Preparing for a mission

Sunday, June 14, 2009

This talk was given in Stake General Priesthood meeting 6/14/09





OPENING:

• Brethren it's great to be with you. There's nothing like a priesthood meeting. A place where brethren can gather together and have fellowship, instruction and an ice cream cone.
• As you know, Missionary Work is our primary focus for the Stake this year. It's been so wonderful to see the efforts that each ward is doing to reach out to those who have been less active, or those who don't know anything about the church. We want to encourage all to recommit themselves to reaching out to friends and family who are not involved in the church. Invite them to ward activities, invite them to temple dedications, invite them to attend church, invite them to listen to the missionaries, Invite them to the temple dedication. As you invite, your testimony will increase. And theirs will have an opportunity to blossom.
• When we began this year, one of my goals was to address the YM of our stake, and talk openly about missions, and why they don't want to miss out on the opportunity to go. As I've been working with different young men in the stake who are trying to make that decision to go, I have thought deeply about this topic, and would like to carry on the theme of this meeting - to encourage YM to go.
• So as I speak to you this afternoon, I hope that you young men will listen with your hearts, and that when you leave, you'll be inspired by something you heard, and that you'll WANT a mission to be a part of your life.
• You older men, I hope you'll listen with your hearts as well. And that you'll recognize that many of the blessings I discuss come to all those who work closely with the full-time missionaries.

Young men. 3 months prior to your 19th birthday you're going to come into my office, and I'm going to ask you a lot of questions about you and the opportunity to serve a mission. Probably one of the toughest to answer is this:

Why do you want to serve a mission?

• What will you tell me? If you listen closely this afternoon I'm going to give you 7 RIGHT answers that you can give me. And if you answer me with all of these 7 answers, I personally guarantee you, that you will be sent to the best mission in the church. And that the time you spend there will be the GREATEST TWO YEARS you have ever had. So pay attention, and feel free to take notes so when that day comes, you'll have these great answers to share with me.
• So the first great reason you can share with me is this:

So WHY DO YOU want to serve a mission?

