Prepare to Serve

In his opening address 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!” What struck me as I read this was the invitation for young me to prepare to serve a mission. It is not enough to decide at the age of 18 or 19 to serve a mission; rather, they must be preparing long before that to be ready for that day they will go forth to preach the gospel. As a parent I have a responsibility to help my children prepare for full-time service to the Lord. In both temporal and spiritual ways our young men and young women need to be learning how to care for themselves and rely upon their own witness and testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord said this about His church: “That through my providence, notwithstanding the tribulation which shall descend upon you, that the church may stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world” (Doctrine and Covenants 78:14). This surely applies to how young men and women should prepare for missionary service: they need to seek to “stand independent” so they can live on their own and preach the gospel from their heart with their own personal conviction of its truth. At the same time, though, this verse suggests that while we want to aim to be independent of others in the world, we should be dependent on His providence. Future missionaries need to learn to rely on themselves instead of others while finding strength in Him whose work this is.

                In the olive leaf revelation the Lord gave this instruction to the saints at Kirtland: “Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand.” They were instructed to teach each other and come to understand more fully the things of the kingdom of God. But this was not all that they were to learn. He continued a list of what they should study: “Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms.” That is quite the list of topics to study and learn—we should be knowledgeable about the world and its history. He then explained why we should gain all of this knowledge: “That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you. Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:78-81). In other words, we study the gospel and the things of the world first and foremost so that we can teach them to others and go forth and preach the gospel.

                In the latest Saints book the story is told of a William Jarman who was a former member of the church who became a very vocal critic in England. He constantly lectured about the church and sought to turn the people’s hearts away from the missionaries. He told the people that his son had been murdered by the saints, but it wasn’t true and eventually that son Albert was called to serve a mission in England. The story recounts, “When Albert first arrived in the mission field, he had wanted to confront his father immediately. But mission president Anthon Lund could see that Albert was not ready to face off against someone so sly and shrewd. He sent the young man to London instead, encouraging him to study the gospel and prepare himself against his father’s attacks.” He wrote to his mother saying, “I am studying to the best of my knowledge,” and after his preparation eventually he did travel to meet with his estranged and abusive father. The book commented on their encounter in these words: “President Lund’s counsel that Albert study the gospel before trying to match wits with William had been wise. After reuniting with his father, Albert could tell he was an intelligent man.” Though Albert was not able to convince him to totally stop attacking the church, he was able to stand on his own to bear witness to his father because he had prepared. Surely the mission president’s counsel to Albert originally is applicable to all future missionaries: study the gospel and prepare. The words of the Lord to Hyrum Smith perhaps summarize best that preparation that is needed: “Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men. But now hold your peace; study my word which hath gone forth among the children of men” (Doctrine and Covenants 11:21-22). We must help our youth do just that as they prepare to fulfill the call of a prophet to gather Israel and testify of the Savior Jesus Christ.