It Mattereth Not

Several years ago, Elder Bednar gave an important address in general conference about missionary service. He spoke of the letter that missionaries receive when they are called to serve: “The letter is signed by the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the first two sentences read as follows: ‘You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the ______ Mission.’” He then commented, “Please note that the first sentence is a call to serve as a full-time missionary in the Lord’s restored Church. The second sentence indicates an assignment to labor in a specific place and mission. The important distinction expressed in these two sentences is essential for all of us to understand. In the culture of the Church, we often talk of being called to serve in a country such as Argentina, Poland, Korea, or the United States. But a missionary is not called to a place; rather, he or she is called to serve. As the Lord declared through the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1829, ‘If ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work.’” He then quoted the call to serve given to Stephen Burnett to whom the Lord said, “Go ye, go ye into the world and preach the gospel to every creature that cometh under the sound of your voice…. 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. Therefore, declare the things which ye have heard, and verily believe, and know to be true” (Doctrine and Covenants 80:1-4). In other words, where he served was not nearly as important as the fact that he was serving and declaring the things he knew to be true. A missionary should not feel that if they do not serve in the original area they were assigned, for whatever reason, that somehow they are not fulfilling the mission the Lord has for them. What is important is to preach the gospel wherever we are, and we cannot go amiss. Another way to put it is this: no matter where you are, there are people around you who need help and need to hear the message of the restored gospel. As the Lord said in another revelation, “It is not needful for this whole company of mine elders to be moving swiftly upon the waters, whilst the inhabitants on either side are perishing in unbelief” (Doctrine and Covenants 61:3). We don’t need to be moving swiftly to some far away place to find someone to preach the gospel to, but if we look around we will see them already there wherever we are.

                I think this principle has application for our service in our wards and stakes as we receive callings to labor in one area or another. Just as missionaries might mistakenly feel that if they serve a “foreign” mission it is of more value, we might believe that if we have a more prominent calling our service is of more important. For example, my brother related to me how once when he was a member of the bishopric, an older sister came to meet with him. In frustration she asked him why she had never served in a leadership calling. But just because she hadn’t served as a Primary President or in a Relief Society presidency doesn’t mean her service was any less important or valued by the Lord. For “it mattereth not” where we are assigned to labor; we are all called to serve the Savior in His kingdom. What matters is that we follow this injunction from Him: “Serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day” (Doctrine and Covenants 4:3). I love these words of President Gordon B. Hinckley, given when he was the prophet of the Church: “All of us in this great cause are of one mind, of one belief, of one faith. You have as great an opportunity for satisfaction in the performance of your duty as I do in mine. The progress of this work will be determined by our joint efforts. Whatever your calling, it is as fraught with the same kind of opportunity to accomplish good as is mine. What is really important is that this is the work of the Master. Our work is to go about doing good as did He.” When our focus is on Him instead of ourselves, we will quickly forget any desire for prominence or position and learn to lift where we stand as we are called to do. No matter where the assignment, we can be one who “thrusteth in his sickle with his might,” for “the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul” (Doctrine and Covenants 4:4).