1. President…I want to serve a mission because it CREATES a strong foundation for ME to build MY life upon...
• How important is a foundation for your life?
• If this life was only 5 or 50 years long, then maybe a foundation wouldn't be so important. But if you are building a life which will last for 500 or 5000 or 5billion years long, then building a foundation that will last, is pretty important.
• Certainly you remember the primary song - The wise man built his house upon the rock and the foolish man built his house upon the sand? What happened to the man who built upon a wimpy foundation? His house came crashing down. What happened to the man who built upon a strong foundation - his house stood up to any storm.
• Choices you make now will affect the rest of your life
• And since this life will affect the rest of your eternity, this is a pretty major choice for you.
• Make choices which will give you the best foundation for the rest of your eternity.
• The Lord calls you as a young man specifically because you are young. He knows that if you will serve now, that it will give you a foundation to build the rest of your life upon. And it will give you the greatest strength to build your family with.
• It is estimated that a missionary who serves full-time faithfully for 2 years, will gain the equivalent of 30 years of part-time church service. Think of how much more qualified you will be to serve the Lord for the rest of your life when you are a returned missionary in your early twenties. Think how useful you can become.
• An example of one who served a mission and built a strong foundation was Elder Richard Scott who served his mission after college.
• He tells about how his professor in college told him not to go. That if he served a mission, it would be a waste of his education because everything he learned would be obsolete when he returned. However, he went on his mission anyway. When returned he was hired to work in the Naval Nuclear Program where he was given a list of people who he would be responsible for. On that list was the same professor who had discouraged him years before…and the professor was working 3 levels below Elder Scott.
• Elder Scott said "All that I now hold dear in life began to mature in the mission field. Had I not been encouraged to be a missionary, I would not have the eternal companion or precious family I dearly love. I am confident that I would not have had the exceptional professional opportunities that stretched my every capacity. I am certain that I would not have received the sacred callings with opportunities to serve for which I will be eternally grateful. My life has been richly blessed beyond measure because I served a mission."
• He said "You will never regret serving a mission, but you most probably WILL regret NOTserving if that is your choice."
2. The second great reason you can give me for why you want to serve a mission is this: President I want to go, because it is the best investment of my time.
• As young men, you may not have learned the value of investing wisely yet. But I guarantee that soon enough you'll learn that with the little money you have, if you invest it wisely, then over time it will grow and you'll have much more money than you put into the investment. But if you invest poorly, or spend your money on things that don't last, then with time, you'll lose what little you had and you can become poor or even bankrupt. Often a good investment is one where you add to your initial amount by 5% or even 10%. A killer investment may yield 25%. What if I told you that when you go on a mission, your investment of time will gain 100x what you put into it. That's a promise from the scriptures.
• Mark 10:29-30 - "Verily I say unto you there is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands (or may I add - who leaves his girlfriend, his car, his schoolwork, his videogames) for my sake, and the gospel's, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, and in the world to come."
• President Hinckley also taught that Missionary Work is the best investment of your time that you can make.
• "I promise you that the time you spend in the mission field will yield a greater return on investment than any other two years of your lives. You will come to know what dedication and consecration mean. You will develop powers of persuasion which will bless your entire life. Your timidity, your fears, your shyness will gradually disappear as you go forth with boldness and conviction. You will learn to work with others, to develop a spirit of teamwork. The cankering evil of selfishness will be supplanted by a sense of service to others.
• You will draw nearer to the Lord than you likely will in any other set of circumstances. You will come to know that without his help you are indeed weak and simple, but that with his help you can accomplish miracles. You establish habits of industry. You will develop a talent for the establishment of goals of effort. You will learn to work with singleness of purpose. What a tremendous foundation all of this will become for you in your later educational efforts and your life's work. Two years will not be time lost…it will be skills gained.
• You will bless the lives of those you teach and their posterity after them. You will bless your own life. You will bless the lives of your family, who will sustain you and pray for you."
• And above all of this will come that sweet peace in your heart that you have served your Lord faithfully and well. Your service will become an expression of gratitude to your heavenly father.
• You will come to know your redeemer as your greatest friend in time or eternity. You will realize that through His atoning sacrifice He has opened the way for eternal life and an exaltation above and beyond your greatest dreams.
• If you serve a mission faithfully and well, you will be a better husband, you be a better father, you will be a better student, a better worker in your chosen profession.
3. The 3rd great Reason why you will want to serve a mission is this: President...Missionary work will bring honor to Me and My family.
• You have a testimony, and you have hoped to serve a mission as well. Don't disappoint yourself. Not at this young age. And don't disappoint your family….especially your mother. By choosing Not to go.
• Having you serve a mission is one of the great hopes and dreams your parents have had for you. They have enjoyed watching you play basketball and baseball, or getting awards at the school awards banquets. But I can tell you that for most of you, they have raised you with the image of you serving the Lord. They have watched you grow up and seen you in their minds eye doing this important work. They taught you the account of Helaman's army, and sung with you the song, 'I hope they call me on a mission'.
• While this is undoubtedly one of the smaller reasons for going on a mission, and we don't serve only because we want to bring honor to ourselves and our families, yet the command to "honor thy father and mother, that thy days may be long upon the land" is real, and bringing honor to them is part of the role that children bring to parents…both you to your parents, and your future children will bring to you. Missionary work brings honor to missionary and to the parents.
4. A fourth great reason to serve would be: President...The Prophets have told us it's a commandment from God to go. I want to be obedient.
• President Spencer W Kimball said - "A mission is not just a casual thing…Neither is a mission a matter of choice any more than tithing is a choice, any more than sacrament meeting is a choice, any more than the Word of Wisdom is a choice. Of course we have our agency, and the Lord has given us choices…We can go on a mission or we can remain home. But every normal young man is as much obligated to go on a mission as he is to pay his tithing, attend his meetings, keep the Sabbath day holy, and keep his life spotless and clean."
