Years ago, brothers were assigned to a ministry. Now you can work within your gifts. That's the great thing about it. It's a mutual agreement between you and your brothers as to the best way you can use your own God-given talents to help other people. That's a great way to approach it.
I grew up having the idea that you knew right off you were born to do this and there was some light shining over you saying you're going to take this path. What really happens is you come to the realization that the brotherhood is right for you after a lot of prayer and thought.
When I started to ask myself what I wanted, it became much clearer. My biggest fear was that I would have to set aside my family and friends to become a brother, but I've learned that's not the case at all. In fact, I see the brotherhood enriching all facets of my life, not requiring that I choose one over the other. It be the best of both worlds.
When you say "I'm interested," it doesn't mean there's no turning back. Part of the reason for going through the candidacy program is to find out if this is what you want. The brothers show you the life and you get to live it, experience it, and explore it without taking your vows. If you try it and like it, that's great, if you don't like it, it's good to find out now. Saying no doesn't mean you can't be part of the church or anything like that.
The hard part is getting over that initial fear and saying 'yes' to the candidacy program. Once I made the decision, a weight was lifted from me. It felt good to finally commit and to start a new journey.
