

Nora Campbell: Interesting. Everybody's been asking that and I feel like 2 years ago, I definitely there would have been like a million phobias, but I feel that traveling just in general. And it sounds awful, but [00:09:00] lowered my expectations.

Nora Campbell: So I know there's going to be the initial culture shock. I know even in the provo MTC, I'm going to have culture shock. But I think the 1 thing I'm still nervous about, I'm a very busy person and an 18 month commitment is a long time and I know I'm going to complete that and I know I'm going to finish it.

Nora Campbell: It's just this initial Oh no, this is 18 months of my life. I signed up for it and I'm not going to be getting out of. So I think I'll definitely have to lean on the Lord a lot for that. And just remember I've been reminding myself 18 months in the span of your entire life is yeah.

Nora Campbell: It's so small. So yeah, I think that's just my biggest fear.

Justin Barton: Yeah. Thanks for sharing that. All right. So how about something you're really excited about experiencing? Now you talked about the , the international travel lowered your expectations. So you're going in with a little bit more.

Justin Barton: Realistic or tempered [00:10:00] thoughts of the excitement that you might be experiencing, but what are some of those things that you're excited about?

Nora Campbell: Think something I'm really excited about and that we talked about today in home MTC was just being able to,

Nora Campbell: , There's nothing else that I need to worry about right now. It's just my mission. So I don't have school. I don't have work. I don't have anything else I have to worry about. All I have to do is just forget myself. And go and serve, which I think is so amazing. It's definitely going to be so hard and there are going to be times where I'm going to want to be selfish, but I really am just so excited to be able to put myself aside and focus on other people and what they need.

Justin Barton: Thank you. Yeah. And that's where I'm going here with the next question I have is how, do you anticipate dealing with difficult times? Maybe when you're selfish, maybe when you're struggling with a companion, maybe when the language is really hard. How are you going to deal with those difficult times and stick [00:11:00] out the 18 months?

Nora Campbell: That's a really good question. I, think it's very healthy that we question these things that we think because you don't want to shut down those thoughts immediately because if you do, you're just going to end up kind of corking those and then one day you'll be out somewhere and they'll explode and you'll be like, why am I here?

Nora Campbell: What am I doing? So I think just when I encounter those thoughts and feelings I'm going to notice the emotion I'm feeling and reflect on that and be like, okay, well, what's making you feel this way? And how can I change what you're feeling? Or how can we redirect your emotion or your thought, or what kind of expectation are you setting for my companion that wasn't really realistic, then I would be able to change that and be like, well, I need to meet my companion where they're at.

Nora Campbell: And with my two companions, we are all on the same page today of a goal we wanna have is daily check-ins in the morning. Just being like, how are you feeling really? How can we support you today? And asking each companion, not so that [00:12:00] we.

Nora Campbell: We're on the same page and there are no kind of corked up feelings. So yeah,

Justin Barton: As you have been meeting with a life coach, therapist, whatever, over the last several months,

Justin Barton: have you identified some weaknesses, some character weaknesses that you have that you need to be aware of? And like you said, Be aware of those emotions as they pop up and then address them in a healthy manner. And if so, what are those?

Nora Campbell: Yes, I've definitely noticed over kind of those, I did it for about two, three months and something that we noticed that was coming up again and again is when she would ask why do you feel this way?

Nora Campbell: Or what's making you feel this way? And it's just a feeling of. an unreal expectation on myself and in putting that and expecting more, which I think is healthy to have. But to this extent, when you're feeling guilty about something that is [00:13:00] not in your control. So I feel like that was, something that I had definitely noticed a pattern.

Nora Campbell: And by the time we were done was just that feeling of guilt and then we worked backwards and she taught me that most of your big thoughts, , they're formed by the age of eight. And so we were able to go back and look at, well why, did I think that way?

Nora Campbell: And realize why I did put that kind of pressure on myself. So I think that was just very enlightening. And I feel like so many people can identify with that.

Justin Barton: Yeah. Something that my wife taught me is that unrealistic expectations are nothing more than predetermined resentments.

Nora Campbell: Yes.

Justin Barton: To have resentments if I have these unrealistic expectations for myself, for my companion.

Nora Campbell: Exactly.

Justin Barton: So, talk to me a little bit more about that.

Nora Campbell: I just realized I wasn't expecting a lot out of people, it was more of myself. And so we looked at it and we were [00:14:00] like, well, would you talk to other people this way when they didn't meet an expectation?