• While we should be willing to serve the Lord whenever and whereever we are called, you may find it interesting that we are not asked to serve nearly as long or as unprepared as missionaries of the past. In August of 1852 a special conference was held in the old tabernacle on temple square. President Heber C Kimball opened the conference by announcing that brethren would be called on missions. "The missions we will call for during this conference are, generally, not to be very long ones; probably from 3 to 7 years will be as long as any man will be absent from his family." 98 names were then read of men who were to leave as soon as possible." Imagine!
• My Great Great Grandpa's brother Knowlton Hanks was called to serve a mission in the Canary Islands. All though he was a young and healthy man, He got sick and died on the ship on the way to his field of labor. He was buried at sea. Years later his older brother Sydney Hanks was called by President Young to go and fill his brother's mission. He left his wife and family (as was common in those days) and went to the Canary Islands and started his service. Several years later the brethren tried to release him but the letter never got to him, so he kept serving. His companion left and for 4 years he served without a companion. But he kept serving for a total of 7 years. One of the brethren finally caught up with him and gave him his release.
• Wow! What faithfulness… These were men who were obedient when they were called. They didn't think of themselves, but of the commands of God to them and like the sons of helaman, they obeyed with faithfulness.
5. A fifth great reason to serve would be: President...We are the Seed of Abraham - it is who we are, and missions are what we do!
• Father Abraham made a covenant with God…wherein God promised Abraham 2:9 - "Thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations."
• Elder Bednar pointed out that this means WE (who are the seed of Abraham) have the "responsibility to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and to invite all to receive by proper priesthood authority the ordinances of Salvation."
• He points out "You may enjoy music, athletics, or be mechanically inclined, and someday you may work in a trade or a profession or in the arts. As important as such activities and occupations can be, they do not define who we are. First and foremost, we are spiritual beings. We are sons of God and the seed of Abraham."
• We need to be ourselves…and being the seed of Abraham, doing the work he was foretold to do, is who we are.
• When you receive the Melchizedek Priesthood you will be making sacred covenants to serve the Lord. As we will discuss in that interview to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood, the priesthood is not a badge of honor, but a call to serve. So when you get that calling to serve a mission, it may very well be your first calling to SERVE - Don't let this be the first calling you turn down.
• Also, you will make temple covenants. You will become endowed. These covenants are sacred and represent the highest degree of promise we can make to the Lord. Think about the covenants you will make in the temple…giving all you are to build the Kingdom of God. Missionary Work is one of those promises we make.
6. A sixth great reason why you may choose to serve is this: President, When I teach others, I can help change lives - for ETERNITY
• Gospel is like a magic globe. And your job is to hand it off to people. When you do, if they accept it, something changes in their life. Their hair changes…usually shorter and less extreme. Their clothing styles become more modest. The way they speak becomes different (not as profane). Their health improves. They care more about the poor and donate to their relief. They become less worldly, and more in touch with spiritual things. The transformation is magical and wondrous to behold.
• Teaching the Gospel has a huge ripple effect. President Hinckley told of a missionary who left his mission discouraged. "I baptized one man in the backwoods of Tennessee. He didn't know enough or have enough sense to wear shoes. And that's all I've done, I have wasted my time, and my father's money." The mission president later followed up on this man's life history. Found out that this man had been responsible for over 1,100 people coming into the church….and that was years ago. Imagine how many more this one man may have influenced
• Mosiah 17-18 - Abinadi was martyred without seeing anyone baptized from his years of preaching. But Alma who was one of the priests of King Noah heard Abinadi, and was converted by his words. In many respects every thing we know from that point on in the Book of Mormon was given to us by the descendents of Alma…and those influenced by his work. Imagine being responsible for the conversion of a Prophet of God who's descendents would change the world? You wouldn't want to miss that opportunity.
7. Finally, a seventh great reason to serve a mission is this: President, I want to serve because I know it will bring me happiness
• Why is it, that virtually every young man who has served his mission comes home and says "My mission was the best two years of my life?" I heard it again today when Elder Aaron Marstella reported on his mission in the 5th Ward. These returning missionaries were just like you were before they left. They were young, a bit naïve, not real disciplined, caring about less than spiritual things. But in the process of learning to care about others, process of teaching truth and watching people change, and the process of being obedient to challenging commandments, they had a powerful and wonderful experience.
• D&C18:15-16 - "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! And now , if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!"
• Brigham Young taught: "When men enjoy the spirit of their missions and realize their calling and standing before the Lord and the people, it constitutes the happiest portions of their lives.
• Orson Whitney promised "There is no joy that can compare with that of a missionary who has been made the instrument for the salvation of a soul"
• President Ezra Taft Benson testified "I have tasted the joy of missionary work. There is no work in all the world that can bring an individual greater joy and happiness."
• "The only way you'll know - is when you go."
• Let me tell you about Dave Hadley.
• I grew up in Houston Texas. A huge high school with a graduating class of over 1,000 There were only 5 LDS kids in the whole school. We had to stand up as examples of the church. One of my best friends in those days was Dave Hadley. He was not a member of the church, and his family were staunch Catholics. We spent years where he would come down to my house and we would talk about the church. He would challenge some doctrine about our church -
• why can't you mormons drink coffee? why can't you mormons date before you're 16? Why do you believe that baptism has to be by immersion? Why do you believe that Christ still has a body? Why do you believe that the Godhead are 3 separate beings? And so forth…
• If I didn't know the answer myself, I would ask my dad to help me understand the answers. The answers were always so powerful, that he wouldn't have a response, and would need to go back to his Catholic Priest. The priest would usually not have much of a response, but he would send Dave back to me with additional questions. So I would either give him the seminary answer or my Dad's answer, and away he'd go back to his priest and so on….We went back and forth for years. Him asking his priest for answers, me asking my dad. After 5 years, I left on my mission and he got baptized. I didn't even get to see him get baptized - my brother performed the baptism cuz I was in the MTC. But this kind of questioning and answering left both of us stronger. He served a mission to the indians in New Mexico/Arizona and Southern Utah. I went to Paraguay. I have always been filled with joy that I was able to be a part of his conversion. But my heart was overjoyed when I got a phone call about 3 years ago from Dave. He is living in Ft. Worth Texas, and was not only still active, but he is now serving as Stake President in Fort Worth.
• 
  
