Always a Missionary

One of the great sacrifices of followers of the Savior in the Book of Mormon is the mission of the sons of Mosiah to the Lamanites.  That they would give up the chance to be king and instead serve among their enemies in very difficult conditions for fourteen years is remarkable.  We rightly commend those in our day who put their lives on hold for eighteen months or two years to serve as full-time missionaries—think of the kind of sacrifice they would be making if we asked for fourteen years instead.  Considering this, perhaps what is most remarkable to me is that their missionary labors did not actually end when their labors among the Lamanites ended.  They did not come back to Zarahemla with their “missionary work” box on their celestial kingdom report card checked and move on to other things.  Soon after they were back among the Nephites we read that Alma “took Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner” with him to go preach to the Zoramites.  We don’t have any details about their service there, but we do know that they went and that they were not done with missionary labors.  A couple of years later, and after Alma had disappeared, we see that they were again preaching the gospel.  We read that the “word of God” was declared unto [the people of Nephi] by Helaman, and Shiblon, and Ammon and his brethren” (Alma 49:30).  Ammon and his brothers were still busy preaching the gospel to the Saints, and this is fittingly the last that we read of them in the Book of Mormon.  They simply preached the gospel to the end of their days. 

               Clearly at least part of the reason that the sons of Mosiah were so valiant in their missionary labors was their love for the Lord and His gospel—missionary work for them was not a burden to fulfill but rather a privilege to perform.  They were like Alma who at the end of his life of missionary service still did not consider himself “done” with that duty.  When his sons went forth to preach the word, “Alma, also, himself, could not rest, and he also went forth” (Alma 43:1).  He could not rest because his heart was set on missionary work; he wanted to “speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!” (Alma 29:1)  They were like Nephi who later in the Book of Mormon was commended for his “unwearyingness” in declaring the word unto the people (Helaman 10:4).  They had the devotion of Paul who similarly gave his life in missionary service as he went on mission after mission through numerous countries.  His attitude was summed up by this statement to one who suggested he not go to Jerusalem where he felt he should go as he continued his missionary labors: “What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13).  Even suffering could not deter him from desiring to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.  These great missionaries knew what Elder Bednar knew and taught so powerfully in our dispensation: “Proclaiming the gospel is not a part-time priesthood obligation. It is not simply an activity in which we engage for a limited time or an assignment we must complete as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Rather, missionary work is a manifestation of our spiritual identity and heritage. We were foreordained in the premortal existence and born into mortality to fulfill the covenant and promise God made to Abraham. We are here upon the earth at this time to magnify the priesthood and to preach the gospel. That is who we are, and that is why we are here—today and always.”  That is the kind of eternal perspective about missionary work that we must all seek to obtain in our own attempts to help take the gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world.