Can you talk about the missions of the Church and your participation in them?

I was an adult when I first heard of the Mormon church (other than the famous choir). So, I already graduated from college before volunteering to serve a full-time mission for the church. I worked at McDonalds and sold books door-to-door to raise part of the money to fund my participation. I also got some financial help from my non-member parents, and some friends who were members of the church. Due to my Dad's military service, we'd lived in Japan, but I was a little surprised (and pleased) to be called to serve back in Japan.

There are just a lot of people who have never heard about us, which is a shame, since the full gospel is so wonderful, and life lived by the sound principles of the restored Gospel is so much better. I hadn't heard of it until I was 19. I didn't leave to serve a mission until I was 22. The greatest thing, which I'd never heard even a tiny rumor about, was that Jesus Christ had traveled after His resurrection from the dead, to visit the people living in the Americas and other places. I also didn't know that there was anybody claiming to be an Apostle or a Prophet. People need to know these things, so that they can examine and consider the information and come to a determination to find out if it is true or false.