• What a joy I felt to be able to share that great joy of gospel conversion with him.

There you have it Young men. 7 great reasons WHY you'll want to serve when that day comes:

1. Serving a mission CREATES a strong foundation
2. It is the best investment of your time
3. It brings honor to you and your family.
4. It shows you are obedient to the commandments of God
5. We are the seed of Abraham - it's who we are
6. You will bless others eternally
7. You will find greater joy than in any other way in your life.

Of course to be able to serve, you must be ready: Physically, Spiritually, Emotionally, Intellectually, Socially.

Here are 5 things you can do to help prepare yourself for a mission:

1. Have your own Sacred Grove Experience.
• Read the Book of Mormon. Pray Sincerely to know if it's true. And pay attention to the spirit. He will tell you of the truthfulness of all things.
2. Keep fit. Take care of yourself. Exercise. Eat right. Make sure you can ride a bike all day or walk all day. There are guidelines for missionary service on weight and height. If you have any questions on how much weight is too much weight don't look at me as an example - look at these missionaries.
3. Learn to control your emotions. Don't let your anger, or shyness, or social awkwardness control you. Do things which will help you overcome these strong emotional or social challenges.
4. Avoid alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, pornography and anything which leads to unhealthy physical or immoral vices. Stay away from physical relationships with young women that may lead you to compromise your high moral standards.
5. Study. Study at school. Study at home. Study at church. Study. Pay attention to scriptures you hear. Pay attention to stories which inspire you. Study "Preach my Gospel". Study languages. Use your mind to learn about the gospel and about the world so that you may be effective in teaching when you are called.

If the time comes to serve, and the church declines to extend a call because of your physical or emotional health. Don't despair. The church has to maintain high standards for physical, and emotional health because of the challenges of service. But if you've done all that you can to prepare, and you are still not able, there are lots of church service opportunities to serve where you can serve from your home. This can be a great blessing in your life as well. If you are not able to go, don't let it be because you have disqualified yourself through unworthiness.

Brethren, I love you. I love the Lord and the message he has given us to share with the world. I pray for you as young men to continue to prepare yourselves for this great service. As I pray for all of us to be better missionaries here in the Jordan North Stake of Zion.

In the name of Jesus Christ - AMEN