Impart Our Own Souls

To my son, 

               This weekend we are celebrating the safe and honorable return of your uncle from his mission to Kansas. He served for two years teaching the gospel to the people there, and he is a great example to us of dedication to the Lord. I hope you are looking forward to the day when you will one day be called as well to serve as a missionary for the Lord. You have a great legacy of missionaries in your family. Your grandparents served in Japan, the Philippines, and Wisconsin. Their children and spouses have served in areas including Switzerland, France, Guatemala, Brazil, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kansas. One day you too will have the opportunity to go somewhere to a people waiting to hear your testimony and receive the gospel from you. The place won’t matter nearly as much as the people, so whether you go near or far what counts is the opportunity to serve and bless the lives of people in need. The Lord said this to two missionaries early in this dispensation: “Wherefore, go ye and preach my gospel, whether to the north or to the south, to the east or to the west, it mattereth not, for ye cannot go amiss” (Doctrine and Covenants 80:3). No matter where you go, there will be children of our Father in Heaven there whose hearts have been prepared to hear the message of the Restoration and make covenants with the Savior. The people in your mission location will become beloved to you as you give of your soul to them.

               We have been reading about one of the greatest missionaries of all time in the New Testament recently. Paul traveled thousands of miles to many different people preaching the gospel, but what made him a great missionary wasn’t the distance he went or the number of converts he had. Rather, it was the love with which he served the people. I am touched by the way that he recounted his service to the people of Thessalonica. He wrote, “We were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention. For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts…. But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:2-4, 7-9). We learn from these verses that Paul was bold, gentle, pure, and labored extremely hard. He did not use guile or deceit and sought to please God instead of men. He gave not only the gospel to them but also his own soul as he served and loved him. That is a powerful example for missionaries to follow, and I hope that you will remember Paul’s devoted service when your time comes to put on a nametag and take an airplane to the place of your mission.

Love,

Dad