The Laborer is Worthy of His Hire

I was excited to see last week on my phone in the Gospel Library app that book 4 of the Saints series, Sounded in Every Ear, was already available. Its official release is today, but it came out electronically several days ago. The managing historian for the book, Jed Woodworth, commented, “This volume is a testimony of God’s miraculous hand and that He is a God of miracles across all nations. He is working through young people, old people, people of different languages, ethnicities and genders, and He speaks to all people.” I was touched by one of the first stories in the book, the account of Mosese Muti and his wife Salavia, members of the Church in Tonga. In May 1956, Mosese was traveling on a road near the city of Nukuʻalofa when the mission president drove by in a car and stopped to speak to him and his friend. Mosese and Salavia were very poor and struggled to provide for their four children. The mission president asked him if he would serve a mission: “The Lord wants you. Do you have any money, any savings?” Mosese responded, “He knows how poor we are and what He would have to bless us with for us to make it on a mission.” Despite the financial challenge it would be to serve a mission, Mosese said there on the spot, “All I want to know is where and when.” He had had a dream recently that he and his wife were walking together on an island he had never seen before, and when the mission president told him that his family would go to Niue, a small island four hundred miles away, Mosese knew that it was what he had dreamed. He and his family dropped everything and left two and a half weeks later with just enough money to make the trip. Their goal was to one day make it to the temple in New Zealand which was under construction, but this mission would only set them back financially and make it even harder to achieve. But they had incredible faith and set out to serve. Mosese had received this promise from the apostle George Albert Smith in 1938: “If you keep up your missionary work, you will go through the temple without a penny spent from your pocket.” They trusted in the Lord and moved their family to this unknown island to serve as missionaries building a house of worship for the saints there.

                Mosese and Salavia served faithfully with their family and took the young American missionary who was district president there, Chuck Woodworth, under their wings. They worked together through the difficult task of building a new chapel for the members there. Chuck learned of their desire to be able to go to the temple, and he decided he wanted to come up with the money for them to make the trip through a rather unique way. He had his boxing gear sent to him and made sure he stayed in shape. He would wake up early and train while performing his missionary labors in the day. The account records, “Chuck was released from his mission in early January 1958, just after he and the other elders put a roof on the new chapel. Salavia wrote him a farewell letter, assuring him of her family’s love and unfailing support. ‘My child, try your hardest,’ she told him. ‘Do not be discouraged and you will triumph. When your strength is accompanied with our prayers, there is nothing that will interfere with you. We rely on God to help you.’” He then traveled to New Zealand for a fight in which, if he won, he would win a lot of money. “The fight was scheduled for February 27, 1958. All that day Mosese, Salavia, and their children fasted and prayed for Chuck. When evening came, they gathered at the chapel with dozens of Church members and friends to tune in to the fight on the radio.” His opponent was bigger, but after 12 rounds Chuck was victorious. The story continues, “Mosese sent Chuck a telegram the next day. ‘Thank you very much for a good fight—and being victorious,’ it read. Chuck responded by wiring enough money to feed the family for the rest of their mission and send the couple to the New Zealand Temple.” The couple was then present for the dedication of the New Zealand Temple in April 1958 and they were sealed there. The prophecy that Mosese had received many years earlier came to pass: without spending any of his own money he had been able to go to the temple. They had been blessed for their incredible sacrifices as missionaries. The words of Mosese should inspire us all as we contemplate challenging calls that we receive to serve: “All I want to know is where and when.”

                The example of this faithful couple highlights the truth of the Lord’s promise given concerning our service in His kingdom. He said through the Prophet Joseph Smith: “For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul” (Doctrine and Covenants 4:4). As we labor in whatever capacity we are called to serve the Lord, whether physically or spiritually, we bring salvation to our soul. As the Lord said in another verse, “Therefore, thrust in your sickle with all your soul, and your sins are forgiven you, and you shall be laden with sheaves upon your back, for the laborer is worthy of his hire” (Doctrine and Covenants 31:5). The Lord has His own way of recompensing those who labor in His vineyard, and His divine pay is always far greater than we deserve.