Receive Strength From the True Vine

In his opening remarks in this most recent general conference, President Nelson said this: “Today I reaffirm strongly that the Lord has asked every worthy, able young man to prepare for and serve a mission. For Latter-day Saint young men, missionary service is a priesthood responsibility. You young men have been reserved for this time when the promised gathering of Israel is taking place. As you serve missions, you play a pivotal role in this unprecedented event!” As a father of three boys, this was a reminder to me of my important responsibility to prepare them to serve the Lord as missionaries. There are many ways that they need to be prepared, including having good physical health, developing basic life skills such as cooking and cleaning, and learning to talk to and get along with people different from themselves. One verse in the scriptures speaks of how “the church may stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world,” and surely we could apply that here as well. Those who serve missionaries need to be able to “stand independent” as they leave father and mother and serve the Lord in some foreign place (Doctrine and Covenants 78:14). This same section also gives this invitation: “You must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you” (v7). Long before they embark in the service of God missionaries must “prepare and organize” themselves in temporal and spiritual ways as He has commanded so that they might serve with all their hearts (v11).

                President Nelson also stated in this talk, “All missionaries teach and testify of the Savior. The spiritual darkness in the world makes the light of Jesus Christ needed more than ever.” Perhaps that is the thing for which future missionaries must prepare most fervently: to testify and teach of Jesus Christ. The missionary handbook Preach My Gospel says that the purpose of each missionary is this: “Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.” Their role is to help others come to Jesus Christ, and thus they must be prepared to teach and testify of Him. Perhaps one of the most important ways that they can prepare then is to learn to receive His strength and help in their personal lives. As a father the thought of sending my sons away and on their own for two years is a scary one, and I realize that I need to teach them how to turn to the Lord for help in their difficulties. They will not be able to readily come to their family for help with most things—they will need to know how to “receive the strength and nourishment from the true vine” (1 Nephi 15:15). I remember a time on my mission where for many days in a row I read Ether 12. I read it again and again and focused on receive His divine strength in my service. This well-known invitation is crucial for missionaries especially to understand and apply: “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” He can make us strong—but only if we come humbly before Him in faith and seek His grace to overcome our weakness. I love Moroni’s final invitation in this chapter: “And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever” (Ether 12:27, 41). Surely there is no preparation that will be of more importance for future missionaries than seeking Jesus in their lives now and learning to receive His grace. I hope that I can help my children come to fully internalize these words of the Savior now so they know how to call upon the true source of help during their missions: “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).