Nora Campbell: And obviously I would not talk to someone else and be like, you're awful, you're horrible, I can't believe you did this. And so we went back to me, and she's well, when you're saying this, it's a very kind of negative talk and it's not helping anybody. But what she taught me was you can't immediately switch out those thoughts to I'm amazing.

Nora Campbell: I'm so great. I deserve everything. So she helped me realize the importance of bridge thoughts, which is just taking it a step up from negativity. So it's just okay, maybe I didn't meet this expectation, but I'm okay. I'm not dying. And that's actually one of the things that , I took away from that is whenever stuff like that happens, I can just remind myself, it's not the end of the world.

Nora Campbell: Just you can try your best. And if that's what you did, it's good enough. That's, all you need to do. So I like that bridge law. And I hope that in the future, I can [00:15:00] even congratulate myself on failing, because that will. Push me to try again. So yeah,

Justin Barton: What is your current relationship with Jesus Christ? Define that for me.

Nora Campbell: I really love that question because In the last couple months, especially as I've worked on myself and worked on how I would like to go into missionary service, one thing that I saw, especially now looking back over the last couple of years is whether I knew it or not Christ was always there for me.

Nora Campbell: And I think that is just such a cool thing that I got to realize and by the end of my wait period. When I gave my talk on Sunday, I just, when I was writing it, I had the realization that I'm really going into my mission with a built in best friend and that's Jesus Christ. And I think that's so cool.

Nora Campbell: And two years [00:16:00] ago, I'd be like, Oh, he's not even approachable. He wants all these things of me that I can't do, but that's the best part of it. . It's just the unconditional love. He's always there whether we want him or not whether we realize he's there or not He's there and he's listening So I think that's just been an improvement to me on how I think of Christ He's a lot more approachable now.

Justin Barton: I love that and I can totally identify with the unapproachable Thoughts about Jesus Christ and about Heavenly Father. So yeah, thank you for sharing that honestly. So as we move forward towards wrapping this conversation up the name of this project called to the work comes from Doctrine and Covenants section four, if you have a desire to serve your call to the work.

Justin Barton: And I asked you in preparation for this to kind of review Doctrine and Covenants section four. And what I'd like to ask is teach me something. What from D and C section four is [00:17:00] something that stuck out to you that you'd like to teach me right now?

Nora Campbell: Well, we went over this in gospel doctrine a couple weeks ago and some, I can't remember who made the comment, but they said that this is the only time that the word embark exists in the scriptures.

Nora Campbell: And I thought that was really cool because I never really appreciate that before. I've read the section many times, but I think that is truly such a cool thing because it's in reference to missionary work and the fact that we get to embark in the service of God is such a great thing. I love in verse three, it says, if you have desires to go serve God.

Nora Campbell: You are called to the work and I've always loved that. That goes back to having the desire to go and serve. And I feel like now that I've achieved that I can achieve the rest of this section, which is to go and Harvest and I [00:18:00] can, have all those things like the faith, hope, charity, love, so I really appreciate those two things about this section.

Justin Barton: Why don't you define for me what embark looks like to you. That word is such a cool word, but as you say the word, what do you see or what do you understand about it that is so cool about this?

Nora Campbell: For me, the word embark really means to go out and do the work of God, but you're also I feel like embark really means getting your hands dirty. It's not just working. You're going out, you're laboring, you're working, and you're doing all with God.

Justin Barton: Beautiful imagery. Thank you for sharing that. All right. So would you mind bearing testimony of whatever principle is where your testimony foundation lies right now?

Nora Campbell: Yeah, so . I just know that as we pray to have the desire for certain things that Christ can really But those desires in our hearts and then we can be able to with him complete the thing that we have [00:19:00] the desire to do and I know that if we turn to Christ in times of need, he really will be that built in best friend that he truly wants to be for us and I am just so grateful for.

Nora Campbell: Joseph Smith and his and others examples and sacrifices that even make it possible for me to go on a mission. I know that families are eternal and that when we in the next life, everything will work out. I'm just so excited to go and serve the Lord.

Justin Barton: Love it. Thank you so much, Sister Nora Campbell. And you've already been set apart with real authority and with what zero authority I have I, just want to reaffirm that you are called to the work. I'm excited for you to get out there and do something amazing and look forward to 18 months from now, sitting down with you again with another project and following up [00:20:00] on this.

Nora Campbell: Yes, I'm very excited as well.

Justin Barton: Awesome. Thank you.